Revenge of the Electric Car

MARCH 20, 2009

The first batch of MINI Es has arrived in the US. A sharp-eyed ‘Revenge’ fan sent us these exclusive pictures from a holding facility in Central California, where the cars are being prepped for delivery. BMW have promised 500 cars for the US market - and judging by what we saw, most of them are already here and ready for roll out. Watch this space for delivery news.

Mini E 150

Mini E BMW California Production 150

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Nissan is a first tier OEM building a pure EV in the U.S. - for sale to regular folks. They’re going to hit the market next fall, but will target Tennessee (where they will be made) and Oregon and Sonoma County, initially. ( Carlos Ghosn must like the wine up that way or something.). Regardless, once the $7,500 tax credit is accounted for, and the much lower maintenance costs, these should be about the same as buying a gas car, only the fuel will be less than a dollar a gallon equivalent.

2010 150

2010 Nissan Tennessee Tax Credit 150

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

Last week Norway’s ElectricAid.org uploaded a very entertaining and artistic video test drive review of the Think City electric car. Watch the video in High Definition by clicking here. If you enjoy Top Gear you’ll enjoy the humor and creative editing in this video short. ElectricAid.org video Test Drive of the Think City Electric Car.

Think City 150

Think City Norway Electric Cars Cars 150

Revenge of the Electric Car

DECEMBER 8, 2009

GM to invest $336 million in Volt plant. General Motors Co will invest $336 million in a Detroit-area plant to produce its heavily anticipated Chevrolet Volt electric car beginning next year, the No. 1 U.S. automaker said on Monday. Tags: Production News Detroit GM Chevy Volt.

Volt 140

Volt GM Detroit General Motors 140

Revenge of the Electric Car

NOVEMBER 25, 2009

Tesla Model S Photo: Caroline McCarthy/CNET. Rumors are circling that Tesla is preparing an IPO, although no one at Tesla is yet talking. More details at: Electric-car maker Tesla preparing IPO. “Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since Henry Ford’s Ford Motor debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric-car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.

Tesla 140

Tesla 2008 Ford Low Cost 140

Revenge of the Electric Car

JULY 22, 2009

I’m probably going to seem a little Nissan-centric this month, what with their imminent big announcement August 2nd. But also because I, along with a few other Plug In America members, spent the better part of the past three days meeting with about ten of Nissan’s advanced planning team. They invited us to come to their Los Angeles facility and participate in a wide ranging series of discussions, marketing seminars, and even a drive over to Santa Monica to see what a normal day drivi

Nissan 140

Nissan Los Angeles Obama Plug-in 140

Revenge of the Electric Car

MAY 12, 2009

Tom Hanks in His Rav 4. We were delighted to see Tom Hanks’s letter in this week’s ‘New Yorker’ — singing the praises of electric vehicles and name checking ‘Who Killed the Electric Car ?’ Read the full letter here : RE: THE ROAD AHEAD. A letter in response to Peter J. Boyer’s article (April 27, 2009). MAY 18, 2009.

Electric Cars 140

Electric Cars EV1 Los Angeles Cars 140

Revenge of the Electric Car

MAY 1, 2009

This SlideShowPro photo gallery requires the Flash Player plugin and a web browser with JavaScript enabled. AC Propulsion, the San Dimas, CA, company that birthed the modern-day EV with its AC-150 drive train, was tapped by BMW last year to provide drivetrains for an initial run of 500 Minis. Dubbed the “Mini E,&# these fully-electric cars are just weeks from being deployed on the streets of Southern Californai, New York, and New Jersey.

Mini E 140

Mini E EV1 BMW New Jersey 140

Revenge of the Electric Car

DECEMBER 29, 2009

Listen to what happens when the Nissan Leaf roadshow reaches Seattle. Read more about it in: Nissan Plans Leaf with Complete Charging Infrastructure. by Denis Du Bois for Energy Priorities. “In some cities, Leaf drivers won’t have to wait for the charging infrastructure to catch up. Mark Perry, Nissan North America’s Director of Product Planning, says Seattle is part of a DOE project to place 2,500 charging stations to the Puget Sound region this summer.

Seattle 133

Seattle Nissan North America Charging 133

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 3, 2009

Lotus Evora 2+2. Well, it had to happen. Lotus is making an EV. Actually, it’s a plug-in hybrid much like the Chevy Volt. After both Tesla and Chrysler chose the Elise and Europa, respectively, for their slot car-fast EVs, it only makes sense that the car company named after a flower would make its own “flower power&# speedster. GM is supplying the range-extending genset which makes sense as they they’ll be able to amortize it and drive the cost down.

Electric Cars 133

Electric Cars Karma Fisker PHEV 133

Revenge of the Electric Car

DECEMBER 28, 2009

GM to invest $700m in Volt rechargeable electric car. By Richard Kessler for Recharge News. “GM is spending $336m to upgrade the Hamtramck plant; $202m for a new plant in Flint, north of Detroit, that will build 1.4 litre engine-generators; $43m for a plant in Brownstown Township outside Detroit that will manufacture battery packs; $37m for a camshaft and connecting rod plant in Bay City, north of Flint; and $27m for GM’s Tech Center in suburban Warren, a Detroit suburb, location of Volt’s

Volt 124

Volt Detroit GM Recharge 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

DECEMBER 3, 2009

The government of Guangzhou Municipality in China and Dongfeng Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co.’s Chinese venture partner, have formed a partnership to promote electric car transport in the city of Guangzhou. The Renault-Nissan Alliance, which will start marketing electric cars in the U.S. and Japan next year, has signed more than 30 agreements with cities, counties, states and governments to promote zero-emission electric cars and establish the charging infrastructure for the batteries.

Nissan 124

Nissan China Japan Chinese 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

As the race to produce mass market EVs heats up, Chrysler has pulled out of the contest. More details below: Chrysler dismantles electric car plans under Fiat. by Kevin Krolicki, for Reuters. “As late as August, Chrysler took $70 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a test fleet of 220 hybrid pickup trucks and minivans, vehicles now scrapped in the sweeping turnaround plan for Chrysler announced this week by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Chrysler 124

Chrysler Obama Dodge Circuit Minivan 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

OCTOBER 28, 2009

Bob Stempel and Stan Ovshinsky. Stan Ovshinsky — one of the stars of ‘Who Killed the Electric Car ?’ – is out of retirement and working with former business partner (and ex-GM head) Bob Stempel to develop solar panels. More details in the Detroit Free Press article: Panels may brighten job market. by Carol Cain. In another bit of coincidence, Stempel headed GM’s EV1 electric car program in the early 1990s.

Oakland 124

Oakland EV1 GM Detroit 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

JUNE 17, 2009

It’s happening. New production electric cars are being delivered at a rate of 100 per month. Teslas mostly, but the first BMW MINI E was also delivered last week, and we’ll have about 500 more of them on the road within the month. Back in 1999, when we were all a twitter about Y2K, there were about 5,000 production EVs on California roads with a few dozen more in both Arizona and Georgia.

Mini E 124

Mini E Arizona Georgia Oil 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

JUNE 4, 2009

The Alaskan Navigator, one of two British Petroleum oil tankers retrofitted to be electrically operated dockside. (Diandra Jay/Press-Telegram). It’s been a long time coming, but we have finally achieved the first “cold ironing&# of a tanker in the Port of Long Beach. Cold Ironing is the term for plugging a ship’s electrical system into the on-shore grid to supply power so that the ship’s giant diesel engine can be turned off while it’s docked.

Plug-in 124

Plug-in Long Beach Plug Pollution 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

MAY 6, 2009

BMW’s just held an event for the lessees of their Mini E at the Science Center, next to the University of Southern California, a really stellar venue when you consider the product they were showing. I arrived at the same time as Stefano Paris, Plug In America’s documentarian, and as we walked from the parking lot, we went past an SR71 Blackbird on display to get to the party.

Mini E 124

Mini E BMW Nissan Tax Credit 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

MAY 1, 2009

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared on the David Letterman show on Wednesday. Dave and Elon talk about the Roaster, the Model S and the future of electric cars. Watch out for the name check for ‘Who Killed the Electric Car’ around 3 minutes in … Tags: In the Media Tesla Model S.

Tesla 124

Tesla Electric Cars Future Cars 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

APRIL 27, 2009

Say hello again to one of our guest bloggers, Andrew Grin. I just got my electric car back from the shop (for some minor work) and I decided to shoot some video because of the beautiful spring weather. Fully Electric Hyundai Tucson from Island Grin on Vimeo. Tags: EV Videos Inside Track hyndai tuscon.

Hyundai 124

Hyundai Tucson Fully Electric Electric 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

APRIL 16, 2009

Photo by Antuan Goodwin, from the CNET Article: Test-driving the Nissan EV-02 electric car. I got invited to go to Dodger Stadium this afternoon to test drive the Nissan EV. This wasn’t the final car, but the finished drivetrain in a Nissan Cube. I was assured it would be very close to the actual feel of the car though, and given the similarity of the Cube in weight to the final EV (the Cube was about 200 lbs heavier I was told), the ride should be comparable.

Tax Credit 124

Tax Credit San Diego Tax Nissan 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

MARCH 20, 2009

President Obama is making good on his promise to spearhead the EV revolution. During a visit to Southern California Edison’s Pomona EV test facility, he launched a $2.4 billion competitive grant program for US battery makers. It’s all part of the Obama administration’s plan get to 1 million plug in hybrids on the road by 2015. Obama At A Town Hall Meeting in Los Angeles, California - March 19, 2009.

Obama 124

Obama Los Angeles Batteries Battery 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Last night I flipped on the KTLA 5 news around 10:30pm, while grabbing a late dinner, and caught a Fisker Automotive Karma ad…on TV! I was caught completely and pleasantly by surprise seeing this great ad, as I don’t think we’ve yet seen any other EV/PHEV specific ads from any of the smaller start-ups. Justifying the cost of TV ads could be difficult, but has the positive effect of alerting the general population - most of which are not closely following the EV movement —

Karma 124

Karma Fisker PHEV Cost Of 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 5, 2009

These were all taken by our production photographer, Todd Westphal, during last month’s Plug-In America Inagural Parade. This SlideShowPro photo gallery requires the Flash Player plugin and a web browser with JavaScript enabled. Tags: Events Plug In America Obama Parades Photo Galleries.

Obama 124

Obama Plugin America Plug-in 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 27, 2009

This new company, Bright Automotive , is founded by ex-GM EV1 people, and the super efficient Rocky Mountain Institute to make plug-in hybrids in Indiana. Like Paul MacCready’s original design for the Impact that established the world’s lowest drag coefficient of.195, Bright will be building cars that “do more with less&# , a philosophy MacCready was famous for (and the title of a wonderful biography on him).

Plug-in 124

Plug-in Bright Automotive Plug Cars 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 19, 2009

400,000 at the Lincoln Memorial concert. Dateline: Washington, DC. The buzz is everywhere and completely electric in Washington DC this week. And some of that energy is headed directly to plug-in cars. We’ve heard electric cars mentioned time and again in our two days here, and we haven’t even been to Live Earth’s Green Gala yet. It’s just remarkable to see what a few short years can do in terms of global consciousness and awareness.

Electric Cars 124

Electric Cars Obama Washington DC 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 15, 2009

Roadster Sport with optional clear-coat carbon fiber top. When I was a kid in Arab, Alabama, in 1965, I discovered slot cars. They were a new phenomenon then and quickly got everyone’s attention. They were fast as hell, sounded cool, and it only cost one penny per minute for track time. I remember the really fast cars had “re-wound&# motors, whatever that was.

Tesla 124

Tesla Carbon Fiber Detroit 2009 124

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 5, 2009

Starting Again (photo: Steve Payne). . Over the holidays, the “Revenge&# team spent time filming with Greg “Gadget&# Abbott as he moved into a cavernous new warehouse space in downtown LA. Gadget runs an electric car conversion company called Left Coast Electric. He’s also the star of the TV shows “Smash Lab&# and “Monster House&# - where he’s shown millions of viewers how to build eye-popping structures from the most unlikely materials.

Charlotte 113

Charlotte Porsche 2000 Volt 113

Revenge of the Electric Car

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

A coalition of car makers, battery suppliers and electricity providers has come together to ask for federal help for EVs. More details at: Group Seeks US Tax Credits To Spur Electric Car Use. by Judith Burns for Dow Jones. “A coalition of auto makers, battery manufacturers, utility operators and shipping companies wants the U.S. to offer tax credits for buying all-electric plug-in vehicles as part of a $128 billion program to get seven million such cars on the road by 2018.

Volt 100

Volt Tax Credit Cash For Clunkers Tax 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

JUNE 17, 2009

I heard that Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, was giving the commencement address at CalTech recently, so I jumped in our solar-powered RAV and drove over to Pasadena to hear what he had to say. Pasadena is a beautiful city, and the section of town where CalTech is located is old and very wealthy. Walking through the leafy campus, Jacarandas in full bloom, I admired the buildings that for decades housed some of the smartest students our country ever produced as well as a sizable number of foreign k

Transportation 100

Transportation Obama Electric Electrical 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

APRIL 30, 2009

The ‘Revenge’ team was out in strength recently to film the launch of Tesla’s Model S in Los Angeles. Check out the photos below to see the Model S — and our team in action. This SlideShowPro photo gallery requires the Flash Player plugin and a web browser with JavaScript enabled. Tags: Events Tesla Model S.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Plugin Tesla 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

MARCH 20, 2009

The first batch of Mini Es has arrived in the US. A sharp-eyed ‘Revenge’ fan sent us these exclusive pictures from a holding facility in Central California, where the cars are being prepped for delivery. BMW have promised 500 cars for the US market - and judging by what we saw, most of them are already here and ready for roll out. Watch this space for delivery news.

Mini E 100

Mini E BMW California Production 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

We want you to know about a new website and community for people who are passionate about Electric Vehicles. We’re excited to be a part of: EV Driven. EV Driven aggregates the latest content from all these electric car blogs: * Creative Greenius. * DIY Electric Car. * Electric Car Blog. * Electric Cars are for Girls. * Green Car Congress. * Green Gearhead. * My Green Wheels. * Open Source Civic EV Kit. * Plug In Partners. * Plugs and Cars. * Porsche 914 EV Conversion. * Revenge of the Elec

DIY 100

DIY Congress Kits Porsche 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 5, 2009

Plug In America's Inaugural EV Parade West rally - Photo courtesy of Dave Brown. Regular readers of this blog will know all about Plug in America’s triumphant Inaugural Parade in Santa Monica, CA a few weeks back. Now here’s a chance to enjoy some video from the event. . A final count of 77 electric vehicles and over 250 people participated in the rally and subsequent parade.

Plug-in 100

Plug-in Plug Jordan America 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

FEBRUARY 5, 2009

We have TWO reports from guest bloggers who attended the Aptera in the Wild EVent Thursday night at Smooth’s Sports Grille in Long Beach, CA. Also embedded below is a recent Aptera 2e demo ride video (with founder Steve Fambro) from the 2009 TED conference (held in Long Beach, CA) recently uploaded by Aptera forum member Josh. Guest Blogger - Jenean Smith.

Aptera 100

Aptera Long Beach 2009 Personal 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 31, 2009

Welcome back to guest blogger Andrew Grin … Andrew Grin and his modified Hyundai Tuscon. As a new driver, learning on the roads of Kansas City, I pass by Suburbans and Tahoes on a daily basis. “Who Killed the Electric Car?&# made me realize the huge impact that these big SUV’s have on our environment and our country. The film inspired me then as a young 14 year-old to take a stand against the flawed status quo.

Tucson 100

Tucson Kansas City Tahoe Convert 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 21, 2009

Chris Paine in the Whole Life Times. The Whole Life Times just published an Interview with Chris : The Electric Car Returns (and This Time It’s Personal). Filmmaker Chris Paine, director of Who Killed the Electric Car? and its forthcoming sequel, talks to us about the fate of GM, the downfall of hydrogen and why electric cars truly are making a comeback By Siel.

EV1 100

EV1 Los Angeles Hydrogen GM 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

JANUARY 22, 2009

Paul Guzyk and Daniel Sherwood of 3Prong Power. Photograph by Chris Duffey. 3Prong Power converts existing Toyota Priuses into plug-in hybrids that can run entirely on electricity. The company launched last month at Green Motors in Berkeley, California. But it now looks like the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is about to adopt some new regulations which could put it out of business quickly. 3Prong says the two new sets of regulations, scheduled to be voted on at CARB’s January 2

Prius 100

Prius Plug-in Plug Gasoline-Electric 100