The McDonald's restaurant in Cary, NC, will become the first location in the fast food restaurant chain in more than a decade to offer electric car recharging. The installation of the first plug-in car charging station at a McDonald’s is a sign of the potential widespread adoption of cars that can be powered by electricity.
Toyota plans to begin commercial production of plug-in hybrids in 2012, producing between 20,000 and 30,000 units in the first year, according to Nikkei, the Japanese business daily. Toyota hopes to sell its plug-in hybrid for about $48,000. The swifter move toward plug-in hybrids contradicts recent statements from Toyota executives.
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It’s not surprising that Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors—two California-based makers of high-end electric-drive sports cars—are viewed as similar companies. Fisker makes an $87,000 plug-in hybrid and Tesla produces a $109,000 all-electric roadster. But Henrik Fisker, founder of the Southern California-based company that bears his name, was in Northern California where Tesla is based, to explain how and why the two companies are different.
When former President Bush signed Executive Order 13423 in January 2007, he required federal fleet managers to buy plug-in vehicles as soon as possible. The exact language of the directive was as soon as plug-in cars “become commercially available and can be purchased at a cost reasonably comparable to conventional vehicles based on life-cycle costs.” But getting clarity on that cost comparison has proven to be tricky business.
Auto industry publications are reporting that an upcoming Buick Crossover due out in 2011 will be the first application of GM’s two-mode plug-in hybrid system—technology that was originally intended for the Saturn Vue. “Those reports are pure speculation,” GM spokesperson, Dayna Hart, told Hybridcars.com.
Toyota is boosting production—and the image—of its star hybrid, the Toyota Prius. As the company celebrates big sales numbers for the just-released third-generation Prius in Japan, it is also fighting a publicity campaign in the US against competing green car technologies.
Three Indiana pension funds today asked the Supreme Court to stop Chrysler's sale to Fiat, arguing (among other things) that the US Treasury Department overstepped its legal authority by using bailout funds for Chrysler when Congress intended the money for banks. Those same bailout funds are also the key to Chrysler’s plans for plug-in hybrids and electric cars.
At a press conference this week, Volvo chief executive Stephen Odell said the company is making "a significant leap compared to our earlier plans of offering a regular full-hybrid on the market by 2012." Could Volvo's plug-in hybrids help Sweden achieve its goal of becoming the world’s first oil-free economy by 2020?
In the direct aftermath of General Motors filing for Chapter 11 this morning, the fate of the Chevy Volt remains unclear. Does it make sense to save an expensive future product that will lose money for many years? How many will be made? How much will it cost? How will it be marketed? When is it expected to turn a profit?
When the economy was booming, car companies could offer a range of brands to satisfy the shopping whims of Americans looking for a new ride. This gave auto executives the option to assign one of their brands as the “green” choice. But times have changed, and the auto industry is shedding brands and dealerships as quickly as they can. In this era, and going forward, it’s no longer viable for companies to designate one of their brands as green; advanced fuel-efficient technology will become the mainstream.
