Archive for category Car industry

9 Electric Car Battery Factories Opened in Michigan: Experts Say Too Many

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Energy Storage on July 21, 2010

Michigan, once a prosperous area for the auto industry, saw a decline once the economy collapsed. Now, because of government incentives through grants under the Recovery Act, nine electric car battery factories have reborn there, creating new jobs and putting things on track again.

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Better Place: Electric Car Battery Swapping Service Envisioning Worldwide Expansion

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Efficient engines on July 16, 2010

You may have probably heard of Project Better Place before – it’s the business led by Shai Agassi that imposes itself a truly hard to get goal: to make a network of battery swapping and charging stations for the not-so-distant electric cars.

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Agreement Between Toyota and Tesla Motors to Materialize With 2 Prototypes by End of July

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Electric Vehicles on July 12, 2010

Often seen as having the closest resemblance with the Iron Man, Elon Musk has brought Paypal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity to their best, and now, in the middle of a financial crisis, is trying to make his deal with Toyota work, and have the first electric car designed by both on the market as soon as possible.

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Honda Planning to Market Solar Powered Home-Based Hydrogen Refueler Starting 2015

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Hydrogen Power on June 26, 2010

Having your hydrogen fuel cell car powered by some solar panels in your own backyard looks like a dream not able to come true in a lifetime for some. For others, this is already a reality and a long-term plan. Honda, GM, Toyota, Mercedes and several other car manufacturers, joined by fuel providers including Shell, look at home-based refueling stations quite seriously and plan to have the first ones implemented in as little as five years.

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Toshiba’s SCiB Ultra-Fast Charging Battery Selected to Be Used By Multiple Automakers

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Energy Storage on May 24, 2010

It looks natural for that to happen, since names like Sanyo and Panasonic had already been added as battery manufacturers on lists of Suzuki Motors and Toyota, respectively.

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Tesla Motors + Toyota: Electric Car Joint Venture or Fusion Plan?

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry on May 21, 2010

Arnold Schwarzenegger had first leaked this news while in a visit to Google’s HQ in Mountain View, and stirred powerful reactions in the media and in Downey City, to whom Tesla Motors promised that they will build a car factory there.

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For Green Geeks: GM Cooperating With Google to Install Android on Volt

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Electric Vehicles on May 13, 2010

GM is currently in talks with Google for a joint venture to develop an integrated car system based on the Android OS, of which you may have heard lately. They also say Android is going to be animating Chevy Volt’s interface.

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Electricity-Producing Shock Absorbers On Their Way to The Market This Summer

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Power Saving on May 12, 2010

After sleeping for a while, energy-producing shock absorbers appear in the news again. Levant Power, a company from Massachusetts, produces such shock absorbers that are developed by Cambridge. The company claims that their product can lower fuel consumption by 1.5 to 6 percent, depending on the vehicle and driving conditions.

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Deutsche Bank Estimates EV Batteries Price Will Drop 50% In Next Decade

Posted by Ovidiu in Car industry, Energy Storage on March 10, 2010

People tend to think electric cars will be more expensive and unaffordable than their petrol/diesel relatives. Furthermore, people usually expect high maintenance costs, because of the batteries.

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Ford Estimating 25% of Their Fleet to be Electric or Hybrid by 2020

Posted by Cristi in Car industry on March 4, 2010

Ford recently disclosed their long term plan coming to align with governmental laws related with fuel efficiency: by 2020, at least 25% of Ford’s new cars will be either electric or hybrid vehicles. In North America, 7 of 10 vehicles will be gasoline-electric hybrids, such as the current Fusion hybrid version.