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Filed under: Emerging Technologies , EV/Plug-in , Transportation Alternatives , USA With no time on its hands for promotional appearances at glitzy European autoshows , one of America's most advanced electric vehicles has been busy being put through its paces on the torturous terrain found at Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona. The Lunar Electric Rover (LER) has spent the last couple weeks wandering about this wasteland simulating a search for lost crew members in a trial that's putting the modern plug-in electric car architecture to the test. Unlike the dune buggy-like moon rovers of yore, the Ford Ranger-sized LER depends on lithium ion batteries and is currently using a chemistry that packs 125 wh/kg of energy, though NASA, not unlike today's would-be electric car buyer, hopes to have at least a 60 percent improvement in that number before it leaves the sales lot launch pad. The pack will not only need to hold lots of juice but be engineered to ... http://www.depozitul.net/2009/09/this-...