leaf

Chevy Volt sales take a hit

Sales of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf dipped in January, with Volt sales apparently hit by a now-closed safety investigation.

The volume of these high-profile electric cars sold is closely watched as a barometer of consumer demand. Several more battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models from other automakers are expected to come out this year and next.

General Motors said yesterday it sold 603 Volts in January of this year, more than the 321 it sold in January last year. GM shipped 1,529 Volts in December last year, its best month since production, although the yearly total of 7,671 was less than it had hoped. … Read more

Mamiya, Leaf ally for medium-format cameras

Mamiya Digital Imaging and Leaf Imaging, two Phase One-controlled brands in the medium-format photography market, have become one.

With the new Mamiya Leaf brand, the two camera specialists will join product development and support activities, the companies said today.

Medium-format photography has been reshaped dramatically through the transition from film to digital. Using larger frames of film let photographers capture higher-quality imagery, but correspondingly large image sensors come at a much higher price.

Medium-format cameras traditionally came with removable camera backs, and Copenhagen-based Phase One and Tel Aviv-based Leaf make digital versions that would attach to camera bodies. Tokyo-based Mamiya … Read more

Friday Poll: Will you buy an electric car?

Chevy sold 7,671 electric Volts last year, short of its expectation of 10,000. The car has gotten tons of publicity, but that hasn't translated into booming sales.

Even with a $7,500 tax credit dangling like a tasty carrot, buyers haven't flocked to electric vehicles like the Volt and Nissan Leaf.… Read more

Electric vehicles show their range in 2011 (video)

Electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt may have gotten most of the attention this year but electric motorcycles also turned heads.

The year also brought innovations such as an electric vehicle that you can also use to power your house. SmartPlanet takes a look back at the evolution of EVs in 2011.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Electric vehicles: 2011's hottest headlines."

Nissan EV charging--look ma, no wires!

Rather than fiddle with cables, Nissan EV drivers will have the option to park over a wireless charger.

Nissan is working on a system in which drivers park over an induction charging mat that creates a wireless connection to an electric vehicle's on-board charger. Using a dashboard display to navigate, drivers back up so the charging map is under the rear wheels. Sensors stop the car at the appropriate spot and the charging is started by operating a touch-screen display on a charge point.

The automaker released a demonstration video of induction charging with the Leaf last month in … Read more

Car Tech Live 242: Is the Volt on fire...or just catching fire? (podcast)

The Chevy Volt gets the feds look at the safety of all electric cars, Nissan makes a fast charge cheaper (sort of), Toyota puts Intel Inside, and Mercedes reworks the lowly windshield wiper.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 242

SHOW NOTES

EVs meet the 'real car' test with ease

DEARBORN, MI--It doesn't take long to realize that the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt drive at least as well as their gasoline counterparts.

I had the chance yesterday to take a few electric cars out for a ride as part of the Business of Plugging In conference here. Electric cars certainly aren't for everyone, but one walks away from driving a few EVs feeling that they're greener, high-tech, and very comfortable to drive.

In years past, there were wacky three-wheeled vehicles and custom electric scooters available for rides at this conference, but this year it was all … Read more

GE, Nissan form R&D pact to boost EV adoption

DETROIT (Bloomberg)--General Electric and Nissan Motor said they signed a two-year research and development agreement to speed infrastructure improvements and spur electric car sales.

GE and Nissan, which has sold more than 7,000 of its Leaf electric vehicles this year, will focus research on how recharging such vehicles affects home and workplace electrical systems and utility power grids.

"Together we'll make a better world possible for the use of electric vehicles," Mark Little, GE's director of global research, said at a press briefing today at Nissan's Farmington Hills, Mich., facility.

The companies agreed … Read more

The EV Project still open to Tenn. Leaf customers

Clean transportation-focused company ECOtality says it still has openings for The EV Project.

The EV Project, which is being operated by ECOtality, is what the company calls, the "largest deployment of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure" in the U.S. Only available in Tennessee for now, the Project is a pilot program that will measure how customers who own electric vehicles charge up their cars, where they do so, and other behaviors.

Charging stations are being deployed around several cities in Tennessee, including Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.

To help coax customers into participating in The EV Project, … Read more