Not long ago Fisker caught a lot of media heat for accepting a $529 million federal loan, but the company’s latest “bump in the road” is that it has only received $193 million of it, and the rest has now been frozen.
The remainder of the U.S. Department of Energy money was contingent upon Fisker producing a certain number of Karmas by an agreed-upon deadline, but other delays and recalls have slowed their proliferation considerably.
Because of the DOE's funding freeze, Fisker has laid off 26 workers at its former GM plant in Delaware, but not before it completed "Phase One" of an approximately $175 million rehabilitation there.
Fisker has also laid off 40 employees from its Anaheim, Calif. headquarters, citing a flexible staffing arrangement which is not out of the norm for the auto industry – and most importantly – it is renegotiating terms with DOE officials so it can get its funding turned back on.
A three-day teardown and cataloging of components from a Chevy Volt has shown its electronic controls to be exceedingly sophisticated and apparently designed for future upgrades.
Performed by a team of automotive engineers for Munro & Associates of suburban Detroit and attended by Reuters and EE Times, this sort of thing is more often done privately by automakers looking to reverse engineer competitors' vehicles.
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.
In its 2012 Car Brand Perception Survey, Consumer Reports added a couple of questions to assess "America’s pulse" on plug-in vehicles.
Toyota has upped its fuel-efficiency projection for its Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV), according to Bloomberg, which reports the automaker expects to top the Volt in its U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy rating.
Toyota’s U.S. Group Vice President Bob Carter, said the Plug-In Prius should manage 50 mpg in hybrid mode for combined city/ highway mileage, and earn 95 MPGe assuming its 4.4-kwh lithium-ion battery is recharged frequently.
“It’s still an estimate, but we are confident it’s going to be 95,” Carter said Tuesday. The EPA rating will be known “in a couple weeks,” he said.
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.
The "unnatural relationship" between the Obama administration and US carmakers in the wake of the 2009 auto bailouts may have led to a delay in disclosing a potential safety defect in Chevrolet Volts, Republican lawmakers claim in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report.
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.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a formal hearing to discuss and to investigate the potential fire risks associated with the extensively damaged Chevrolet Volts. Darrell Issa, R-CA, chairman of the committee, told members of the House that the hearing—titled "Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA know and when did they know it?”—will be held on January 25.
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.
