Nissan's Electric Car

Honda Insight first hybrid to rank top in Japan(May 11) - Honda Motor Co said on Monday its new Insight model became the first hybrid to be crowned Japan's best-selling car last month. The Insight went on sale in Japan in early February as Honda's first real attempt to challenge Toyota Motor Corp's dominance in the gasoline-electric hybrid segment. Complete Story

Nissan's electric car shows great promise(May 10) - If Nissan was just beginning a comprehensive electric vehicle program that includes various types of hybrids and Chevy Volt-like extended-range electric vehicle, I would stand up and applaud. The prototype Cube EV I drove around a parking lot is absolutely brilliant. Complete Story

Mini E lease program has electric vehicle fans all charged up(May 10) - In the next few weeks, 450 consumers in California, New York and New Jersey will begin picking up fully electric Mini coupes, charging them at home and using them as their daily commuters for the next year. They'll pay $850 a month, plus taxes and insurance, for the right to drive the first highway-legal electric cars that don't cost more than $100,000 to hit the streets in more than a dozen years. Complete Story

The New Micro EVs: 6 Subcompact Electric Vehicles to Watch(May 10) - A growing number of automakers, including General Motors subsidiary Vauxhall, Ford, Norway’s Think Global, Toyota, Daimler and others are developing “subcompact” (tiny) electric vehicles that, with four wheels and enough power in many cases for highway speeds, won’t look or drive like your granddaddy’s golf cart. Complete Story

U.S. Batteries for First U.S. Plug-in Hybrid(May 9) - The Fisker Automotive Karma, which looks like it will be the first plug-in hybrid sold in the United States, could be powered by lithium ion batteries from Enerdel, based in Indianapolis. Complete Story

Ford converts SUV plant to produce its first electric car(May 9) - In a highly symbolic move, auto giant Ford announced yesterday that it is to invest $550m in converting a Michigan plant currently used to manufacture SUVs into a factory specialising in small, fuel-efficient cars that will also produce its first electric vehicle. Complete Story

Renault Unveils Prototype Be Bop Z.E. Electric Car: The Shape of Things to Come?(May 9) - Renault just pulled the covers off its technology demonstrator Be Bop Z.E. all-electric car. It's going to tour Europe to show off its cleverness, and its drive train will actually end up in future Renault EVs from 2011 onwards. Complete Story

David Letterman, electric car evangelist?(May 9) - Jay Leno is usually the late-night host that comes to mind when discussing matters automotive. But his biggest competitor took a turn in the driver’s seat last week when he hosted Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk on CBS’s “Late Night With David Letterman.” Complete Story

Raser Technologies UNVEILS 100+ MPG PLUG-IN HYBRID Hummer(May 5) - Raser developed the 100+ mpg Electric H3 demonstration vehicle working closely with Hummer. Just one year ago at the 2008 SAE World Congress, Raser and its development partner FEV Inc., Auburn Hills, MI, a leading automotive integrator, introduced Raser’s E-REV power train, similar in function to the Chevy Volt but designed for use in a variety of larger full-sized SUVs and light trucks. Complete Story

New battery could steer China into lead in electric-car market(May 4) - The E6 can go 400 km on a charge, but it's designed for 10-minute, 50-per-cent charges, that will last 200 km. The problem is, an ordinary wall socket won't do the job; the E6 needs a dedicated, high voltage charging station. Complete Story

Electric car needs some juice(May 5) - Tesla Motor's Model S show electric car, a lovely, porpoise-sleek design from the Silicon Valley automaker, is just barely ambulatory. The windows are fixed. The power-steering motor groans. The seating position and visibility make a Lamborghini feel spacious. Complete Story

Auburn High students unveil electric car(May 4) - Gov. Bob Riley introduces himself to AHS student Dustin Burroughs during the premier of Auburn High’s new electric car, a street-legal automobile built by members of Byron Williams Industrial Mechanics and Pneumatics class with sponsorship from Alabama Power. Complete Story

Electric cars rolling off assembly line soon(May 4) - Nissan said recently it has developed a mass-market electric car, due out by the end of next year, that will seat five and can have its battery charged to 80 percent of capacity in 26 minutes. It will have all the amenities buyers want, Nissan says, such as navigation, super stereo and heated seats, and will cost between $20,000 and $30,000. Complete Story

Car maker Zenn shares spike on battery results(May 1) - Zenn Motor Co. Inc. shares shot nearly 70 per cent higher yesterday morning after a partner of the electric car maker announced positive performance data on a ground-breaking battery it is developing. Zenn, which makes low-speed, short-range electric cars, sees much of its future hinging on an ultracapacitor being developed by Texas-based EEStor Inc. That energy storage system has the potential to charge faster and be a fraction of the cost and size of traditional chemical batteries. Complete Story

Solar car crew showered with help(May 1) - The second and third day solar car driver Marcelo da Luz and his crew spent in New Orleans were kinder than the first. On Monday, the day after a car burglar stole $10,000 worth of valuables from the solar team almost immediately after their arrival in New Orleans, they received a pair of $500 checks -- one from a local solar power company -- and a laptop computer from a doctor. Complete Story

Drivers could get a charge out of Chevrolet Volt(May 1) - Based on the thin evidence available, folks who buy or lease the Chevrolet Volt electric car — scheduled to go on sale in November 2010 — should be surprised and pleased. Complete Story

All-electric Mini and Ford Fusion Hybrid(May 1) - It's not every day that you get to drive an all-electric car and a brand new gas-electric hybrid. But that's just what I did last week when I took both the Electric Mini Cooper and 2010 Ford Fusion for a spin. Complete Story

West New York students convert a gas car to electric(May 1) - Tech ed teacher Ron Grosinger and a group of students at Memorial High School in West New York are almost finished with a project that cost about $14,000 and involved hundreds of hours of work: Converting a used car into an electric car. Complete Story

Green car electrifies middle school students (May 1) - Professor Ziyad Salameh's self-designed, self-built electric car was on display yesterday for the students and teachers of Nock Middle School in a presentation about the future of green vehicles and the importance of renewable energy. Complete Story

GM shouldn't have crushed its EV1: Tesla Motors CEO(April 30) - Elon Musk, the Chief Executive of electric automaker Tesla Motors said Tuesday that General Motors should have continued introducing new electric cars after its EV1 models were produced in the 1990s, adding that he hopes that his company’s cars will help spur an electric car revolution.   Complete Story

Nissan plans to start selling electric car in Seattle next year(April 29) - Seattle will be one of the first cities where Nissan sells a new electric car, and the city will help make the vehicles viable here, officials from the city and auto maker said Tuesday. Complete Story

Calling Cliff Clavin: Chrysler Unveils Electric Postal Van(April 23) - Chrysler has announced that it intends to apply for a federal grant to provide the U.S. Postal Service with a fleet of all-electric versions of its Town and Country minivans. The proposal is being made in partnership with several major utility companies, including Duke Energy and ConEd, who will provide the infrastructure needed to charge the vehicles. Complete Story

Nissan shows electric car test model in US(April 23) - Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen test-drove a Nissan Motor Co. electric vehicle at the company's North American headquarters Wednesday, pledging the state's support in the automaker's effort to put the cars on the road soon. Complete Story

Aptera electric car -- if you want to be truly different(April 22) - The one thing that auto makers have found, in the more than 100 years since the industry got on its feet, is that there is almost always a customer for nearly anything you make. Complete Story

Hummer could be 'greener than a Prius'(April 21) - Raser Technologies Inc. unveiled Monday a new plug-in hybrid extended-range electric vehicle technology able to transform a variety of full-sized SUV's including the Hummer, and light trucks into some of the cleanest vehicles. Complete Story

China Puts Its Electric Vehicles on Center Stage(April 21) - Chinese auto makers are unveiling a slew of battery-powered cars and other energy-efficient vehicles at this week's auto show here that could make them more globally competitive and eventually help address the air pollution that chokes many Chinese cities. Complete Story

Why Germany Lags in Electric Cars(April 21) - In the country where the automobile was born, there are practically no measures to promote alternatives to gas-powered engines. This is all the more amazing when you consider that the German government has just made another €3.5 billion available for the so-called "scrapping bonus," whereby motorists receive €2,500 when they scrap an old car and buy a new one. Complete Story

Dodge Circuit: new electric sports car(April 20) - Does 200 mpg and 0-60 in 5.8 seconds for two sound good? Let me introduce you to the Dodge Circuit, Chrysler's first electric sports car. Originally unveiled in 2009, it looks like this once proto-type car is going to be stamped for public use. Complete Story

Bright Automotive unveils 100 mpg hybrid truck(April 21) - Anderson, Ind.-based startup Bright Automotive on Tuesday unveiled the IDEA, a 100-mpg plug-in hybrid electric van that it is looking to sell to fleet customers such as businesses and government agencies. Complete Story

U.K.'s Bee.One 3G Enabled Electric Car Won't Cost Much(April 19) - Electric cars are clearly all the rage: a new U.K. start-up company is getting its Bee.One electric vehicle ready, scheduled to hit the roads sometime around 2011. But unlike many other EV cars out there, the One is going to be as cheap as chips. It's slated to cost around $17,000--and that's for a five-door, four-seater family vehicle. Complete Story

GM plans to lose money on its electric Chevy Volt(April 13) - You would think that General Motors would pretty much have given up on the idea of selling cars that can't make money. But that's not the case with the Chevrolet Volt, its electric car due to hit the highways next year. Complete Story

Better Batteries: General Electric, A123 and the Power Grid(April 13) - A123 has been in the news lately because it makes batteries for hybrid and electric cars—Chrysler, for instance, just picked A123 as its battery supplier for its slate of electric vehicles. The $69 million invested by GE and others will let A123 expand factories to ramp up production of auto batteries. Complete Story

Inizio EVS Makers’ Make Bold “Ferrari Fast” Electric Car Claims(April 13) - EV Innovations, an electric car outfit ran by a fellow named Ron Cerven is pretty blatant with it’s claims for the Inizio EVS: “ The 100% battery-powered supreme sports car can reach up to 170 mph and go from 0-60 in 4 seconds. The screaming-fast dream ride has an expanded drive range up to 200 miles.” Complete Story

The Cost of Going Electric (April 12) - A St Petersburg, Florida company -- Rebirth Auto, LLC -- is advertising on EBay a kit that will allow you, with some labor and a few bars of angle iron for the battery racks, to convert the original VW 'Beetle' into an electric car, Complete Story

2010 Prius: A Great Vintage Just Got Better(April 11) - Here's the central question: Why after five years development does the new 2010 Prius get only three and half miles per gallon better fuel economy than the model it replaces? Complete Story

China Outlines Plans for Making Electric Cars(April 10) - Senior Chinese officials outlined on Friday how they aimed to turn their country into the world’s largest producer of electric cars, including a focus on consumer choice rather than corporate subsidies. Complete Story

ZENN looks for a spark to ignite shares(April 9) - The issue is that EEStor's technology - which, unlike the lead-acid batteries in ZENN's current cars, is based on a so-called ultracapacitor made with barium titanate - remains cloaked in secrecy. Right now, ZENN investors have little more than promises, which may explain why the stock has languished. Complete Story

GM and Segway’s P.U.M.A: City Vehicle of the Future or Next-Gen Golf Cart?(April 8) - General Motors and Segway will today announce that the companies have teamed up to create a new prototype electric vehicle designed for urban transportation. Called project P.U.M.A (short for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) the two-wheeled vehicle uses the same dynamic stabilization technology found in the current Segway, but is large enough to carry two people and can reach decidedly non-Segwaylike speeds of up to 35 mph and run an hour on top speed on a single charge. Complete Story

Fisker Auto pockets funding for electric Karma(April 7) - Electric car maker Fisker Automotive said on Tuesday it has reached an agreement to raise $85 million for additional development and manufacturing of its plug-in electric luxury sedan. Complete Story

Chrysler taps A123 Systems as electric car battery supplier(April 7) - Chrysler LLC has signed A123 Systems as its battery supplier in preparation for putting electric vehicles on the road next year. A123 will supply lithium-ion batteries and with Chrysler will develop the battery modules and packs for use in a family of electric and range-extended electric vehicles. Complete Story

Segway, GM, Develop Not-Quite Electric Car(April 7) - GM and Segway have announced the Project P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility) prototype, a two-passenger version of the famous Segway that can reach speeds of up to 35 mph and last from 25 to 35 miles on a single charge. Complete Story

Chinese Scare: The Electric Cars Are Coming!(April 6) - The New York Times last week reported that China plans to boost its annual production of electric and hybrid cars to 500,000 in the next two years from just 2,100 last year. Complete Story

The Fed's Bad Bet on GM's Electric Car(April 5) - It’s a lot easier to waste money when it’s not your money, which is probably why out of all the recommendations made by the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, one not being followed by the Obama adminsitration is the recommendation for curtailing research and development of General Motors' electric car, the Volt. Complete Story

Tesla Roadster: A car with zip and zab(April 5) - It had to be the car: Bright red. Sleek and curvy. Built for speed, it can accelerate from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds and top out at 125 miles an hour. Complete Story

Mitsubishi Motors to test-drive electric car in Canada in November(April 5) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Tuesday its "i MiEV" electric car will be test-driven in Canada as early as in November in order to study its market acceptability across the globe. Complete Story

$50,000 Electric Ford Coming in 2010, 170 MPG Hybrid in 2012(April 5) - During an exclusive interview with FOXNews.com, Lisa Drake, Chief Engineer for Ford Global Hybrid and Battery Electric Vehicles told the FOX Car Report LIVE! program that her company’s upcoming electric vehicle will be priced between $50,000 and $70,000 when it goes on sale in 2010. Complete Story

This Earth Day, The Electric Car Rides Again (April 5) - It might be surprising to learn that electric motive power is not a new concept. In fact, the first electric vehicle, or EV, might be considered a small railway operated by a miniature electric motor built in 1835. Complete Story

Detroit Electric Is Back, with Affordable Electric Cars(April 5) - The company plans to employ its patented electric drive system along with long-lasting Li-ion batteries, utilizing two Proton vehicle platforms. This scheme, Detroit Electric says, should yield 270,000 "Pure Electric Vehicles", manufactured in India and sold in Europe, UK, China and the United States. Complete Story

Back-to-back hybrid smack: Prius vs. Insight(April 5) - n the handful of people who might actually enjoy seeing gasoline return to $4 a gallon, let's include marketing managers for the 2010 Honda Insight and 2010 Toyota Prius, a pair of all-new hybrids set to do battle this spring. Complete Story

2008 Monthly Electric Car News
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