Ohio was the site of the latest battle in the war between Tesla and the auto dealers, and the subversives from Silicon Valley seem to have won the day. The Ohio Dealers Association got an anti-Tesla amendment added to Ohio Senate Bill 137 – an unrelated bill that requires drivers to change lanes when highway… Read more »
It’s a nail-biting battle for the lead in the plug-in sales race. The Nissan LEAF barely edged into the lead for November, selling 2,003 units – one more than in October. Sales of the world’s most popular pure EV have already more than doubled 2012’s figure. The 2014 LEAF is in production now and should… Read more »
Mazda doesn’t often make the EV news, but the Japanese brand does have an electric program – it has leased some 100 units of the Demio EV (the Demio is known outside of Japan as the Mazda 2), which has a 20 kWh lithium-ion battery and a 200 km range, to local government bodies and… Read more »
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a formal request for detailed information from Tesla for the agency’s investigation into the recent Model S fires. NHTSA is investigating “underbody deformation in the Model S resulting from impacts with road debris including, but not limited to, consequent intrusion into the battery compartment and associated… Read more »
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), the company that took over the Saab brand name, has started production…of a gas-powered car. Production of the Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan, with a 220 hp, 2.0 liter turbo gas engine, has begun at the Saab plant in Trollhättan. Sales are initially focused on China, but a small number of… Read more »
The Utah Legislature has introduced a bill that would allow businesses or cities that provide public EV charging stations to recoup their costs without running afoul of the state’s utility regulator. Representative Patrice Arent (D-Millcreek), told the Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee that her measure would provide assurances that collecting a fee for EV… Read more »
Supercapacitors (aka ultracapacitors or ultracaps) represent one of the most exciting technologies in the EV world today. Because of their superior charge/discharge rates and long cycle life, they could make great companions to lithium-ion batteries, which offer higher energy density. Some brave souls predict that they could someday replace batteries altogether in some applications. Now… Read more »
In its battle with auto dealers across the nation, Tesla has begun deploying its own lobbyists to take on the dealer groups’ well-financed troops. At the same time, another tactic may be even more effective – letting lawmakers drive a Model S themselves. Letting the car speak for itself seems to have done the trick… Read more »
Nissan has completed a successful early field test of a system designed to allow companies to use employee EVs to regulate and reduce their electricity bills. Vehicle-To-Building technology allows up to six LEAFs to be connected to a building’s power supply. At peak hours, the building draws power from the cars, then, during off-peak hours… Read more »
The European New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) has published the results of its crash test of the 2014 BMW i3, in which the new EV Bimmer scored four out of five possible stars. While that might not sound so bad, it does compare unfavorably with other popular plug-ins such as the Volt, LEAF and Model… Read more »
