Plugs and Cars

FEBRUARY 3, 2009

Electricaid.org was created when Th!nk looked to be on the ropes late last year. Now it seems only good news is coming in. They are reporting that thousands of charge points will be up and running by summer. And the Swedes are investing in the company and ordering cars, including the Royals, according to a Norwegian story translated by Autobloggreen.

Think City 113

Think City Norway Electric Cars Batteries 113

Plugs and Cars

DECEMBER 29, 2009

"Electricity has always been the best way to power a car. They knew that since the turn of the last century." - Jay Leno Source: Autobloggreen and NBC. Tags: jay leno chevy volt andrew farah.

Volt 100

Volt Power Powered Cars 100

Plugs and Cars

DECEMBER 18, 2009

There has never been a shortage of stories in the press denigrating plug-in electric cars. Why? Because people naturally, logically believe electric cars are a good idea. Special interests who preferred to maintain the internal combustion status quo (read oil and auto companies) have long needed to plant seeds of doubt. Via paid consultants, close relationships with universities, a pliant press more apt to reprint a press release than analyze it, and print and television advertising, their negat

PHEV 100

PHEV Plug-in Plug Hydrogen 100

Plugs and Cars

DECEMBER 11, 2009

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) met on Thursday to discuss the Zero Emission Vehicle regulation and the revisions staff was tasked with exploring for 2015 and beyond. Plug In America President Dan Davids offered testimony applauding CARB's achievements, but faulted the agency for skewed priorities and reliance on unreliable information and projections.

Plug-in 100

Plug-in Plug Hydrogen America 100

Plugs and Cars

NOVEMBER 20, 2009

Two items caught my attention this week. Plug In America has a new ally with the announcement of the creation of the Electrification Coalition. The goal of this high-powered group of corporate executives is nothing less than the complete transformation of our transportation sector, one in which electricity plays the dominant role where possible. Quoting from their website: " electrification is the best path to the fuel diversity that is indispensable to improving the nation’s economic strength,

Obama 100

Obama Nissan China Corporation 100

Plugs and Cars

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

Reva, the Indian electric car company best known for the G-Whiz in England, has signed a deal to bring their new product to Iceland with sales beginning within a year. The NXG and NXR, revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show recently, have a Th!nk City-like footprint, 100 mile range and 65 mph top speed. Electricity is a more renewable resource than ice in Iceland.

REVA 100

REVA Iceland Electric Cars Mitsubishi 100

Plugs and Cars

NOVEMBER 6, 2009

Nissan has released an official sketch of an electric urban delivery vehicle that looks closer to viable than many EV concepts that have appeared at auto shows over the last few months. It is a somewhat stylized take on the NV200 light commercial gasoline van Nissan sells in Japan and Europe. The press release from Nissan highlights the potential use as an ambulance which could drive directly into a hospital.

Nissan 100

Nissan Commercial Think City Vehicles 100

Plugs and Cars

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Al Gore has probably been presumed to be a long-time booster of electric cars, but it hasn't always been so. Like many, he couldn't see past the dirty, coal-produced power many plug-ins would utilize, despite the environmental benefits. Now he's sees a EVs a'comin'. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Exclusive - Al Gore Extended Interview Pt. 2 www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis.

Al Gore 100

Al Gore Gore Electric Cars Plug 100

Plugs and Cars

OCTOBER 30, 2009

GM CEO Fritz Henderson sat down with reporters and editors from the Washington Post yesterday. No real news on the Volt, but his comments on Fuel Cell Vehicles should cause a stir. Anyone at CARB in Sacramento paying attention? Post: Is GM pulling back on its hydrogen car? Henderson: "Are we putting resources into it? Not as much. We spent through the mid part of this decade a reasonably high portion of our research and our development money on hydrogen fuel cells.

GM 100

GM Sacramento Volt Washington 100

Plugs and Cars

OCTOBER 25, 2009

GM recently entered into a 50/50 partnership with Reva, the Indian electric car company, to produce an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark. Reva has been selling small EVs in India and England for the past few years. According to a report in the Business Standard of India, GM plans to sell 4000 electric Sparks in India in 2010. That's about 10% of the total number of gas-powered Sparks GM will sell this year in India.

India 100

India GM 2010 REVA 100

Plugs and Cars

OCTOBER 23, 2009

Toyota is always saying consumers just don't want an electric car. Range is too short and too much is different about EVs, Toyota contends. If merely plugging in is too much change, do they expect people to take seriously an EV that requires an entirely different way of piloting the vehicle? Why, really, are they showing a concept electric car with less than half the range of Toyota's own decade-old RAV4 EV?

Toyota 100

Toyota Concept Electric Cars Auto 100

Plugs and Cars

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Much has been made of late of Toyota and other automakers claims they will commercialize hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in 2015. Of course, we've heard these promises/predictions before. An SAE Research Report in 2001 stated that "several automakers have pledged the introduction of fuel cell vehicles, including buses, by 2003-2005." DaimlerChrysler, for example, predicted the industry would be selling 100,000 fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) by 2004.

Toyota 100

Toyota Fuel Seattle 2001 100

Plugs and Cars

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Nissan will start taking orders for the upcoming all-electric LEAF next Spring. And they are building to meet expected initial orders for 20,000 cars, according to an Automotive News report picked up by AutoBlogGreen. The report states that Nissan will launch the Leaf next year in the states of Tennessee and Oregon, along with San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA; and the Phoenix/Tucson region in Arizona.

Nissan 100

Nissan San Diego Tennessee Tucson 100

Plugs and Cars

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

The MINI-E program is going well enough that BMW is considering allowing leases extensions, Richard Steinberg the program manager said at CARB's ZEV Technology Symposium today. Tags: BMW bmw mini e.

Mini E 100

Mini E BMW 100

Plugs and Cars

AUGUST 5, 2009

President Obama today announced $2.4 billion for battery and electric car manufacturing and deployment efforts. Green Car Congress has the full rundown of recipients. Congratulations to San Francisco City College for the $500,000 it will receive for educational programs for secondary students; service personnel, and technicians in partnership with Chabot College; Central Shops; Pat’s Garage; and Perfect Sky Inc.

Obama 100

Obama San Francisco Congress Green Cars 100

Plugs and Cars

JULY 29, 2009

Huh? Autocar.co.uk is reporting: "Toyota's iQ-based electric car, due to be launched in 2010, will get its own body style to create a stand-alone model which will become Toyota’s first all-electric car" (emphasis added.) I'm pretty sure I just stepped out of my 2002 Toyota RAV4 EV. With 69,000 miles on the original battery, it still gets over 100 miles per charge.

Toyota 100

Toyota Electric Cars 2002 Cars 100

Plugs and Cars

JULY 20, 2009

Toyota has a go-slow policy on plug-in electrics. Despite having produced the RAV4 EV - the most useful, robust, and long-lived electric car - Toyota wants to milk its non-grid connected hybrid technology as long as possible before moving on to the next big thing. Ontario has announced a $10,000 rebate for plug-in electrics, and Toyota wouldn't benefit as they delay general release of their own plug-ins.

Plug-in 100

Plug-in Toyota Plug Volt 100

Plugs and Cars

JULY 1, 2009

The BMW Mini E has hit the streets. Barely one year ago, word surfaced that an electric Mini was in the works. In June about 500 cars were placed in consumer and fleet hands in Los Angeles and New York and New Jersey for what BMW calls a " field trial." Like all the automakers, BMW dabbled in concept electric cars over the years. They produced a small fleet for the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Mini E 100

Mini E BMW Tax Credit Tax 100

Plugs and Cars

JUNE 12, 2009

Oregon's House has passed a bill to end the $1500 tax credit for conventional hybrid vehicles on the last day of 2009. After that point only plug-in vehicles qualify. House Bill 2180 , which passed overwhelmingly, Creates specific tax credit for purchasers of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and related equipment. Limits tax credits for gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles that are not designed for electric plug-in charging to vehicles purchased before January 1, 2010.

Oregon 100

Oregon Plug-in Tax Credit Plug 100

Plugs and Cars

JUNE 7, 2009

Toyota pushed its innovative "21st century" car development into full gear in the early 1990s under company chairman Eiji Toyoda. "Developing a commercial electric vehicle at that time posed a slew of challenges," the official said. "That is the case even today.".a battery pack's ability to hold a charge and its durability vary by temperature and driving conditions, the automaker points out.

Toyota 100

Toyota Japan Green Cars Hybrid 100

Plugs and Cars

JUNE 7, 2009

In the wake of Secretary Chu's defunding hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles, Toyota continues its assault on the inevitable plug. They don't want to be rushed into it. Automakers the world round have had 100 years to suck every ounce of profit possible from the internal combustion engine, and Toyota intends to get at least a few decades out of its lead in gasoline-only hybrid vehicles.

Toyota 100

Toyota Plug Plug-in Hydrogen 100

Plugs and Cars

JUNE 4, 2009

I write a column for the Electric Auto Association newsletter, Current EVents. Here's my June column. The trajectory remains clear, and the pace has quickened. Plug-in cars are inevitable. Nissan appears intent on opening up a market for mid-price range electric cars within two years. Mitsubishi has begun to manufacture the iMiev in the thousands for the Japanese market.

Plug-in 100

Plug-in Plug Cars Obama 100

Plugs and Cars

JUNE 1, 2009

The web is filled with news of Volvo's partnership with Swedish energy company Vattenfall to bring a plug-in hybrid to market in 2012. Big news: it's a diesel plug-in hybrid. Left Lane Jalopnik Wall St Journal (subscription required.). Tags: volvo vattenfall plug-in hybrid.

Volvo 100

Volvo 2012 PHEV Plug-in 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 31, 2009

The first consumer with a Mini E lease, Peter Trepp, was interviewed on CNBC. The vroom- obsessed anchor concludes with an erroneous and unprofessional "gotcha" about coal. The report exudes such bias, you may want to let CNBC know how you feel here. Tags: peter trepp bmw mini e cnbc.

Mini E 100

Mini E Coal BMW 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 27, 2009

In Norway, the effort to find a means to get financing so Th!nk can fulfill existing orders for thousands of vehicles took to the streets on Tuesday. A 50-electric car parade took the issue right to the Trade and Industry Department in downtown Oslo. A concrete proposal for a Guarantee Institute for Electric Vehicles was presented to the government.

Norway 100

Norway Electric Cars Think City Cars 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 27, 2009

Secretary Chu may have acted on the science, but the Terminator hasn't gotten the termination memo. Reporter: Are you satisfied with the number of hydrogen stations and vehicles we have today? Schwarzenegger: I wouldn't be here if I was. I'm hungry! I want more cars, more stations, and not just in California. I think Washington has to get with it. We will find the partners and we will build the stations.

Hydrogen 100

Hydrogen Washington California Building 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 25, 2009

Peter Trepp in Southern California is the first consumer to take delivery of their electric Mini. The USA Today story begins: "Peter Trepp just can't keep his foot off the accelerator of his new Mini E." Peter blogs about his electric Mini at www.petersminie.blogspot.com/. Tags: peter trepp bmw mini e battery electric car.

Mini E 100

Mini E USA BMW Electric 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 17, 2009

You can smell the PHEV procrastination. Asked by the reporter when the plug-in Prius on display will be available in Norway, he replies: "This is the first demonstration program. We have a small number of vehicles in Paris, France and in the UK and we're involved in gathering some data to understand how consumers actually use these vehicles.We will start much bigger scale demonstration. 100 vehicles in Strassbourg, and it's intended a 3 year trial to understand how consumers react, how they use

PHEV 100

PHEV Prius Toyota Plug-in 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 14, 2009

Sounding a lot like Joe Romm in Who Killed the Electric Car. TR: The hydrogen fuel-cell program has been scaled back in the proposed budget, and the emphasis has been changed from transportation to buildings. SC: That's right. TR: It used to be thought, five to eight years ago, that hydrogen was the great answer for the future of transportation. The mood has shifted.

Hydrogen 100

Hydrogen Fuel Alternative Fuels Gas-Electric 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 11, 2009

Four hundred fifty electric Minis will hit the road in the next few weeks in California, New York and New Jersey. The leasees, who will have the car for one year, are chomping at the bit. Bill Nye the science guy will put aside his gas-guzzling Prius for twelve months. Ex-EV1 drivers will be among those taking advantage of their first opportunity to get back in an electric car.

EV1 100

EV1 Mini E New Jersey New York 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 11, 2009

Minneapolis will be getting 18 electric cars from Ford, and stimulus funding will be used to install charging points, as reported in the Twin Cities downtownjournal.com. Tags: Ford battery electric car.

Minneapolis 100

Minneapolis Stimulus Ford Installation 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 8, 2009

The New York Times reports: Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, once hailed by President George W. Bush as a pollution-free solution for reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, will not be practical over the next 10 to 20 years, the energy secretary said Thursday, and the government will cut off funds for the vehicles’ development. It's about time.

Fuel 100

Fuel Sacramento New York Hydrogen 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 7, 2009

It has been suggested before that it just might be more efficient to turn crops into electricity than biofuel, and here's a study that proves that to be the case. According to the study co-sponsored by the Carnegie Institution for Science, "Bioelectricity was the clear winner in the transportation-miles-per-acre comparison, regardless of whether the energy was produced from corn or from switchgrass, a cellulose-based energy crop. " "The internal combustion engine just isn't very efficient, espec

Miles 100

Miles Climate Change Climate International 100

Plugs and Cars

MAY 5, 2009

“I had a surprising call this week,” the author Richard North Patterson told the audience that had gathered last weekend as part of the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. It was former President Bill Clinton. Mr. Patterson’s new novel, “Eclipse,” is based on the case of the Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Mr. Clinton spoke of a phone call he had made 14 years ago to Gen.

Oil 100

Oil Nigeria New York America 100

Plugs and Cars

APRIL 28, 2009

Yesterday's Financial Times had a great companion piece to the idiocy in today Post. The UK announced a £5000 incentive for EV beginning in 2011. After recognizing that the intent of such a subsidy is to "encourage early adopters of the technology, helping electric car manufacturers achieve economies of scale," author Richard Pike suggests a reason to oppose it is that "it would cost more than £150bn to subsidize Britain’s entire car fleet," a proposal no one has made.

Waste 100

Waste 2011 Economy Fleet 100

Plugs and Cars

APRIL 28, 2009

Charles Lane is a member of the editorial page staff of the Washington Post. Here are some gems from his screed against the Volt, and electric cars in general, in today's paper: "GM wouldn't be in quite so deep a hole if it had not sunk a billion dollars, and much of its corporate reputation, into a not-very-realistic plug-in electric hybrid vehicle known as the Chevrolet Volt.

Volt 100

Volt GM Washington Obama 100

Plugs and Cars

MARCH 31, 2009

Automakers the world over, large and small, are in the crapper. The financial crisis has hurt those that sell gas guzzlers and electric cars. Electricaid.org in Norway is trying to support its native EV company, Th!nk, and the efforts to offer the Th!nk City in the U.S. as soon as possible with its "Get Me A Th!nk" campaign. My first electric car was a Th!

Think City 100

Think City Norway Gas-Electric Buy 100