Toyota and Panasonic have agreed to begin studying the feasibility of a joint automotive prismatic battery business. Panasonic has positioned lithium-ion batteries as one of its key businesses, and its automotive batteries are used by many automakers worldwide. Toyota, maker of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, has been a holdout when… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "US Hybrid"
smart to drop gas-powered cars and sell only EVs in North American market
The cute little smart fortwo never had a chance in the Land of the Monster Truck. After a decade of dismal sales, Daimler has announced that it will stop selling gas-powered smarts in the US and Canada. The smart fortwo electric drive will continue to be sold, making smart one of two companies that sell… Read more »
What’s the point of BMW’s trivial Tesla-taunting ad spots?
If the major automakers really want to begin selling their EVs in volume (and not everyone is convinced that they do), sooner or later they will have to start advertising them. BMW has been ahead of the curve in this regard – it has run several TV ads for the i3 featuring cool people discovering… Read more »
Evercar brings its fleet of EVs to Uber, Lyft, Instacart and other on-demand services
Evercar uses short-term rentals to accelerate the potential for electric ride-sharing and delivery services. If it can clear regulatory hurdles, its electric-miles-as-a-service tools could change the growing industry. On paper, EVs seem like the perfect choice for the on-demand economy. In a world where vehicles are being pushed to spend more time on the road… Read more »
Telefonix makes the case for free Level 1 workplace charging
Everyone who watches the sketch comedy show Portlandia knows that the dream of the 90s is alive in Portland. Our dream of the 90s was vehicle electrification, and we hoped the GM EV-1 would kick-start the trend more than a decade before the Tesla Roadster actually did it. Well, the vehicle electrification dream is alive… Read more »
Tesla leads the pack as overall 2015 plug-in sales fall short
2015 was a year of retrenching and preparation for the future in the EV industry. US sales for the year were around 116,000, falling short of 2014’s figure of 123,000. The Tesla Model S grabbed and held the lead position, handily outselling all other plug-ins in the US with 25,700 deliveries. However, the big news… Read more »
BMW i3 snatches second place in September plug-in sales
US plug-in sales are still in the slow lane – once again, the monthly figure of 10,134 fell short of last year’s 10,921. The Tesla Model S grabbed the lead position, with 2,500 estimated US sales in September. The company reported delivering 11,580 total vehicles worldwide in the third quarter of 2015, a 49% increase over Q3… Read more »
Are auto dealers the EV’s worst enemy?
It’s safe to say that car dealers aren’t a particularly beloved bunch. Shopping for a car may not be as bad as going to the dentist, but for many people, it’s right up there. Technically-minded buyers find it frustrating to try to glean some factual information from the typical rambling sales pitch, while more gentle… Read more »
London minicab company abandons plan to deploy BYD EVs
London’s second-largest minicab operator has pulled the plug on a plan to put 50 electric taxis into service in the capital. Green Tomato Cars, which already operates a fleet of 500 Prius hybrids, signed a deal with Chinese EV maker BYD in 2012 to purchase 50 of BYD’s E6 EVs. Alas, this week Green Tomato… Read more »
New Toyota RAV4 EV goes on sale this month
Toyota’s electric SUV is returning to the road (the company produced an earlier version from 1997 to 2003). The all-new 2012 RAV4 EV will go on sale the week of September 24 in select California markets. The MSRP is $49,800, and Toyota is offering a 36-month lease option at $599 per month. The RAV4 EV… Read more »