Chevrolet Volt: A sneak peek at GM's plug-in hybrid -- latimes.com: "Based on a national average of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour, GM estimates it will cost about 80 cents per day to fully charge the Volt. In electric mode, that works out to about two cents per mile. A comparable gas-powered car would cost about 12 cents per mile to operate, according to GM's figures.
In any event, GM figures the Volt will average more than 100 miles per gallon for most consumers. 'I drove it for over 200 miles one weekend and used two-tenths of a gallon of gas,' Farah said."
Monday, November 30, 2009
Chevrolet Volt: A sneak peek at GM's plug-in hybrid -- latimes.com
Chevrolet Volt: A sneak peek at GM's plug-in hybrid -- latimes.com: "The Volt splits the difference between the greenness of an EV and the freedom of a gas-powered car. It will be the first such car to come to market."
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Project Get Ready » Houston, Texas
Project Get Ready » Houston, Texas: "On Tuesday November 17, 2009, The City of Houston, along with retail electricity provider Reliant Energy, launched their pilot program, “Power of the Plug-in.” This is a major step toward preparing Houston for future electric vehicles. “Power of the Plug-in” has converted 10 Toyota Prius to Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) by way of installation of a Hymotion battery pack. It is anticipated these vehicles will average 100 miles per gallon. The city is also installing 15 charging stations at various city facilities, 10 of which will be available to the public. Coulomb Technologies provided the charging stations for this project and charging will be at no cost to the consumer in the first year of the program.
houston1
“I applaud Houston for its electric vehicle initiative,” said Stephen Crolius, Senior Director, Transportation, Clinton Climate Initiative, a program of the William J. Clinton Foundation, “These tangible steps will position the city as a leader in the climate-friendly transportation sector.”
Future exploration of plug-in vehicles will continue this spring when the City will convert an additional 5 Prius to PHEV and install another 5 charging stations at various Houston Public Libraries in parking spots reserved for hybrid vehicles. Additionally, Houston is exploring a centralized downtown motor-pool fleet to consolidate individual department motor pools and reduce vehicle by more than 50%. Along with a web-based reservation system, Houston intends to purchase all-electric vehicles to stock the downtown pooled fleet, with the exception of some trucks, vans, and SUVs in the mix."
houston1
“I applaud Houston for its electric vehicle initiative,” said Stephen Crolius, Senior Director, Transportation, Clinton Climate Initiative, a program of the William J. Clinton Foundation, “These tangible steps will position the city as a leader in the climate-friendly transportation sector.”
Future exploration of plug-in vehicles will continue this spring when the City will convert an additional 5 Prius to PHEV and install another 5 charging stations at various Houston Public Libraries in parking spots reserved for hybrid vehicles. Additionally, Houston is exploring a centralized downtown motor-pool fleet to consolidate individual department motor pools and reduce vehicle by more than 50%. Along with a web-based reservation system, Houston intends to purchase all-electric vehicles to stock the downtown pooled fleet, with the exception of some trucks, vans, and SUVs in the mix."
UK to spend £30 million on EV Charging points — Autoblog Green
UK to spend £30 million on EV Charging points — Autoblog Green: "British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis has announced that the UK will spend £30 million to install plug-in vehicle charging stations."
Ford Developing Smart Charging System with Help From DOE and Utility Companies - All Cars Electric
Ford Developing Smart Charging System with Help From DOE and Utility Companies - All Cars Electric: "Next year Ford will launch the BEV Transit Connect followed shortly thereafter by the Focus EV and a PHEV by 2012. With electric vehicles in the lineup, the company has been working on its own recharging system that is designed to talk with the nation's electrical grid.
The system was developed with the help of 10 utility companies, 2 research firms and the DOE. The system will soon see use on the test fleet of plug-in Ford Escape that have been on the roads for some time now.
According to Ford, the system allow the driver to program various settings such as when to recharge the vehicle, the length of time to recharge for, and enter in the local rate for recharging. The driver could program to charge the vehicle during off peak, low demand times only. This could save the driver a significant amount on electrical costs throughout the year."
The system was developed with the help of 10 utility companies, 2 research firms and the DOE. The system will soon see use on the test fleet of plug-in Ford Escape that have been on the roads for some time now.
According to Ford, the system allow the driver to program various settings such as when to recharge the vehicle, the length of time to recharge for, and enter in the local rate for recharging. The driver could program to charge the vehicle during off peak, low demand times only. This could save the driver a significant amount on electrical costs throughout the year."
GM CEO: electric cars require teamwork; hydrogen cars 10x more expensive than Volt — Autoblog Green
GM CEO: electric cars require teamwork; hydrogen cars 10x more expensive than Volt — Autoblog Green: "New GM CEO Fritz Henderson has some good words for his competitors. Surprised? It's all in an effort to make sure that plug-in vehicles get the help they need to become cost competitive. Henderson spoke with the Washington Post and said that costs are the big problem holding back electric cars. To bring costs down, he said:
The more companies that actually develop technologies around electric, the more the supply structure will develop, the better off we'll be. . . . We can't carry the load ourselves. GM can't. No way. We need to have more companies. We source most of these things. We don't do them. We're not in the chemistry business.
On the more comment-generating side of things, Henderson also discussed GM's current hydrogen vehicle status. He said that GM isn't putting as many resources into the H2 program as was before. Adding:
We spent through the mid part of this decade a reasonably high portion of our research and our development money on hydrogen fuel cells. We put 100 vehicles into the market. Consumers have tested them . . . We've learned a lot. The vehicles work. The issue is always cost, 100 percent cost. It's still a ways away from commercialization. No question.
Finally, some numbers. Henderson said the Volt will likely cost around $40,000 while a hydrogen vehicle would cost around $400,000. So, comment much?
[Source: Washington Post]"
The more companies that actually develop technologies around electric, the more the supply structure will develop, the better off we'll be. . . . We can't carry the load ourselves. GM can't. No way. We need to have more companies. We source most of these things. We don't do them. We're not in the chemistry business.
On the more comment-generating side of things, Henderson also discussed GM's current hydrogen vehicle status. He said that GM isn't putting as many resources into the H2 program as was before. Adding:
We spent through the mid part of this decade a reasonably high portion of our research and our development money on hydrogen fuel cells. We put 100 vehicles into the market. Consumers have tested them . . . We've learned a lot. The vehicles work. The issue is always cost, 100 percent cost. It's still a ways away from commercialization. No question.
Finally, some numbers. Henderson said the Volt will likely cost around $40,000 while a hydrogen vehicle would cost around $400,000. So, comment much?
[Source: Washington Post]"
Friday, November 27, 2009
It's Friday: Swedish automatic PHEV charging prod gets a big WTF? from us [w/VIDEO] — Autoblog Green
It's Friday: Swedish automatic PHEV charging prod gets a big WTF? from us [w/VIDEO] — Autoblog Green: "Is it too harsh to say that the Trinnovator is a solution without a problem? At the very least, we don't think that a flexible, extendable prod coming out of the front bumper of a plug-in car and creepily finding its way into a grid of receptacles is the best way to recharge a vehicle. This is the method that the Swedish team behind the Trinnovator has come up with to make getting electrons into a PHEV or BEV somewhat automatic. It's kind of hard to explain, so we recommend just watching the video pasted after the jump.
A few immediate thoughts: real-life implementation of this system seems needlessly complicated. The receptacle grids would also have to be much wider (and maybe taller for trucks and SUVs) and installed all over the place – regular plugs make more sense, no? Plus, shouldn't there be prods on the back of the car, too? And what about parallel parking spots? We've used plug-in cars and it's really not that difficult to remember to plug in every night. If we're going to have automatic and easy recharging, we want to see wireless/witricity get real. Thanks to Anders J. for the tip! Watch the video"
A few immediate thoughts: real-life implementation of this system seems needlessly complicated. The receptacle grids would also have to be much wider (and maybe taller for trucks and SUVs) and installed all over the place – regular plugs make more sense, no? Plus, shouldn't there be prods on the back of the car, too? And what about parallel parking spots? We've used plug-in cars and it's really not that difficult to remember to plug in every night. If we're going to have automatic and easy recharging, we want to see wireless/witricity get real. Thanks to Anders J. for the tip! Watch the video"
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