Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy Thursday. But a deal has been reached to combine the company with Fiat in order to allow Chrysler to stay in business.
Source: CNN
|
||||||
|
A collaboration between the UK’s leading automotive engineering facilities, including Cranfield University, has resulted in the development of the first retro-fit hybrid conversion of a combustion engine vehicle. Known as the Affordable Add-on Zero Emissions Vehicle (ADDZEV), the technology that has been developed demonstrates how it may be possible to convert much of the UK vehicle fleet into hybrid vehicles. [...] Developed at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the controller automatically recharges electric vehicles during times of least cost to the consumer and lower demand for power. Widespread use of these devices could help advance a smart power grid. And where do the vast majority of laptops come from these days? China the country that boasts the second-largest battery company in the world, BYD, which also happens to be a prominent car maker. A picture begins to form of how China intends to drive automotive innovation. General Motors Corp confirmed last Monday that it’s still on-target to release the Chevy Volt in 2010.
[...] Analysis compares two policy options for vehicles already on the road — 250 million in the U.S. and 900 million globally — that will continue to burn fossil fuels for decades. Large-scale, properly tuned policies can substantially reduce these vehicles’ carbon footprint. Two solutions focusing on older low-efficiency vehicles are scrappage programs, which are gaining increasing support in many countries, and conversions to plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and all-electric vehicles (EVs), an emerging new option. [...] FRANKFORT, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC: GSPI) announced today that within the next four weeks it plans to publicly test its plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) The mayors of San Francisco and Portland have a lot in common. They’re both striving to make their respective cities the greenest on earth, they both Tweet to their constituents and they both have snazzy Web sites, among other things. [...] For both companies, the plug-in hybrid is seen as the next stage of hybrids and as the key to the technology’s longevity. Nissan plans to introduce plug-in electric vehicles in 2010 in Seattle, along with other markets including Oregon and Tennessee, and mass market them globally two years later. In the first quarter of 2009, China sold more cars than the world’s largest car market, North America. China has already been outselling Europe, Japan and Korea for a few years now. [...] The state will spend between $5 million and $8 million to convert this old office building in northern Fayette County into the new Battery Manufacturing Research and Development Center. Nissan’s prototype of a mass-produced, all-electric car drives much like a mass-produced, gasoline-powered car, with a couple of major exceptions – there’s no drive-train noise and there’s no lurching from gear to gear. Honda, Japan’s second-largest carmaker, last week began building a lithium-ion battery factory with joint-venture partner GS Yuasa Corp. in Japan’s Kyoto prefecture to make packs for gasoline-electric hybrid cars. Tokyo-based Honda plans starting producing the vehicles in late 2010. “When GDP growth comes back on a worldwide basis, there will be again attention on the oil market, which will trigger an oil price increase,” Carlos Tavares, a Nissan executive vice president, said in an interview on April 24. “We will be in the right tempo to face that environment.” Chrysler is celebrating Earth Day by unveiling an electric minivan… that you won’t be able to buy (yet). They’re making them for the US Postal Service, and so far 4 out of an eventual 250 have been built. The electric minivan is based on the Chrysler Town & Country EV that we wrote about last year, and the powertrain will be very similar except that the USPS version is a non range-extended version because postal routes generally are only around 20 miles [...] Mitsubishi Motors is looking to strengthen its lineup of small cars to ride a global trend towards fuel-efficient vehicles, such as by developing what it calls a “global small car”. The Citroën C1 ‘ev’ie’ goes on sale today priced from £16,850. It is capable of 60mph and has a 60-70 mile range when fully charged. The C1 ‘ev’ie’ takes around 6-7 hours to charge from a normal domestic socket. Those areas include quicker and deeper cuts of the workforce, dealer network, and the number of brands; restructuring GM’s balance sheet to lighten its debt load; and “keeping development of our mainstream alternative technology vehicles on track, including the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt.” Nissan will launch a battery electric vehicle in the United States and Japan in 2010. Two years later, Nissan EVs will be made available to the mass market globally. [...] The Nikkei reports that Hitachi Ltd. has developed a high-power lithium-ion battery for hybrid-electric vehicles. The battery reportedly has specific power of 4,500 W/kg— a power increase of 70% over its current models, and 50% over a new version Hitachi plans to begin mass-producing next year. Nissan’s first electric car is to go into corporate and government fleets beginning in late 2010. It would then be offered for public use in 2012, said Brian Carolin, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Nissan North America Inc. PORTLAND — Gov. Ted Kulongoski says Oregon will seek a share of $300 million in federal stimulus money set aside to promote purchases of electric cars and charging stations. SHANGHAI, China — One thing was clear at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show: there’s a “smaller is better” movement afoot. Chinese consumers, long recognized as lovers of large, conservatively styled sedans, are shifting their focus rapidly toward the opposite end of the automotive spectrum. It’s an accelerating trend that is being fed by a confluence of factors, from environmental concerns and high fuel prices to new government incentives on smaller vehicles. [...] Once in a while an invention comes along that changes the world: Gunpowder. Printing press. Steam engine. Telegraph. Telephone. Model T Ford. Television. Computers – first mainframes, then PCs. The Internet. And now – maybe – the electric car. Enhancing the Value of Renewables Lawrence Hall of Science, May 6, 2009, 12âm-7pm
[...] The fund is part of the Rudd Government’s $6.2billion New Car Plan for a Greener Future which is designed to renew the Australian automotive industry. According to Senator Kim Carr the funding will start to flow from July 1 2009. |
Connect with:
|
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 4EVRiders.org – Global Leader in Free Charging Locators and News for EV and Plug-In Drivers - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
Recent Comments