Posts Tagged ‘electric car’

Electrical Vehicle Take Off?

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Nissan is serious about being the leader in electric vehicles by taking a three-step approach: (1) developing a charging infrastructure, (2) seeding the market with EVs in 2010, and (3) leading in EV manufacturing volume in 2012. The initial vehicles show-off a new body design, be freeway speed, and have a 100-mile range.

With Nissan USA located in Tennessee, it is seeing strong support there for a statewide charging infrastructure. Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen stated, “Our clean-energy future depends on our ability to find real strategies for encouraging Tennesseans to adopt a zero-emission mindset.” The state is focused on heavily trafficked Interstate 24 and Interstate 65 corridors.

“As the nation’s largest public power supplier, TVA is looking forward to being part of this project to explore the potential of electric vehicles,” said TVA Chairman William Sansom in joining the Tennessee initiative. “Electric vehicles could put electricity to work overnight, or off-peak, when other power needs are lower.”

Nissan and EV

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Then there is this from China:

SAIC Accelerates in Chinese Electric-Car Market
The Shanghai-based car maker sets up a $293 million joint venture to develop hybrid and all-electric cars.

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New Electric Car in the Works

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

“A Dutch-based company announced plans Tuesday to produce affordable electric cars by the end of 2009, promising they will be much more powerful than existing models and have zero emissions.

Detroit Electric is in negotiations with Malaysia’s national auto maker, Proton, to produce the car in this Southeast Asian nation and is also talking to a German and a U.S. carmaker, said the company’s chief executive, Albert Lam. He declined to name the companies.

“We believe in affordable electric vehicles for the public. That is our dream … to find innovative ways to counter global warming,” Lam told a news conference before journalists test drove a sports car, a sedan and a subcompact car fitted with Detroit Electric’s technology.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi drove the sedan Sunday when he arrived at a National Day parade — which officials called a testament of the government’s commitment to finding green alternatives to tackle rising fuel prices.

Lam said the car will use lithium ion batteries and a motor developed in-house.”

Dutch-Malaysian Electric Car

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Nissan Opens Electric Car Plant in Tennessee

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

The news about non oil based auto fuels is hitting the business pages with some regularity — no longer just the alternative tree-hugging press. Admittedly electric cars are not necessarily carbon free — and won’t be for a long time, but once the infrastructure is in place to deliver electrical re-charges to vehicles then the longer term transition from coal and oil electrical production to production by wind, solar, biomass and more can pick up speed.

As Nissan dedicated its new $100 million Americas corporate headquarters in Cool Springs on Tuesday, President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn announced that the automaker had signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Gov. Phil Bredesen to work together with the state and the Tennessee Valley Authority to develop a recharging network in Middle Tennessee.

Ghosn in May said Nissan would begin selling electric vehicles for fleet use in the United States in 2010, and plans to make them available to the mass market as early as 2012.

Nissan Electric in Tennessee

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Electric Car Network Ready to Roll

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

Project Better Place, a Silicon Valley alternative fuels initiative is moving out into the big world. Shai Agassi, an Israel born high-tech entrepreneur left the software field several years ago to do what he wanted to do: create electric driven cars and the new infrastructure needed to make them real alternatives to internal combustion. He’s just got Israel to sign on to helping create the network, and Denmark, with wind produced electricity, may soon follow suite.

Agassi said that because most rides are less than 100 miles, drivers can recharge batteries at home, at work or at thousands of charging points throughout Israel. On longer trips, they can exchange batteries in a five-minute operation at about 200 “swap stations.”

“We have a second battery for every driver in the swap stations. It’s waiting for you in case you need it. You don’t need to carry it with you in the trunk,” Agassi said.

Moreover, Nissan’s global product planning chief, Tom Lane, has said his firm will soon announce a battery breakthrough, one that could increase driving range to around 200 miles per charge while recharging in as little as 20 minutes.

Electric Cars for Israel

Project Better Place has its own web site with photos of the cars as well as technical and business talk about the project.

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Electric Cars: Katmandu and Wichita

Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Nepal Electric Car

Nepal, high in the Himalayas, realized it had a smog problem years ago and banned some classes of oil burning polluters. Electric Vehicles, locally tricked out, are now the main source of public transportation, to most everyone’s delight.

CNN Video link [short ad alert]

We don’t know where the electricity is coming from so we can’t give a complete cheer, but stepping ahead is good.

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