2008 July Electric and Hybrid Car News -- Electric & Hybrid Cars

Allied E7 Electric Taxi Due Out
October 2008

After Bike-Sharing Success, Paris Considers Electric Cars(July 31) - NY Times - Parisians and tourists so eagerly embraced a citywide bike-sharing plan that was begun a year ago that Mayor Bertrand Delanoë is proposing a four-wheeled version, using electric cars. Complete Story

Local electric car dealership to open(July 31) - California - Kent Collins has been working the past four months to open Chico Eco Cars, a small soon-to-be-dealership on Entler Avenue off the Midway. Complete Story

Tata electric car coming soon (July 30) - India - After proving its engineering capabilities through Nano, the cheapest car in the world, Tata Motors, India's largest automotive company, has set its sight on electric cars. Complete Story

Plug-In Cars Zoom Forward(July 29) - Forbes - As gasoline has risen to nearly $5 per gallon, Kramer's advocacy of plug-in hybrid electric cars has caught the public's--and automakers'--attention. Indeed, who wouldn't want a car that uses a fraction of the gas of traditional cars and twice the equivalent mileage of regular hybrid cars? Complete Story

Only 25 Tesla Roadsters Left On Sale For 2009(July 28) - Gizmodo - Tesla Motors has finally begun deliveries of its awesome 100-percent electric Tesla Roadster, but eco-conscious sports car fanatics willing to plunk down the $109,000 need to reserve one quick. Complete Story

California's Newest Green Product - A Hybrid School Bus - Saves Fuel, Reduces Emissions(July 28) - Fox - Imagine the environmental impact if all of California's school buses were able to double their fuel efficiency and eliminate up to 40 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. That's not the premise for a futuristic Hollywood movie, it's reality for one California school district. Complete Story

The Economics Of Buying A Hybrid(July 27) - Design News - If you’re wondering whether it’s finally time to buy a hybrid vehicle, then you’re not alone. J.D. Power & Associates, the market research company, recently published results of a survey showing that 72% of consumers say they are “definitely/probably” interested in having hybrid-electric technology. Complete Story

Toyota raises Prius price by $500 for 2009 in US(July 26) - AP - The new price is a 2.2 percent increase over the current models. Prices will range from $22,000 for the standard Prius to $24,270 for a touring model, the company's U.S. sales unit said. Complete Story

Electric carmaker Aptera raises $24 million round(July 26) - California - Aptera has set the end of this year for the release of its all-electric Typ-1, a two-seater, three-wheeled electric car whose streamlined shape might look at home in a Jetsons cartoon. Each street-legal vehicle would cost less than $30,000. Complete Story

TATA Motors to develop Electric Car(July 25) - India - Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Group on Thursday at an annual general meeting (AGM), announced that Tata Motors is going to develop an electric car (e-car) with the collaboration of Norway based company for that country, which is likely to roll out there in this year, while in other markets it would run on the road somewhere in the next financial year. Complete Story

Denali National Park Goes Greener With New Hybrid Commercial Bus(July 24) - PRNewswire - Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus.   Complete Story

Duke Energy teams with General Motors on electric-car project(July 24) - Business Courier - General Motors Corp. and more than 30 utilities, including Duke Energy Corp., will work together on a project to integrate plug-in hybrid electric vehicles into the grid. The cars would use domestically produced electricity and cost less to run than traditional cars using petroleum fuels.   Complete Story

Nice to launch the Ze-O electric MPV(July 23) - UK - The £14,000 Ze-O is coming to the UK this autumn and is being marketed as the ‘first all-electric car available within a family budget’.
Nice says the entry level Ze-O will be able to do up to 65 miles of city driving before needing to be recharged, and it has a top speed of 55mph. Complete Story

GM Sets Launch Target for Production Volt Electric Car(July 23) - EV World - General Motor's Vice President for Global Product Development John Lauckner informally announced to a gathering of journalists prior to the start of the Plug-In 2008 Conference here that the company has set November 2010 as the "stretch" date for when the first production Volt E-Flex range extended electric car will roll off the assembly line. Complete Story

MyCar is a stylish, all-electric city car(July 22) - UK - MyCar will start from £8,995 and comes with a two-year warranty. It is available in seven colour options, albeit every MyCar will be ‘green’. That’s because there are no emissions. It’s an electric car, so there isn’t even a tailpipe. Complete Story

Electric Lightning sportscar, due to be unveiled(July 22) - UK - That vehicle is the Electric Lightning sportscar, due to be unveiled to the press formally at 1pm today. The Reg wasn't able to get a sneak preview of the bodywork, but we have just had a chat with Chris Dell, MD of the Lightning Car Co. He tells us that as of one o'clock, car fanciers will be able to feast their eyes on new Lightning visuals at the company website, just as soon as the hacks here at Motor Show press day. Complete Story

Coulomb unveils electric car charging stations(July 22) - AP - The city of San Jose, Calif., will be the first to test electric-car charging stations from start-up Coulomb Technologies. The company's products include 110-volt outlets that can be outfitted in public and mounted on poles, such as streetlights. Complete Story

Conference panelists see car battery breakthrough(July 22) - AP - The lithium-ion battery, already a fixture in personal electronic devices, soon will become the answer to high oil prices and environmental concerns as it bulks up to power rechargeable electric vehicles, government, university and industry panelists predicted Monday. Complete Story

Future is nearly now for plug-in hybrids(July 21) - California - Like traditional hybrids, a plug-in hybrid has both batteries and a gasoline engine, and can operate on either or both. Unlike traditional hybrids, plug-ins have larger battery packs and a plug that allows for household charging, meaning they can travel much farther on electricity. Complete Story

Toyota to build fuel-sipping Prius hybrid in US(July 20) - AFP - Japanese auto giant Toyota said Thursday that it plans to start assembling its fuel-sipping Prius hybrid car in the United States with production slated to begin in late 2010. Complete Story

World’s fastest production car goes electric(July 17) - Car Central - The Ultimate Aero EV, one of the first ‘green’ supercars, will begin testing in February next year and is expected to be in full production by the fourth quarter of 2009. Complete Story

2008 Zero X Electric Motorcycle Test Drive(July 17) - Popular Mechanics - At 140 pounds, the American-made, $7450 Zero X weighs in about 100 pounds lighter than a typical 250 cc dirt bike. The weight savings come from the green wheelie machine’s diminutive size and 6061-T6 aluminum frame, which tips the scales at a feathery 18 pounds. Complete Story

Matsushita to Build New Lithium-Ion Battery Plant(July 17) - Japan - The facility, which will be capable of producing up to 50 million units of such batteries a month, will be one of the largest lithium-ion battery plants in the world, according to the officials. It is slated to go on stream in fiscal 2010 at the earliest, they said. Complete Story

High Schoolers Design Enclosed Electric Motorcycle(July 15) - Ecogeek - Using 60 volts from lithium phosphate batteries, the Briggs and Stratton ETEK panckac-style permanent magnetic electric motor can get the little bike up to 60 miles an hour, and it can go about 40 miles on a charge. Complete Story

California to get electric BMW Minis(July 16) - The Age - BMW is to produce 500 electric-powered Minis for the California market to comply with new state regulations that require automakers to offer zero-emissions vehicles, the Los Angeles Times has reported. Complete Story

Chrysler plans electric vehicles, could be ready in 3-5 years(July 14) - Detriot Free Press - "ENVI is currently developing electric vehicles for the three Chrysler brands and is planning on product within three to five years," Nick Cappa, a Chrysler spokesman, told the Free Press in an e-mail. Complete Story

Review: Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter(July 14) - Bike Trader - Vectrix think they have the answer, enter to the world of personal transport choices the Vectrix electric maxi-scooter. Complete Story

2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid Review(July 13) - Auto123 - This is still the good old Camry as we know it. Aside from the powertrain, the only difference separating the hybrid from the gas-powered model is the pair of light-emitting diode (LED) rear tail lamps. Of course, there are subtle "Hybrid Synergy Drive" badges on the front fenders, but overall, the bodywork is identical, with the same flowing design and timeless appeal that have made its predecessors famous. Complete Review

Tesla Motors reveals plans for affordable, completely electric car(July 11) - Tiger Weekly - Tesla has recently announced that they’ll also be making that a reality. By 2010, they plan to have the $60,000 model out, and then use profits from that model to fund the production of the $30,000 model in 2012. Complete Story

Mitsubishi to Begin i MiEV Electric Car Sales in 2009(July 10) - Trading Markets - Mitsubishi Motors will start selling its i MiEV plug-in electric vehicle to retail customers next summer, a year ahead of schedule. The automaker had initially planned to start leasing the minicar-based vehicle to businesses and municipalities next summer and to wait until 2010 for the retail launch. But it moved up the retail release in light of smoother-than-expected preparations for mass production and the favorable sales conditions created by runaway gasoline prices. Complete Story

Renault, Nissan To Launch Electric Car In Portugal In 2011(July 9) - Japan - Under an agreement reached between the French car maker, its Japanese partner and the Portuguese government, Nissan and Renault will roll out a zero-emission vehicle in the country on the Iberian Peninsula in 2011. Complete Story

Lightning GT electric car to debut this month(July 8) - UK - Lightning’s GT marks the first real competitor to the Tesla Roadster, and raises hope that more will follow. The company first started taking orders for the car late last year and will soon be ready to start deliveries of its first vehicles. Complete Story

The Next Generation of Cars: Gas-Free(July 8) - Motley Fool - But for one high-profile start-up, fully electric cars are hardly a dream. Elon Musk -- the same guy who co-founded PayPal and later sold it to eBay -- has built a car that is likely making Detroit sweat bullets by the gallon. Complete Story

Eestor to prove Chevy Volt obsolete before launch?(July 8) - Texas - Eestor is a Texas based company that in the next several weeks is expected to “. . . release the results of independent third-party testing of its electrical energy storage unit, which aims to replace the electrochemical batteries we now use in everything from hybrid cars to laptop computers,” according to the Financial Post. Complete Story

Electric ride powering a transportation revolution(July 7) - Canada - The Solar Taxi made a pit stop in Vancouver last week. At the wheel was Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer, who set off from Lucerne almost a year ago in his quest to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric car. Complete Story

New law will give tiny cars big push in Tennessee(July 7) - USA - Until recently, state law limited his mini Hummer H3 — and other entries in a class of cars known as the neighborhood electric vehicle — to 25 mph. Plus, he could travel only on roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less. Complete Story

Prius hybrid to get rooftop solar panel(July 7) - UK - Motor mammoth Toyota, maker of the famed Prius hybrid car, is rumoured to be thinking about fitting some new Prius models with solar panels. The possible move is unlikely to seriously affect the car's fuel consumption. Complete Story

Ferrari developing hybrid models(July 7) - Car Central - “We are currently working on the development of a Ferrari that will use alternative energy sources and which will be based on what we are doing at the moment in Formula 1,” he revealed, referring to the new Kinetic Energy Recycling System (KERS) that works on the principle of brake-energy-regeneration. Complete Story

Tesla to build electric car factory in Bay Area(July 2) - California -In a surprise move, Tesla Motors will build its electric-car factory in the Bay Area, not New Mexico as previously announced, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today. Complete Story

Hybrid Tax Credits for S.U.V.’s?(July 2) - New York Times - Buy a hybrid! Use its tax credit to pay its gas-guzzler tax! Wonder if that would be an effective advertising tool for selling multi-ton, fuel-swilling S.U.V.’s and luxury cars? Complete Story

New Fuel-Efficient Car: You Better Th!nk!(July 2) - RiverWired - In April 2008, upstart car company Think (also spelled Th!nk) made its first move toward invading North American shores with its compact, fuel-effiecient, city-friendly cars. It partnered with several U.S. companies, including General Electric and lithium-ion battery producer A123, as part of its strategy for world domination. Complete Story

'It's hybrid hysteria' for buyers seeking the hard-to-find Prius(July 2) - Dallas - Toyota's Prius hybrid already owns the so-called nerd niche – the legions of greenies, techies and trendies smitten with the little gas-electric sedan.   Complete Story

VW to launch electric car in 2010 (July 2) - EarthTimes - Volkswagen will launch its first electric car based on the "Up!" minicar concept in 2010, the company's CEO Martin Winterkorn announced recently. Speaking at a function in Lisbon, Winterkorn said the company was planning a series of measures to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of its vehicles. Complete Story

2008 Monthly Electric Car News
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