Archive for the 'AUTOMOBILES / CARS' Category

The Lithium Chase

Mar 9, 2010 – Clifford Krauss reports in The New York Times on “The Lithium Chase.”
“For many years, few metals drew bigger yawns from mining executives than lithium, a lightweight element long associated mostly with mood-stabilizing drugs.  Suddenly, the yawns are being replaced by eurekas.  As awareness spreads that lithium is a crucial ingredient for [...]

Driverless and Flexible: New Train for Airports

Mar 4, 2010 – A new train from Siemens will make transport at airports faster and more flexible. Airval — a driverless train that runs on tires — has a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour.  The train’s transport capacity can be increased from 1,000 to 30,000 passengers per hour and per direction:  If [...]

New Charging Concepts for Electric Vehicles

Mar 4, 2010 – At the Geneva Motor Show (March 4 to 14) Siemens will present more key components for electric mobility.  The company will present an integrated charging system and, at the stand of Ruf Automobile GmbH, a “dual motor” concept in a new version of the eRuf Greenster electric sports car.  Electric mobility [...]

Daimler signs Memorandum of Understanding with BYD Company Ltd to Establish a Technology Partnership for Electric Vehicles in China

Mar 1, 2010

Technology partnership for a new electric vehicle suited to the Chinese market
New brand to be created by Daimler and BYD
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG: “We continue to push ahead as a global leader in electric [...]

Cities Prepare for Life With the Electric Car

Feb 15, 2010 – Todd Woody and Clifford Krauss report in The New York Times, that “If electric cars have any future in the United States, San Francisco may be the city where they arrive first.
The first wave of electric car buying is expected to begin around December when Nissan introduces the five-passenger Leaf.   The [...]

Solar Car on Manila Streets

Don Karner, CEO/eTec & Manager/The EV Project

Feb 10, 2010 – In the few months that have passed since the contracts were signed for The EV Project (US Department of Energy Grant DE-EE0002194) the forward momentum has been constant as we ramp up the largest–ever rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure. Through this five-state, 11-city pilot we are essentially creating five laboratories in [...]

Toyoto Prius Problems with Brakes

President Touts His Alternative Fuels Plan

Feb 4, 2010 – John M. Broder reports in The New York Times that President Obama moved on Wednesday to bolster the nation’s production of corn-based ethanol and other alternative liquid fuels and ordered the rapid development of technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal.
The president is trying to expand the [...]

Electric Bicycles Becoming Popular

Feb 1, 2010 – J. David Goodman reports on “An Electric Boost for Bicyclists” in The New York Times.  Detroit may be introducing electric car designs and China may be pushing forward with a big expansion of its highways and trains.  But people by the millions are taking part in a more accidental transportation upheaval.  [...]

Florida Facility Breathes New life into Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing Equipment

Feb 1, 2010 – The Florida Council for Economic Outreach welcomed Bren-Tronics Energy Systems, Inc. (BES) to Alachua County.  BES will create 15 jobs with an average wage of at least $40,000.  This comes in the midst of economic uncertainty amid a continued push toward clean energy independence.
The existing facility and machinery, located at Phoenix [...]

BMW’s First All-Electric Concept Auto: Introducing the Concept ActiveE.

Feb 1, 2010 – The Concept ActiveE achieves entirely CO2-free mobility.  But this achievement does not hinder incredible performance.  The ActiveE will go up to 100 miles on one charge, depending on conditions and can accelerate from 0-60 in under 9 seconds.
The style of the all-new vehicle is similar to that of the 1 Series, [...]

ARPA E Government Sponsored Innovative Energy Projects

Ford Creating Green Jobs

Sites to Refuel Electric Cars Gain a Big Dose of Funds

Jan 27, 2010 – Nelson D. Schwartz reports in The New York Times about the new round of funding for “Better Place, the closely watched start-up that hopes to create vast networks of charge spots to power electric cars, is set to receive a vote of confidence on Monday, in the form of $350 million [...]