The SolarWorld GT has been labeled by some as the prettiest solar powered car ever built. It’s also on track to be one that makes history too, with a goal of covering 21,000 total miles, which would stand as the longest distance traveled by a single solar powered vehicle. As the brainchild of Germany’s Bochum University of Applied Sciences and U.S. solar panel manufacturer SolarWorld, the two-seater incorporates photovoltaic panels in the roof, and began its remarkable journey last October.
A new report by Pike Research has found that among advanced-tech vehicle battery suppliers, Johnson Controls and LG Chem are the two companies most likely to take advantage of changes happening in the industry.
Over the past decade, we’ve seen battery technology develop by leaps and bounds for hybrid and electric vehicles, with lithium-ion chemistries largely considered superior and having displaced nickel-metal hydride in many instances.
Additionally, as the battery industry matures, changes are also taking place with regards to who manufactures them and where. Traditionally, Japanese and Korean companies have led the way, branching into EV applications from consumer batteries, which originally established them in the marketplace.
January sales always drop significantly from the prior year-ending month and this time around it was no different.
Generally, December sales are very high as year-end sales are in place. This rule of thumb applying to vehicles in general is also true for hybrid, plug-in, and diesel vehicles.
While overall sales in January were at a strong rate (over 14 million at an annual rate based on seasonal adjustment factors), the actual number of sales was down 27 percent from December 2011. Hybrid sales were down a similar rate, at 30 percent and plug in sales were down 48 percent (although the low volume of these sales makes the comparison less meaningful). Diesel sales dropped less, at 22 percent, than the overall market or the hybrids or plug ins.
In a unanimous ruling Friday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) called for a steep ramping up of zero- or very low-emission vehicles sold in state from 2018-onward. The goal is for them to comprise 15.4 percent of all vehicles sold by 2025 – up from less than 1 percent today.
At the same time, the ruling called for a slashing of tailpipe emissions from the rest of the passenger vehicle population beginning sooner in 2015 and extending through 2025.
So, do you think you a lot about cars? What do you know about the monster car carriers that bring an imported car? As far as I am concerned, I knew nothing when I arrived this morning at Nissan’s dock in Oppama, where Japan’s second largest car company showed off a 2012 model car carrier, the Nichioh Maru. And would you believe that the blue and white monster is green?
Despite multiple delays, Coda Automotive chief executive Phil Murtaugh told the media last week he remains confident that sales of his company's debut vehicle, the electric Coda Sedan, will commence before the end of February.
We’ve heard from naysayers that electric and other zero emissions vehicles are not the “future,” and from advocates who say they are.
Of course no one knows the actual future, but if today the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approves its proposed “advanced clean air rules” as it is expected to, zero-emissions vehicles could become far more commonplace nationwide.
California has a long track record of effectively setting environmental policies that force automakers to comply, wind up affecting the rest of the country, and the state is attempting to do it again.
While ongoing CAFE hearings discuss mandating eco-friendly and efficient vehicles, a survey by Deloitte says perhaps an even more powerful force in their favor is also in play.
This would be “Generation Y” consumers – those aged 19-31, alternately known as "Millennials."
This demographic is the largest since the baby boomers and reportedly has a preference for hybrids and in-vehicle connectivity.
Of respondents to the Deloitte survey, 59 percent of respondents want an electrified vehicle.
Of Gen Y respondents, 57 percent said they were interested in hybrids, only 2 percent were interested in battery electric vehicles, and 37 percent wanted traditional combustion-powertrain vehicles.
[HCTITLE]
[HCDATE] The first of Honda's electric hatchbacks has officially been delivered to the city of Torrance, California. Honda delivered a single Fit EV to the city of Torrance on Friday as the first step in the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program, a prelude to the "retail market launch" of the Fit EV to customers (actually, only to lessees) in California and Oregon starting this summer.
In Detroit on Tuesday some strong arguments were heard either in support of or against the proposed 2017-2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and the auto industry is split on the issue.
The hearing will be followed by two more this month, and these are required by federal government regulators prior to finalizing fuel economy standards by the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency later this year that would mandate a fleet average of 54.5 miles per gallon (about 40 mpg on sticker) by 2025.
The proposed rules are poised to amend standards already set to rise to 37.5 mpg by 2016, and among automakers who’ve spoken in favor of stricter rule include General Motors, Toyota and Hyundai, while others are against, including Volkswagen and Daimler.
