Electric Cars

The Global Green Car Challenge took place this week in Australia.  Participants in numerous categories faced off for supremacy.  One vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, set a new world record in the battery powered production vehicle class. Driver Simon Hackett and co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas set out...

Finally the cup holder has been overtaken as the most important feature of a new car.  It was beat out by fuel economy.  Americans have finally confessed and admitted that fuel efficiency is the most important factor to consider when purchasing a new car.  But, insiders at the Big Three knew...

Carrying the regulation-maximum 6 square meters of solar cells and reaching speeds of up to 94 mph, the Solar-powered Tokai Challenger built by a team from Tokai University, Japan,  has fought it's way across 3000 kilometers of Australian desert ahead of the pack to take first place in the premier...

 British motor magazine Autocar reports that Toyota is working on a sporting coupe version of its Prius as a direct competitor to the sporty Honda CR-Z. Although  it was formerly thought that Toyota had rejected the idea of expanding the Prius range,  Honda's ongoing struggle to claw back more...

Recently, I spoke with Rob Brady, Owner / CEO / Design Director of ROBRADY Design, who has worked with alternative vehicle companies such as Vectrix, Segway and, most recently, DK City on their folding bike design.  I was curious to find out what parameters might drive the designs of alternative...

There are many methods for charging EVs.  From using household current, to battery swapping, to fast charge stations, the list is continually growing.  However, not everyone is on board with some charging options. Battery swapping has continually been met with interest, yet few believe the idea...

Consumer Reports, long respected by consumers for its unbiased analysis of everything from vacuum cleaners to children’s toys to cars, has published its list of the most reliable (and unreliable) vehicles. Overall, the results are stunning — five of the top eight most reliable family cars were...

There's nothing like a little old-fashioned reporter shoe leather, especially when few other automotive media outlets bother to make the trip. Our colleague Gary Gastelu of Fox News traveled down to Delaware yesterday, to cover the official announcement of Fisker Automotive's $18 million purchase...

Last week Ford Motor Company announced that it has been working with the University of Michigan to help with the research and development for the companies next generation of hybrid vehicles.  Researchers from both Ford and U of M have been gathering data from thousands of roads trips in current...

Ford will introduce the Focus EV in 2011 to high expectations.  The vehicle will be one of the first EVs to hit the roads from a domestic manufacturer.  For Ford, it will be their second EV by the time it comes to market, just behind the Transit Connect EV.  Currently in the prototype stage...

  Fisker CEO and founder Henrik Fisker was joined by US Vice-President Joe Biden in a dormant former GM assembly plant in Wilmington Delaware to announce that the plant will be purchased by Fisker. The plant will be used to support project NINA, the company's effort to build an affordable family...

Guido Reinking, editor of Automobilwoche, is well known for his occasional outbursts against electric vehicle technology.  Previously, Reinking wrote that EV technology will not become mainstream for at least 15 more years.  Now he's back with yet another statement that may or may not sit well...

Awhile back we brought you a story about a company called New Energy whose Motion Power system presented an interesting energy harvester installed in roadways.  The system is designed to capture energy from the motion of vehicles.  It has undergone several successful real-world testing...

Toyota City, Japan, smells pretty sweet these days according to a report by Richard Blackburn at drive.com.au. Japan's largest automaker has developed two new flower species to help offset CO2 emitted by the Prius factory there. The leaves of one of the flowers, based on the cherry sage, absorb...

The REVA Electric Car Company of  Bangalore (India)  announced Friday that in partnership with Newly formed U.S. EV company Bannon automotive, it/they will be investing 26.5 million dollars to rehabilitate and outfit an EV factory in Syracuse, N.Y.. The facility will be an assembly plant for...

I knew a plug-in fuel cell vehicle would emerge, and I knew the best application for fuel cells is trucking.  The future has arrived.  See more pics on Vision Industries homepage here. LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)-- Vision Industries Corp. (OTCBB:VIIC), producers of the zero emission, plug-in...

Reduces development time by 2 years with math and simulation-based tools from Mathworks.

Daimler recently made the commitment to update and expand its Rastatt factory by 2011.  The company will invest over 600 million euros to retool the facility in time for the release of its next generation, sub-compact and compact A and B Class vehicles.  This decision has been in the works for...

Toyota announced that it will put 10 Prius plug-ins into use in Boulder, Colorado.  The vehicles will be part of a research project and will utilize Xcel's SmartGridCity technology.  The research will be coordinated by the University of Colorado at Boulder Renewable and Sustainable Energy...

According to Advanced Power and Energy Sources Transportation (APET) in Hong Kong,  the cordless, no-solar-panel  EV is about to become a reality.   Developments in Zinc-air battery technology have been made which promise to make the technology a serious contender in the EV world. Zinc-air...