Several sources inside General Motors told BusinessWeek that the company will show a Cadillac two-door plug-in series hybrid at next week’s Detroit Auto Show. According to BusinessWeek, the concept vehicle—a new model similar to the CTS sedan although “smaller” and “bolder”—suggests that the company plans to use the Volt’s electric-drive technology in other vehicles.
Aptera, which had planned to deliver its three-wheeled electric car to customers last month, has now postponed the production launch for almost a year. Production models of the Aptera 2e (formerly known as Type-1), an all-electric vehicle with a range of 100 miles, were to have been delivered by the end of 2008. The company now expects to launch volume production in October 2009.
Lotus is the latest carmaker to announce plans for a high-performance electric vehicle. If the British carmaker can deliver on its plans, it will compete directly against the Tesla Roadster and Dodge EV, two electric sports cars for which Lotus already supplies a chassis.
Toyota is secretly developing a car powered by solar cells mounted on the vehicle’s roof, according to a report today from Japan’s Nikkei newspaper. The report said the automaker hopes the vehicle will eventually be totally powered by the solar cells—but that would take many years.
Concept cars don’t have to be practical. They only have to challenge our imagination about the future of cars—and look really cool. And these days, cool means green. Enjoy our list of the top 10 coolest and wackiest green concept cars from 2008.
A group of US battery companies teamed up this week to boost American manufacturing of lithium ion batteries. The new alliance aims to compete with Asian companies that currently dominate the lithium ion battery market. The newly formed National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture will create one or more manufacturing and prototype development centers in the United States.
The week of December 15 started out with grim news for hybrid production, and didn’t get much better. The world's two largest car companies, Toyota and General Motors, both delayed assembly plants for high-profile hybrids.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is accused of squelching a negative report about electric cars because of personal connections. Companies owned by French industrial magnates Vincent Bolloré and Serge Dassault are major investors in the development of electric cars, including the Pininfarina B0 (B Zero).
The recently unveiled Mercedes-Benz BlueZero concept vehicles are built with the flexibility to insert electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel-cell technologies into the same vehicle design. It’s easy to dismiss the BlueZero sketches as just another cool green concept car that will never see the light of day, but it could be a glimpse into a future lineup of small Mercedes cars with varying degrees of electric power.
Electric carmaker Th!nk was denied its request to the Norwegian government for loan guarantees to weather the current economic crisis. The denial may have sealed the company’s fate.
