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Feeling Out Smart ED
All-electric version of tiny Smart car unveiled at Paris Auto Show |
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02 Oct 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:54 PM on 02 Oct 2008 Automaker Daimler unveiled an all-electric version of its tiny Smart car at the Paris Auto Show this week, dubbed the Smart ED for its electric drive. Diesel-powered versions of the ultra-cute, ultra-compact Smart Fortwo went on sale in the United States just this January to wide acclaim. Company spokespeople said the all-electric Smart Fortwo will be available in the U.S. by ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, electric vehicles, green living, news (all these topics) |
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Has GM overdesigned the Volt?
Is a 40-mile all-electric range too much? |
Joseph Romm |
01 Oct 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I have an article in today's Guardian online, 'Is the Chevy Volt just hype?' I argue that the key to the near-term success for plug-ins in this country is government incentives and mandates, which in turn will critically depend on the outcome of the presidential election. But that should not be a surprise, since no country in the world has achieved significant market penetration of an alternative-fuel vehicle without major government incentives and mandates. I noted ... |
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| Topics: economy, green living, tax incentives, electric vehicles, cars, gas prices (all these topics) |
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Iceland gives hydrogen the cold shoulder
Electric vehicles crowd out hydrogen brethren at sustainable driving conference |
Joseph Romm |
27 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. ----- Iceland has long been touted as a hydrogen economy pioneer. So it is quite shocking that electric vehicles -- both plug-in hybrids and pure battery electric cars -- crowded out hydrogen at a recent Reykjavík conference. Iceland is blessed with abudant hydro-electric opportunities, and currently generates 6.5 TWh (Terawatt hours, which is equal to a million megawatt hours) per year, ... |
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| Topics: hydrogen, geothermal power, electric vehicles, cars, green living (all these topics) |
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Pickin' on the plan
Pickens' natural gas plan makes no sense and will never happen |
Joseph Romm |
27 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. ----- Thomas Boone Pickens is a billionaire who made his money in oil and corporate takeovers. He began investing in natural gas in 1997, and in wind power in 2007. In 2008, he went public with the Pickens Plan via a website and a well funded advertising campaign. Here we analyze the Pickens Plan, as presented here, which begins by correctly observing: America is addicted to foreign oil ... |
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| Topics: cars, wind power, electricity, natural gas, energy, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
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ReGeneration Roadtrip: Driving the future
Tesla's motoring toward sustainability one sports car at a time |
Sarah van Schagen |
25 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| If you wanna talk about moving toward a greener future, surely the sexiest way to do that is in a Tesla Roadster. This car goes 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds -- faster than a Ferrari -- without guzzling a single drop of oil. All you need is about three hours plugged into the wall, and you're fully charged and ready to impress. Tesla has already delivered about 50 of the cars to eager buyers -- including familiar faces like Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Cloo ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, green living, ReGeneration Roadtrip, video (all these topics) |
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Honda, unplugged
Chrysler, Mazda, Hyundai, and Nissan announce plug-in hybrids -- but not Honda |
Joseph Romm |
23 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The number of companies planning plug-in hybrids is growing steadily. Some recent announcements can be found here. Calcars maintains an excellent update on 'How carmakers are responding to the plug-in hybrid opportunity.' As for Honda, last year, The Wall Street Journal reported: Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said so-called plug-in hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles [PHEVs] offered too few environmental benefits for his company to pursue, and noted th ... |
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| Topics: tech, business, cars, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
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Volt reality check
Chevy Volt not so revolutionary |
biodiversivist |
22 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| For those of you who missed it, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz hit the talk show circuit last week to talk up the latest incarnation of the Chevy Volt (more on his boneheaded climate change comments here and here). The marketing goal is to create the public perception that the Volt is an electric car (get it, volt?), to differentiate it from competitors like the Prius, which are mere hybrids. It may work, and I'm OK with that as long as it sells low-emission cars. Look at ... |
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| Topics: business, tech, messaging, electric vehicles, cars, Big Auto (all these topics) |
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Tesla profile in New Scientist
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Sara Barz |
18 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| For those upset about the bashing electric vehicles have taken recently, check out this glowing profile ($ub. req'd) of Tesla -- and its Roadster -- in New Scientist magazine today. The Roadster does 0-60 in four seconds, tops out at 130 mph, and only costs $109,000 (sigh ... not in this writer's budget this year). Pedestrians and cyclists beware, the Roadster's 248 horsepower electric engine makes less noise than a golf-cart, but its 450 kg lithium-ion battery would pac ... |
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| Topics: green living, cars, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
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The revolution will not be grumpetized
The automotive revolution: how fast? |
David Roberts |
17 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Wall Street Journal senior editor Joseph B. White attempts to dump some cold water on the "automotive revolution" everyone's all giddy about: This revolution will take years to pull off -- and that's assuming it isn't derailed by a return to cheap oil. Anyone who goes to sleep today and wakes up in five years will find that most cars for sale in the U.S. will still run on regular gas -- with a few more than today taking diesel fuel. That will likely be ... |
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| Topics: cars, economy, electric vehicles, green living (all these topics) |
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Taxi!
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Adam Browning |
11 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Gas prices getting you down? Take a free ride in the Solartaxi. ....adding: just don't try it in Alaska. |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Who recharged the electric car?
Showcase offers electric vehicle test-drives at DNC; review of an eBox |
Sara Barz |
28 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In the midst of the mayhem that is the Democratic National Convention in Denver, 10 electric vehicles can be found zipping along the streets of Denver or idling at the corner of Speer and Champa. Boulder County, Colo. delegate Nate Vanderschaaf brought them to Denver as part of the Electric Vehicle Rolling Showcase -- a personal effort to leverage his position as a delegate to bring attention to (and free rides in) electric vehicles at the convention. eBox. Photo ... |
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| Topics: cars, Democratic National Convention, electric vehicles, green living (all these topics) |
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The (renewable) electron economy, part 6
Why electricity is the energy carrier of choice |
Michael Hoexter |
22 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Our already substantial 120-year investment in an electric infrastructure in industrial countries, makes the transition to a electricity based energy economy less expensive. There are sound physical reasons why the three main contenders for the energy supply for transport turn out to be the three electron economies: renewables, nuclear, and coal CCS. We have determined there that electric drive vehicles either attached to the grid or powered by some vers ... |
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| Topics: biomass, cars, electric vehicles, electricity, energy, public transportation (all these topics) |
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Charge!
Electric-car visionary would overhaul the way we get around |
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19 Aug 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:55 AM on 19 Aug 2008 Could the global auto infrastructure be overhauled in a way that's profitable for business, cheap for drivers, and easy on the planet? Meet Better Place's Shai Agassi and his plans for an electric-car future, featured in the latest issue of Wired. In Agassi's vision, gas stations are replaced with omnipresent recharging spots for electric cars. Vehicles are cheap, perhaps even free; money is mad ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, Denmark, electric vehicles, energy, innovation, Israel, news, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Making a Plug
Chevy Volt gets prettied up, almost ready for testing |
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15 Aug 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:59 AM on 15 Aug 2008 The design phase of the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt is "essentially finished," General Motors declared Thursday. The new design is more aerodynamic than the concept Volt unveiled in Jan. 2007, allowing the car to travel solely on battery power for at least 40 miles, according to GM. The automaker hopes to have a few prototypes ready for testing within the next 10 days, and 50 available b ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, electric vehicles, hybrids, news (all these topics) |
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Japanese automakers plugged-in
Toyota at work on commercial plug-in hybrids, Mitsubishi to offer electric car |
biodiversivist |
30 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Plug-in Prius. Photo: unmediastudio Call me an optimist, but a feasible plug-in appears to be just over the horizon. First, Toyota has several plug-in Priuses being driven in Japan to collect data -- technical and human behavioral. They are sticking with NiMH batteries for now. Next, Honda is finally getting ready to launch the much-needed Prius alternative. There are a lot of people out there who refuse to buy a Prius for various reasons that would ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, hybrids (all these topics) |
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An electric plug
Plug-in hybrid offers practical solution to peak oil |
Joseph Romm |
11 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Plug-in hybrids are the only alternative fuel vehicles that can provide genuine energy independence from steadily rising oil prices and brutal price spikes. I have agreed to participate as a guest blogger for ScienceBlogs in a three-month project on the next generation of energy ideas. My first post is 'Electric Vehicles: The Next Generation.' Longtime readers of this blog or my books know that I have been an advocate of plug-ins for a number of years. The key po ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, energy, fuel efficiency, hybrids (all these topics) |
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Do plug-ins dream of electric horses?
VW to join Toyota, GM with 2010 plug-in hybrid |
Joseph Romm |
30 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. -----The German government announced it will be helping to fund VW's plug-in hybrid development program with 15 million euros. VM aims for a 2010 vehicle with 31 miles of all-electric range. VW head Martin Winterkorn said that while petrol or diesel powered cars would be around for some time to come, 'the future belongs to all-electric cars.' According to autoblog, the Twin Drive uses a 82-hp ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, economy, electric vehicles, hybrids (all these topics) |
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Oh lord, won't you clean up my Mercedes-Benz?
Mercedes to offer a petroleum-free lineup by 2015 |
Sara Barz |
27 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In the next seven years, Mercedes-Benz wants to eliminate petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. According to AutoblogGreen, 'The German giant is working on a variety of technologies that will help provide crude oil free transport such as battery electrics, fuel cells and highly efficient internal combustion engines that can operate on biofuels.' The automaker already has two new powertrains in either the concept or trial stages of development. The concept F700, ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Big Three on credit watch
S&P cites automakers' cashflow concerns |
Michael Moynihan |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Originally posted at the NDN Blog. While news about high fuel prices this past week centered on disingenuous calls by President Bush and others to drill our way out of the crisis, perhaps the most significant -- and ominous event -- was the barely publicized action by S&P Friday to place the Big Three U.S. automakers on a credit watch. In taking the action, S&P cited 'renewed concerns about the three car makers' future cash flows.' Given Ford's ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, economy, electric vehicles, fuel efficiency (all these topics) |
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Beep Beep, Beep Beep, Oui
French capital will implement electric-car-sharing program |
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23 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:16 PM on 23 Jun 2008 Having successfully implemented a bike-sharing program, Paris is revving up plans to provide electric cars that residents can pick up and drop off anywhere in the city. Mayor Bertrand Delanoë announced that 4,000 electric cars will be made available by the end of the next year at 700 pickup points. "There will be a computerized system which allows you as soon as you collect ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, France, news, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Google plugs in
Notes from a plug-in hybrid conference |
Michael Moynihan |
15 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Silicon Valley came to Washington this week to talk about plug-in hybrids at a great conference organized by Google.org with Brookings. The combination of tech visionaries, electric cars on display, Washington heavy hitters such as John Dingell, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and even a couple of film stars, Peter Horton and Anne Sexton of Who Killed the Electric Car?, made for a great meeting. Here are my notes from the standing room o ... |
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| Topics: cars, climate, electric vehicles, hybrids, placemaking, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable
Toyota and Honda could sure learn something from Chevy! |
David Roberts |
14 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'I don't have to tell you how sexy the [Chevy] Volt is. The Japanese and Chinese couldn't possibly put out something that appealing to middle America.' -- Andy Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy |
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| Topics: cars, Department of Energy, electric vehicles, energy, placemaking, quotables (all these topics) |
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Group Plug
Big Three automakers get plug-in funding from feds |
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13 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:37 PM on 13 Jun 2008 The U.S. Big Three automakers will get $30 million over three years for plug-in hybrid R&D, the Department of Energy announced Thursday. While less than automakers wanted -- last year they pushed for $500 million -- each welcomed some funding for various aspects of plug-in research. Chrysler plans to build a test fleet of 80 plug-ins, including 10 adapted Dodge Durangos and Chrysler Aspens; Genera ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, Department of Energy, electric vehicles, news (all these topics) |
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Converting a Yaris into a plug-in hybrid
Toyota may have something up its sleeve |
biodiversivist |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The first car I ever owned didn't have power anything. Today you will be hard pressed to find a car without power brakes and steering. But those features also consume energy. This explains how the first wave of economy cars from Japan got such notoriously high mileage (they didn't have power anything either). One reason I chose a Yaris for my next car is that it has electric power steering and power brakes. In theory, you should be able to turn the engine off without ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, green living, hybrids, placemaking, Prius (all these topics) |
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Departed from gasoline
Oceans of love for the Tesla-driving Matt Damon |
Holly Richmond |
05 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Photo: PBS Not that I'm f*cking (in love with) Matt Damon and would use even vaguely green news as an excuse to write about him -- what would give you that idea? -- but the Bourne star was spotted earlier this week taking a Tesla prototype for a spin. Autofiends.com chatted him up about how fast it accelerates; it took the writer minutes to notice that the guy he was talking to was Damon (!). Ecorazzi reported in August that Damon added his name to a waitin ... |
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| Topics: cars, celebrity, electric vehicles, green living, hotties (all these topics) |
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