Riding on Sunshine » Plug In Hybrid

Aptera electric car

Admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:02:19 +0000

Aptera http://www.alt-energy.info/hybrid-electr...]

Consumer Reaction to the Chevrolet Volt Video

Admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:21:55 +0000

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGH!

Admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:01:24 +0000

France set to embrace electric car

Admin — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:50:11 +0000

By John Reed in London

Published: October 10 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 10 2008 03:00

EDF yesterday announced separate agreements with Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën to develop recharging infrastructure for plug-in hybrid and electric cars in France.

The news coincided with a pledge by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to mobilise €400m ($546m) of public money over four years for research and development of low-emission vehicles.

The French energy group is already working with Toyota on plug-in cars in France and the UK.

Renault said its agreement with the utility company would cover recharging points for electric cars, and exchange stations that would allow motorists to swap depleted batteries for recharged ones.

These would be in place by the time Renault begins mass-marketing electric cars in 2011.

PeugeotMitsubishi said its agreement with EDF covered “the definition of business models” for plug-in cars and new technologies, including protocols to allow them to communicate with the network when recharging.

Carmakers are solidifying their ties with utility companies, which will need to supply recharging points and bill drivers for the power if plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles are to become commercially viable.

RWE and Daimler last month launched a pilot to set up 500 recharging points in Berlin for a test fleet of more than 100 Mercedes-Benz and Smart electric cars.

EDF and Toyota began working together on electric vehicles and infrastructure last year in France, and last month began testing the Japanese carmaker’s plug-in hybrid car in the utility’s company car fleet in the UK.

In Israel and Denmark, Renault is working with Project Better Place, a start-up US infrastructure company building recharging points and battery swap stations.

Nissan, its Japanese alliance partner, which will also launch electric cars in 2011, has formed partnerships on infrastructure for the cars with local authorities in the US state of Tennessee and the Kanagawa prefecture in Japan.

Automakers developing plug-in hybrid or electric cars are seeking government incentives for them as early models are expected to have small production runs and be expensive.

Mr Sarkozy yesterday said his government would continue to offer a €5,000 tax bonus for ultra-low emission cars until 2012, the last year of his term in office.

He also said that he wanted changes to European Union state aid rules to support carmakers’ investments in low-emission vehicles.

Carmakers this week asked the EU for €40bn in low interest loans for the new technology similar to a $25bn package recently approved in the US.

BYD to Launch Electric Car in China

Admin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:46:47 +0000

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU

SHENZHEN, China — BYD Auto Co. is expected to unveil here Sunday what it claims as China’s first mass-produced electric vehicle, the BYD F3DM — one key reason why the investor Warren E. Buffett invested $230 million to take a 10% stake in BYD Auto’s parent company.

Shenzhen City Mayor Xu Zongheng said Saturday the 2008 China High-tech Fair, opening here Sunday, will showcase, among other “innovative achievements” by Chinese companies, the F3DM, an electric car the home-grown auto maker is planning to launch in China by the end of November, pending government approval.

The F3DM (DM stands for dual mode) is an electric vehicle with a small gasoline combustion engine on board to charge the car’s battery when it runs out or assist the electric engine when accelerating. The car, capable of going as far as 100 to 110 kilometers all on electricity when fully charged, is similar in design to the much-hyped Chevy Volt, which General Motors Corp. is scrambling to launch by the end of 2010.

With the F3DM, BYD is launching a so-called plug-in hybrid electric car two years ahead of GM and Toyota Motor Corp, the two global automotive giants that have pledged to come up with similar green cars by 2010. Both GM and Toyota say they are taking more time to make sure lithium-ion batteries they are using for their electric cars are safe.

BYD uses iron-phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries, which it claims it has developed on its own, for the F3DM. Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD Co. — the auto maker’s parent company, said those batteries are “inherently safe” because they are more chemically stable, although they compromise to some extent the ability to pack energy in each cell, compared with more conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Mr. Wang declined to provide a sales target or a price range for the new electric car, but he had said at an industry conference in Beijing earlier this year that the car could carry a price tag of about 150,000 Yuan to make the car comparatively more affordable.

This ability by BYD to offer a green car at an affordable price is one of the several factors that have spurred MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., 87.4% of which Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns, to invest in BYD. According to BYD’s Mr. Wang, the company may accelerate its plans for entering the U.S. and European markets by using MidAmerican Energy’s money. It wasn’t clear immediately when BYD plans to launch products in the U.S. and European markets, however.

The Shenzhen company, better known for being a top global producer of rechargeable batteries for cell phones and other devices, began producing cars in 2005. It has since become one of China’s fast-growing home-grown brands with the gasoline-powered F3 compact sedan.

Chevy Volt Plug-In Hyrbrid Vehicle

Admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:54:16 +0000