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18 June 2013, 8:14 pm by: Domenick Yoney
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Hybrid, Transportation Alternatives, USA
What better place to hold a summit than at an actual summit? Perhaps none. But that's not exactly why the Mt. Washington Auto Road Alt Energy Summit piques (ahem) our i...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Hybrid, Transportation Alternatives, USA
What better place to hold a summit than at an actual summit? Perhaps none. But that's not exactly why the
Mt. Washington Auto Road Alt Energy Summit piques (ahem) our interest. The event, to be held this September 14th and 15th atop the famed New Hampshire mountain, is not only set to feature alternative-fuel vehicles of every kind displayed by owners, builders and dealers, but there will also be exhibits showing off the latest in renewable energy systems to refuel them.
Perhaps the centerpiece of the whole affair is the "Alt Energy Drive to the Summit." Participants will have the opportunity to drive the 7.5-mile length of the
Mt. Washington Auto Road in something of an echo of a similar event that took place for several years in the 1970's, when America was in the midst of its "energy crises."
Besides giving an opportunity to show off the hill-climbing abilities of the vehicles on hand, it also provides a chance to reflect on just how far alternative transportation choices have come in the last few decades. Instead of being stuck with cheese-wedge mobiles like the Sebring Vanguard Citicar (pictured) - as geek chic as that might be - we can, if we like, choose from any number of modern looking, fully capable automobiles, motorcycles and electric bicycles.
Scroll down for the official press release along with a complimentary video from event director - and
From Fossils To Flux author - Ted Dillard taking his own two-wheeled battery-powered creation to the 6,288-foot peak.
Continue reading Mt. Washington Auto Road Alt Energy Summit piques our interest
Mt. Washington Auto Road Alt Energy Summit piques our interest originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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18 June 2013, 5:48 pm by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, Renault
This isn't the first time the name F1 has been twisted with Twizy, but it's the first time that we know of that an F1 driver has gone to check out the all-electric Twizy Way carsharing ef...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, Renault
This isn't the first time the name F1 has been
twisted with Twizy, but it's the first time that we know of that an F1 driver has gone to check out the all-electric Twizy Way carsharing effort.
Charles Pic, who races with the Caterham F1 Team partnered by Renault, went to the "Twizy Way community" in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, near Paris recently to check out the program as well as show off the Renault Sport F1 Twizy, which is a Twizy that has been modified with things like a KERS system, racing tires and steering wheel and other F1-style technologies.
The F1 Twizy needed to use the back seat to fit in the performance components, but in the regular Twizy's used for carsharing, Pix took four lucky winners around in the two-seat, tandem-style EV as he cruised the streets. We assume at street-legel speeds.
Continue reading Twizy Way gets a visit from Caterham F1 driver Charles Pic
Twizy Way gets a visit from Caterham F1 driver Charles Pic originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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18 June 2013, 3:00 pm by: Jon LeSage
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Carbon Offset, Legislation and Policy
Plug-in electric vehicles are heading for another global market, South Africa, but it may take a while. Eskom, a South African electricity public utility company, told the legislature it...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Carbon Offset, Legislation and Policy
Plug-in electric vehicles are heading for another global market,
South Africa, but it may take a while. Eskom, a South African electricity public utility company, told the legislature it will conduct a three-year study to see if the local power grid can handle a bunch of plug-in cars.
Testing started in March when Eskom received 10
Nissan Leafs for its program. Barry McColl, Eskom's GM for research, testing and development, told Parliament the testing is being done to determine what effect a surge in the use of EVs might have on the national power grid. Eskom is already vulnerable to rolling black outs as the utility operates with very narrow reserve margins.
South Africa wants to cut emissions to one ton per person by 2050. In a country of 50 million, this is a problem for a utility that generated 230 million tons in 2011.
The potential for reducing carbon emissions will also be examined, since the country has an ambitious goal to cut these emissions to about one ton per person by 2050. Since there are 50 million people in South Africa, this could be a problem for the utility. In 2011, Eskom generated 230 million tons of carbon dioxide, making it one of the largest emitters in the world. Eskom has already launched a program to reduce emissions through redesigning its power stations in Kusile and Medupi so they emit 15 percent less carbon than other coal-powered stations. It's a start.
McColl told Parliament's portfolio committee on energy that the effect of EVs on the power grid could be significant. The three-year study is being done to ensure that the utility is prepared for the future. McColl said that the sale of EVs has been slow - about 100,000 worldwide. Taking time to do a three-year study will only slow things down more, and the introduction of EVs to South Africa already been
dragged out. EV sales are
much slower than expected in North America and Europe, where concerns over grid capacity in these regions don't get raised much anymore.
South Africa taking three-year study to see if it's ready for EVs originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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18 June 2013, 1:43 pm by: Jeffrey N. Ross
Filed under: Coupe, Videos, Cadillac, Celebrities, Electric, Luxury
While Jerry Seinfeld was gallivanting around LA with Sarah Silverman in a Jaguar XKE, our favorite car-loving comedian, Jay Leno, was checking out the all-new 2014 Cadillac ELR. Set...
Filed under: Coupe, Videos, Cadillac, Celebrities, Electric, Luxury
While Jerry Seinfeld was
gallivanting around LA with Sarah Silverman in a Jaguar XKE, our favorite car-loving comedian, Jay Leno, was checking out the all-new
2014 Cadillac ELR. Set to go on sale later this year, Cadillac brought its ELR to
Jay Leno's Garage to show off some of its styling and technology as well as give Leno some seat time in the range-extended EV. Leno owns both a Volt and a
CTS-V, and the ELR is a kind combination of the two (sort of).
In this episode, Leno spends some time talking to Frank Saucedo, GM director of advanced design, and ELR chief engineer Chris Thomason before logging a few miles on the sleek coupe. Interestingly, it seems that GM has definitely changed its tune a little since the introduction of the Volt a couple years ago; Saucedo and Leno both refer to the ELR as a hybrid, and Thomason says that it gets the "bulk of its propulsion" from the electric motors. Whatever you want to call it,
scroll down to watch the latest episode of JLG with some great information and driving shots of the plug-in
Cadillac.
Continue reading 2014 Cadillac ELR whirs into Jay Leno's Garage
2014 Cadillac ELR whirs into Jay Leno's Garage originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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18 June 2013, 12:30 pm by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors
For something as secret as a battery swap option in the Tesla Model S electric vehicle, we sure have heard rumors about it for years. Four (!) years ago, after all, we knew that the Model...
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors
For something as secret as a battery swap option in the
Tesla Model S electric vehicle, we sure have heard rumors about it for years. Four (!) years ago, after all, we knew that the Model S was designed to
accommodate battery swaps and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked about taking long-distance EV trips that included battery swaps, and Tesla's proprietary Supercharger network was
supposed to have a battery swap component at one time. But then the discussion shifted to focus on that Supercharger network, and how, by stopping for lots of 20-minute sandwiches along the way, a cross-country EV road trip would be totally doable. And, for a while, the Tesla battery swapping talk disappeared.
"Live pack swap demo on Thurs night. Seeing is believing" - Elon Musk
Until, of course, Musk brought it back a month ago by
tweeting: "There is a way for the Tesla Model S to be recharged throughout the country faster than you could fill a gas tank." That set off a
fresh search for information, which we now know we will be cleared up later this week.
Yesterday, Musk
tweeted: "Live pack swap demo on Thurs night at 8pm California time at our design studio in Hawthorne. Seeing is believing." He also
tweeted that
Better Place founder Shai Agassi "actually got the idea from a visit to Tesla. The idea is obvious (many things allow battery swap), but the technology is not."
We have so many questions about this new option: does it apply to all Model S vehicles? Will it be free, like
Supercharging? Will the swap locations be at Tesla stores, Supercharger stations or at other locations? Why is Tesla thinking of battery swaps when it's also been so bullish on its fast-charging technology? We'll try to find answers to all of these questions when the first public swap is performed live on Thursday.
Elon Musk confirms Tesla Model S battery swaps, demo coming this week originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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18 June 2013, 11:09 am by: Danny King
Filed under: EV/Plug-in
Japanese tire company Yokohama is entering its HER-02 electric vehicle in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with the goal of once again setting an electric-vehicle record for the Colorado race.
Ikuo Hanawa will again b...
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18 June 2013, 9:02 am by: Danny King
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Europe/EU
Earlier this year, Malta-based Silex Power promoted a concept electric vehicle that could go from San Francisco to Portland on a single charge. Not content with that claim, the company is now...
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Europe/EU
Earlier this year, Malta-based
Silex Power promoted a concept electric vehicle that could go
from San Francisco to Portland on a single charge. Not content with that claim, the company is now saying it's ready to make a high-powered electric charger that could fully recharge a top-of-the-line
Tesla Model S in about the time it takes to play a hit single.
Silex says 2014 will be the year the first versions of its charging stations with its so-called HyperCharging technology will see the light of day. The station will have a voltage range from 360 to 1,440 volts (!!!) and will be connectable to medium-tension power lines. Most importantly, the stations will be able to recharge a 200-kWh battery pack in less than 10 minutes, or Tesla's 85-kWh pack in about four. That sort of speed will "eradicate complete the perception (sic) of long charging time inconvenience in electric vehicles," Silex says.
If this sounds like a bit of hyperbole from Silex, it wouldn't be the first time.
In February, the company put out a release (and, as seen above, pictures) about an all-electric car called the Chreos that delivers 640 horsepower, has a top speed of 186 miles per hour, has a single-charge range of more than 600 miles, can be fully recharged in less than 10 minutes, and leap tall buildings in a single bound. It's also a concept car that Silex says is at least three years away from production.
Read more amazingness in Silex's press release below.
Continue reading Silex says first 'HyperCharging' stations will be available next year
Silex says first 'HyperCharging' stations will be available next year originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 8:57 pm by: Danny King
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Carbon Offset
Your Monday green-car buzzkill is brought to you buy University of Michigan research professor John DeCicco, who says more electric vehicles won't do much to slow global warming if energy...
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Carbon Offset
Your Monday green-car buzzkill is brought to you buy University of Michigan research professor John DeCicco, who says more electric vehicles won't do much to slow global warming if energy-production methods aren't addressed.
DeCicco, who's with the university's Energy Institute, says the government's subsidies for advanced-powertrain technologies and the tax credits for plug-in vehicle buyers are "not warranted." That's because average fuel economy is already increasing at about four percent a year, while emissions levels from electric-power generation remains virtually unchanged.
That means more emphasis must be placed on the "well" and less on the "wheel."
That means, DeCicco said, when it comes to a "well-to-wheel" analysis of emissions from grid power all the way to vehicle efficiency, more emphasis must be placed on the "well" and less on the "wheel" to effectively take on global warming.
DeCicco's comments echo those of Didier Stevens,
Toyota Europe's head of government affairs and environmental issues, who recently
said more electric vehicles won't help the environment much if electricity continues to be produced largely from coal. So, if you were feeling too positive about EVs, put on a Smiths record and check out the University of Michigan article below.
Continue reading U of M researcher says plug-ins, hydrogen cars are 'no carbon cure-all'
U of M researcher says plug-ins, hydrogen cars are 'no carbon cure-all' originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 7:03 pm by: Danny King
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, MPG, Ford
Ford has used efficiency gains related to water use, waste and painting processes to cut its factory emissions per produced vehicle by 37 percent between 2000 and 2012.
The US automaker, in i...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, MPG, Ford
Ford has used efficiency gains related to water use, waste and painting processes to cut its factory emissions per produced vehicle by 37 percent between 2000 and 2012.
The US automaker, in its 14th annual Sustainability Report, adds that more changes are in store that will allow an additional 30-percent drop in CO2 emissions per vehicle between 2010 and 2025. Furthermore, Ford's tailpipe emissions, per vehicle, are down 16 percent since 2007. The company has sold more than 600,000 vehicles with its gas-saving
EcoBoost engines, and it's
pretty proud of its regenerative brakes, too. Additionally,
through May, Ford increased green car sales fivefold from a year earlier on more sales for models like the
Fusion Hybrid and the more-recent introduction of plug-in models like the
C-Max and Fusion Energi vehicles. Check out Ford's press release
below.
Continue reading Ford cuts production emissions by 37% per vehicle since 2000
Ford cuts production emissions by 37% per vehicle since 2000 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 4:58 pm by: Danny King
Filed under: Hydrogen, Legislation and Policy, USA
Some might say $9 million is a drop in the zero-emission bucket when it comes to federal funding of hydrogen fuel-cell advancements, but it does beat a sharp stick in the eye.
The US Department of...
Filed under: Hydrogen, Legislation and Policy, USA
Some might say $9 million is a drop in the zero-emission bucket when it comes to federal funding of
hydrogen fuel-cell advancements, but it does beat a sharp stick in the eye.
The US Department of Energy has announced a $9-million grant that will be directed towards speeding up hydrogen fuel-cell technology, which some view as the best of all worlds because it allows gas-tank-type mileage ranges for vehicles without the harmful local emissions (fuel-cell vehicles emit water vapor).
Specifically, the grant will be earmarked for technologies that advance drivetrain technology for medium-duty trucks, cut costs for refueling components and speed up rooftop installations for hydrogen fuel-cell backup power systems.
Toyota and
Hyundai are among the automakers that plan to debut production fuel cell vehicles in the US by 2015. Earlier this month, Hyundai
delivered its first 15 Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles (which will be known as the Tucson Fuel Cell when it arrives in the US) to the city of Copenhagen. And earlier this year,
Automotive News estimated that Toyota has
brought down the per-vehicle cost for its fuel cell vehicles to between $50,000 and $100,000.
Check out the DOE's press release
below.
Continue reading US DOE ready with $9m in grants for fuel-cell advances
US DOE ready with $9m in grants for fuel-cell advances originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 3:01 pm by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, Videos
It is an era of $11 gallons of gas. Somewhere, apparently, someone has run out of fuel. To the rescue will come a personalized Matte Graphite Tesla Model S, ready with a frunk full of gas cans. Watching...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, Videos
It is an era of $11 gallons of gas. Somewhere, apparently, someone has run out of fuel. To the rescue will come a personalized Matte Graphite
Tesla Model S, ready with a frunk full of gas cans. Watching the Tesla drive away on
cheap electricity, the stranded motorist out there will be able to continue his gas-powered journey, wondering if perhaps next time will be the right time to get plugged in.
At least, that's one potential plot line for a new video of a modified Model S with a fresh paint job and 22-inch Vossen CV1 concave wheels and rims. The video, a promotional tool for Vossen, doesn't have any words and we were confused at first why the all-electric Model S would need to pull into a gas station in the first place. This is our made-up answer. Check out the video
below and then share your idea in the comments.
Continue reading Matte Graphite Tesla Model S rolls into station with $11 gas
Matte Graphite Tesla Model S rolls into station with $11 gas originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 12:55 pm by: Domenick Yoney
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA
People have been making the North American transcontinental trip from sea-to-shining-sea ever since Lewis and Clark cleared the first path to the Pacific back in 1806. The journey has been managed on horse...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA
People have been making the North American transcontinental trip from sea-to-shining-sea ever since Lewis and Clark cleared the first path to the Pacific back in 1806. The journey has been managed on horseback, covered wagons, trains, planes and automobiles. Now, it's been done by electric motorcycles. Twice.
Last week, both the
Moto Electra Racing expedition and
Terry Hershner's solo effort traveled the length of the Interstate 10 - in opposite directions - to view both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans within the span of a few days. With the ultimate goal of finishing first, and secondarily, fast enough to set an enduring record, the race was on.
Each team took decidedly different approaches.
Each team took decidedly different approaches. Moto Electra towed a generator behind its chase vehicle to make up for the lack of charging infrastructure and keep the classic-looking Norton replica well fed. Hershner, on the other hand, took more of a hunter-gatherer approach, harvesting electrons for his streamlined 2012 Zero S from whatever source he could find, typically RV parks and charging stations.
This gave the Moto Electra guys an obvious advantage, since there was no need to track down charging stations that might be occupied, or worse, out of service. Still, out on the road, anything can happen and there could be no guarantee of success.
Continue reading Crossing the continent: electric motorcycles race across America
Crossing the continent: electric motorcycles race across America originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 11:44 am by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Fisker
Anyone looking for a chilling plug-in vehicle warning tale should check out this detailed Reuters article, which digs into the financial history of Fisker Automotive and reveals that the company lost around $3...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Fisker
Anyone looking for a chilling plug-in vehicle warning tale should check out
this detailed
Reuters article, which digs into the financial history of
Fisker Automotive and reveals that the company lost around $35,000 per vehicle.
That number comes from "internal financial statements and interviews with former Fisker executives,"
Reuters reports, quoting a former executive saying the luxury plug-in hybrid, "cost far more to produce than we could ever charge for it." All told, between 2008 and 2012,
Reuters estimates Fisker lost $1 billion.
The losses were due, in part, to those
many production delays two to three years ago as well as a reduction in the number of cars it was going to make and sell. Remember when the company said it would sell
15,000 units a year? Eventually, the company sold around 2,000 vehicles, total.
There is a lot worth reading in the source article, including how the Karma's forward-placed exhaust - which hurt the vehicle's performance and was too loud - was fixed using a metal "pizza box" that cost millions extra. Throw in salaries of around $600,000-$700,000 for co-founders Henrik Fisker and Barny Koehler, even while Fisker was laying people off, and you have a recipe for not succeeding. Here's a taste of what
Reuters has to offer:
In May 2011, the company co-sponsored a pre-race grand prix party aboard a 146-foot yacht moored in the Monte Carlo harbor. Guests drank glasses of champagne served with flecks of gold. Clad in a dark pinstripe suit and open-neck white shirt, Henrik Fisker navigated a crowd that included Prince Albert of Monaco, whom he described as the inspiration for the Karma. ... The Monaco weekend, according to several sources familiar with the event, cost Fisker between $80,000 and $100,000. That wasn't lavish by auto-marketing standards, but by this point every penny mattered. Within weeks, the Energy Department stopped payments on its loan.
You can read the whole thing
here.
Internal documents show Fisker lost $35,000 on each Karma originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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17 June 2013, 9:01 am by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, GM, North America
Sometimes, you have to go across the border to get the skinny on what's happening in the US. For example, did you know GM might be testing electric cars with batteries that have about...
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, GM, North America
Sometimes, you have to go across the border to get the skinny on what's happening in the US. For example, did you know GM might be testing electric cars with batteries that have about three times the energy density of today's EV?
That's could be the case, since during the recent Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association conference in Canada,
The Windsor Star reporter Chris Vander Doelen spoke with J. Gary Smyth, General Motors' executive director of Global Research and Development. Smyth told Vander Doelen, "Today there are prototypes out there with 400 Watt-hours per kilogram."
We have to assume Smyth was talking about batteries made by
Envia, which
announced it had developed just such batteries last year (and sent along the nifty cartoon image you see above). GM invested $7 million in the company in 2011 and also made a separate licensing deal to use those advanced packs in its vehicles. While we don't know the details of what kinds of vehicles are being tested with the 400 wh/kg packs in - Smyth would not even mention the brand - but we have previously calculated that that kind of power could mean 300-mile EVs. And earlier estimates put the cost of such a car with Envia's technology at just $20,000, giving more heft to Smyth's statement to Vander Doelen that, "Innovation is exploding right now. The industry is in a period of rapid transformation."
GM still talking about 300-mile EVs with high energy density batteries originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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16 June 2013, 2:30 pm by: Danny King
Filed under: MPG, Legislation and Policy, USA
Consumer Reports isn't wearing quite as rosy a pair of sunglass as the federal government is about the savings prospects for US drivers once stricter fuel economy standards take effect in model year 2017...
Filed under: MPG, Legislation and Policy, USA
Consumer Reports isn't wearing quite as rosy a pair of sunglass as the federal government is about the savings prospects for US drivers once stricter fuel economy standards take effect in model year 2017. Still, the publication says drivers
will save a few thousand dollars worth of gas during the lifetime of their vehicles.
CR, in a 27-page report that can be viewed
here (PDF),
estimates that drivers will save about $4,600 with the recently adopted Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in place. CR basically figured that the average cost of a new car would rise about $2,000 but fuel use would drop enough to save $7,300 during the car's lifetime (higher taxes and maintenance will eat up the $700 difference between the gross savings of $5,300 and the stated figure of $4,600). The publication also took note of additional benefits like a lower dependence on foreign oil and the multiplier effect of needing less money for fuel and having more to spend on other goods and services.
So, how do the feds see the situation? Last year, when the new
CAFE standards were made official, the federal government estimated that new standards - which have to ramp up starting with model year 2017 and get to a 54.5 miles per gallon average in 2025 (with a real-world average that will be closer to 40 mpg) - would save the typical new car owner $8,000 in fuel costs over the lifetime of the vehicle. Trouble is, that number didn't factor in the higher costs of producing (and buying) the more fuel-efficient vehicles.
CR says higher CAFE standards will save car buyers $4,600 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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16 June 2013, 10:16 am by: Danny King
Filed under: MPG, SMART, Toyota, Daimler
No matter how you slice it, the Toyota Prius and the Smart ForTwo are two of the "cheapest" cars to own. The Automotive Science Group (ASG), in its first-ever survey measuring a car's economic, environmental...
Filed under: MPG, SMART, Toyota, Daimler
No matter how you slice it, the
Toyota Prius and the
Smart ForTwo are two of the "cheapest" cars to own. The Automotive Science Group (ASG), in its first-ever survey measuring a car's economic, environmental and social costs, put both the Prius and the ForTwo atop two of its nine vehicle classes, marking the only repeat leaders among the approximately 1,400 model-year 2013 vehicles surveyed.
The ForTwo Coupe and ForTwo Passion cabriolet topped the coupe and convertible sectors, while the
Prius C and standard
Prius ranked first in the compact and mid-size segments (for good measure, the Prius Plug-in came in at No. 2 for mid-size). Filling out the top of ASG's lists, the
Toyota Avalon Hybrid won the full-size category; the
Mitsubishi Outlander Sport topped the crossovers; the
Mazda CX-5 led all mid-sized SUVs; the
Honda Pilot was the "cheapest" full-size SUV; and, finally, the
Nissan Quest won the minivan category.
ASG went beyond mere economic factors like price and cost of ownership by calculating in environmental measurements such as the raw materials required to make the vehicle; then, ASG attempted to calculate in a social element, somehow taking a factor such as the civil rights of the people making the vehicle and calculating that aspect into the total "cost." You can read more in ASG's press release
below.
Continue reading Prius, Smart generate lowest economic, social, green costs
Prius, Smart generate lowest economic, social, green costs originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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15 June 2013, 5:29 pm by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Miles EV, Coda Automotive
As Coda Automotive goes through bankruptcy proceedings, related companies are not escaping the turmoil. Both Lio Energy Systems Holdings and Miles Electric Vehicles asked this week to have their ban...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Miles EV, Coda Automotive
As
Coda Automotive goes through
bankruptcy proceedings, related companies are not escaping the turmoil. Both Lio Energy Systems Holdings and Miles Electric Vehicles asked this week to have their bankruptcy cases jointed administered with Coda's, since they're all tied together.
Miles Automotive is the electric vehicle company that came before Coda. The producer of small, low-speed EVs, Miles announced it was working on a highway-speed EV called the XS500 years before it
evolved into the Coda Sedan.
The way all these companies are connected is somewhat convoluted. We know that
Miles Rubin was the force behind Miles Automotive, which he started in 2004. Later, in 2009, he co-founded and was for a while chairman of Coda.
Reuters says that Lio Energy Systems is a direct subsidiary of Coda Holdings (it was a joint venture with China's Lishen Power Battery). Miles Electric Vehicles is now a direct subsidiary of Lio. Got it? Good, because you can shortly forget it when all these companies go through the bankruptcy grinder in the coming weeks.
At that time, you might need to learn a new name, Fortress Investment Group. Fortress is trying to buy Coda's assets for just $25 million. By the looks of things, this deal
will go through.
Miles EV files for bankruptcy alongside Coda's troubles originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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15 June 2013, 9:41 am by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture
It was clear early on that the story of Paul Scott spending a lot of his retirement savings to try and speak to President Obama at a private fundraiser was going to be a contentious topic. After a big public ou...
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture
It was clear early on that the story of
Paul Scott spending a lot of his retirement savings to
try and speak to President Obama at a private fundraiser was going to be a contentious topic. After a big public outcry and a
rejection from the Democratic National Committee, Scott took a step back to figure out his options. He has now
told Plug In Cars that the $32,400 he was originally going to spend on two minutes with the President will now be used to buy two used electric vehicle for his family.
Scott is a
Nissan Leaf salesman (as well as a co-founder of
Plug In America, which has been active for years, as the archival image above shows, and a friend of the site), so you can probably guess which EVs he plans to purchase. He told PIC that, "My intention is to buy two used Leafs from my lot and give one to my daughter and one to my sister. Both are driving old beater ICE cars, so I'd be removing a small percentage of the oil industry's income stream forever."
Scott may be good at getting the word out about electric vehicles, but he's not exactly a good secret-keeper. He told PIC, "My sister knows, but my daughter's gift is going to be surprise." Not any more, it's not.
After Obama fundraiser fall-out, Paul Scott will use refund to buy EV gifts originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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14 June 2013, 8:02 pm by: Seyth Miersma
Filed under: Tesla, Electric
Historically, the intersection between electric vehicles and drag racing has been really small - or so we guess, at least. But the advent of Tesla in the auto marketplace, and the subsequent performance offered up to dri...
Filed under: Tesla, Electric
Historically, the intersection between electric vehicles and drag racing has been really small - or so we guess, at least. But the advent of
Tesla in the auto marketplace, and the subsequent performance offered up to drivers by way of battery-powered cars, has caused even racy publications like
DragTimes to get in on the action.
Having posted several
YouTube videos featuring the
Tesla Model S doing pulls at the local strip,
DragTimes encountered questions about just how many races that car might be able to run before needing to re-juice its battery pack. The publication monitored the energy being used by the Tesla during full-throttle, quarter-mile runs, and determined that the net use (after energy from the regen braking was added back in) amounted to just 0.5 kWh per go. Considering that the full
battery capacity is 85 kWh,
DragTimes figured that the Model S is good for a remarkable 170 races before needing a recharge. By that math, and using electricity costs in
DragTime's home state of Florida, each race would cost just a nickel and a penny's worth of electricity.
With respect, that theoretical number is probably way too high. For starters, the car would expend some energy getting to and from the starting line between races. Perhaps more critically, the system is designed to not allow for a completely full charge or deletion of charge, so the car can't use all 85 kWh. Still, 100 runs is in the realm of possibility. In
the video below, the narrator makes mention of 150 runs, which is optimistic but more likely. Cheap thrills, in any case (once you've paid for the car).
Continue reading Tesla Model S costs one nickel per drag race [w/video]
Tesla Model S costs one nickel per drag race [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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14 June 2013, 7:00 pm by: Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: Etc., Legislation and Policy, USA
Earlier this year, an ExxonMobil pipeline oil spill dumped around 5,000 barrels of heavy crude oil in suburban Mayflower, AR. It was a mess, and prompted a discussion about oil pipelines in the US, most...
Filed under: Etc., Legislation and Policy, USA
Earlier this year, an ExxonMobil pipeline oil spill
dumped around 5,000 barrels of heavy crude oil in suburban Mayflower, AR. It was a mess, and prompted a discussion about oil pipelines in the US, most notably the controversial
Keystone XL pipeline. Yesterday, the US Department of Justice and the state of Arkansas filed a joint lawsuit against the oil company over the spill, claiming Exxon violated state pollution laws, according to
Reuters. ExxonMobil declined to comment on the matter to
Reuters, saying it needed
Reading the joint complaint (
PDF), the DOJ and Arkansas allege that there was an "unlawful discharge of heavy crude oil" from the 850-mile Pegasus Pipeline, which was first built in the 1940s and runs from Illinois to Texas. It usually transports 95,000 barrels of heavy Canadian crude oil per day, but have been closed since the spill.
The spilled oil "caused and continues to cause pollution to waters of the State," the complaint says, and the parts that ExxonMobil was supposed to have cleaned up remain a mess. The state and the DOJ are seeking civil penalties of "$1,100 per barrel discharged ... or if the violation is the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct, no more than $4,300 per barrel discharged," among other fines. You can see a video of the spill
below.
Continue reading DOJ, Arkansas suing ExxonMobil over crude oil spill
DOJ, Arkansas suing ExxonMobil over crude oil spill originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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