Electric Car Blogging

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Japan

According to a Financial Times online article, the answer to the question in the headline is yes. The EV revolution will require a lot of participants, and editor J. Soble summarizes the recent efforts from four Japanese automakers, the postal service, a utility company and the Japanese government, which are all working towards a future with a lot of electric cars on the road.

First, we have the expectations that Mitsubishi MiEV, Subaru R1e, Nissan-Renault will continue their EV projects in Japan (not just in Europe and Israel). Of course, we also await the plug-in version of the Toyota Prius. As for Japan’s postal service, the company announced it will convert its 21,000 vehicle fleet to run on electrons. Utility Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has announced the development of new electric stations that could charge an EV enough to run for 40 km (26 miles) in five minutes, or up to 60 km (40 miles) in ten minutes. The company sees them in, for instance, supermarkets. The government is helping build the infrastructure as well: The Kanagawa prefecture, the region adjoining Tokyo, is providing 150 recharging stations in an effor to fulfil the Japanese Government’s announcement that half of the new cars sold in 2020 will be electric. Thanks to Mark for the tip.

[Source: FT]

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Th!nk (Think), USA

Click above for more shots of the Th!nk Ox and City

Th!nk Global recently hired a new President and COO named Richard Canny who had previously been Ford’s Worldwide Director of Strategic Planning (details in the Th!nk release after the break). It didn’t take too long for Canny to announce that EnerDel would be ramping up its supply of lithium ion batteries for the Norwegian electric automaker. Th!nk has ordered million worth of battery packs from EnerDel, which equates to about 5,000 units. Each pack contains about 27 kWh of power.

Th!nk’s current plans call for an electric car to be made in the U.S. for less than K. Yeah, we are suitably excited by that prospect. EnerDel is just one of three companies vying for the right to supply the batteries for the new Th!nk cars, though its chances look fairly decent, not least because the company has gotten tax breaks from the City of Indianapolis to expand there and hire 850 new workers.

[Sources: Th!nk, EnerDel, The Indy Star]

Continue reading EnerDel ramping up battery production to supply Th!nk

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Miles EV

click to enlarge

It’s not all beer-powered trucks at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. Aside from the Daily Show’s interest in electric vehicles and Daryl Hannah, there are more alternatives in action. Like the pure electric vehicles from Miles EV that are in town to help volunteers get around the downtown area without using gasoline. Miles PR says that the Democratic party’s “Denver Director of Greening” (how do you get that job?) thought the Miles vehicles - a ZX40S and a MILES ZX40ST Work Truck - would work well to move people and goods. Read all the glowing words after the jump. Tom Tomorrow has been enjoying the Greenest. Convention. Ever. as well.

[Source: Miles EV]

Continue reading Miles EVs doing Mile High duty for Dems in Denver

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Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

click to enlarge

When Daryl Hannah sold her biodiesel El Camino on eBay earlier this year we didn’t think it would herald a full-scale shift from biofuels to electric cars, but at the very least it moves her more into the hybrid zone (i.e., she supports multiple fuel alternatives, including this hybrid bike). Whatever the case, Hannah is currently in full-EV promotion mode and recently taped a segment for The Daily Show with new guy Wyatt Cenac (who doesn’t know he’s adopted).

The taping happened as part of the Electric Vehicle Rolling Showcase with our friend Paul Scott (the guy on the right in this picture) who is in Denver as part of the Democratic Convention happening this week. Paul describes how the Hannah interview went after the jump. Paul works with Plug In America, a tireless advocacy group that promotes electric vehicles and is working with Chris Paine on the sequel to Who Killed The Electric Car?

Aside from the Daily Show excitement, Paul was glad that, “the McCain supporters were there to supply some much needed humor.” Sounds like a fun time.

[Source: Paul Scott / Plug-In America]

Continue reading Electric Vehicle Rolling Showcase brings Daryl Hannah to the Daily Show

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Jeep, North America, USA

Click above for more high-res shots of the Electruck

Back in the ’70s (when the Big 3 were really the Big 4), American Motors flirted a bit with electric vehicles. Perhaps their greatest successes came from the Jeep side of the ailing brand. Known internally as the DJ-5E and to the outside world as the Electruck, the E-Jeep used a 20-horsepower compound wind DC Motor made by Gould. That same company provided the batteries, an odd set of two 27 volt lead-acids which were later replaced by the Postal Service with Eagle-Picher batteries. Capable of hitting 40 miles per hour for up to 29 miles, the USPS got plenty of use out of the three-doored wrong-side drive EVs.

Over three-hundred-fifty electric Jeeps were sold to the U.S. Postal Service along with five sent across the border to Canada. Out of those five, only one is known to still exist and it now being lovingly restored by its current owner. The car is expected to be shown afterwards, so keep your eyes open for this unique piece of history in the next few months. Click here for plenty of information and to track the progress of the build. Thanks for the tip, Glen!

[Source: Electric Jeep]

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Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

OK, so FOSH got our attention last week by kinda, sorta promising the sky when it comes to green car dreams. But, reading their words again, it’s painfully obvious that all of the “mights” and “coulds” in that announcement were important for the smokescreen that these jokers were readying. Their first self-imposed deadline came and went without any real information and a second deadline announced for last night. What happened? Here’s what ABG reader Dave wrote to us last night:

OK, So I thought I would check out the unveiling at FOSH Automotive that was to happen tonight at 9:00pm CST. At about 10 minutes past they put up a page on the website of an aborted fetus and ranted and raved about Obama. FOSH automotive is a total hoax, scam, you name it. Who ever is internet savvy should report them to their webhosts and have the site pulled down. I don’t know how to go about this - otherwise I’d do it.

It’s true, the new FOSH site (which I’m hesitant to link to so as to avoid giving them even more publicity) is an anti-Obama, anti-abortion rant. Here’s what the site’s writers have to say now:

Disclaimer - We are a real business, but we do not operate under “Fosh Automotive”. We are not associated with any business, website, or person that promoted this site. All information found on our site is of our opinion. Also, there is an unintentional error in our domain registry information and the number listed is a digit off. In this article we will also explain what we will be doing with the email list we have for our “testers”.

For those that believe we are pulling a hoax, you’re dead wrong. The real hoax is barack hussein obama and we are trying to make the world a better place by showing you how easy some people fall for what they want to believe. The United States of America, without the socialist, entitlement supporting, flip-flopping, lying, checkered past barack hussein obama as our leader, is better off, as is the world.

It goes on from there. Read on after the jump to find out what FOSH will do with all of the names/emails of people who signed up with them. Hint: it’s got nothing to do with cars.

[Source: FOSH website]

Continue reading Fosh Automotive = Hoax (and an anti-Barack Obama one at that)

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

Ever since Tesla Motors started letting outsiders actually drive the Roadster late last year the reviews of the over-the-road experience have been largely favorable. In recent months, Tesla has been taking the Roadster on a European tour trying to drum up sales on the continent. One of the people who drove the Roadster was Guido Reinking, editor of Automobilewoche. Reinking praised the performance saying “the car offered the emotional, heart-pounding ride of a street racer.” However, he also highlighted powertrain and battery issues we haven’t heard about before, aside from the well-documented transmission issues.

Of the three cars available for the test drive, one apparently didn’t run at all, while a second reportedly emitted smoke from the battery compartment. Reinking uses these issues to highlight the problem of battery reliability and why the Roadster might not be ready for mass production. However, we checked with Tesla SVP of marketing Darryl Siry who was also on hand for these 16 days of media and prospective customer drives. According to Darryl, two of the three cars on hand were equipped with the new 1.5 drivetrain while the third had the 1.0 interim drivetrain. Siry tells us that the car that wouldn’t go had a faulty parking pawl sensor. The parking pawl is essentially a locking mechanism for the transmission that keeps the car from rolling when the gear lever is in park just as it does on a conventional automatic. The sensor erroneously detected park being engaged and prevented the car from moving. Read on after the jump for more on the “smoky” battery.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Continue reading Tesla Roadsters reportedly experience glitches during Euro test drives

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Filed under: Diesel, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Hydrogen, GM, HCCI, Lightweight

Click above for more early images of the production Chevy Volt

It’s no secret that we appreciate what General Motors has been able to do with just two-liters. The direct injected and turbocharged mill powering the rear-wheel drive Solstice GXP and Sky Redline along with the front-wheel drive HHR SS and Cobalt SS models is an excellent one. What’s more, its 260 horsepower represents 130-horsepower per liter, the highest ever from a GM production engine and on par with the best from the world. Expect to see more of this kind of technology from new GM engines along with more six-speed transmissions. Also expect an ever-higher percentage of aluminum to appear in all engines from all manufacturers.

GM also has plans for diesels and hybrids. The upcoming 4.5-liter diesel for full-size trucks and SUVs manages to weigh about seventy-five pounds less than other diesels of similar size. On the hybrid front, Automotive News says that GM will offer one new hybrid per quarter for the next four years — that’s sixteen new hybrids. That number would not include the Volt, a car which GM considers fully electric with a range-extender, and is something we’ve heard for a while now.

GM is also hard at work on HCCI engines, which we have covered extensively and offer the promise of diesel-like economy with the ability to use gasoline. Fuel cells are still on the table, though we’d imagine that today’s tough financial times could slow down the development of GM’s hydrogen plans. We’ll take the trade-off of an HCCI engine over a hydrogen fuel cell as it would likely have a much larger impact and be ready for primetime much sooner.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

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