Search Results Found For: "TOYOTA"

Security buffs win a prize for hacking into a Tesla Model S

The hyperconnected automobile presents all sorts of opportunities for criminal mischief, and it’s no hypothetical danger – last year, DARPA researchers were able to remotely hack into Toyota and Ford vehicles and disable the brakes. At this month’s Symposium on Security for Asia Network (SyScan360), a security conference in Beijing, security buffs were invited to… Read more »

Q&A with Ian Wright: The CEO of Wrightspeed on Tesla, gas turbines and electric trucks

Ian Wright is originally from New Zealand. He came to California in 1993, where he happened to be a neighbor of Tesla founder Martin Eberhard. He worked with optical switching systems at a company called Altamar Networks until it went out of business, then decided he wanted to start his own company. Eberhard and his… Read more »

Nissan LEAF headed for India, government rolls out subsidies

Nissan is aiming to bring the LEAF to India and is considering a collaboration with local manufacturers to provide charging infrastructure. “We are actively looking at the Leaf for India….I think there is a lot of potential for that car here,” said Nissan Chief Planning Officer Andy Palmer. “There is no doubt electric cars are… Read more »

Japanese EV makers collaborate to build a single charging network

Japan’s four EV makers have joined forces to build a single public charging network with a universal access card that will allow drivers to charge anywhere in Japan. The system is scheduled to be up and running by the end of the year. Supported by Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota, Nippon Charge Service aims to… Read more »

May plug-in sales: LEAF, Prius and Fusion Energi surge, BMW i3 makes strong debut

Cars were burning rubber off dealers’ lots all over the US in May, as five sunny weekends gave the typically strong month an extra boost. Overall auto sales were up 11% compared to May 2013, a nine-year high. Plug-ins rode the trend, setting an all-time monthly record – 12,053 Americans charged up new cars in… Read more »

Eight states announce major EV incentives

As the Charge Ahead California Initiative advances in the state legislature, seven other states have announced their own packages of pro-EV incentives. The collective goal is to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025. The eight-state coalition, consisting of California, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, released an… Read more »

Silicon carbide power semiconductors improve hybrid fuel efficiency

Toyota and Denso have collaborated to develop a silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor for use in power control units (PCUs). Using SiC power semiconductors, Toyota aims to improve hybrid fuel efficiency by 10 percent and reduce PCU size by 80 percent, compared to current PCUs with silicon-only semiconductors. The PCU is a critical component of… Read more »

Next-generation LEAF, with substantially improved range, planned for 2017

If we had an electric crystal ball, the question we’d most like to ask is: When will a next-generation battery, with substantially improved range, show up in a production EV? According to Nissan, that Earth-shaking event may happen around 2017. At last month’s Beijing auto show, Executive VP Andy Palmer told Automotive News that a… Read more »