After Gutenberg

Technologies M4 of Toronto, part of the Hydro-Quebec Group, makes electric motors suitable for electric vehicles. Noted for their in-wheel motors, they also make a fifth wheel and central motor, shown above.

Green Car Congress relays an announcement of a plug-in hybrid conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 1st and 2nd.

The Plug-in Highway Network is organizing the conference—“Where the Grid Meets the Road”— which will focus on:

* Establishing a Canadian network of researchers focused on PHEV related issues;
* Reviewing on-going demonstrations PHEV project across North America; and
* Discussing the possible role of Canadian government in supporting PHEV development.

Among the sponsors for the conference is Manitoba Hydro, which last year launched a research and development project to review the potential of PHEVs and the possible impact that the new technology could have on future Manitoba Hydro electrical load growth and energy markets. Other sponsors include the University of Manitoba, the Center for Sustainable Transportation at the University of Winnipeg, and Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation.

An A123Systems employee shows off a plug-in hybrid at the recent, Energy 2.0 Conference at MIT. The converted, Toyota Prius is an example of what Canadian-based, HyMotion wants to convert using A123Systems batteries. A123Systems first agreed to supply HyMotion with advanced lithium batteries, then bought the company with funds recently invested by Cobasys.

I wonder if there will be discussions at the November conference about plug-in hybrid research results announced by a team at the Argonne National Laboratory. As the author of another, recent, GCC article was motivated to reiterate “you’re not supposed to modify a rated engine and produce a worse emissions outcome”, which was the newsworthy result from the recent 2007 World Conference of the Society of Automotive Engineersin Detroit, Michigan, USA.