After bringing an electric concept version of the Fiat 500 to the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, rumors have swirled that Chrysler would eventually make the 500EV a reality. Sure enough, today Chrysler took off the wraps on their plans to bring an all-electric version of the 500 to US shores by 2012.
Will these new EV plans stick, or is it just another round of vaporware?
On the heels of an announcement by the British government that Ford would get $550 million in government loan guarantees, Ford has said they will invest $2.3 billion in Britain over the next five years to modernize their facilities and build the next generation of fuel-efficient cars and powertrains — including clean diesel and EcoBoost technologies.
The unbridled internet rumor mill is both a thing of beauty and an incredibly annoying echo chamber. The latest one to get lost in translation: Nissan has priced the LEAF electric car at $45,000.
Given that Nissan has consistently said for a year now that the LEAF will be comparably priced to a conventional sedan of the the same size and capabilities, this is one rumor that just doesn’t hold much water. Although many have seemed to take it at face value. (more…)
Researchers from the University of Florida are reporting this week on a discovery that could have wide-ranging implications for everything from cancer treatment to cars. By shining very weak lasers — no more intense than those found in laser pointers — at nanoparticles known as “functionalized fullerenes,” the researchers have been able to cause those fullerenes to ignite with much lower energy input than traditional ignition techniques.
When mixed with gasoline, the researchers envision that the fullerenes would allow the gasoline to be ignited with low energy lasers in an engine instead of with the normal spark plugs. Not only would this lower the amount of energy needed to ignite the fuel, it would also cause the fuel to be more completely combusted, thus increasing the fuel economy and lowering emissions. (more…)
Here’s a little nugget that suggests range anxiety may be an overblown topic: Northeast Mine E test driver, Tom Moloughney, writes on the Inside Line blog that in the year he’s been driving the car he’s never had a problem with getting stranded. And if there’s anybody who should have had a chance to get stranded in a Mini E, it’s Moloughney — he’s driven more than 23,000 miles in the car. Mr. Moloughney says that, in fact, he’s been so unconcerned with range anxiety that he rarely even looks at his range gauge anymore.
It’s gotten to the point that his friends and colleagues fret more about it than he does, wondering frequently if Moloughney will be able to make it to lunch dates and the like.
Rare earth metals — so called because they are found in such low concentration on the Earth and are, therefore, exceedingly difficult to profitably mine — are required in everything from advanced electric car batteries and motors to new refrigerator technology.
Is the US running headlong into a future where we depend on other countries for a stable supply of this critical resource?
The hydrogen economy. It sounds so good on paper. All of our vehicles driving around emitting nothing but water vapor fueled from hydrogen produced by power from the sun. It’s been a dream since before I was born.
I remember reading a copy of Popular Mechanics when I was in 7th grade that said the hydrogen economy was realistically a decade away… that was in the 80s. As each decade has come and gone since then, the hydrogen economy seems to be perpetually a decade away.
Is the hydrogen economy something we should just throw in the towel on (at least for now), or should we continue funding this area of research even though other technologies are more promising for the time being?
When we last brought you news about Firefly nearly two years ago, it was of a more hopeful nature: I had a chance to sit down with the company’s then-Senior Vice President, Mil Ovan, and discuss Firefly’s future.
At the time, Firefly seemed like it was set to take off. With lucrative military and private contracts to change out those institutions’ old hat lead-acid batteries with new ones that were supposed to provide much higher durability, longer charge capacity, and less sensitivity to temperature changes in a lighter and more compact package.
Well, that future is no more. Firefly has officially closed up shop and filed for bankruptcy. Chapter 7 to be exact. The one where all that’s left of the company is liquidated in a fire sale. (more…)
Peugeot and Mitsubishi have some ’splainin to do.
Mitsubishi plans to start selling their i-MiEV electric car in Europe later this year. In partnership with Mitsubishi, the i-MiEV will also be sold in Europe as the Peugeot iOn and the Citroen C-Zero.
The problem: Mitsu has said the i-MiEV will have a street price of 48,000 euros before any tax breaks and credits (roughly $66,000 US), whereas Peugeot and Citroen have said their versions of the i-MiEV will sell for less than 35,000 euros before tax breaks (about $48,000 US).
That’s a whopping price differential of 13,000 euros ($18,000 US) — for the same car! (more…)
Over the past three years, the idea of using silicon in lithium-ion batteries to greatly increase energy storage capacity has been an on-again, off-again proposition. But some new announcements by different groups of researchers working on silicon-based lithium-ion batteries indicate that silicon may well be a viable charge-holding battery material.
If so, electric cars with a thousand miles of range are in striking distance.
Earlier this month, Chris brought you the official Geneva Auto Show unveiling of the Ferrari 599 HY-KERS hybrid show car. Although not as breathtaking or groundbreaking as the Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid unveiled at the same show (Ferrari must have been cursing under their breath at having the limelight stolen), the 599 HY-KERS is also an impressive work of engineering.
Just a few weeks ago I brought you word that more than a half dozen of California’s largest and most influential police, safety and transportation associations had serious issues with California’s “Cool Cars” law because of concerns about everything from tracking of GPS braceleted criminals, to the ability of those EZ Pass tollbooths to operate, to the functioning of cell phones in emergencies.
Those associations wrote letters to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) explaining their positions and imploring CARB to reconsider. The “Cool Cars” rules are set to be finalized on May 7, making the last ditch effort by these associations even more interesting. It now appears that CARB has taken the warning seriously, and will be amending the rules in some major way to address the concerns prior to the May 7 deadline.
In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, said that he doesn’t think using compressed natural gas (CNG) in vehicles makes much sense.
While he sees a dramatically increasing demand for CNG in other applications such as centralized power generation, he said that it takes such a huge investment to convert fueling stations and cars (especially long haul trucks) over to CNG, that it just doesn’t pencil out.
While it’s long been known that LG Chem — and it’s Michigan-based subsidiary, Compact Power Inc. — were chosen to build the cells for the Chevy Volt’s lithium-ion battery packs, up till now most of the research, refinement and production of those cells has been done in Korea.
LG Chem has been hinting for over a year that all of that battery cell production will eventually shift to the US. Today the company revealed that they’ve chosen to invest $300 million in a Holland, Michigan battery plant capable of suppling cells for more than 50,000 plug-in cars per year. The plant is expected to employ over 400 workers by 2013.
As we’ve talked about on these pages before, the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of car purchasers is starting. By the end of the year many major auto manufacturers will have some kind of electric vehicle for sale on the mass market and by 2014, nearly all major manufacturers have plans to introduce at least one electric car.
In these early stages, carmakers have chosen several different paths, some opting to go for the cars powered solely by batteries (Battery Electric Vehicles or BEVs) such as the Nissan LEAF, some for the plug-in hybrids (PHEVs; like a Prius with a bigger battery), and some for the extended range electric vehicles (EREVs with small generators on board to charge the batteries) such as the Chevy Volt.
Here in the US, tea is essentially a niche product, falling way behind coffee in terms of popularity. But in places like the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, tea far surpasses coffee as a national past time. In 2008 alone, the world production of black tea was more than 3.8 million tons.
Typically, all those spent tea leaves and remaining liquid are tossed out with the trash, but now two Pakistani researchers have decided to tackle what they perceived as a waste of resources, and have figured out how to completely recycle the leftover tea and tea leaves into biodiesel, ethanol, methane, propane, fertilizer and even chemical spill absorbent.
Pretty ingenious if you ask me.
New research out of Kuwait, using a new method of calculating the crude oil production potential of 47 of the world’s largest oil producing countries, has found that peak oil — the period in time when oil production reaches a maximum and then begins to decline — will come much sooner than expected… 2014 to be exact.
It really is shameless self promotion, but, hey, we’re never too proud to beg around here.
The granddaddy of all green blog sites, Treehugger, has nominated Gas 2.0 to the “Best Transportation Website” category in their annual “Best of Green” reader’s choice awards. We’re nestled in there in the same voting block that includes “Best Upcoming Electric Car,” “Best Agent of Change,” and “Best City for Cyclists.”
After its surprise introduction at the Geneva Auto Show last week one thing is clear: the Porsche 918 Spyder supercar has struck a resounding nerve in the automotive community. You see, true car nuts, no matter how green they aspire to be, are always drawn to fast, sexy cars. And if there’s one thing the world of car nuts felt like it might be losing in this profound shift to green transportation, it was sexy speed.
New research out of the University of York in Britain is unraveling some mysteries of the common wood-eating gribble that could provide the key to cheaply turning abundant wood and straw fiber into biofuel.