Chery releases its first electric car
Feb 20, 2009 Auto Tech
Chery S18
Chery Motors, the largest car manufacturer from China, has unveiled the S18, an all-electric car based on its QQ2. The car can go up to 150kms on a full charge of its lithium iron phosphate batteries, that takes 4 to 6 hours, while those in hurry can opt for a quick charge in 30 minutes that gives a 85% charge.
The S18 boats of a 54 hp motor to take it up to the electrifying top speed of 120 kph.
With another Chinese manufacturer BYD already having the world’s first plug-in hybrid F3DM on sale last year and planning its own all-electric E6, buyers in China will soon be able to ‘chery’ pick from an assortment of green cars! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BYD, Chery, China, electric cars, S18
Tesla buyers face new uncertainities
Jan 21, 2009 Auto Tech
Tesla Roadster
Tesla has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversies by telling a number of people who had already placed hefty deposits (as much as $50,000 dollars) for its Roadster and picked their options that their spot in the line was in jeopardy if they didn’t re-option their rides.
The problem is that the buyers who had placed deposits were told that they would need to pay more for the vehicles that they had already ordered and optioned to their liking. The price of a Roadster with the standard feature set has been increased by $6,700.
The cost of the High Performance Charger that allows owners to recharge the batteries in the Roadster in as little as 3.5-hours was increased in price to $3,000 according to Autoblog. The previously stock set of alloy wheels is now a $2,300 upgrade. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: electric cars, EV, Tesla, Tesla Roadster
French govt. report debunks optimism on all-electric cars
Dec 18, 2008 Information of the Day
In a week that saw a report claiming that the rate of rise of sea levels is not as bad as has been predicted, now leaked parts of a report commissioned by the French government has concluded there “isn’t much future” in all-electric cars, at least before the year 2030. The 129-page report, drawn up by Jean Syrota, one of France’s leading energy experts, was originally destined to be unveiled at the Paris motor show in September. The Sarkozy Administration has not publicly commented on the report, but it seems unlikely it will ever be officially published.
In what may come as a surprise to some, the Syrota report concludes that the internal combustion engine still has a lot of life in it. With advances in engine design, lighter materials, start-stop technology, and expanded use of electric-gas and electric-diesel hybrids, fleet mileage could be made to double. High battery pack costs, limited range and speed, and the absence of any battery charging infrastructure all combine to make all-electric vehicles unviable, according to the report. It predicts these factors are all unlikely to change significantly over the next two decades. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: electric cars, France
Better Place partners Hawaii for electric rollout
Dec 3, 2008 Green Technologies
Better Place
Shortly after announcing plans to set up a electric vehicle charging network in California, California startup Better Place is now set to sign in Hawaii as its next customer. Work for the electric car charging network will presumably start from next year, with electric vehicles first appearing in 18 months and becoming widely available by 2012. Hawaii utility Hawaiian Electric Company has also signed on to collaborate on infrastructure and energy production. More details are likely to be announced shortly.
Better Place already has deals in place for rolling out electric vehicle charging infrastructure in other countries like Denmark and Israel. With this deal, I guess that other electric vehicle makers will shortly follow with their own announcements to take advantage of charging network.
Hawaii being island in Pacific Ocean may be more vulnerable to the effects of global warming than other US states. Whatvere the motive, the state has its Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), which is aiming to have 70 percent of the states electricity from renewable sources.
Tags: Better Place, Denmark, electric cars, Hawaii, Israel
Solarworld to take over Opel?
Nov 20, 2008 Auto Tech, Startups
Opel
We know things are bad at GM and the other big automakers. Still the news that Solarworld, a German solar energy company is interested in bidding for Opel, GM’s German subsidiary is a bolt from the blue!
In this press release, Solarworld anounced its plans to offer to buy four German Opel plants as well as its research center in Ruesselsheim, Germany. The company, which last year had sales of just under 700 million euros, said that it could offer up 250 million euros ($315.6 million) in cash and another 750 million in credit lines, which were conditional on a German government guarantee.
The news came as a surprise and analysts are skeptical, given the apparent lack of synergies and the scale of integration needed for such a merger. GM spokesperson has also denied any plans to sell Opel.
Lets see how things unfold over the coming days.
Tags: electric cars, Germany, Opel, Solarworld
Nissan to sell electric vehicles in China from 2012
Nov 19, 2008 Auto Tech
EVs from China
Bloomberg reports that Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest automaker, intends to begin offering electric cars in China by 2012 as the country seeks to boost sales of fuel- efficient vehicles to cut pollution and oil usage.
China has cut taxes on fuel-efficient vehicles to boost sales of less-polluting cars and also plans to support local automakers’ research into alternative-energy vehicles. Chinese manufacturers have displayed electric vehicles at this year’s Paris Motor Show and one of them, BYD has even had renowned investor Warren Buffet buying its shares! Still, Chinese drivers have shunned hybrid vehicles so far, with Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius, the bestselling model in China, racking up only 616 sales nationwide in the first nine months of the year.
Contrast this with India where government duties caused the Honda Civic Hybrid to be priced almost twice its petrol model till recently and probably dissuading Toyota from offering the Prius. Although Bangalore based Reva is the largest selling EV in UK, its design has been almost unchanged for more than a decade, with lead acid batteries (instead of more advanced nickel hydride or lithium ion ones) and questionale safety (which makes it sell the vehicle as a quadbike instead of a car, to get around safety regulations).
Tags: China, electric cars, Nissan
First MINI-E unveiled in NY
Nov 19, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
MINI E
Today BMW took the wraps off the first “production” MINI E, 1st of a run of 500 that will be leased to customers in the southern California and metro New York areas starting in January. The Mini E is the all electric version of the hugely popular Mini Cooper small car.
The MINI E uses a single speed gearbox with its 150 kW electric motor from AC Propulsion. That motor is enough to push the 3,230 lb MINI to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. The Mini-E weighs in at 660 lbs more than the conventionally fueled Mini Cooper. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BMW, electric cars, Green Cars, MINI E
New batteries with 8 times more capacity
Nov 13, 2008 Green Technologies
More power!
Today electric vehicles are mostly constrained by the limited range provided by their batteries. But all this is set to change if a new battery tech developed by South korean researcher is commercialized.
Professor Cho Jae-Phil and his team at Hanyang University have replaced the graphite in lithium batteries with a certain kind of silicon, which we’re told can store eight times the power.That means you can do whatever it is you do eight times longer! Patents have already been filed and Cho hinted at plans to merge the technology with solar panels.
Tags: battery, electric cars, South Korea
Miles - another EV manufacturer get funding
Nov 6, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
Miles Ev
Miles Electric Vehicles, maker of low-speed electric vehicles and a forthcoming highway-speed sedan, is in the midst of raising $40 million in funds, PEHub reports.
Miles Electric Vehicles was founded in 2004 by Miles Rubin in California with a mission to rapidly develop advanced all electric vehicles to meet the needs of organizations and everyday drivers, while using no gas and producing zero tailpipe emissions.The current MILES line includes low speed all electric vehicles that produce zero tailpipe emissions and claims Stanford and Yale universities, NASA and the US Navy as fleet customers.
The current Miles range of vehicles have top speeds of upto 25 mph and range of 50 - 60 miles.These limit the practicality of these vehicles. But the Miles XS500 prototype sedan currently under development will top 80mph and travel over 120 miles on a single charge. The company outsources much of its manufacturing to China. This helps it keep its costs low.
Tags: California, China, electric cars, Miles
Tesla loses arbitration and makes more workforce cuts
Nov 4, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
Tesla Roadster
The stream of bad news does not seem to stop from Tesla! Now it is laying off workers in UK and has lost a binding arbitration proceeding against Fisker Automotive.
Today Fisker Automotive issued a press release saying that an independent arbitration between the two competing Silicon Valley-backed electric car makers has been awarded initially against Tesla. Tesla had earlier this year, filed a suit in California alleging that Fisker stole design ideas and trade secrets and in June, the court granted a request to send the case to arbitration.
Fisker is coming up with its own electric car called the Fisker Karma (picture after the “Read More” link) and now, it hopefully has put the “bad karma” of Tesla behind it. Meanwhile, follow the recent saga on Tesla Motors here and read more below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: electric cars, Tesla, Tesla Motors