Newswire

Toyota partners with Air Liquide to develop hydrogen fueling stations for new Mirai sedan

Toyota has announced that its hydrogen fuel-cell sedan, unveiled at this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, will be called the Mirai, which means “future” in Japanese. “For us, this isn’t just another car,” said Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda at a pre-show press event. “This is an opportunity to really make a difference. This is a… Read more »

Daimler subsidiary Li-Tec to cease production of battery cells

Daimler subsidiary Li-Tec will stop producing Li-ion battery cells in December, closing the only German factory currently producing cells for EVs. “Our cells are very good, but at current production figures far too expensive,” Daimler Manager Harald Kröger told Der Spiegel. “We have realized that a car manufacturer does not have to produce the cells… Read more »

Air Force rolls out plug-in vehicle fleet with V2G

Los Angeles Air Force Base has replaced its entire general-purpose vehicle fleet with plug-in vehicles. The 42-vehicle fleet includes 13 Nissan LEAFs, five Ford pick-up trucks with EVAOS PHEV kits, 9 VIA Motors VTRUX vans, four Electric Vehicle International medium-duty trucks and one Phoenix Motorcars 12-passenger bus. Most are equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability, allowing… Read more »

Nissan extends No Charge to Charge promotion to Chicago

Nissan has added Chicago to its No Charge to Charge promotion, which offers two years of free public charging with the purchase or lease of a new LEAF. RELATED: PlugShare will be official charger locator app for Nissan’s No Charge to Charge program “Nissan LEAF is an attractive option for Chicago car buyers for a number… Read more »

Lexus ad ridicules BMW i3

They’re at it again. As Toyota execs talk trash about electric powertrains, subsidiary Lexus has launched a second ad campaign (via Green Car Reports) that makes fun of EVs, touting pure hybrids as superior.    In the latest five-minute video (perhaps an outtake from the new Dumb and Dumber movie), two groups of jokers set out on a… Read more »

Celgard to work with Panasonic on next-generation battery cells

Celgard, a subsidiary of Polypore International (NYSE: PPO) and Panasonic have agreed to work together to develop coated and uncoated Celgard brand separators for Panasonic’s next-generation cylindrical battery cells. Upon completion of the development effort, the two firms expect to form a long term supply agreement. A battery separator provides a barrier between the anode… Read more »

ClipperCreek and Itron test EV chargers with virtual smart meters

In the charged world of the future, EVs will take energy from the grid when needed, and return energy to the grid when needed. This will require utilities to have a dependable way to measure the back-and-forth flow of electrons, so they can charge (or pay) their customers appropriately. In the industry, this is known… Read more »

Tritium plans Australia’s largest fast charging network

Brisbane-based Tritium, developer of the shapely Veefil Fast Charger, plans to build what it says will be Australia’s largest fast-charging network. The proposed Fast Cities Network will comprise four Veefil fast-charging units in Brisbane, and eight near other popular destinations in the Southeast Queensland region, strategically located along major transport corridors. “Australia, ahead of the… Read more »

BMW’s fast charging strategy: Clarifying some nuanced announcements

Range anxiety: we’re not sure whether it’s a serious disease or a psychosomatic ailment, but it’s one of the most commonly-cited objections heard from potential EV buyers, and automakers take it quite seriously. All of the top EV-makers are investing heavily in public charging infrastructure in an effort to eradicate this dreaded malady. At the… Read more »

ChargePoint partners with solar installer Sun Edison

ChargePoint, which operates one of the world’s largest public charging networks, plans to extend its empire into the home, in conjunction with solar installer Sun Edison. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital Dispatch, CEO Pasquale Romano explained the synergies between EV charging and solar energy. “The reason we partnered with Sun… Read more »