Drivers won’t be hanging around washing their windshield or buying snacks while “filling up” — it could take three hours to fully charge an electric vehicle at the stations, and for now, only one car can be hooked up at a time. Cars that aren’t fully drained will charge more quickly, in about 90 minutes or even in less than an hour. Read more...
Futuristic Sound Effects To Be Added In Nissan Leaf
September 24th, 2009
You may recall that there has been some effort underway to push the makers of hybrid or electric vehicles to add engine noises to their cars, because the electric engines are “too quiet” and unsuspecting or blind pedestrians are getting hit.
The Chevrolet Corvette remains GM’s iconic lynchpin sports car. It is powered by a very highly spirited line of V8 gas engines, though new CAFE rules regulating a fleet average of 35.5 MPG by 2016 have some pundits wondering if the powerhouse’s days could be numbered. Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman in charge of product development, says GM has plans to keep the car viable for the near future without resorting to hybridization. Yes, let’s stay outdated! Read more...
California Gives eTec $8 Million To Build Electric Infrastructure In San Diego
September 1st, 2009
Electric Transportation Engineering Corp., which earlier in August received a federal grant for funding electric vehicle infrastructure, received another $8 million from the California Energy Commission to help the rollout. The money will be used to increase the number of charging stations in the San Diego area. The plan will install 12,750 charging stations in five states. Tucson and Phoenix are among the markets that will get charging stations.
The extra money in California will allow the number of charging stations to increase beyond the 2,550 planned in and around San Diego. San Diego Gas & Electric also will partner in the California project, monitoring the grid for issues related to the electric vehicles and providing consumer education.
Electric offers so many possibilities. This electric car (the White Zombie) has 300 horsepower and leaves a Corvette in the dust. Electric advantage: Torque
Electric Cars Get The ‘OK” From Obama Administration
June 24th, 2009
Tesla Motors, the Bay Area’s luxury electric carmaker, won $465 million in federal loans to build two plants in California, as the Obama administration started doling out funds for fuel-efficient vehicles. Tesla joined Ford Motor Co. and Nissan North America in receiving the first round of loans under a $25 billion U.S. Department of Energyprogram to develop cars that use substantially less gasoline – or none at all.
Tesla, based in San Carlos, will use $365 million to open a production facility in Southern California for its next car, a sedan dubbed the Model S that could hit the market in 2011. Environmentalists were pleased to see the financing finally start to flow. Read more...
“For the first time in history, we have set in motion a national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new trucks and cars.” Obama said the program would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil “over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years.” Read more...
Some 20 million dollars are included in the plan to build more charging points and other infrastructure needed for people to use electric cars on a regular basis.
The Aptera 2e has been officially slated to roll off the production line this fall. The Aptera 2e, like the Typ-1, is an all-electric, three-wheeled two seater with a range of 100 miles per charge.
It will be priced between $25,000 and $45,000 when it hits, with an internal-combustion hybrid version suggested for later release. Can’t wait to see these on the streets.
Hawaii To Be First State With Electric Car Stations
December 25th, 2008
Hawaii has unveiled plans to be first in the nation to roll out electric car stations statewide — a move the governor hailed as a major step toward weaning the islands off oil. Hawaii imports foreign oil for almost 90% of its energy needs. One-third of that oil is used to power cars and buses on island streets. Gov. Linda Lingle said the program would help Hawaii meet its goal of slashing fossil fuel use 70% by 2030. Read more...
Green Car Journal named Volkswagen’s 2009 Jetta TDI as the “Green Car of the Year” at the Los Angeles Auto Show, making it the first clean-diesel vehicle to win the prize.
The Jetta TDI gets 41 miles per gallon on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. The sedan has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $21,990 and a SportWagen version is available starting at $23,590.
The Jetta bested four other finalists for the Green Car of the Year award: the Smart Fortwo, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the BMW 335d and the Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid.
The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain. What’s with the rear side? The extended rear houses cooling radiators for the fuel cell stack. You likey?
Better Place, Palo Alto start-up, plans to install about 250,000 charging ports, 200 battery-exchange stations and a control center to service Bay Area electric car drivers. The goal is to have most of the system in place by 2012. Nice! Go Green!
Honda Motors Co. has started production of a car that runs on hydrogen fuel rather than oil, marking the first time a commercial vehicle will produce zero emissions. The FCX Clarity, which was introduced two years ago as a concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show, runs on electricity made from an onboard hydrogen-powered fuel cell battery. It will be available in July as part of limited lease program offered in California.
If you’re feeling the pinch at the pump and you’re in the market for a new vehicle, check out these hybrid alternatives from Chevy to Toyota. J.D. Power & Associates reported fuel efficiency numbers for the most popular vehicles in the hybrid market:
Toyota Prius Hybrid
With an estimated 48 mpg city / 45 mpg highway, the Prius remains the most popular midsized pick for 2008.
Honda Civic Hybrid – 40 mpg city / 45 mpg highway
Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid – 24 mpg city / 32 mpg highway Read more...
Tuesday was GM’s annual shareholders’ meeting and the news from GM Chairman and CEO G. Richard Wagoner Jr. wasn’t pretty: $3.3 billion lost in the first quarter of 2008, the closing of four truck manufacturing plants and the potential sale of the Hummer brand.
How did all this happen? For the past decade GM has relied heavily on trucks and SUVs as the breadwinners for the company and has all but ignored passenger vehicles because they were less profitable. The rapid increase in prices at the pump have forced consumers to switch back over to more gas-friendly vehicles. The change in consumer demand has hit GM hard in the pocketbook and has forced the American auto manufacturer to rethink it’s position in the industry. Read more...
After losing $1 billion on the development of the EV1, General Motors completely dropped any serious discussion on building a green vehicle. However with gas prices hitting new highs and competitors starting to adjust production to consumer demands, GM is starting to feel the pinch in their pocketbook – the auto manufacturer recorded a $15 billion loss in 2005.
That’s enough to get anyone to shift gears from their current business model into a more consumer-centric one. SUVs are losing their appeal as gas prices continue to rise. GM has recently decided to drop production on a new sedan and minivan in order to support the $8.1 billion research and development budget focused primarily on green vehicles. Read more...
Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from the blind. Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they run solely on electric power, blind people say they pose a hazard to those who rely on their ears to determine whether it’s safe to cross the street or walk through a parking lot. The tests (admittedly unscientific) involved people standing in parking lots or on sidewalks who were asked to signal when they heard several different hybrid models drive by. Results: Peoplewere making comments like, ‘When are they going to start the test?‘ And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or three laps around the parking lot. Read more...
