In a world of green and electric start-ups trying to manufacture their very own vehicles from scratch, it’s nice to see companies taking a different, if not smarter, twist.  Raser Technologies has just unveiled their Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) plug-in hybridization of an H3 Hummer.  And for 40 miles from a full charge, it can run purely on electricity, using no gasoline whatsoever.  Even after the first 40 miles the Raser H3 Hummer runs in your more typical hybrid fashion for a fuel economy that still puts a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius to shame (which … really … is not all that difficult with today’s technology), at least until it hits around 200 miles after its last battery recharge.

It’s a Hummer that even ultra-green California and its Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, can get behind.  (Or in front of, for a good photo-op.)

The 100+ MPG Raser H3 Hummer hybrid has Arnold Schwarzenegger smiling.

Make no mistake though, this hybridized H3 Hummer is no simple upgrade.  The standard Hummer engine is replaced by a 260-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, as is used in the Pontiac Solstice, and drives a 100-kilowatt generator to provide electricity.  Yes, that’s right.  As is the standard in extended-range hybrid designs now, the gasoline engine never actually moves the transmission or wheels directly.  The gas engine is there only to power a generator, and the vehicle is actually entirely powered by electric motors.  A move that Toyota and Honda should seriously consider to upgrade their Prius and Insight lines respectively.  The electric motor in the Raser H3 is a 200kW advanced AC induction motor specifically designed by Raser.  And in the H3 this one electric motor is all that actually powers the 4WD transmission, powerful enough to retain the Hummer’s off-road capabilities while simultaneously giving the Raser H3 a top-end of 90MPH.

The conversion further adds a 40 kWh battery pack near the rear weighing in at 600 lbs that can be recharged anywhere from three to ten hours, depending on the line being used to recharge the vehicle.  (For comparison the Chevy Volt’s battery pack will supposedly be 16 kWh at 375 lbs and the Tesla Roadster has a massive 53 kWh battery pack at almost 1000 lbs.)  All of that doesn’t come easy to fit in a vehicle even as large as a Hummer.  The transmission was moved, necessitating drive shafts changes as well, which further required an exhaust pipe adjustment.  The fuel tank has even been relocated and reduced in size, from the standard 22 gallon down to a mere 11 gallon fuel tank.  Not that you’ll be needing a large fuel tank anymore though!

All of these adjustments don’t come cheap, and the retail pricing has yet to be unveiled.  But Raser Technologies is sure that customers will be lining up.  And not just for green Raser H3 Hummer hybrids either!  By completely replacing the engine and transmission Raser has created an off-the-shelf drop-in that can be adapted to most similarly large trucks and SUVs, opening up a wide potential for big bad hybrids that are greener than nearly any vehicle on the road.

Raser Technologies says that full-scale production will begin “soon” and that they sincerely hope to have two thousand such hybrid conversions of SUVs and trucks on the road by 2010.  It’s being a bit on the hopeful side perhaps, but certainly a goal worth aiming for, as the whole world can benefit from such fuel-efficient vehicles.

And what of California’s Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger?  Well supposedly he’s already in line for one of Raser’s first shiny green H3s.  A green auto enthusiast himself, Arnold already owns two alternative-fuel modified Hummers, and the Raser H3 would certainly be a shining pinacle of mean green machine for his garage.

Speaking of bad hydraulics, so Massachusetts Institute of Technology students, led by Shakeel Avadhany, have invented a novel enough concept, GenShock.  It’s a bad-asterisk shock absorber for your car that generates electricity from the same forces that it absorbs.

GenShock - MIT's regenerative shock absorber

The concept is simple enough:  The shock absorber pushes hydraulic fluid through a turbine generator to convert those bumps in the road into electricity.  As an added bit of innovation, an active computer system even adjusts the damping in real time to better smooth out the ride than ordinary shocks.  According to Shakeel Avadhany, “The amount of energy available in the suspension is on par with the energy coming out of the alternator.  It’s 6 to 10 kilowatts for a heavy truck and 3 to 4 kilowatts for a passenger car.”

Okay, so yes, the inherent flaw rears its ugly head.  Obviously you generate more electricity when there’s more energy in the system.  E=MC² means the more mass you have, more energy there is.  So big burly trucks will generate a lot more electricity than lightweight little green Earth-saving cars.  Or in other words, the greener the car, the less useful these shocks really are for generating electricity.

Still, anything to help out a Hummer…

And help out a Hummer they did!

The GenShock team and their test Hummer.

AM General, makers of fine military equipment, sent the GenShock team a military Humvee to test out the GenShocks on.  Though a full-scale demonstration to AM General is still in the works, Avadhany has said of his Humvee trials so far that, “We beat the piss out of this thing and it did just fine.“  He also added that, “it’s a smoother ride, you can go over the terrain faster.“  It’s no wonder then that AM General is interested in GenShock technology.

But it doesn’t just bode well for future hybrid Humvees storming the hills and dales.  Imagine what GenShocks could do for the transportation industry.  Fleets of semi trucks could be hauling cargo a little greener.  Maybe the technology could even be adapted for use on trains.

It all goes to show, there will always be new and interesting ways to refine the world we live in and make it a better place.  Never stop trying.