Taking the Smart Fortwo Electric Car For a Test Drive

I was feeling good as a truck cab packed with construction workers were genuinely excited as I pulled along side them at a red light. One guy gave me a thumbs up, another asked how much my ride retailed for. Then, two lights up the road, the reaction to my smart fortwo electric drive car was slightly more critical.

"Hey guys, look at that funny little car," a father shouted to his two small boys as he pointed at my tiny white and green convertible. I suspect smart cars get that a lot: A mix of wonder, excitement and ridicule. Dropping in an electric motor is likely to only increase all of those reactions.

Smart USA, a subsidiary of Penske Automotive Group, will roll out 250 EVs in the U.S. beginning in October. That's small potatoes compared to what the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf plan to produce later this year, but Smart is happy being niche.

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Sen. Kerry: Hybrid cars shouldn’t be too quiet

U.S. Sen. John Kerry is trying to make sure hybrid and electric cars aren’t too quiet.

Kerry is pushing a proposal aimed at helping protect blind pedestrians who rely on their hearing to safely cross streets.

The proposal would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to establish a minimum sound requirement for hybrid and electric vehicles to alert pedestrians to their approach.

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The Search for Cheaper, Lighter Car Batteries

The Nissan Leaf, an electric car that will go on sale this fall, is priced at $33,000. It's a $16,500 subcompact car that costs double that thanks to a battery estimated to cost $16,500. The eStar, an electric truck being developed by Navistar, will sell for $150,000 because it will tote a battery that costs at least $75,000. Cost isn't the only problem. Both the Leaf and the eStar will be limited to 100 miles of driving on a charge.


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Electric Vehicle News on EVHUB @ feeds.feedburner.com/ElectricalHybridVehicles

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Audi Award for the carmaking of the future - New Idea Contest

Audi announces new idea contest
This year's topic: production of electric automobiles

Member of the Audi Board for Production Frank Dreves: "The award is another component for ensuring that our production remains fit in the future."

INGOLSTADT, Germany, Jun 7, 2010 - What will the production of an Audi look like if the automobile no longer has a gearbox? This is the type of question that candidates for the Audi Production Award must ask themselves. Students and scientists can now begin submitting their creative concepts for the automobile production of the future. A prestigious jury will recognize the best idea on this year's topic, "The Production of Electric Automobiles," this fall.

"Audi lives for 'Vorsprung durch Technik' in more than just its automobiles. We are also committed to innovative technologies in production, and electric mobility will play a particularly important role here in the years ahead," says Frank Dreves, Member of the Audi Board for Production. "We want to involve as many creative minds as possible to keep our production fit in the future, which is why we have created the Audi Production Award."

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Ford CEO Explains Why Most Americans Won’t Be Driving Electric Cars Soon

Automakers and environmentalists alike have pinned a lot of hope on the electric car. It is the wave of the future, they tell us, and it is the only way we will ever been weened off of oil. But when can we the average Americans, expect to get behind the wheel of one of these silent, emissions-free vehicles?

According to Ford’s CEO Alan Mullaly in an exchange with Mahalo’s CEO Jason Calacanis at the All Things Digital conference, not anytime soon.

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Electric Vehicle News Archive from EVHUB.IN

08.06.10

Two good reasons to drive an electric car @ http://www.evhub.in/news/63

Nissan's pre-orders of Leaf EV reach FY 2010 target in 2 months @ http://www.evhub.in/news/62

Indian market for electric car still immature @ http://www.evhub.in/news/64

3-Wheeled EV Looks Like a Modern Messerschmitt @ http://www.evhub.in/news/65

BBC's 6500km electric drive @ http://www.evhub.in/news/66

Will second hand electric cars be worthless? The Green Piece @ http://www.evhub.in/news/67

07.06.10

Indian market for EVs still nascent: Auto makers @ http://www.evhub.in/news/56

Hawaii's weather, high gasoline costs lure electric vehicles @ http://www.evhub.in/news/57

Coulomb Technologies to install 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations @ http://www.evhub.in/news/59

Soon, electric-powered trucks! @ http://www.evhub.in/news/60

GM to launch Chevrolet Volt in 2011 @ http://www.evhub.in/news/61

05.06.10

General Motors may launch electric vehicle in India @ http://www.evhub.in/news/47

Electric cars taking hold in auto industry @ http://www.evhub.in/news/48

Electric vehicles becoming much more viable @ http://www.evhub.in/news/49

Electric cars widely available in Canada by 2012: automakers @ http://www.evhub.in/news/50

“Green” Hybrid and Electric Cars Have Their Drawbacks @ http://www.evhub.in/news/51

All-electric BMW by 2013 @ http://www.evhub.in/news/52

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Renault 2010 Environment Workshop, Part 2: Electric Vehicles

Renault held a “2010 Environment Workshop” last week to showcase its progress across its range of vehicles’ full lifecycle through the Renault eco² program.

In terms of powertrain technologies, Renault focused on the introduction of new technologies for internal combustion engines and conventional transmissions, as well as outlining its commitment to electric powertrains. Renault will begin selling affordable mass-production electric vehicles in 2011 (earlier post); the Alliance is aiming to be the market leader in sales of mass market Zero-Emission (during road use) vehicles.

Renault estimates that electric vehicles will account for 10% of the world market by 2020.

Leveraging the Alliance. A decade after the establishment of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the two companies stepped up their cooperation
in May 2009. This included the creation of a team dedicated to speeding up and broadening the synergies that will enable both companies to improve their performance, and more particularly in the field of electric vehicles.

In addition to equipping the electric vehicles produced by Renault and Nissan with batteries developed by AESC, a Nissan-NEC joint venture, the Alliance has pooled the expertise of Renault and Nissan to strengthen synergies at every level and encourage the sharing of major electrical assemblies, such as powertrains and batteries.

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Advanced Battery Technologies Enters US Electric Vehicles Market

NEW YORK, Jun 8, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc.(ABAT 3.14, -0.01, -0.32%), a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of rechargeable Polymer Lithium-Ion (PLI) batteries as well as a manufacturer of electric vehicles, today announced that it received an order to sell electric vehicles valued at approximately $1.1 million to US-based All-Power America. The first batch of electric motorcycles was shipped to All-Power America on June 6, 2010. This is the first entry into the US market for ABAT's electric vehicles since the Company acquired ownership of Wuxi ZQ in May 2009.


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Will second hand electric cars be worthless? The Green Piece

Tuesday 8 June 2010: The Green Piece Column

It’s no secret that the value of new cars depreciates at a phenomenal rate – most vehicles are lucky to retain 50 per cent of their initial value after three years, which is one of the reasons car leasing is so attractive (as our friends atContractHireAndLeasing.com will be quick to point out).
However, it seems that conventional cars are secure investments when compared to their electric counterparts

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BBC's 6500km electric drive

The BBC has embarked on a 6500km drive around Europe to find out whether electric vehicles are a viable form of future transport.

A broadcasting quartet led by Radio 4 presenter Peter Curran left the BBC's headquarters in London yesterday for a one-month tour that will include visits to Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

 The BBC Electric Ride team will drive a Think City car that is currently available for sale only in Norway, Austria and Holland. The 3.1-metre-long three-door hatchback is powered by a 30kW rechargeable electric motor.

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3-Wheeled EV Looks Like a Modern Messerschmitt

With three wheels and four tires, the new GT3 concept from T3 Motion is already an automotive oddity. So why’d they have to make it look like a post-war bubble car?

T3 Motion is best known for their Electric Standup Vehicles (ESVs) and microcars. They’ve almost gone full-size with the GT3, a plug-in EV powered by lithium-polymer batteries. It’s got a top speed of 70 mph, has a range of 80 to 100 miles and is expected to sell for between $35,000 and $42,000.

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Indian market for electric car still immature

Presently the demand for electric car in India is still quite small. As per  industry estimates, less than 5% cent of the passenger car market in India would make up electric cars for the next 5-7 years , at 1,75,000.

Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest passenger car producer, had displayed the SX4 hybrid and an electric car on the platform of its newly introduced Eeco.

In fact, Maruti is also building some demo cars, both hybrids and EVs, for the coming Commonwealth Games and it thinks these vehicles could be used for later development of EVs.

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Two good reasons to drive an electric car

BP's oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the latest troubles in the Middle East could have an unexpected outcome for the auto industry: a boost for electric vehicles (EVs).

The ecological nightmare that BP has unleashed has put the spotlight on the deep water oil drilling that for a while seemed to have peak oil theorists eating crow. Now we can all see in vivid images the cost of oil dependency: dying oil-soaked birds, choking fish and beaches covered in gooey gobs of oil.

Forget for the moment about greenhouse gases and whether or not you believe in man-made global warming. We can't easily see the effects on a daily basis anyway.

But we can see the ecological nightmare unfolding off the U.S. Gulf Coast. If this is not a horrifying example of one consequence of an oil-based economic and social order, then what is? Oil-cleanup technology has advanced a long way from the days of the Exxon Valdez disaster, but the denouement of this tragedy will still not play out for years.

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Nissan's pre-orders of Leaf EV reach FY 2010 target in 2 months

Nissan Motor Co said Monday pre-orders of its Leaf electric vehicles in Japan reached its target of 6,000 units for fiscal 2010 to March next year, only two months after the automaker began accepting the orders.

Nissan said pre-orders, which began April 1 for the domestic market, were strong thanks to customers who recognized the vehicle’s environment-friendly features and affordability as an electric vehicle.

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GM to launch Chevrolet Volt in 2011

GM, after the split with Reva electric in India, will delay its launch of electric vehicles. Earlier, the company planned to sell the electric vehicles from December 2010 onwards.

The American car maker informed that they will sell the Chevrolet Volt from December this year in U.S. and from 2011 in India.

Chevrolet Volt is an electric vehicle which uses an internal combustion engine to recharge the battery. GM expects to sell the electric vehicles at the rate of 4000-5000 units per annum.

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Soon, electric-powered trucks!

Washington, June 07 (ANI): After scooters, electric-poweredtrucksmay soon hit the road.

The global market for hybrid medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses is set to increase from 9,000 vehicles in 2010 to more than 100,000 vehicles in 2015, according to a report by Pike Research.

Bill Van Amburg, the senior vice president of CALSTART and the program executive of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF), claims hybrid systems can be effective in reduction of the fuel cost in trucking industry.

"Whether it happens tomorrow or in five years, we know [fuel] prices are going to go up, and it's going to go up pretty significantly," National Geographic News quoted him, as saying.

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Coulomb Technologies to install 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations

There's more good news for electric-vehicle enthusiasts.

Coulomb Technologies, a Campbell, Calif., startup that is a leading maker of electric-vehicle charging stations, recently announced that it plans to install more than 4,600 charging stations in nine metropolitan regions across the United States.

The $37 million "ChargePoint America" program is being funded in part by a $15 million Department of Energy grant. More than 1,000 new public charging stations will be installed by December, with the remaining 3,600 to be installed by October 2011.

The number of stations per city has not yet been determined, but California is expected to get nearly a third of the total.

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Indian market for EVs still nascent: Auto makers

While Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has taken a lead in development of electric vehicles (EVs) by buying the majority stake in Reva Electric Car Company, other car makers are also developing concept vehicles to cater to the emerging demand for EVs in India in the years to come.

At the moment, that demand is still quite small. By industry estimates, less than five per cent of the passenger car market in India would comprise electric cars over the next five-seven years, at 1,75,000 units, when the industry size would double to 3.5 million units, as against over 1.6 million in 2009. Globally, it is anticipated that by 2020, five per cent or nearly two million cars would be EVs.

Maruti Suzuki India, country’s largest passenger car manufacturer, had showcased the SX4 hybrid and an electric vehicle on the platform of its recently launched Eeco. Its Japanese parent, Suzuki Motor Corporation, already has an electric van called Every+ and a plug-in hybrid version of Swift. In fact, Maruti is also developing some demo cars, both hybrids and EVs, for the coming Commonwealth Games and it feels these vehicles could be used for future development of EVs.

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Hawaii's weather, high gasoline costs lure electric vehicles

HONOLULU — Hawaiians like to think of themselves as early adopters — especially when it comes to electricity.

The first car imported to Hawaii in 1899 was an electricvehicle.
The royal Iolani Palace, home to the former king, lays claim to having electricity installed less than seven years after Thomas Edison invented the first practical light bulb.
Now, state officials and business leaders want Hawaii to become the real-world test ground for a burgeoning electric and alternative-fuel car industry.
Hawaii’s goal is to have 50,000 electric cars on the road by 2015 — and perhaps as many as 200,000 by 2030 — and to establish a network of electric charging stations.
“It’s a very exciting time for us because we know we are well-positioned to be a place where these vehicles can work because we simply don’t drive that far in Hawaii,” Gov. Linda Lingle said.
Big goals, to say the least, given that the U.S. electric car market is still in its infancy and Hawaiians purchased only 33,600 new vehicles last year.
But Hawaii has a big incentive. Because it imports virtually all its energy, Hawaii routinely has the highest gas prices in the U.S. On Friday, a gallon of unleaded gasoline averaged $2.73. In Hawaii? $3.51.

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