While not widely advertised, at least not yet, Ford is offering a substantial discount, to the tune of $10,750, on a lease of its 2013 Focus Electric.

A 36-month lease at $249 per month for the Focus is available through the Ford Credit Red Carpet Lease program, and requires $2,138 cash due at signing.

The standard 36-month lease for the Electric is normally $306 per month, but the recently announced Red Carpet Lease incentive reduces the net cost of the car to $29,249 from $39,995 (both prices include $795 destination charges) according to Ford’s Web site.

And as The Detroit News notes, Ford is also offering 1.9 percent financing on a 72-month loan and a $2,000 cash discount on the purchase of a Focus Electric.

The deals started January 17 and run through April 1, 2013, but are available only through Ford Credit.

As is often reported, sales of electric vehicles continue to remain but a tiny portion of the greater auto market, leading some to speculate lease deals like that on the Focus Electric, and similarly discounted offers for the 2012 Nissan Leaf, are how manufacturers are currently coping.

By the end of last year electric vehicle sales were half a percent of the greater auto market, but year over year sales of EVs have increased steadily. Although Nissan sold less than 10,000 Leafs in 2012, year over year sales of the car were up by roughly 1.5 percent.

Despite the growth of the segment, dealers and manufacturers are continuing to offer discounts, like the rather attractive offer an Illinois Mitsubishi dealer created to move the i-MiEV.

O’Brien Mitsubishi, located in Normal, Ill., is leasing the compact Mitsubishi electric car for as low as $69 per month on a 24-month lease.

The Detroit News

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In addition to manufacturing electric transit buses, the company’s compact all-electric car, the e6, is also becoming a popular model for fleet purchases.

BYD recently announced that the Chinese city of Shenzhen placed an order for 500 of its e6 police cars. Late last year the city of Bogotá, Columbia, ordered just less than 50 of the e6 crossover sedans for use in a city taxi fleet.

In addition to the electric police cars, BYD says that the city of Shenzhen also has 300 of the e6 cars in service as taxis. That fleet of taxis has accumulated more than 18.6 million miles, with at least one e6 in the fleet registering 155,000 miles on the odometer according to BYD.

The company says in a release that the Chinese city is also planning to purchase an additional 500 e6 taxis, as well as adding 500 of BYD’s pure electric transit buses to its current 200 e-bus fleet. London-based greentomatocars and BYD signed a memorandum of understanding that BYD says will have 50 e6 taxis in operation by the second quarter of this year.

BYD says the e6 has a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph), and a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).

BYD

Autoblog Green

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Between them, the companies have designated more than $412 million as compensation to those customers with one of the dozens of models involved in the reimbursement program set up by the two companies.

In November of last year the car manufacturers acknowledged to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that procedural errors at the automakers’ joint testing operations in Korea led to incorrect fuel economy ratings for select vehicles.

Automotive News has recently reported that an official with Kia has said the brand is allotting about 200 billion Korean won (approximately $187 million) for U.S. customers with affected Kia models, while Hyundai has said it will spend 240 billion won ($225 million) to compensate its customers.

Following the discovery of the mislabeled EPA fuel economy ratings last autumn the companies were quick to establish a reimbursement program for consumers. Hyundai officials have said that reimbursement would continue for as long the original owner has the vehicle.

Despite the brands’ seemingly contrite actions to quickly rectify the issue, a civil suit was filed against them.

Ford has recently come under similar scrutiny for allegedly overstating the fuel economy of its C-MAX Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid.

In December Consumer Reports said that it was not able to get either car to reach the 47 mpg combined fuel economy rating that Ford says each car is capable of meeting. As with the Hyundai/Kia situation, the Ford mpg claims caught the attention of the EPA. And like the Korean automakers Ford is now embroiled in class-action lawsuit.

While the automakers for now are understandably bearing the brunt of the backlash, the EPA’s fuel economy testing procedures for hybrid vehicles have come under fire by some for not accurately assessing how a hybrid’s engine can effectively give an artificial boost to fuel economy numbers.

As Consumer Reports notes, Ford’s system can operate in full-electric mode at speeds up to 62 mph. That ability, says CR, can greatly improve fuel economy in the EPA highway cycle, since most of the government’s simulated driving test measures gasoline used while driving at lower speeds.

According to a Bloomberg report Ford’s product development chief, Raj Nair, has said that Ford continues “to work closely with the EPA to determine whether the industry testing procedure needs changes for hybrid vehicle testing.”

Automotive News

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The EC cites issues of the high cost of vehicles, a low level of consumer acceptance, and the lack of recharging and refueling stations, as barriers preventing clean fuels from being used on a wider scale.

These same issues are often blamed for what has kept the U.S. alternative fuels vehicle market from gaining even more ground than it already has.

In a release the EC says that in order to combat these roadblocks to fewer vehicle emissions, it has proposed a package of binding targets on Member States of the European Union for a minimum level of infrastructure for clean fuels, such as electricity, hydrogen and natural gas, as well as common EU wide standards for equipment needed.

EC Vice President Siim Kallas, responsible for Transport, said that, “developing innovative and alternative fuels is an obvious way to make Europe’s economy more resource efficient, to reduce our over dependence on oil, and develop a transport industry which is ready to respond to the demands of the 21st century.

Between them, China and the U.S. plan to have more than 6 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. This is major opportunity for Europe to establish a strong position in a fast growing global market,” said Kallas.

The commission notes that electric vehicle (EV) charge points infrastructure varies considerably across Europe. Under this proposal a minimum number of recharging points, using a common plug will be required for each member state. The EC says the goal is to put in place a critical mass of charging points, and anticipates that doing so will prompt EV makers to produce EVs in enough quantity so as to lower the cost of the cars.

A common EU-wide plug is essential for the proliferation of EVs according to the Commission, and to that end it has announced the use of the “Type 2″ plug as the common standard for the whole of Europe.

Hydrogen is also part of the EC clean fuel plans. And like increasing EV charge points, the EC wants to expand hydrogen availability by linking existing filling stations to form a network with common standards in order to ensure the mobility of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Other fuel forms like liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and biofuels are factored in the Commission’s agenda.

The EC says that only 38 filling stations are currently in the EU, but by 2020 it expects to have refueling stations installed every 400 kilometers along the roads of the Trans European Core Network.

One million vehicles – primarily cars – currently use CNG in Europe, representing 0.5 percent of the fleet according to the EC. The industry aims to increase this figure ten-fold by 2020. The Commission says its proposal will ensure that publically accessible refueling points, with common standards, are available Europe-wide with maximum distances of 150 kilometer between them by 2020.

Of the plans to have more EVs on European roads by 2020, the EC has goals for a number of EU members. By 2020 the EC expects Spain will lead the way with 2.5 million, the United Kingdom at 1.5 million, France at 2 million, and Germany with 1 million EVs.

These figures are roughly 10 times the number of EVs currently operating in those countries.

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The dealers brought the suit against Tesla in October 2012 for allegedly violating state franchise law when Tesla opened one of its stores in a Natick, Mass., shopping mall.

Earlier this month Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fishman dismissed the suit for lack of standing.

Robert O’Koniewski, executive vice president of the dealers association, told Automotive News in an e-mail this week that the association is seeking an appeal because Tesla’s store model is clearly prohibited by Massachusetts’ dealer franchise statute.

“Tesla is spending considerable sums of money across the country in an effort to exploit what they see to be gaps in states’ franchise laws,” O’Koniewski said.

“The law is the law. Follow it,” he said.

Automotive News

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The Detroit Bureau is reporting that Kenichi Yamamoto, director of product management at Subaru of America, has said that Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) is working on a hybrid vehicle.

Yamamoto didn’t offer further details, but according to the Bureau other company representatives also confirmed that a hybrid was on the way, and may make its debut in March at the New York Auto Show.

As far back as May 2009 Subaru’s parent was promising a hybrid for release in 2012, saying that Toyota would assist in the car’s development. In 2005 Subaru unveiled a concept hybrid called the B5 TPH Hybrid.

During the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show Fuji Heavy Industries reconfirmed plans for a hybrid model, saying such a car would help the company meet stricter U.S. fuel economy requirements. Two years later, during the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, FHI officials pushed the unveiling of a hybrid to 2013.

Sales in the U.S. have grown considerably for the last four years, with record figures posted in 2012. The Detroit Bureau writes that Yamamoto said that in addition of a hybrid for the U.S. Subaru must also offer a hybrid model to its Japanese customers.

The Detroit Bureau

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According to Reuters the automaker says it will recall 3,400 of the i-MiEV car, and 2,400 MINICAB-MiEV vehicles in Japan, with 8,900 i-MiEV cars recalled in Europe. Some variants of the all-electric car are rebadged as either a PSA Peugeot Citroen iOn or C-Zero.

According to reports the brake issue is related to a damaged or misshaped electrical pump that feeds air to the brake booster. Brake boosters are used to multiply the force drivers apply to a car’s brake pedal. This in effect creates what’s more commonly known as power brakes.

Since the i-MiEV doesn’t have a gas-powered engine, an electric pump is used in the electric car to assist the brake booster. The vacuum created as a result of the pumping action of gasoline engine’s pistons is used to operate the brake booster, therefore no separate electric motor is necessary as it is on the i-MiEV.

Without the power assist drivers would have to apply far more force to the brake pedal than what they used to, potentially leading to much longer stopping distances.

The problematic part will be exchanged and the process will take about half an hour, according to an anonymous Mitsubishi spokesman.  No injuries or deaths have been reported and there is no risk of fire, he added.

Reuters

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VW said in a release that the installation is the largest of its kind among auto manufacturing facilities in the U.S., and the largest of any solar installation in Tennessee.

The Volkswagen Chattanooga Solar Park occupies 33 acres, or half of the 66-acre land parcel adjacent to VW’s manufacturing plant. The solar park contains 33,600 solar modules from JA Solar designed to produce 13.1 gigawatt hours of electricity per year – equivalent to the energy consumed annually by around 1,200 homes in the area.

VW says that the electricity produced from the solar park is expected to meet 12.5 percent of the energy needs of Volkswagen’s Chattanooga manufacturing plant during full production, and 100 percent during non-production periods. The plant covers 1.9 million square feet and employs more than 3,000 people who manufacture the Passat sedan at the plant.

Frank Fischer, CEO and Chairman of Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations LLC, said, “We are proud to power up the biggest solar park of any car manufacturer in North America today.”

“The solar park is another proof point of Volkswagen’s worldwide commitment to environmental protection under its ‘Think Blue. Factory’ philosophy, a broadly focused initiative for all Volkswagen plants to achieve more efficient use of energy, materials and water and produce less waste and emissions,” said Fischer.

VW notes that it hasn’t installed the solar modules in order to sell power back to utilities companies. Instead, VW says it will consume 100 percent of the electricity generated from the polycrystalline solar modules mounted on a Unirac racking system. Ten SMA inverters will convert the solar energy from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) to be used to power the electrical installations in the manufacturing plant.

In late 2011 the U.S Green Building called the Chattanooga manufacturing facility “the world’s greenest auto plant” and noted it was the first automotive manufacturing plant in the world to receive the top LEED certification. Today, the Chattanooga plant remains the only auto plant worldwide to earn the LEED Platinum certification.

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The relatively new testing procedure combines vehicle performance in frontal and side-impact crash tests, and resistance to rollover.

The 2013 Fusion was also named a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) last month. The Top Safety Pick + designation is the highest rating the organization has for vehicle safety, and includes what the institute calls a small overlap frontal crash.

While the Fusion performed well enough in all five categories to earn the Top Safety Pick+, last month the Toyota Prius v and Camry were rated as “poor” by the IIHS in the small overlap test.

According to the IIHS, 25 percent of a car’s front-end on the driver side strikes a five-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40 mph. The institute says small overlap test represents a severe crash. The Toyotas otherwise performed well in other crash testing evaluations by the IIHS.

Ford attributes the high scores to what it calls The Personal Safety System. The safety system is a network of components that work together to tailor the deployment of the front airbags during frontal collisions.

A restraint control module (RCM) compiles information from the front outboard safety belt buckle switches, driver-seat track position, passenger seat weight sensor, as well as front crash sensors, and uses the data to activate the safety belt pretensioners to determine how the dual-stage front airbags will deploy based on sensor information about front occupants.

Side airbag venting technology also takes into account the size of the occupant, and varies the pressure so smaller occupants receive a lower pressure. On larger passengers, the occupant’s shoulder engages the vent and keeps it from venting so the gas stays inside the airbag.

“The Fusion and Fusion Hybrid exemplify the new face of Ford vehicles and demonstrate Ford’s commitment to safety in all its vehicles across the globe,” said Steve Kenner, Global Director of the Ford Automotive Safety Office (ASO).

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The university’s scientists speculate that this process of harvesting the sun’s energy will be far more efficient than existing solar converters.

“We have been inspired by natural plant processes,” said lead researcher Professor Julea Butt of the university’s School of Chemistry and School of Biological Sciences.

“During plant photosynthesis, fuels are made naturally from the energy in sunlight. Light absorption by the green chlorophyll pigments generates an energized electron that is directed, along chains of metal centers, to catalysts that make sugars.

“We will build a system for artificial photosynthesis by placing tiny solar panels on microbes. These will harness sunlight and drive the production of hydrogen, from which the technologies to release energy on demand are well advanced,” said Butt.

A contribution of £800,000 ($1.26 million) from the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council will help fund the project. Researchers from the University of Leeds and the University of Cambridge will assist in the study.

Gathering hydrogen – which can be used as fuel in vehicles like the forthcoming hydrogen-powered Hyundai ix35 Tucson ­– from artificial photosynthesis is an on-going endeavor by the scientific community.

In 2009 the U.S. Department of Energy awarded funding to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Rochester in New York state to pursue a project of artificial photosynthesis in order to harvest hydrogen for use as a clean fuel.

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