A top Toyota executive has confirmed what was already apparent to EV industry insiders: the Japanese automaker is placing all its chips on hydrogen fuel cell technology, and abandoning efforts to develop battery-electric vehicles. In an interview with Automotive News at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference, Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, said that Toyota believes battery-electric vehicles are viable only… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "Tesla"
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 »
Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher on the future of the leading electric motorcycle company
Electric motorcycles are one of the most interesting stories in the EV world today, both because of their recent impressive accomplishments on the racetrack and because of the future potential for high-volume sales, especially in international markets. Ashland, Oregon-based Brammo is one of the leading makers of two-wheeled EVs, and its story has much in… Read more »
Chrysler may finally (and grudgingly) offer plug-ins in a few years
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has announced that it will introduce two PHEVs starting in 2016. A plug-in hybrid version of a new minivan will appear in 2016, and a full-sized crossover that has a plug-in hybrid option in 2017. The plug-in minivan, which would be a first for the industry, will get 75 MPGe, according… Read more »
Misleading Lexus ad trashes plug-in vehicles
Every automaker has its own electrification strategy. Tesla, Nissan and BMW are pushing pure EVs. GM and Ford have each put most of their chips on plug-in hybrids, while hedging their bets with a low-volume EV. Toyota, and its luxury division Lexus, firmly believe hybrids are the way to go. Lexus has five hybrid models… Read more »
April plug-in sales: LEAF leads, Prius pushes ahead, smart strengthens
Monthly plug-in sales dropped a bit in April after the March surge, a typical pattern for this time of year. 8,605 car buyers saw the light last month. The LEAF easily held onto its lead with 2,088 units, a little less than its March sales but an incremental increase over last April. Nissan has already… Read more »
OLEV Technologies’ dynamic wireless inductive system charges vehicles while in motion
When one thinks of Nikola Tesla and electric vehicles, the obvious connection points to Elon Musk’s favorite part-time project. However, we also have to give the Serbian inventor proper credit for pioneering technology that eventually may become even more important to EVs than battery breakthroughs. Tesla’s obsession with wireless power transmission defined much of his… Read more »
Croatian supercar startup secures funding
Elon Musk is not the only EV pioneer who’s been inspired by Nikola Tesla. Just a few hours’ drive from the small village where Tesla was born, a Croatian company is building a 1,088-horsepower beast called the Rimac Concept_One. Like Musk, Mate Rimac, the 26-year old founder of Rimac Automobili, has plans that extend far… Read more »
Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive priced to compete with BMW i3
Mercedes-Benz has dribbled out a few more details about its eagerly-awaited B-Class Electric Drive, which is scheduled to arrive in eight US states this summer. The latest news: MSRP will be $41,450, almost exactly the same as that of the BMW i3. The Beemer, which went on sale in the US this month, appears to… Read more »
Report: The effects of fuel economy and emissions regulations on the automotive sector
By Jeffrey Wishart, a Senior Project Engineer at Intertek, conducts research and development on products and services in the areas of energy, the environment, and advanced transportation. In addition to his supervisory position at Intertek, Dr. Wishart worked for several years at ETEC LABS (the research and consulting division of ECOtality) and at a utility company… Read more »