Archive for the 'PHEV' Category
Ford: Mass Production of Plug-in Electric Cars at Least 5 Years Away
Ford continues to take a conservative stance on the possibility of mass-producing plug-in electric cars.
“We’re clearly at least five years away from starting what I would call the ramp from very small volumes to substantial volumes,” said Nancy Gioia who is Ford’s director of hybrid vehicles.
She describes plug-in development as “a system that really has [...]
Popularity: 7%
Update: Saturn VUE 2-Mode Plug-in Hybrid
GM’s director of Hybrid Powertrain Engineering Larry Nitz has apparently taken to calling the Saturn VUE 2-Mode plug-in hybrid the "other" GM plug-in due to all the attention the Chevy Volt gets.
At the Plug-in 2008 conference he gave an update on the vehicle and has written about it on GM’s FastLane blog.
He mentioned that there [...]
Popularity: 7%
GM Advises Government not to Include the Volt in New CAFE Standards Rule
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed earlier this year that automakers must achieve a 25% increase in fuel economy from 2011 to 2015 model years.
That goal was set based on carmakers automotive plans at the time and not including any plug-in vehicles.
Now the NHTSA is asking automakers to revise their submitted plans [...]
Popularity: 6%
Progress on the 2-Mode and 2-Mode Plug-in Saturn VUE
With all of GMs recent trouble coming from the crashing SUV market, they must be looking forward to the launching of their fuel efficient smaller SUVs. The Saturn VUE is on the verge of morphing into first a strong 2-mode hybrid form launching later this year, and after that a lithium-ion plug-in 2-mode hybrid [...]
Popularity: 6%
Do We Believe the Volt’s Batteries Can’t Deliver on its Promise?
An article was recently published in the Sacramento Bee discussing plug-in hybrids. The story emphasized the development of the AFS Trinity which is a plug-in Saturn VUE conversion using lithium-ion batteries and ultracaps which has a 40 mile EV range and range extender.
In a provocative assertion, the author references a UC Davis study noting:
“The [...]
Popularity: 9%
California Drops ZEV Requirement to 7500 Cars From 2012-2014
California is the only state that has authority to make its own rules about vehicle emissions requirements exceeding federal standards, stemming from its smog problem in the early 70s.
Thursday the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to reduce the requirement of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) from the initial mandate of 25,000 sales to 7,500 sales in [...]
Popularity: 4%
Error in Motor Trend Magazine’s Plug-in VUE Advertisement Section
One of our readers pointed out an ad the other day in the April edition of Motor Trend in which the Saturn VUE plug-in, slated for production in 2010 is described as having a 34 mile all-electric range. That news certainly got that reader excited, and potentially many others.
This information although exiting did not match [...]
Popularity: 3%
An Analysis of the Toyota PHEV versus the Chevy Volt
For a while, GM and Toyota have publicly argued that each PHEV architecture is superior over the other, comparing the Volt (an E-REV) to the prototype Toyota PHEV, basically a Prius with a 10 mile range battery in the trunk.
Ron Grebman of CalCars wrote a terrific analysis whether GM or Toyota is correct in asserting [...]
Popularity: 3%
Q & A with Bob Reuter Chief Engineer, Plug-in Saturn VUE
GM has announced its intention to produce a plug-in Saturn VUE with a large lithium ion battery married to a 2-mode hybrid drivetrain. This car quite possibly could be the first-ever plug-in hybrid that gets brought to the U.S. market. I had the chance to ask the vehicle’s chief engineer a few questions.
When will the [...]
Popularity: 4%
Toyota Makes a U-Turn on Plug-in Lithium-ion Hybrids
Trying to get out of the plume of dust the Volt has kicked up, Toyota’s president has gone a full 180 on lithium-ion batteries. Often in the past stating things like lithium-ion technology was not ready for cars, that people didn’t want to plug-in, and that the next generation Prius would have to rely on [...]
Popularity: 3%
BYD F6DM Plug-in Electric Hybrid
BYD is a Chinese automaker. Here in Detroit, they are displaying the slogan “building your dreams” as opposed to “bring your own drivetrain”. I suppose it probably stands for something else in Chinese.
Anyway I stopped by the booth and spoke to their export manager Mr. Paul Lin.
Paul explained that the car uses a [...]
Popularity: 4%
Saturn VUE Plug-in Hybrid to Begin Production in 2010
GM has announced it is making progress on the Saturn VUE plug-in 2-mode hybrid, and that they expect production in calenday year 2010.
The vehicle is expected to have 10 mile all-electric driving range and will use a lithium-ion battery pack. I had a chance to speak with Bob Reuter who is the chief engineer. [...]
Popularity: 4%
Recent Posts
- EPA Closer to Giving the Chevy Volt at Least a 100 mpg Rating
- GM, Natural Gas, and the Volt
- GM and Chrysler in Merger Talks
- More Details About Chrylser’s Electric Car Plans
- As GM Goes So Goes the Nation
- Lutz Provides More Volt Details: Photovoltaic Roof to be Unveiled in January, and Volt Development Ahead of Schedule
- GM’s Electric History
- Project Better Place CEO Calls the Volt a Niche Product
- The Production Chevy Volt Has One Charging Port, and Unnamed Object Identified
- Video: 60 Minutes - Race For the Electric Car
