leaf

GM takes OnStar Mobile wall to wall, Nissan promises an electric sports car with the heart of the Leaf, Honda pulls the trigger on a plug-in hybrid, 2011 BMW X3 is a major redesign, ethanol fuel for cars may be on shaky ground, and we corral the 2011 Mustang Shelby GT 500.

• Honda to bring plug-in hybrids to the U.S.

• 2016 is showdown time for Ethanol

• Nissan Leaf to spawn a sports car

• Vibrating seat to warn drivers about other cars… Read more

DETROIT--The long warranty--eight years or 100,000 miles--on the Chevrolet Volt battery got the headline last week. But the battery's liquid heating and cooling system helped make it possible.

Batteries last longer and perform better when they avoid extremes of hot and cold. And because liquid cooling systems are more compact than air-cooled systems, General Motors Co. engineers had room for more battery cells.

The Volt hybrid, which goes on sale late this year, can drive 40 miles on the battery. Then a gasoline engine kicks in to generate electricity for the motor.

Standard auto coolant circulates … Read more

Thirty minutes used to be the gold standard when it came to charging electric-car batteries. But JFE Engineering, a Japanese energy technology company, has unveiled a way to recharge batteries in one-tenth of that time.

In only three minutes, the company claims that it can recharge a battery up to 50 percent of its capacity, and in five minutes recharge the battery up to 80 percent, according to an article in CrunchGear.

The Mitsubishi iMiev had a 50-mile range after a five-minute charge in testing.

In contrast, the Nissan Leaf using 440-volt fast-charging stations takes 26 minutes to achieve an 80 percent charge … Read more

Two contenders are about to duke it out for our automotive future. Nissan brings out an all-electric car that promises emission-free driving along with low maintenance and per-mile costs. The Volt is also an electric car, but Chevy fits it with a range extending gasoline-powered generator, giving it about five times the range of Nissan's Leaf but adding to the complexity.

Brian Cooley takes an early look at both of these cars, weighing not only their drive-train technology, but also their connectivity and cabin tech systems. Watch as he gives a preview of which car might come out on … Read more

We'll reveal the *real* range you can expect from the Nissan Leaf...Find out what secret sauce Tesla will use to build the coming Model S...See where Chrysler hid the owners manual...and drive a Lexus SUV that straddles more than creeks & gullys.

• Tesla lays out Model S production line

• Nissan Leaf has 100-mile range--give or take 40 percent

• Lotus finds a buyer for its hybrid engine

• Scosche Fine Tunes iPad Kit

• Livio Unveils the Carmen Internet Radio Player for Cars… Read more

GM recalls one and a half million cars, Audi puts 62 speakers in a Q7, Nissan makes the Leaf noisy, and we check out the back of a Toyota Sienna minivan.

• Nissan Leaf brings the noise

• iPhone app shows real-time traffic images

• GM Will Deactivate Heated Washer Fluid Systems

• VW unveils affordable all-new Jetta

• Clear Channel Readies Predictive Traffic Service

A small but serviceable infrastructure for charging the batteries in electric vehicles is springing up in the United States, but it's largely in people's own garages.

Outside the home, more charging stations are being built, but locations are still widely scattered. In the long run, experts say, the basic charging technology being used to launch tiny volumes of EVs today probably will predominate in the near future.

"Most of the technology issues are minimal," says Phil Gott, director of automotive consulting for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.

Global Insight's main concern about electric vehicles is consumer resistance because of the limited range of EVs, Gott says. A widespread charging structure--particularly high-voltage, fast-charging stations--could overcome that objection.

But the consensus is that the majority of initial EV owners will recharge overnight at home using slower, comparatively low-voltage charging stations. High-voltage charging stations will top off the battery during the day if necessary, at locations such as shopping malls or at recharging stations along highways

Home is where the charger is

Most home charging uses a Level 2 charging station. According to Coulomb Technologies Inc. in Campbell, Calif., which makes charging stations, the most common Level 2 in-home installation will require 240 volts.

Older homes may need a bigger electrical panel, but most homes built since the 1980s probably can accommodate a home charging dock, says Kristen Helsel, vice president of EV solutions at AeroVironment Inc. in Monrovia, Calif., another manufacturer of charging stations.

It takes two to six hours to recharge a car with a Level 2 station, depending on how far the battery is depleted. AeroVironment says a Level 2 setup costs $2,000 to $4,200. Local labor rates account for much of the difference, the company says.

Level 1 charging uses a standard 110-volt household electrical outlet, Helsel says. Because that takes at least twice as long to charge as a Level 2 setup, manufacturers expect consumers to use household outlets only as a last resort. … Read more

This is my last day of Loaded for the next week. I am off to Los Angeles tomorrow to cover the E3 gaming conference for CBS News. You can follow all of CNET's E3 coverage here or of course you can follow me on Twitter for personal anecdotes of the event here. 

Mark Licea will fill in for me on Loaded while I am gone next week. Please be nice to the sub!

Links from Friday afternoon's episode of Loaded:

With hybrids startling pedestrians in parking lots because of their silent running, there has been some talk of putting synthetic sound-emitting devices in the vehicles--to put a bell on the cat, as it were. Beyond the talk, nothing has actually been done, until now. Nissan announced a pedestrian safety sound system for its upcoming Leaf electric car.

The sound system includes a speaker under the hood and a synthesizer in the dash. The driver will be able to turn it off, but it comes on by default at start up. At speeds above 18 mph (30 kph), the system turns … Read more