What BMW Has Learned from the MINI E Program So Far: That They May Need to Build EREVs

BMW started the MINI E electric car field test program from scratch in Spring of 2008 as a tool for their Project i plan to develop vehilces for sustainable mega cities of the future..
The trial has been ongoing since the first car was delivered in May of this year. Richard Steinberg of BMW group presented [...]

GM: EVs are Cool, but EREV’s are Really Cool

It is fitting that on the day the Nissan LEAF began its US viewing tour I happened to forget to plug in my MINI E electric car the night before, and only had a few miles of range left on it. Luckily, I have a third backup gas car for just these reasons.
The Nissan [...]

Chrysler Torches ENVI Electric Car Program

A few weeks ago, GM-Volt.com ran a piece on the catatonic state of Chrysler’s electric car or ENVI program, and pointed out that since the introduction of Fiat to Chrysler during bankruptcy last May, not a peep (or official blog entry) had been heard about the program.
At the time we speculated that the program had [...]

Op-Ed: Has the Chrysler ENVI Electric Car Program been Abandoned?

Around a year ago, Chrysler announced three models that made up its ENVI lineup, specifically the Dodge Circuit EV (a 2 seat, BEV sports car), a 40 mile extended range Jeep Patriot and a 40 mile extended range Town & Country van. Two others, a Jeep Wrangler and a concept sedan would follow in [...]

Mitsubishi Uveils PX-MiEV; EV, EREV and PHEV All in One

Like all recent auto shows before it, the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show will offer a showcase of new electrified vehicles.
Two examples that seem particularly important are entries from Mitsubishi and Honda.
Mitsubishi is unveiling what it calls the PX-MiEV. This crossover seems to be a conglomerate of all things; its is a plugin hybrid, a [...]

Nissan Expects 20,000 LEAF EV Pre-Orders

The LEAF is the 100 mile range pure electric BEV that Nissan plans on launching in North America in late 2010.  The car was announced last year and only named and revealed this Spring.
Carlos Tavares is Nissan’s chairman for the Americas. He revealed that Nissan plans on taking pre-orders for the vehilce beginning in [...]

Fisker Automotive Awarded $529 Million Loan to Build Plug-in Cars in USA

The US Department of Energy announced that they have awarded Fisker Automotive $528.7 million to be used for the development and assembly of plug-in electric cars in the United States.
The money is coming from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan program. In the first stage, Fisker will use $169.3 million for engineering integration costs [...]

Fisker Set to Announce $39,000 Plug-in Car

Fisker Automotive is busy bringing its luxury sports extended-range electric car called the Karma into production. Simultaneous global launch is planned for May 2010. The car will retail at $87,900 and offers 400 HP, 0 to 60 in less than 6 seconds, and a 50 mile all electric rage. A powerful GM built [...]

Nissan LEAF Will Emit Artificial ‘Blade Runner’ Engine Noise

One of many attributes of electric cars that distinguish them from those powered by gas is their silence.
This extremely blissful absence of gasoline exploding violently in steel chambers is a fringe benefit of EVs.  I can say as a daily EV driver it is indeed a pleasure.
There has long been consideration though to give EVs [...]

New Electric Car Concepts: From the Meek Twizy to the Mighty e-Tron

The electric car universe has expanded dramatically an in some unexpected ways since the Chevy Volt concept was first unveiled in January 07.
This year’s Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany has brought with it several new electric car concepts that demonstrate the range of expression cars that do not run on gas can display.
Audi

At one end [...]

Mercedes-Benz Vision S 500 Plug-in HYBRID: to Achieve 73.5 MPG

Mercedes Benz continues to push the electric car envelope in remarkable directions.
The German company has announced it will be unveiling what it calls the Vision S 500 Plug-in HYBRID at the Frankfurt Auto Show next week.
This is a full size S-class high luxury high performance sedan that can drive up to 18 miles on pure [...]

Plug-in Prius Will Have up to 12.4 Mile All Electric Range

Toyota has taken the wraps off its plug-in Prius prototype and will be displaying it at the Frankfurt Auto Show. They have also disclosed a bit more engineering detail.
The car will go into limited test-fleet production in the first half of 2010. 500 units will be deployed globally, with 150 in Europe, [...]