Electric Cars

Electrification of the automobile has been proliferating in many interesting ways.  Perhaps one of the more surprising yet sensible ideas is the apparent plan to hybridize the military's Humvee. The Humvee is of course the massive armored and powerful any-terrain vehicle that the US military uses...

Ford and Smith Electric Vehicles had planned to jointly produce a BEV version of the Ford Transit Connect for a scheduled release next year ahead of the companies Focus EV.  The partnership was such that Ford would provide the rolling chassis and Smith Electric would install the EV components. ...

Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn announced late last week that his company along with partner Renault are equipped and ready to produce up to 500,000 batteries for EVs annually.  The companies will hold off production numbers until market condition determine the need for such output, but the capability...

The next episode of TLC's American Chopper will showcase more than a contentious family feud. The Siemens Smart Chopper will be featured on the show airing tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. Orange County Choppers built the Siemens-engineered electric motorcycle, which uses an Advanced DC Motors...

Fisker Automotive will partner with the Emil Frey Group

Mavizen has unveiled their TTX02 electric race bike today at SEMA, and unlike the Suzuki based frame and running gear of the TT01 prototype,    the TTX02 will have a KTM sourced RC8 chassis surrounding the Agni powerplants.  The bike should see a top speed (in stock configuration) of 130 mph...

If you have followed our recent articles highlighting Ford's thoughts on both battery swapping and fast charge stations, you are probably left wondering what Ford thinks will be the answer to the charging dilemma for EVs.  Well the company has an answer.  To read Ford's response to other charging...

Tanfield Group, the parent company of Smith Electric Vehicles, recently announced plans to work with AM General to develop a battery powered postal delivery vehicle.The collaborative effort between Smith Electric and AM General will focus on producing an EV version of the Long Life Vehicle in use...

At least once every couple of weeks, I field a question about why I think electric vehicles are better for the environment than their fossil fuel-guzzling counterparts, when most of our electricity here in the U.S. is made in coal-fired power plants. My patent answer is usually something along the...

Researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have succeeded in making the world’s first Ni-Li battery, a formulation that holds more than 3.5 times the energy of Li-ion batteries and doesn’t run the risk of catching fire. By including a...

Makers of green cars can rejoice as the President has signed the 2010 energy budget bill into law giving green car development one of the largest boosts in funding seen in decades.  The bill includes $814 million in funding for several alternative propulsion programs. $283 million in funding will...

When speculating on Suzuki's  future direction within today's chaotic, industry-wide scramble toward new energy technologies, it's interesting to note that although the company introduced a single new Plug In Hybrid concept car at the recent Tokyo Motor Show,  it actually introduced three...

Suzuki has launched a hybrid  gasoline/electric vehicle for sale on the Japanese market that travels an impressive 100 miles per gallon of gas!  The Suzuki Twin also features an automatic idling stop system shuts the engine down whenever the car stops at traffic lights or when stationary in heavy...

If you own a car as unique as the Tesla Roadster, why not advertise your business with it? That's what one Monaco resident did with this electric sports car clad in the standard issue yellow and black. The owner, who runs a New York City cab company which uses mostly hybrid vehicles, recently put...

When the historic first TTXGP electric motorcycle race took place this year at the storied Isle of Man TT road course, response was so overwhelming that the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) agreed to create an FIM World Championship Series for electric bikes in 2010 – the first...

Many potential EV buyers have discussed the necessity of fast charge stations and the automakers are listening.  Most upcoming EVs will have fast charge capability, but there are additional hurdles to overcome before fast charging become commonplace. Fast charging requires a lot of juice.  Fast...

The Nikkei is reporting that Sanyo Electric Co. has signed an agreement with PSA Peugeot Citroen to supply nickel-metal hydride batteries for diesel-electric hybrids. Peugeot wants to be the first car maker to put diesel-electric powertrains into production vehicles. The French auto company will...

Last week author Michael Pollan made a statement that upset many.  His words, "A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint that a beef eater in a Prius."  Obviously his claim drew immediate criticism, but is there any truth to his words? Well, it turns out that Pollan was indeed wrong...

Today is Halloween, but no tired jokes about green pumpkins here. It's the end of the month, so it's time to look at the most popular posts on GreenCarReports.com over the last 30 days, which include items on hybrids, clean diesels, and two on the Tesla electric car. Four out of the top five are...

The Honda Accord Hybrid never really caught on.  Sales were low from the get go and Honda really had little choice but to cancel the vehicle.  Other Honda hybrids like the dedicated hybrid Insight and even the Civic Hybrid have fared much better, but the unloved Accord Hybrid came and went...