'electric vehicles'

Nissan gave a glimpse of its plans to make an all-electric sedan that will go 100 miles on a charge and have a suite of online features to aid drivers.

The company on Monday showed off an electric car prototype, based on the Tiida mid-size sedan. It said that an all-electric production car with a unique design will be unveiled on August 2 at its Yokohama, Japan, headquarters and go on sale in 2010 in Japan and the U.S.

The electric sedan will connect to Nissan's data centers to provide drivers with information and support, according to the … Read more

To get more electric vehicles on the road, consumers should have the option to essentially lease the batteries, a University of California at Berkeley study argues.

The UC Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology on Monday released an analysis that found that there are environmental and economic benefits to adopting electric vehicles, but the high cost of batteries is a persistent problem that remains a barrier to buyers.

The study's author, economist Thomas Becker, argues that pay-per-mile service contracts--the rough equivalent of buying a service contract with a cell phone--and swappable batteries will hasten adoption rates. Separating the cost … Read more

NASHVILLE--Imagine selling cars in a country with no gas stations. That's the challenge facing Nissan Motor Co.'s electric-vehicle ambitions. No recharging stations, no Nissan electric-vehicle sales.

Enter Tracy Woodard.

"It's sort of a chicken-and-egg thing," she says. "You can't sell EVs until there's an infrastructure. These things have to be hard-wired, and communities have to plan for that."

Woodard, director of government affairs at Nissan North America, has been on the road almost nonstop since last year, appealing to cities and states around the country to stimulate the creation of local electric-vehicle infrastructures.

So far, Woodard has worked out partnerships with governments and utilities in eight cities, states, or regions, including San Diego, Phoenix, and Raleigh, N.C. Local authorities have pledged to begin moving forward on electric-vehicle recharging networks, making new power-grid plans, devising residential electrical permitting policies, and the like.

Nissan aims to be the industry leader in mass-marketing electric vehicles in the United States. In June, the company said it will spend $1.6 billion to construct an electric-vehicle assembly operation in Smyrna, Tenn., along with a factory to manufacture lithium ion batteries. It will train 1,300 employees for the task. … Read more

Would you like an electric bike to go with your new DVR?

Best Buy has started selling electric vehicles, including the Enertia electric motorcycle from Brammo, according to reports.

The company in May started offering electric bicycles, scooters, and Segway transporters at 21 of its West Coast stores, according to the Los Angeles Times. This month, the home products retailer will add the Enertia motorcycle to create an electric vehicle line with a range of speeds and range.

Although it may sound like a stretch to offer refrigerators and electric vehicles under the same roof, company representatives said that there … Read more

WASHINGTON D.C.--Google is developing "smart charging" software to ensure that plug-in electric vehicles don't cause traffic jams on the power grid.

The search giant is researching a number of energy-related technologies, including car charging software, where IT and "ET," or energy technology, meet, said Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google.org.

One of its projects, still in the experimental phase, is writing software to better manage when plug-in electric cars are charged, Reicher said at the Kema Utility of the Future conference here Thursday.

There is some concern … Read more

Lithium ion battery company Valence plans to supply batteries to Siemens for hybrid ships and to Chicago utility S&C Electric for grid storage.

Its deal with Siemens Drive Technologies calls for Valence to develop energy storage for a planned hybrid marine propulsion system from Siemens. Valence will hook up its lithium iron magnesium phosphate batteries to Siemens' drive system via a standard interface, the company said.

The two companies have already supplied a hybrid drive train for double-decker buses from Wrightbus.

Valence on Wednesday said it intends to supply grid-connected storage systems for S&C Electric, which … Read more

Updated at 12:45 a.m. PDT with comments from Coda Automotive conference call.

You could call electric car company Coda Automotive the anti-Tesla.

The company, formed by fleet vehicle provider Miles Electric, on Wednesday unveiled the Coda, a plain-looking electric car that's designed for everyday use.

The highway-capable four-door sedan can go between 90 and 120 miles on its lithium ion battery pack. It will be available to consumers in California in the fall of 2010 at a price of $45,000. The cost can be offset by about $10,000 from a federal tax credit and state … Read more

German automotive giant Daimler has invested in electric-car company Tesla Motors and plans to use Tesla's battery packs in its Smart electric car due later this year.

At a Tuesday press conference held at the Daimler museum in Stuttgart, Germany, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Daimler management board member Thomas Weber said the contract between the two companies calls for joint collaboration on the Smart electric car and future models.

Daimler has invested a "double-digit million-dollar sum" to acquire about a 10 percent stake in California-based Tesla, Weber said.

"We are about to combine the best … Read more