Starting today, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project will offer financial incentives of up to $20,000 towards the purchase of a new, zero-emissions and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Cars like the all-electric Tesla Roadster qualify for a $5,000 rebate, and the money can be applied towards passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and neighborhood-electric cars. But are there really enough such vehicles to justify the $4.1 million program at a time when many state governments are tightening the fiscal belt?
In 1984, General Motors and Toyota joined forces to produce cars together at a single plant in Fremont, California. Called the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., the joint venture gave Toyota its first manufacturing base in the U.S., and GM a chance to learn from its rival Toyota on quality and lean manufacturing techniques. Over the years the plant gave us the Geo Prizm, the Toyota Hilux, and Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix, among many other items.
One could argue that one company benefited more than the other from the partnership. But when GM announced it was shuttering the Pontiac brand, it also pulled out of the NUMMI plant, leaving Toyota holding the reigns. Toyota announced it too would pull out of the plant, and it looked like another manufacturing center and hundreds of jobs would be lost. Enter Aurica Motors, maker of electric cars. They have a plan to save the plant, and many of the jobs, by retooling the plant to build electric cars.
Plug In Solutions, one of the largest plug-in hybrid kit manufacturers in California, says that it has come up with a fix for the “unintended acceleration” issue for all of Toyota’s cars—not just the hybrid ones. The fix comes in the form of a switch that allows drivers to “turn off” their engine in the case of an emergency. Interestingly enough, this is the same type of fix that regulators are currently debating a future requirement for on all vehicles.
Trains are an integral part of American history, and, until the turn of the 20th century, they were the main mode of long distance transportation for most people… hence the reason why owning all four railroads in a Monopoly game is awesome. But trains aren’t what they used to be, at least in this country. We lack a real, innovative, high speed train system.
That might just change though as the Obama administration announced $8 billion in grants to over a dozen states to build, upgrade, and otherwise improve rail systems. But is it going to be enough?
Last year’s TTGXP, was a huge success, with electric motorcycle manufacturers from across the world taking the trip out to the Isle of Man for the single lap race. Agni Motorcycles walked away with the 2009 crown, but many electric motorcycle manufacturers sat out the inaugural race. 2010 is going to be a much different year as the TTGXP expands its series to several different countries. The first race is scheduled to take place at the Infineon Raceway in California.
Throwing their hat into the ring with the likes of Mission Motors and Brammo is Roehr Motorcycles. They are promising to bring their an eSuperbike to the TTGXP that has more torque than most family sedans. Sweet!
It’s been a busy Fall for the making-fuel-out-of-pollution-using-nothing-but-the-power-of-the-sun crowd. First we heard about a company that says it has succeeded in creating a system that uses engineered microbes in reactors out in the desert to eat carbon dioxide and poop out diesel and ethanol. Next we heard about a crazy mirror-ring contraption that reaches amazingly high temperatures to force carbon dioxide to give up one oxygen to make a precursor to fuel. And now…
It has been twenty years now since GM unveiled its Impact electric concept, which ultimately led to the EV1 electric car. Not everybody heard about the EV1 though, because it was confined mostly to California on limited leasing agreements. We all know how the EV1 turned out.
But with bankruptcy behind them, it is a new day for GM, and a new day for electric cars. The much ballyhooed Volt is making marked improvements as it moves from mule to pre-production models. Just like the EV1 before it, the Volt will enjoy a limited 2011 launch in a few test markets prior to a country wide launch in 2012. The first of those test markets, as GM announced today at the 2009 LA Auto Show, will be environmentally-conscious California.
The funds came after a successful bid under the Series B Investment Round, backed by a team including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. & Farallon Capital Founder Thomas F. Steyer.
In a press release Kevin Czinger, president and CEO, Coda Automotive said, “Coda’s ability to raise capital under challenging market conditions and the caliber of our investors attest to the strength of our business model (video) and the opportunity that exists in the electric car and battery sectors.”
Last month, our city council adopted Berkeley’s bold Climate Action Plan. This plan calls for systemic action, by all Berkeley residents and agencies to reduce our city’s greenhouse gas (GHG) consumption by 80% below 2000 levels by the year 2050, and the investment in electric vehicle infrastructure will be a key method for achieving these larger goals.
Coulomb Technologies was founded in 2007 with the mission to ensure that anyone who is considering the choice to buy an electric vehicle will have adequate access to fuel for the cars.
In the US there are 247 million cars but only 53 million home garages, meaning that a lot of electric vehicles will need to be fueled outside the home garage. Exacerbating the situation, according to studies at UC Davis, 80% of owners of electric vehicles will want to charge more than once a day.
It comes to this: we need charging opportunities where our cars are parked when we sleep and when we work. Since Coulomb’s founding, much as been written regarding the “chicken and egg problem” with infrastructure and vehicles. Will people buy electric vehicles if they don’t have a place to charge them, and conversely, will anyone buy infrastructure if they don’t see cars? Read the rest of this entry »
Amsterdam – On May 27, 2009, 365-Energy Group announced a pilot-program that could make Amsterdam the leader an Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure in Europe.
By 2012, the city of Amsterdam plans to be home to 200 electric vehicle charging stations. These 200 stations, courtesy of US-based Coulomb Technologies, are expected to serve 10,000 cars by the year 2015.
Excitement is high over the two-year public demonstration program, which will use 45 Coulomb Technologies‘ ChargePoint(TM) Networked Charging Stations as their source of fuel. Richard Lowenthall, CEO of the California-based company, announced that “the city of Amsterdam will have the largest network of smart charging stations in Europe for fleet and consumer charging.” He went on to say that, “Coulomb is providing an inclusive open architecture so that all electric vehicle owners in Amsterdam can easily make the switch from gasoline to electricity as a fuel.”
Editor’s Note: This is Dalton Wignall’s first contribution to Gas 2.0. Welcome Dalton!
Last Saturday, a rather low key ceremony inaugurated a new high-voltage charging station for electric vehicles. The station is located at the Gateway Center in east Woodland California.
It’s said to be the “most complete” charging station in the country, with two units that are capable of recharging electric vehicles in roughly an hour. Hopefully, the facility will set an example and give way to future possibilities for charging stations.
In honor of the inauguration, six Tesla Roadsters were brought to the charging station by Tesla Motors representatives. The Tesla roadsters are capable of traveling up to 250 miles on a single electric charge and go 0-60 in a speedy 4 seconds.
“…few opportunities blend economy and sustainability like the electric vehicle does.”
Editor’s Note: This is Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ first post for Gas 2.0. It’s a direct response to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who posted for us earlier today and said the race to electric vehicle infrastructure “symbolizes what is best about our region and our country.” Mayor Adams will be holding a press conference today at 1:30 PST about this issue. UPDATE: Added video of the event above.
Portland is a great place to live, and it’s a great place to innovate. It could be Oregon’s natural beauty that inspired our long-established commitment to environmental stewardship and conservation, the Beta version of what we now call sustainability.
Couple that innate sense of stewardship with a culture of design, planning, discourse and collaboration and you get Portland — a City ranked by SustainLane (based in San Francisco, no less!) as America’s most sustainable city two years in a row! Read the rest of this entry »
“Electric vehicles have the possibility to transform our economy, revive our car industry, and improve our environment. To make sure electric vehicles succeed this time around we need to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in battery technology and [charging] infrastructure.”
Imagine being able to drive from Vancouver, B.C., to Baja, California, without using gasoline. That’s what West-coast Governers are contemplating with a new plan to build a network of alternative-fuel stations along the I-5 corridor.
The Governers of Washington, Oregon, and California met briefly last month to discuss the idea of an alternative fueling infrastructure that would offer up a mix of biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, or compressed natural gas, along with the opportunity to recharge or swap out batteries for electric cars. Read the rest of this entry »
Trains are an integral part of American history, and, until the turn of the 20th century, they were the main mode of long distance transportation for most people… hence the reason why owning all four railroads in a Monopoly game is awesome. But trains aren’t what they used to be, at least in this country. We lack a real, innovative, high speed train system.
