Electric car maker Tesla has paid off $465 million back to the Energy Department for loans they received in 2010. The company was able to pay back the loan nine years early due to money raised in the markets, and revenue from selling green energy credits to other automakers. Continue reading
Tag Archives: electric vehicles
Powering The Grid With Electric Cars
The University of Delaware is experimenting with a fleet of electric vehicles (EV) that they say are not only good for the environment, but can be used by consumers to make money by supplying power back to the power grid. Continue reading
Fisker Auto Forced Into Bankruptcy
Additional financing and the transferring of executives could not save Fisker and the fact that consumers are reluctant to purchase electric vehicles (EV). With a $104,000 price tag, the Fisker Karma lost out to other auto makers like Ford and Nissan who offer a more affordable EV. At the 2012 New York auto show, Fisker unveiled a smaller, less expensive concept model it hoped to build in an abandoned G.M. plant in Delaware, but production never started because of lack of funds. Continue reading
Wireless Charging For Your Electric Vehicle
Wireless company Evatran will soon be offering Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf owners an option to have wireless charging installed in their vehicles. The company is expected to announce a partnership with SPX Service Solutions, early next year, making them the official charging supplier for the Chevrolet Volt.
New Generation Automobile Buyers
A trend in the automobile industry shows that the younger generation is not as interested in driving as the generation before. Not only are they buying fewer vehicles, but many don’t even have drivers license. Some reasons for this change include:
- The younger generation are more connected through internet and iPhones making them less reliant on owning transportation.
- Many live in urban areas where everything is at a walking distance, there is good public transportation or they have access to car sharing programs.
- Young people are facing soaring tuition costs, and the money they’re earning in their part-time, summer and first jobs is going toward paying for school and rent. Even if they could afford to buy a car, insurance is expensive and gas prices keep rising.
- They have grown up in an era where they have had much more exposure to environmental concerns.
Automakers have known for a while that they were going to have a problem selling vehicles to this generation but are unwilling to believe that they will not want actual cars. As a result, automakers spend more time talking about how well their cars interact with an iPhone than they do about engine performance, ride, and horsepower. Technology such as voice recognition are important to many of the younger drivers because it allows them to safely drive while still staying connected.
They are trying to attract the younger urban buyer by developing a fashionable small car that is easy to park and uses less fuel. Car makers have begun shrinking the size of engines, subtracting cylinders while adding turbochargers to maintain horsepower and acceleration. Smaller engines have become a selling point even in the United States, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The idea of electric vehicles has also become more widely accepted.
As these technologies become more common they will also become more affordable, hopefully attracting more buyers. While today’s young buyer seems more open toward the trend of smaller autos with more features, car makers have not abandoned the hope that as this generation gets older and becomes parents they will graduate towards roomier vehicles.
Tesla Supercharger Stations Unveiled In California
Tesla Motor’s highly anticipated charging network has finally been unveiled to the public with the revelation of it first six supercharger stations. According to Tesla, the stations will safely deliver up to 4.5 times more electricity to the battery giving approximately half a charge in half an hour. It will do this by using special cables that connect directly to the battery, bypassing any on board charging equipment. The most unique thing about these charging stations is that many will be equipped with solar cells mounted on the weather canopy that will generate more energy over the course of a year than is consumed by Tesla vehicles using the supercharger stations, resulting in a positive transfer of power back to the electricity grid. Current active stations in California can be found in Barstow, Hawthorne, Lebec, Coalinga, Gilroy and Folsom. By 2015, Tesla hopes to expand their supercharger network to over 100 stations.
Electric Car Charging Station Apps
It seems inevitable that the electric car will be a part of our future. With fuel efficiency standards becoming tighter, automobile manufacturers will include electric vehicles (EV) in their line ups in order to meet them. Even though this technology has come a long way in the last decade, auto manufacturers are still looking for additional ways to help the consumer get the most out of their EV’s.
One of the biggest drawbacks of an electric vehicle is the need to charge the battery. Having a charging station at home and at work makes electric car commutes trouble free, but long trips can make drivers uneasy. A new smart phone app hopes to relieve this anxiety by allowing hybrid and electric car drivers to find charging stations wherever they go. The app will let drivers know where the stations are, if they are available and whether the station offers free or paid charging. Some of the apps will even allow you to reserve the charging station, leave comments about the stations, as well as give you a street views through Google Street View. Some of the newest applications being launched include ChargePoint, ECOtality, Recargo, and PlugShare.
Car Makers Reject California Emission Proposal
California regulators are pushing a mandate that could have zero emission vehicles making up 5.5% of new car sales by 2018, increasing to 14% by 2025. The proposal is being rejected by auto makers who feel the plan is the first step into establishing new national fuel efficiency standards that could end up costing them $5,000 for every vehicle that does not meet the standard. According to the Association of Global Automakers (AGA) the requirement of electric vehicles would interfere with auto makers ability to meet the new fuel economy and emissions standards being proposed by the Obama administration. They feel that auto makers will be forced into building vehicles that are not in demand, into an infrastructure that can not meet their refueling needs. It is expected the plan would hit smaller auto companies the worst, because they have fewer resources and development advances for electric vehicles.
