EVs

It takes a village to sell an electric car

It turns out that weaning the auto industry off gasoline isn't as simple as turning out electric cars from a factory.

Auto industry executives say they will couple their first mass-market electric cars with a big dose of community outreach, with the hope of making the new generation of vehicles more desirable and convenient to consumers.

Car companies intend to target places where governments are willing to provide incentives to purchase plug-in electric cars and install charging stations. Utilities, too, need to be involved so that the grid doesn't become stressed by a rush of cars.

General Motors … Read more

A visual tour of the GM Volt, electric cars

WASHINGTON--Amid an uncertain future for the U.S. auto giants, one of the most exciting products is the Chevy Volt, one of dozens of electric cars under development.

General Motors showed off the 2011 Volt at the Electric Drive Transportation Association's Conference & Exposition this week. Several other vehicles--some still under development, some already commercial--were on display as well.

Britta Gross, General Motors' manager of Hydrogen and Electrical Infrastructure Development, walked through the highlights of the Volt with me on Wednesday at the conference. (See grainy YouTube video below.)

To say that GM has a lot riding on the … Read more

Hawaii unveils plans for Better Place

Hawaii has decided to partner with Better Place to bring car battery exchange stations for electric vehicles to the islands, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle announced Tuesday.

Better Place stations, similar in concept to gas stations, offer drivers with electric vehicles an automated system that swaps out exhausted lithium ion car batteries for fully-charged ones. The swapping system is intended to be convenient for both drivers and local electric companies, since Better Place can recharge the exhausted batteries with excess electricity generated from renewable sources during off-peak electricity hours.

Lingle said the project is an example of Hawaii's efforts to … Read more

Ford accelerates electric-vehicle plans

Ford Motor made electric vehicles a centerpiece of a turnaround plan presented to Congress on Tuesday, saying that it will introduce an all-electric van for fleet use in 2010 and a sedan in 2011.

The Big Three U.S. automakers are scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., this week with the hopes of negotiating loans to forestall a collapse from lack of cash.

All three companies are seeing a continued dip in sales, but Ford is considered far better off financially than General Motors and Chrysler. Ford on Tuesday said it could be cash-flow positive from operations by 2011, … Read more

Certification credited with boosting online confidence

Extended certificate validation for Web sites has boosted online confidence in 2008, according to a statement released Thursday by the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA).

This could help online consumers looking for sites to trust on Cyber Monday, the first shopping Monday after Thanksgiving when online purchases are at their peak.

Sites with Extended Validation Certificates (EV) added to Secure Socket Layers (SSL) encryption display their URLs in a green bar in the address field of compatible browsers. This signals to the user that there is increased scrutiny of the Web site. In Firefox 3, a user clicks the … Read more

Sibling rivalry: Dodge EV versus Challenger SRT8

Dodge revealed the Dodge EV as part of its line of all electric concepts a few months ago. We've also had a peek at what's happening under the hood of Dodge's electric roadster and come to the conclusion that it's fast.

But Dodge has another fast car that's already in production, our Editor's Choice Dodge Challenger SRT8, but which one's faster? Will it be the silent 248 horsepower and electric 480 pound-feet of torque supplied by the EV's batteries or the brutally, loud 425 horsepower and 420 pound-feet from the Challenger's … Read more

Electric-car race could strain lithium battery supply

The headlong rush to create electric cars for green-minded consumers may come with a significant economic and environmental cost.

Lithium ion batteries--the same used in electronic gadgets and laptops--have become the preferred battery type for plug-in hybrids and electric cars now starting to come to market.

That swelling demand has some industry observers concerned that there will be a shortage of the metal lithium, the material used to make the batteries.

"You can solve the transportation problem but end up creating an equally vexing commodity problem," said Matthew Nordan, president of emerging technology consulting firm Lux Research. "… Read more

Aussies positively charged about Better Place

Electric-car infrastructure company Better Place has signed an agreement with AGL Energy and Macquarie Capital Group to raise 1 billion Australian dollars (about $665 million) to build a network of electric-car battery stations across Australia.

The company headed by former SAP executive Shai Agassi is best known for its innovative business model that is already being tested in Denmark and Israel.

Similar in concept to gas stations, Better Place offers a chain of electric-car battery stations at which an attendant will swap out a driver's exhausted lithium-ion battery for a newly recharged one.

Drivers belonging to a monthly subscription … Read more

'60 Minutes' reporting on electric cars this Sunday

Lesley Stahl reports on the race between Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Detroit auto executives to develop and produce a viable electric car. Check out this clip of Lesley getting a taste of what the Tesla Roadster can do, then check out 60 Minutes: The Race For The Electric Car this Sunday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Dodge EV and Tesla Roadster, separated at birth?

Since yesterday's unveiling of Chrysler's electric vehicle concepts, there have been many parallels drawn between the little electric hot-rod Dodge EV and the electric car that changed our perception of green, the Tesla Roadster. As it turns out, these cars may have more in common than you think.… Read more