Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 29, 2007
Good news from Norway. Automotive News (subscription required) reports: Think Global has launched production of an electric minicar for European markets. On Wednesday, the first City minicar rolled off the assembly line at Think’s plant in Aurskog, northeast of Oslo. “This project is on time. We are building full production cars with all the right components from the right suppliers,” Think Global CEO Jan-Olaf Willums said.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
NOVEMBER 25, 2007
Well, it's been over a month since I've posted since the holidays are here and I'm still waiting for the transmission to get back. I talked with a guy at Rennsport Systems last week and he said he'd see what was going on and get back to me. Still haven't heard from him. I'll try again tomorrow. On a more positive note, Ross Cunniff got his 914 AC kit running recently and Bob has been making progress on his BMW 325i performance EV (see links at right).
Plug In Partners
NOVEMBER 7, 2007
Audi Metroproject Quattro T his has been a big week of announcements from car manufacturers. One is from the new auto start up Fisker. Fisker's high end-plug in CNET News Blog Posted by Michael Kanellos Fisker Automotive. Think of it as a marriage between the Chevy Volt and the Tesla Roadster. The company is planning to come to market in about 18 months with a high-performance, high-end, plug-in hybrid sedan.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 24, 2007
Edmunds Inside Line 's Alistair Weaver interviewed Wolfgang Hatz, the head of powertrain for the entire Volkswagen Group. The title of their piece, Mr Engine Fuels the Future , probably tells you all you need to know. Quotations from the interview below; first, my somewhat snarky synopsis. Hatz, in short: Hybrids are bogus - "a very expensive way to save a small amount of fuel.
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Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 22, 2007
London could soon replace California as the electric car capital of the world. Thanks in large part to Mayor "Red Ken" Livingstone, who enacted London's much criticized congestion charge policy in 2003. The policy, which exempts electric cars from hefty daily taxation, is resulting in increasingly significant vehicle choices for English consumers. India's Reva was first into the market with the G-Wiz.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 20, 2007
US News and World Report interviews GM's Bob Lutz. So of all the different technologies GM is working on, how would you prioritize them? Electric. Advanced hybrid. Plug-in hybrid. Advanced clean diesels. And far out, there's hydrogen. Tags: Bob Lutz.
EV Driven brings together the best content on electric vehicles from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 21, 2007
NY Times late Wednesday: Oil prices flirted with the symbolic $100-a-barrel level in overnight trading. Crude oil futures briefly rose above $99 in overnight trading and an Energy Department report showed that inventories fell slightly last week, leaving investors wondering how soon oil will be nudged above its inflation-adjusted record of $102. Crude settled in New York trading at $97.29, down 74 cents.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 19, 2007
The op-ed in today's LA Times (We Need Voltswagens in the print edition; Bring back the electric car online) deserves attention from the public and state policy makers. Sherry Boschert, author of Plug-in Hybrids , is publicly posing the stark question as it needs to be asked: Will CARB push for cars capable of zero-emission driving for today's consumers using available, affordable, tested battery technology or will they support mere research programs even proponents say won't be marketable for a
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 16, 2007
Aftenposten TV news clip of the new Th!nk City here including shots of the assembly line and interview with CEO Jan Olaf Willums. The report mentions a price for the car and monthly charge for the battery, but more than that I couldn't comprehend. How's your Norwegian? Tags: jan olaf willums think city.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 14, 2007
Bob Lutz of GM is in LA. He's meeting with journalists and electric drive advocates. The first report I've seen from the LA Auto Show regarding the much anticipated Volt, in the UK's Guardian , says Lutz expects to see road-tests of "a street-drivable" Chevy Volt by the end of Q1 2008. Now talking specifically about a November 2010 showroom launch. Tags: gm volt lutz.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 8, 2007
The IEEE Spectrum Magazine for November 07 touts on its cover "Battery or Fuel-Cell Cars? A California Cabal Will Decide." Interesting choice of headlines. Surely a strong argument can be made that something approaching a cabal turned a practical electric-cars-on-the-road mandate into a research and development program for hydrogen fuel cells vehicles.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 7, 2007
One 11am EST AP report in the NY Times •U.S. oil supplies fell last week for the third straight period. •Stockpiles of gasoline also dropped, the government reported Wednesday. •Demand for gasoline over the past four weeks was 0.8 percent higher than a year earlier. •.prices had climbed as high as $98.62 in electronic trading. •At the pump, gas prices rose nearly 2 cents overnight.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 6, 2007
As the price per barrel goes beyond $97, one story in the NY Times reports : •Bombing in Afghanistan kills 64. •Attack on pipeline in Yemen. •Domestic oil inventory to fall. •Severe weather forecast for North Sea. Oil platforms evacuated. •Dollar weak. •Severe weather shuts Mexican ports, disrupts oil supply to US. Tags: petroleum oil price per barrel.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 6, 2007
Another sign that fuel cells for cars are history. Ballard Power systems, long time fuel cell hot shot, wants out of the automotive fuel cell business. The Globe and Mail of Toronto reports that Ballard is hoping to unload this part of the business on Daimler and Ford, which already own 19% and 11% of Ballard respectively. Once viewed as a business worth billions, soon, it will be interesting to see what Daimler and Ford might be willing to pay.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 2, 2007
Just as major and mid-size auto makers are announcing what seem to be real electric cars for 2009-2010, for example here (Subaru) and here (Mitsubishi iMiev), newly formed independents are finding it difficult to get product out. TeslaMotors' delays have received attention in the blogs and mainstream media. Autobloggreen is reporting what can only be considered major changes in the Phoenix Motors SUT vehicle.
Plug In Partners
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
T his story is a month old, but it's an important one because it shows how utilities , car manufacturers , and government labs , coupled with innovative companies can forge an alliance that can test and demonstrate the practicality of plug in hybrids. Xcel Energy announces six-month test drive of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles DENVER - Six plug-in hybrid electric vehicles ( PHEVs ) will be on the road by the end of 2007 as part of a demonstration test of vehicle-to-grid ( V2G ) technology by X
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 14, 2007
Associated Press is reporting out of Paris (via Forbes.com) that Renault is "studying a possible plan to build a manufacturing plant for electric cars in Israel, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday." Shai Agassi, an Israeli entrepreneur whose Project Better Place is looking at infrastructure and battery schemes to facilitate electric cars, could be involved in a partnership, according to Renault spokeswoman Rochelle Chimenes.
Plugs and Cars
NOVEMBER 15, 2007
The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) monthly meeting today included the adoption of the State Alternative Fuel Plan. The analysis by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and CARB of the smorgasbord of non-petroleum alternatives was mandated by AB 1007. And quite a buffet it is. When I told CEC Commissioner James Boyd a couple of weeks ago at the plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) UC Davis press event that I felt battery electric vehicles (BEV) were not fairly represented, he told me that eac
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