plug-in hybrid

GM countdown to final Volt prototype begins

Above the desk of Andrew Farah, the Volt's lead engineer, hangs a clock counting down the days until GM begins the production of 80 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid prototypes.

Production begins on June 1 with plans to ramp up to 10 prototypes a week until 80 have been made. The 30 that have been cruising around have the final preproduction powertrain, but not the final interior or exterior.

These prototypes "will look, taste, smell, and feel like the Volt. They are the Volt," Farrah is quoted saying to GM's blog about the Volt, "my goal … Read more

Coming soon: Highway-legal plug-in hybrid scooter

Piaggio Group Americas, a subsidiary of the Italian manufacturer known for the Vespa, has a highway legal plug-in hybrid scooter in the works that could be available in the U.S. for early 2010.

While Paolo Timoni, the president and CEO of Piaggio Group Americas, has made mention of this plan in interviews, the company has made no formal announcement so it's been hard to gauge whether you can hold it to the timeline.

The plug-in hybrid version in the works is a modified version of Piaggio's MP3 500 (the Gilera Fuoco in Europe). The MP3 500 scooter … Read more

'BusinessWeek' ponders lithium ion market war

"Should Uncle Sam provide billions in loans and grants to a promising but unproven business? Or should the government wait for the market to sort things out before it backs a U.S. company?"

Those are questions posed in a BusinessWeek article last week. However, the questions are largely rhetorical: the U.S. Department of Energy already has a $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, and many car and battery companies are counting on these loans to aid their development and production of lithium ion batteries.

So it's not a question of "should," it's a question of "how?"

Lithium ion batteries will add at least $8,000 to the price of a production plug-in hybrid vehicle, according to BusinessWeek. However, that amount is probably on the low side when you consider that the Chevy Volt is predicted to cost a bit less than $40,000, a good portion of that price being the battery. Another manufacturer representative estimated that a lithium ion battery currently costs approximately $22,000, effectively putting the electric car out of reach to all but the well-heeled greenies. … Read more

Production Fisker Karma revealed early

The world of plug-in hybrids is about to get a whole lot sexier when the production Fisker Karma debuts at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

Fisker has released early photos of the production version of the Karma, which isn't that much different from the concept revealed earlier this year at the 2008 Detroit Show.

Its mustachioed face has survived the jump to production essentially intact, although the lower grill opening has been enlarged a bit, to make it more practical for cooling we'd assume. Amber reflectors have been added to the leading edge of the wheel well and … Read more

Video: Detroit, watch out for this Karma

On a test track in Southern California, a radical new car is getting its first workout.

The zebra stripes camouflage it from competitors, but you still get a good sense of the Fisker Automotive Karma, the brainchild of designer Henrik Fisker, who's trying to succeed where Detroit so far has failed, CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason reports.

"The vision is to do a high performance, luxurious, sexy-looking car which gets better miles per gallon than the Prius," Fisker said.

The Karma is a plug-in hybrid. It can go 50 miles on an electrical charge before a … Read more

Chrysler gets into electric car race

Updated 10:30 a.m. PDT: Added photos and a link to Chrysler's electric car site.

Struggling automaker Chrysler on Tuesday unveiled a line of electric cars scheduled to start shipping at the end of 2010.

The surprise announcement brings Chrysler in direct competition with General Motors, which last week showed off the Chevy Volt, an extended-range electric car also due in late 2010.

Chrysler's plans call for two electric cars, using the same concept as the Volt and two other all-electric cars.

Chrysler's top executives showed off an extended-range electric Jeep Wrangler and a mini-van to CNBC on Tuesday. … Read more

Toyota tests plug-in hybrids in the U.K.

With Toyota's announcement that it's testing plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) in the U.K., it seems like the Brits are getting all of the plug-in love these days. The announcement comes with the news that Toyota is partnering with EDF Energy to make the PHVs part of EDF's company fleet. The vehicles will be driven by EDF Energy employees and evaluated in real-world conditions. Electric company employees have all of the fun.

The PHVs, which is essentially a modified Toyota Prius, can be charged at a standard electrical outlet or any of the 40 charging posts in … Read more

Captured Chevy Volt photos show updated look

Web site The Car Connection on Tuesday managed to get its digital hands on photos of the what is said to be the production version of the Chevy Volt, the much-ballyhooed plug-in hybrid from General Motors.

The photos were made available on GM's media Web site unintentionally, a company representative told The Detroit News. They were quickly taken down from GM's site after The Car Connection posted them.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the photos, besides the fact that the product managers feature prominently in many of them, is that there is a significantly different look between … Read more

Plug-In 2008: Electric cars charging ahead

Plug-In 2008 brought together Detroit automakers, utilities, and green-tech start-ups in San Jose, Calif., this week. Organizers say it drew more than 600 people.

Here's a summary of CNET News' coverage related to the event:

Video: Plug-In 2008: Plug-in electric cars generate buzzCNET News reporter Kara Tsuboi stops by the world's first showcase of its kind to see what's new with plug-in hybrids.

Google philanthropy funds Aptera and ActaCell 'Smart' electric grids to ease zap from plug-ins? GM partners with utilities to advance plug-in hybrids Coulomb unveils electric-car charging stations Photos: Powering a future for plug-in hybrids … Read more

Google philanthropy funds Aptera and ActaCell

Google.org is investing $2.75 million into electric-vehicle maker Aptera and battery start-up ActaCell. The announcement, which follows Google's request for proposals from companies with electric car technologies, came Tuesday during the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif.

Aptera of Carlsbad, Calif., makes street-legal three-wheelers with a unique, aerodynamic design. The company aims to sell its Typ-1 model for less than $30,000 by the end of year. It's marketing a pure electric as well as a gas electric plug-in hybrid achieving more than 200 miles per gallon. The vehicles are supposed to accelerate to 60 … Read more