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

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Toyota cuts 2009 sales forecast, speeds up Plug-in Prius(August 29) - Forbes - Toyota said it would move forward the launch of a "plug-in" version of its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid car, which can recharged through an electric socket. It will be available to fleet customers at the end of next year, from earlier plans of 2010. Complete Story

Plug-in hybrid, electric car on Toyota agenda(August 29) - LA Times - The Japanese automaker said this week it intends to develop a small all-electric car for sale early in the next decade. Complete Story

The Hinterland 1: Electric tank-car of the future(August 28) - CNET - Existing purely as sketches, renderings, and specs at this point, the Hinterland 1 electric car looks like one part tank, one part VW bus with a pinch of bullet train added for flavor. OK, maybe two parts tank, but we really like the Hinterland 1's hyper-futuristic aesthetic. Complete Story

Triac Only Has 3 Wheels But It's Awfully Zippy (August 28) - CleanTech - The Triac is a three-wheel electric vehicle. It has a top speed of 80 MPH and a 100-mile range per charge. It takes 6 hours to charge fully. Complete Story

ZAP coming to Kentucky(August 26) - An electric-car maker will break ground Thursday on a plant in Simpson County, and eventually bring as many as 4,000 jobs to Kentucky. ZAP, a California electric car maker, will partner with Shepherdsville's Integrity Manufacturing to make up to 100,000 battery-powered vehicles a year at the facility. Complete Story

Japan fuels electric car revolution(August 26) - Financial Times - Japan is preparing for the arrival of plug-in electric cars next year with plans to build hundreds of “quick recharge” power stations and other infrastructure to accommodate the vehicles. Complete Story

Kenworth Unveils New Hybrid Truck(August 26) - Wisconsin - Truck Could Save $13,000 A Year. In September, the first-ever hybrid trucks will be available to the public. The company, Kenworth, based in Washington state will sell the vehicles. Complete Story

From gas-powered to electric auto in 36 hours flat(August 25) - Christian Science Monitor - Because he wants to make the point that, even though this may sound like rocket science, it isn’t. He wants to make this point because he is the owner of a company called Left Coast Electric, and it is his plan to mass-produce conversion kits so that just about anyone can transform any car into an electric vehicle. Complete Story

Electric sports car to be made by Tesla Motors in UK(August 25) - UK - Lotus, based in Norfolk, will have the final assembly of cars for the European market carried out in Britain. While other car companies are developing special types of lithiumion batteries for their electric vehicles, Tesla is using proprietary battery cells such as those that now power laptop computers. Complete Story

Chrysler Begins Production of Hybrid SUVs(August 24) - Michigan - Chrysler is offering the two-mode hybrid powertrain on both vehicles built at the plant, Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen. Both offer substantially improved MPG over their conventional counterparts. Complete Story

Spies Catch First Interior Shot of Next Generation Toyota Prius(August 24) - Groovy Green - Shots of the 2010 Toyota Prius first showed up online a few week ago. Judging from the photos, it was pretty clear that Toyota wasn’t straying too far from the original model’s mold. Complete Story

Electric Car from Mahindra(August 22) - India - Mahindra has announced to launch its own 4-seater electric car in India by 2010. Complete Story

Hyundai joins hybrid market(August 22) - Canada - Hyundai Motor Co. expects to release its first hybrid in the U.S. market as early as 2010, featuring cutting-edge lithium-ion battery technology. Complete Story

The DIY Hybrid(August 22) - Business Week - Robert Q. Riley Enterprises has now released construction plans based on the completed prototype of its do-it-yourself, two-passenger, XR3 plug-in hybrid, a vehicle that's capable of up to 225 miles per gallon, has a top speed of 80 mph and acceleration comparable to a conventional small car. Complete Story

Toyota gives Prius improved batteries(August 20) - CNET - Because its lithium ion battery technology is not yet ready for serial production, Toyota Division is moving ahead with hybrid vehicle programs with improved nickel-metal hydride battery packs. Complete Story

Sign up for GM's Volt(August 20) - Georgia - Join more than 33,000 others who have expressed interest in buying the new all-electric Chevrolet Volt by signing up through Lyle Dennis' GM-Volt.com. Complete Story

Tata planning electric-drive version of Nano(August 20) - India - Indian car maker Tata Motors, which is planning to produce the world's cheapest car selling at 1,700 euros ($2,600), also has plans to produce an electric-drive version, according to a German press report. Complete Story

GM set to bring Volt electric car to Europe(August 18) - UK - General Motors is planning to rebadge its Chevrolet Volt electric car as an Opel and bring it to Europe as part of the US carmaker's plans to expand the model range of its highly anticipated new vehicle. Complete Story

Tata Motors in India Planning Five Electric Models(August 18) - India -Tata Motors, which plans to deliver its first electric car by the end of this fiscal, has turned to its tried and tested Indica platform for the vehicle. According to industry sources, the company is currently working on five prototypes. Complete Story

Honda Prices New Hybrid Lower Than Prius(August 18) - AP - The new hybrid will be smaller than Honda’s Civic and will only be available with a hybrid powertrain, but it will also be priced lower than a hybrid gas-electric version of the Civic. Complete Story

The Shortlist for Tesla Factory(August 17) - California - Ever since Governor Schwarzenegger enticed Tesla to move its factory plans away from New Mexico and back to California, we’ve been waiting to hear which lucky Northern California city will get the pop of hundreds of green jobs. Complete Story

Racing for 100-mpg prize(August 17) - Ohio - The independent competition is to see who can design, build, and bring to market vehicles that get a minimum of 100 miles per gallon for 10 million dollars. Complete Story

Electric Scooter from Vectrix is Sleek, Slick(August 16) - DesignNews - Now there’s the high performance Vectrix ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle), a high performance scooter which, according to the Boston Globe, has grown its dealer network from 5 to 50 dealers in the U.S. So far, 1,000 have been shipped. Complete Story

Electric Cars South Florida-Style (August 16) - EVWorld - Paul runs a conversion business EVPC LLC in West Palm Beach, Florida, and he is willing to convert not just a Porsche or Lamborghini to all-electric, but takes on most projects that are cool or can help a large group of people. His prices can range from as low as $5,000 to upwards of $150,000. Complete Story

Colleges eager to juice up donated electric vehicles(August 16) Michigan - Spartan Toyota, 5701 S. Pennsylvania Ave., donated five electric vehicles Wednesday to Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, Wayne State University and Eastern Michigan University. Complete Story

Toyota making progress on plug-in car(August 15) - Australia - Toyota Motor Corp plans to bring a plug-in hybrid vehicle to market sometime in 2010, and Justin Ward, manager of the automaker's advanced powertrain program in the US, said the design will be similar to that of the current Prius, the most popular gas-electric hybrid in the nation. Complete Story

Electric bikes selling briskly as gas prices climb(August 15) - AP - Official sales figures are hard to pin down, but the Gluskin-Townley Group, which does market research for the National Bicycle Dealers Association, estimates 10,000 electric bikes were sold in the U.S. in 2007, up from 6,000 in 2006. Complete Story

GM to finalize electric car design by mid-September(August 14) - Detroit - General Motors Corp said on Thursday it would finalize the design of the all-electric Chevy Volt by mid-September and aims to have 50 prototypes with production-ready parts by the end of 2008. Complete Story

Battery maker A123 Systems files to go public(August 13) - CNET - The batteries, which the company says last longer and are more powerful than existing lithium-ion batteries, are already being used in power tools. In its S-1 filing, A123 Systems said it anticipates the portable power market to grow from $411 million to $1.1 billion in 2012. Complete Story

RAV4 EV: Exceeding Expectations(August 13) - EVworld - Launched a decade ago as Toyota's response to California's Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, the EV version looks pretty much like any other RAV4 of the period, with one huge exception. Instead of the usual gasoline internal combustion engine, more than 1,500 of the vehicles were equipped with an electric drive and powered by nickel metal hydride batteries -- estimated $30,000 alone -- the life expectancy of which no one had any idea. Complete Story

106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions(August 12) - CNN - New York-based Zero Pollution Motors is the first firm to obtain a license from MDI to produce the cars in the United States, pledging to deliver the first models in 2010 at a price tag of less than $18,000. Complete Story

World-class automotive executive team joins Think(August 12) - Norway - Norwegian electric vehicle manufacturer Think Global has appointed Ford Motor Company executive Richard Canny as its President and Chief Operating Officer.   Complete Story

Electric dirt bikes get charged up for a quieter ride(August 11) - USAToday - Zero, based in Santa Cruz, began making the Zero X off-road bike this year. Powered by a bundle of power-tool batteries, the motorcycle is aimed at off-roaders who want to ride in barren areas near cities but fear being prohibited because their bikes make too much noise. Complete Story

Will Sun Ever Rise On Solar-Powered Cars?(August 10) - Colorado - Driving 20,000 miles in a worl-wide tour, a Swiss man hopes his Solar Taxi will inspire a new way of looking at transportation. Complete Story

Prius gets ethanol makeover(August 10) -Its first eco-upgrade will be to offer E85 conversions - that is a vehicle that runs on 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent regular fuel. A Dutch firm named Green Fuel Systems has created a conversion kit that costs just €549. Complete Story

Indian Electric Car: A First, But Not Yet A Winner(August 9) - India - As one of India's key technology hubs, the city of Bangalore boasts its share of firsts: the first Indian city to get electricity and the first to see a car. Complete Story

Switching over to electric cars(August 9) - San Diego - The garage at San Diego High School isn't your father's auto shop. There are no oil stains, nor is there the constant hum of gasoline-powered engines. Complete Story

North Central State College Unveils Its Electric Car(August 8) - Ohio - North Central State College unveiled its first electric car Friday completed in a summer workshop at the James W Kehoe Center in Shelby. Complete Story

Honda To Unveil Prius Fighter in Paris(August 7) - Japan - Honda will pull the wraps off its new Prius fighter, a compact five-door hatchback sedan priced from under $20,000, at the 2008 Paris Auto Show in early October. Complete Story

Lotus introduces an electric car that ROARS!(August 7) - UK - Lotus has decided to create the technology to bring that oh so thrilling sound - the roar of a well tuned engine - to eco conscious drivers. Complete Story

PG&E to test electric i MiEV(August 6) - California - The electric i MiEV, which is based on the "i" model gas-fueled car Mitsubishi already makes for Japan, most likely will arrive at both PG&E and Southern California Edison in October. Complete Story

Glendale auto futurist Robert Riley selling 225-mpg hybrid plans(August 6) - Arizona - Robert Riley, whose alternative vehicle designs have appeared in magazines such as Popular Mechanics, is selling construction plans for his XR3 hybrid car, which he says gets up to 225 miles per gallon. Complete Story

Nissan Shows Off Its Electric Car and New Hybrid(August 6) - Business Week - The version we drove was an electric version of a Nissan Cube, a popular model in Japan. However, the company says its EV, which is scheduled for a 2010 launch in Japan and the U.S., will use the same electric system but look completely different from any of today's Nissans. Complete Story

Prius Prices Outrun Inventory(August 5) - Ad Age - Who says iPhones are the summer's hottest product? In June, a used 2008 Prius with almost 8,000 miles on the odometer sold for nearly $1,300 more than a new one. Complete Story

Allied Vehicles debuts E7 electric taxi news(August 5) - UK - The new electric taxi, jointly developed by Peugeot and Allied Vehicles division Cab Direct is scheduled to hit the UK markets in October 2008. Complete Story

THOMAS FRIEDMAN: AN ENERGY REVOLUTION(August 4) - What would happen if you put together T. Boone Pickens, the green billionaire Texas oilman now obsessed with wind power, and Shai Agassi, the Jewish Henry Ford now obsessed with making Israel the world's leader in electric cars? You'd have the start of an energy revolution. Complete Story

Tango T600(August 4) - Future Cars - An ultra-narrow, freeway-capable, stable, safe vehicle that fits anywhere a motorcycle fits … The Tango will revolutionize commuter transportation in the 21st century. Complete Story

New Lightning GT electric sports car promises 700bhp(August 3) - UK - If its maker's claims are true, the British-built carbon-fibre bodied Lightning GT isn't just a hugely desirable and sexy performance coupe, it could also hold the technology that will change the way we drive forever. With an electric motor at each wheel, the battery-powered Lightning is said to push out a massive 700bhp and can run for 200 miles on a 10-minute charge. Complete Story

Racing for 100-mpg prize(August 3) - Ohio - AROUND the world, scores of tinkerers and millionaires are busy in their garages, pushing hard against the laws of physics and the envelope of automotive engineering. Their goal: a vehicle that balances ultra-high gas mileage, performance, and affordability. Their mechanism: the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize competition. Complete Story

If electric car had succeeded, GM might not be fighting to stay afloat(August 2) - Virginia - It's unclear who is responsible, but one thing is not in question--GM, Ford and other American car makers were hurt by their unwillingness to develop newer, more fuel-efficient products a decade ago. Government standards may not have mandated this, but the consumer ultimately did. Complete Story

A used Prius is a hot commodity these days(August 1) - USAToday - Buyers are so eager to start saving gas with the nation's best-selling hybrid that they're paying more for a used Prius than they'd pay for a new one if they were willing to wait. Complete Story

EEStor claims third party verification(August 1) - CleanTech - Secretive EEStor's processes and equipment have apparently been verified by Ed Golla, lab director of Texas Research International, a multidisciplinary research, development and testing company in Austin, Texas. Complete Story

Electric car maker on the way(August 1) - Indiana - Electric Vehicles Inc. bought Lafayette County Car Co. at the end of 2006 for an undisclosed amount, said Jerry Medlin, owner of Electric Vehicles. Complete Story

Hybrid Cars Sales in the US Market Are Likely to Cross 1 Million Mark by 2012(August 1) - Market Watch - Hybrid cars offer significant advantages over conventional vehicles, such as fuel efficiency, low cost per mile, and environmental benefits, and that will drive the future of hybrid cars, says "Global Hybrid Car Market Forecast to 2010", a newly launched research report by RNCOS. Complete Story

Fresno Man Builds Electric Car(August 1) - California - Cooper Hilscher invested a lot of money and sweat to turn this ordinary 1966 Volkswagon Bug into an electric vehicle. Hilsher's creation made its debut Thursday at a car show in north Fresno. Complete Story

Nanoscale Lithium Iron Phosphate Holds Key to Tomorrow's Electric Car Batteries(August 1) - Australia - Lithium-ion batteries, which store three to four times more energy per unit mass than traditional batteries, are now used extensively in portable electronic devices (computers, cell phones, MP3 players, etc.). Complete Story

Nissan Altima Hybrid Named to 'Top 10 Green Cars'(August 1) - Market Watch - Altima Hybrid, which offers the efficiency and fuel economy of a hybrid drivetrain with the performance and excitement customers have come to expect from the Altima line-up, has been named one of the "Top 10 Green Cars" by the editors of Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. Complete Story

2008 Monthly Electric Car News
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