Electric-sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, Reuters reported today, citing two sources familiar with the matter said.
An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric, zero-emissions Roadster, is expected any day, the news agency quoted one of the sources as saying. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months.
Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad, in an interview with Green Car Advisor, declined to comment on what she called "rumor or speculation."
Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since the Ford Motor Co. debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric-car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.
The company's chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an IPO was a possibility in either late 2008 or 2009.
But the financial market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Bros. in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year with a robust pace of new filings.
Tesla's IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on Sept. 25.
Analysts have said that the success of A123, the first green-technology IPO this year, would encourage more venture capital-backed green companies to go public.
More to the point, if Tesla does go public and experiences the kind of financial boost A123 did, the investor acceptable will be a huge shot in the arm not only for Tesla but for electric vehicles and EV-related technologies in general.
In addition to the success A123 experienced with its IPO, Tesla has another good reason to prepare an IPO now: The automaker is flush with cash from recent federal low-interest loans, which makes investors more comfortable than pumping money into a flat-broke startup.
The fleet of new cars and trucks sold to U.S. consumers averaged 21 miles per gallon in the 2008 model year, a modest increase over the previous year, with Honda and Hyundai having the most fuel-efficient fleets in America, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday.
New vehicle fuel efficiency improved 2 percent in 2008 from 20.6 mpg for the 2007 model year. The government projected it will improve slightly to 21.1 mpg in the 2009 model year.
The EPA figures are based on real-world estimates for city and highway mileage found on window stickers at dealer showrooms, instead of mileage values developed through laboratory testing.
Honda Motor Co. led the industry in 2008 with 23.9 mpg, followed by Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. with 23.7 mpg, and Toyota Motor Corp. with 22.8 mpg.
Volkswagen AG's fleet averaged 22.3 mpg, followed by Nissan Motor Co. with 21.9 and BMW AG with 21.2.
General Motors Co. led U.S. automakers with 19.7 mpg, followed by Ford Motor Co. with 19.4 and Chrysler Group LLC with 19.3. The EPA projects Ford will increase its fuel efficiency by more than 1 mpg in the 2009 model year and overtake GM.
Perhaps fretting that the public had forgotten about their hydrogen ambitions, Japan's Big 3 automakers last week took to the streets with their most advanced hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
Over two days, driving teams steered a Toyota Highlander FCHV-adv, a Nissan X-Trail FCV, and a Honda FCX Clarity 707 miles from Tokyo to Fukuoka, with an overnight stop in Osaka.
Combined, the vehicles consumed 28.8 kilograms of hydrogen during their demonstration run. That equates to roughly 70 miles per gallon for those of you wondering how efficient these vehicles stack up when compared to gasoline-powered vehicles.
But given that none of the advanced-fuel vehicles seen here are available for purchase, mileage/fuel comparisons right now are strictly academic.
That said, although all three automakers are working on electric vehicles, Honda and Toyota continue to say that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles offer the best long-term solution to today's climate-changing oil-burning street machines.
(Updated at 7 p.m. Pacific time, 11/16/09, to add details throughout.)
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
Top executives from more than a dozen companies announced today that they had formed a coalition supporting plug-in electric vehicles, and they unveiled a plan calling for 120 million EVs on U.S. roads by 2030 - an ambitious proposal bearing a federal price tag of more than $120 billion over the next eight years.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C., members of the newly formed Electricifcation Coalition said plug-in electric vehicles hold the key to solving America's dependence on oil and its associated "economic, environmental and national security vulnerabilities."
High penetration rates of grid-enabled vehicles, or GEVs - vehicles propelled in whole or in part by electricity drawn from the grid and stored onboard in a battery - could radically minimize the importance of oil to the U.S., strengthening the country's economy, improving its national security, and providing much-needed flexibility to American foreign policy, the business leaders said.
Simultaneously, such a system would clear a path to dramatically reduced economy-wide emissions of greenhouse gases, they said.
The conference showcased 13 business leaders and several influential politicians, including Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Nissan Motor Co.; David W. Crane, CEO of electric utility NRG Energy; David P. Vieau, CEO of battery maker A123 Systems; Frederick W. Smith, CEO of Federal Express; Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota; and Nancy Sutley, chairperson of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Their presentations at the event were optimistic and filled with statistics about the prevalence of cheap electric energy and the benefits of proliferating GEVs.
Among their arguments: that electricity prices are stable and the supply of electricity is abundant, with lots of spare capacity; that electricity is a domestic resource; and, that the infrastructure is already in place to generate, transmit and distribute the electrical supply to homes - with their GEV-filled garages - nationwide.
But the coalition's vision and its goals - spelled out in a 170-page document released today titled the Electrification Roadmap - are a complex assortment of policy recommendations and business initiatives that will face a lot of challenges, even its backers concede.
A recent study evaluating the effectiveness of this summer's cash-for-clunkers program concluded that cost U.S. taxpayers $3 billion and did more to help Japan's three largest automakers than it did the Detroit 3 of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
The Japanese companies accounted for only 8 percent of trade-ins but 41 percent of new-car purchases, according to the new study by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute.
By contrast, 85 percent of the trade-ins were manufactured by the Detroit 3 while only 39 percent of the new purchases were GM, Ford or Chrysler vehicles.
Sixty-eight percent of consumers who traded in a Toyota, Honda or Nissan bought another from one of the same from one of the three Japanese automakers.
Specifically, those owners who traded in Hondas bought another Honda 30 percent of the time. Nissan owners bought new Nissans under the clunker program did so 19 percent of the time and motorists unloading Toyotas turned around and bought another Toyota 44 percent of the time.
By contrast, 43 percent of consumers who traded in a Detroit 3 vehicle bought another Detroit 3 vehicle. Chrysler owners bought new Chryslers in 11 percent of the cases, Ford in 24 percent and GM in 32 percent.
As for those who switched, Japan's Big 3 got 38 percent of consumers who traded in a Detroit Big 3 vehicle. Toyota did best, with 18 percent. The Detroit Big 3 got only 12 percent of consumers who traded in a Japan Big 3 vehicle. GM did best with 5.3 percent.
The study made no attempt to determine how much of the money stayed in the United States and how much went to Japan. It should, of course, be noted that many of the Japanese cars purchased as a result of the clunker program were undoubtedly made in the USA.
Folding Electric Bike, Steam Speed Racer Other Green Transportation Honorees for 2009
Frankly, my dears, we find year-ending annual lists of the top 10, or 20, or even 50 things quite contrived, subjective and a pain to research and write - but fun, fun, fun to read.
Especially when they include things we would have stuck on 'em.
So we peruse them and this weekend found Time magazine's selection of the top 50 inventions of 2009, a list that includes a quintet of green car items (well, a triplet of cars plus an electric bicycle from way down under and a green unicycle from Honda).
Topping the transport list, in 15th place, was the YikeBike, a lithium-powered, folding two-wheeler from New Zealand - slated for production in very small numbers initially (100 or so) by mid 2010. It looks like a modern two-wheeled adaptation of a kid's Big Wheel trike.
The top automotive ranking was Nissan's Leaf EV, a 5-seat hatchback that we've been writing about for quite some time. It has just begin a 22-city U.S. tour but won't hit the market until this time next year. The Leaf, unveiled in August, will be the first mass-market, affordable (under $35,000 we believe) EV from a major automaker. Time ranks it the 25th best invention of the year.
Honda's U3-X concept, an electric, gyroscopically balanced unicycle controlled by the rider's shifting weight, placed 27th. The automaker showed it last month at the Tokyo Auto Show, and we thought then that it would beat the heck out of Segue's personal transporter for convenience and usability if Honda decided to make and market it.
In 40th position is another green car we wrote about earlier this year, the WorldFirst F3 Formula Three race car developed by at team at the University of Warwick-affiliated Warwick Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre using as many biological and biodegradable parts as possible. Thus a steering wheel made of bioplastic reinforced with carrot fibers; brake pads lined with cashew shells, potato-starch based plastic body parts, biodiesel fuel made from chocolate waste and vegetable oils and road-racing speeds of up to 125 miles an hour.
Occupying 50th place on the list is another British "invention," the world's fastest steam car. Imaginatively named British Steam Car, it's a 25-foot-long, dry-lake racer powered by the steam from a dozen boilers piped through more than 2 mile of tubing and putting out sufficient power to goose the rocket-shaped speedster this past August to 151 miles an hour on a Mojave Desert test track at Edwards Air Force Base northeast of Los Angeles.
Pricing has not been set yet on Nissan's Leaf electric car (pictured), which will see limited distribution starting late next year, but the automaker's top marketing executive for North America told us today that the monthly cost to the consumer should be equivalent to the monthly cost of a fully loaded Honda Civic plus its fuel.
(Article updated 11/13/09 to correct pricing.)
That means the purchase price (about $28,000) or comparable monthly payment for a high-end Civic plus the cost of the gasoline it would need to cover 1,200 miles (at 30 MPG and $3/gallon, about $120), said Brian Carolin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan North America.
Although Nissan's global plan is to sell the zero-emissions car without battery and to lease the battery to car buyers at a cost roughly equal to the $120 calculated above, both Carolin and Mark Perry, Nissan's director of product planning and advanced technology strategy for North America, told GreenCarAdvisor that Nissan has not yet decided how to price the package in the U.S.
"We may sell the car and battery together, we may lease it as a package, or we may sell the car and lease the battery," Carolin said. "We just haven't decided yet."
CEO of Renault-Nissan Alliance Tells All in Exclusive Piece For Edmunds Inside Line
Nissan Leaf electric car will go on sale in select U.S. and Japanese markets next year, first of eight EVs from Renault-Nissan Alliance slated for next three years.
It's not often that a top auto executive publicly takes a stand that commits the company to a course of action that puts it out in front of the pack.
Comfort, in the auto industry as in most others, lies in conformity.
But Carlos Ghosn, never one to shy away from taking the lead when others dare only to follow, is staking his own reputation and the economic future of both of the companies he heads - France's Renault and Japan's Nissan - on the conviction that electric vehicles are no longer to be considered concepts and prototypes best suited for PR campaigns and media feeding frenzies at the major global auto shows.
In an opinion piece written expressly for Edmunds Inside Line, Ghosn lays out his philosophy and rationale for leapfrogging the competition to become the first automaker to put a mass-market electric car into production - the 2010 Nissan Leaf - and to vow to field a slate of eight retail and commercial EVs in the next few years, four from Nissan and four from Renault.
Ghosn doesn't claim in his piece- the first in what Inside Line editors intend to become a regular series of think pieces from top automotive executives - that the Renault Nissan Alliance was a leader is developing EVs, pointing out that, in fat, electric cars were around a century ago.
He does say, though, that after being "relegated to low-volumes specialist applications" for decades, now - not later - is the time to bring them into the mainstream.
What we like about Ghosn, in addition to his willingness to stick his neck out, is that he's not making some smarmy bid for ecological sainthood.
He runs a business and has made his decision on purely business grounds, the three chief among them being:
Oil prices will rise and the cost of gasoline with them.
Governments will continue to increase restrictions on vehicle emissions, making zero emission EVs an invaluable part of any automakers' portfolio.
Public concern about the quality of the environment -and the automobile's impact on same - will continue to increase.
Facing those conditions, he says, no automaker that hopes to remain competitive can long ignore the need to electrify.
As for the Renault-Nissan EVs, Ghosn has this to say:
"We are confident in our lithium-ion battery technology, which Nissan has been developing over the past 17 years. We are producing our own batteries, through a joint venture with NEC, so we will have better control of quality, cost and the ability to meet our forecast demand. We consider the battery as a core technology and a business. Through a separate venture with Sumitomo, we are planning a business to refabricate, resell, reuse and recycle the batteries, giving them a second life as energy-storage solutions in markets worldwide. "We are also the only automotive group that has established more than 30 partnerships with governments, municipalities, utility providers and other organizations to lay the foundation for both the charging infrastructure and for incentives and policies that will encourage consumers to embrace electric cars. From San Diego to Yokohama to Monaco, the momentum is building for zero-emission mobility."
There's lots more, and you can read it all on Inside Line.
And, of course, we invite you visit Green Car Advisor's extensive Nissan and Renault categories to follow the companies' green patch over the years.
Dispelling rumors to the contrary, Honda Motor Co. won't be making a low-cost and presumably fuel-efficient minicar in India to compete with products released by Tata Motors Ltd. and the alliance of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co.
Instead, Japan's second-biggest carmaker is developing a small car that will cost less than its existing Jazz hatchback model, CEO Takanobu Ito told a news conference today.
The starting price of Jazz is 698,000 rupees (about $15,000) at showrooms in New Delhi.
Ito said the new car will be targeted at countries in Asia, with India as a key market.
"We would like to offer to as many customers as possible, a product at their price expectation level," he said, but didn't give any time frame for launching the new car or a likely price range.
Tata Motors, which controls Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands, currently sells the Nano minicar (pictured), the world's cheapest car, with starting prices of about 115,000 rupees (roughly $2,500) at showrooms in New Delhi.
The popularity of the car amid rising demand for fuel-efficient, affordable vehicles has prompted other automakers such as Renualt-Nissan, General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. to announce plans to develop their own low-cost cars.
Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday that a new minicar, to be designed and manufactured by Indian motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto Ltd. and distributed by Renault-Nissan, will be the cheapest car in India when introduced in 2012.
Spurred by factory incentives, replenished stocks and the relative freshness of several models, sales of hybrid-electric cars and SUVs soared in October, easily outperforming the market as a whole.
Compared to October '08 - a month with six fewer hybrid models available - sales of Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Toyota hybrids were up 12.1 percent, while sales of conventionally powered cars and trucks were flat.
The one-month picture was even rosier, as October hybrid sales jumped 22.5 percent from September's, versus a 12.1 percent hike in sales of conventional models.
Nissan, which has only one model - the Altima hybrid, - and sells it in just the nine states with the toughest emissions standards, was the only hybrid maker to record a sales decline for both periods, dropping 46 percent from a year earlier and 13 percent from September.
As with most hybrids - Toyota's Prius excepted - Nissan's actual numbers are quite small because of low sales volumes. October's sales drop represented just 46 fewer Altima hybrid sales than in September.
Toyota's redesigned 2010 Prius, sweetened by a small factory incentive, remained by far the segment leader, accounting for 55 percent of all hybrid sales for the month.
Nissan is ready to pump $220 million into its existing Japanese battery joint venture and an additional $330 million into a new lithium-ion battery factory in France that it would own with partner Renault, the Nikkei news service in Japan is reporting.
---------- Renault Fluence ZE concept is stylized version of EV the French automaker plans to start selling in Israel in 2011. ----------
Renault-Nissan Alliance chief Carlos Ghosn said just last month that the two companies were considering France as the location for a new battery plant, so the news from the Nikkei seems reasonable.
Nissan may be going global with the Leaf electric car sooner than planned.
The initial launch of the worlds first modern mass-produce EV was to be held on a limited basis in Japan and the U.S. next year, with global sales to follow in 2012, when the Leaf would be joined by several other new EVs Nissan is developing.
But now it looks as though Mexico might get its first Leafs in 2011.
Dow Jones International News, citing Nissan Executive Vice President - and head of the Americas operations - Carlos Tavares as its source, said Nissan has won a promise from the Mexican government to provide financial incentives for EVs in 2011 and to launch a study of the feasibility of developing a battery charging infrastructure.
Consumer Reports readers have spoken - as the do this time every year -and come down hard in favor of hybrids as family cars.
---------- Toyota Prius rates tops among family cars for reliability in annual consumer survey. ----------
In the widely read magazine's annual rating of auto reliability, five of the eight most reliable 2009 model year family cars in the CR report use gas-electric powertrains.
In the order CR lists them, they are:
Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion hybrid, Mercury Milan hybrid, Nissan Altima hybrid, and Toyota Camry hybrid.
All five also are rated as CR recommended, meaning they scored well in the magazine's internal testing and driveability ratings as well as in the consumer-driven reliability survey.
Nissan and Renault, which plan to be the first major car makers to launch mass-produced electric vehicles for sale globally, also are planning on building their own battery packs using technology developed in Nissan's Japanese R&D center.
The companies so far have formally announced plans to build battery factories in the U.S., Portugal and England to support their EV effort, and now France -home to Renault - has been added to the list, kind of.
Carlos Ghosn, who heads both automakers (each owns a piece of the other and Renault has controlling interest in Nissan) said during a management forum in Tokyo this morning that it would be logical to "suspect that France is also a place where we are going to build some batteries" to support the 2012 launch of the companies' global EVs.
Nissan's wild Land Glider concept(left) will be transformed into a real EV that the automaker will bring to market in the next few years, part of a stable of four electric cars - including a luxury Infiniti model - the automaker intends to build as it begins its drive to electrify.
The Infiniti EV and Land Glider-based Nissan model were announced by Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn during the Tokyo auto show press preview this morning.
The company, which was late to market a hybrid, intends to use battery-electric cars, starting with the already developed Nissan Leaf, as a way to catch up to or even surpass Toyota and Honda in the fuel efficiency race. Ghosn has said he believes electric drive will grow to be the dominant automotive propulsion system.
Nissan, Renault Also Planning to Lease Batteries for Their EVs in Most Markets
There are all sorts of hopes and plans for lowering the cost of electric cars - most hinging on government subsidies and increased sales volumes that will power component costs - but one that doesn't lean of outside help is the idea of leasing the batteries with the car rather than including them in the sales price.
---------- Reva NXR is slated for 2010 launch in Europe, Asia. ----------
We first heard the idea from Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place. He suggests looking at the batteries as the principal part of the fuel system and thinking of leasing in terms of how we pay for fuel in our gasoline cars.
We don't buy a lifetime's supply of gas when we buy a new car now, he says. We pay for it as we need it. Why not the same with batteries and electricity?
Pay a monthly fee for the batteries and the few pennies it costs to recharge them each day and if the lease price is figures properly your "fuel" costs are likely to be the same or less than if you were driving a car with an internal combustion engine.
Among other things leasing means the car makers, not you, are responsible for fixing problems and for providing updated batteries when improvements are introduced.
Now we know the analogy doesn't hold up all that well - the electrons are the fuel and the batteries more like the fuel tank - but the idea still sounds pretty good.
U.S. Trails Asia, Europe in Providing Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure, Automakers Warn
Automakers aiming to meet California's revised Zero Emission Vehicles mandate requirements have pushed the fuel-cell electric car much closer to reality than many realize, according to a report by Bloomberg news service.
----------
Rendering of advanced fuel station near Los Angeles International Airport touts hydrogen as the fuel of tomorrow. Automakers say that without more such stations, that vision won't be realized. ----------
Not only is the technology almost ready for prime time, reporter Alan Ohnsman found that automakers such as Toyota, Daimler, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Nissan and General Motors now believe they can bring fuel cell vehicles to market by 2015 with price premium of just $3,600 over the average price of a comparable midsized gasoline model.
But the technology and price breakthroughs won't mean much if the U.S. government's infrastructure priorities aren't altered to include encouragement of a hydrogen fueling system
If the U.S. doesn't get moving, it will fall behind Europe and Asia - where governments are actively promoting hydrogen fueling - in the race to replace oil as a motor vehicle fuel, GM and others warn.
If Nissan's battery-electric 2011 Leaf is too much car for you, perhaps we can interest you in the LandGlider.
The tiny (122 inches long) two seat EV city car concept can't be too much for anyone, save perhaps areally small elf. It will share the Nissan stand at the upcoming 2009 Tokyo Auto Show with the Leaf and several non-electric Nissan intros including the new Fuga performance sedan.
Envisioned at a sort of oversize, 4-wheel, covered, electrically driven motorcycle, the Land glider offers tandem seating, an airplane-style steering yoke and a flexible motorcycle-like suspension that leans into corners.
The trick is an array of sensors that monitor vehicle speed, the steering angle and the yaw (or leaning) rate, instantly calculating the degree of lean needed to let the car scoot around curves.
Nissan isn't likely to build a Glider for the masses but says that it points in the direction engineers and product planners are thinking as they ponder a future a small car for congested cities.
Nissan's first self-developed hybrid system will make its debut in 2011 in the company's luxury line, under the hood of the 2012 Infiniti M35 sedan, the automaker said this morning.
The hybrid version of the car will hit the streets a year after the redesigned, conventionally powered M35 is launched next spring as a 2011 model.
Infiniti describes its first-ever hybrid system, developed entirely within Nissan (the system in the Nissan Altima hybrid was licensed from Toyota), as a single electric motor-dual clutch arrangement with the first clutch installed between the electric motor and gas engine.
The company is withholding information about range, power, battery size and capacity, transmission design and performance - likely so it can get a second splash in the automotive media when the numbers are released.
But Green Car Advisior was in Japan on a Nissan-sponsored trip last year when the company first showed off its new hybrid system, in a G35 (back then it was slated to appear in the Infiniti lineup in a 2010 model, so it is coming two years later than initially expected). Here's what we reported about the system back then:
Nissan's not letting any grass - green or otherwise - grow under its feet as it prepares to launch its Leaf electric car in select U.S markets next year.
The first installment of what the company hopes will become a vital video campaign launched today with a fairly basic 60-second video touting Nissan's lithium-ion battery technology.
Based on our test drive of the Leaf's power train - installed in a Nissan Versa because the real car wasn't ready - and the unveiling of a pre-production (but 99 percent finished) Leaf in Yokohama this summer, its a pretty neat EV.
Let's hope the videos get to be a lot more content-rich to do it justice as the campaign progresses.
Nissan North America has announced that the 2010 Altima Hybrid, which goes on sale in nine U.S. states on Monday, will have an MSRP of $26,780.
A statement distributed by Nissan on Wednesday and posted verbatim on many blogs and Websites erroneously reported that the model will be available nationwide.
In fact, it will only be available in the same nine states that the 2009 Altima Hybrid was sold in (California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont).
The Altima Hybrid powertrain mates a specialized version of Nissan's QR25 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine and standard electronically controlled CVT with an advanced electric drive motor/generator. The 198-horsepower hybrid has been EPA rated at 35 miles per gallon in the city and 33 mpg highway.
Combined with Altima's standard 20-gallon fuel tank, the model has a projected driving range of more than 600 miles between fill-ups.
Among the many changes for the 2010 Altima Hybrid is a restyled hood, grille and front bumper, new wheel designs, standard Vehicle Dynamic Control on all models, revised interior fabric and finishers, new exterior colors and revised option package content.
The cash for clunkers frenzy that pulled many hybrid shoppers into the market earlier than they'd intended in July and August caused a big letdown in September as sales of gas-electric cars and trucks, which had been rising steadily all year, plunged 48.4 percent.
Only 19,977 hybrids were sold in September, down from 38,701 in August. The sales slide was the first in several months and was worse that that of the far larger conventional vehicle segment, which dropped by 40.9 percent from August.
Falling sales of the Toyota Prius - they were down 42 percent for the month - contributed heavily to the numeric decline although almost every hybrid model lost ground.
On a month over month basis there were no corporate winners in the hybrid segment as even Toyota - the industry leader with three out of every four hybrid sales - saw a 39.7 percent decline in its Toyota and Lexus hybrids.
And that was the segment's best performance.
Lots of Losers
Nissan, which has been on a tear with its single offering, the Altima hybrid sedan (helped by generous incentives in recent moths), saw its hybrid sales plunge 89.1 percent in September; Honda, the number two hybrid company, saw sales fall 61.6 percent; Ford, which had been rising since the March introduction of its Fusion hybrid sedan, was off 54.5 percent, and GM's hybrid sales fell by 40.8 percent.
Compared to sales at the end of the third-quarter last year- when the financial industry collapse began and the bottom fell out of the auto market, the picture was a little better as hybrid sales last month were down just 4.1 percent from September '08.
In contrast, conventional car sales fell 22.5 percent in the September-September comparison.
Arizona-based Electric Transportation Engineering Corp. today signed a $99.8 million contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to join Nissan in the biggest deployment of electric vehicles -- and creation of the largest charging infrastructure -- ever undertaken.
That eTec was earmarked to receive the contract is not news; we reported that in August. But along with news of the signing today, eTec provided further details regarding how it intends to use the money.
In a statement, eTec said the final scope of work will include the deployment of 10,950 Level 2 (220-volt) chargers, 260 Level 3 (440-volt) fast-chargers and 4,700 Nissan LEAF zero-emissions electric vehicles in five states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
In conjunction with the contract signing, The EV Project (as eTec and Nissan call it) officially commenced today. ETec marked the commencement of the project with creation of the project's official Website.
The Website is designed to provide general information about The EV Project and it provides information about how to purchase a Nissan LEAF and how to apply for a free charger at a home or work.
Nissan North America will begin taking orders for the company's new Leaf electric car (left) next spring and says it anticipates 20,000 pre-sales by the time the EV hits dealerships in the third quarter.
"We are confident we will have 20,000 reservations for the Leaf by the time it goes on sale," Carlos Tavares, Nissan's chairman for the Americas, said at a breakfast meeting of Nashville, Tenn., business leaders this morning.
The meeting was covered by the subscription-only industry journal Automotive News, which reported Tavares' comments in an on-line report.
Tavares said Tennessee-based Nissan North America expects to make Nashville a key launch market for the five-passenger Leaf.
Initially, the vehicle will be sold only in cities or regions that have signed agreements with Nissan to aggressively pursue installation of EV charging networks.
California took the pulse of the zero-emissions vehicle industry this week and found plug-in electric vehicle manufacturers worried about charging infrastructure and public expectations.
The California Air Resources Board is hearing from fuel cell and EV manufacturers in preparation for releasing regulations for its Zero-Emissions Vehicle Program. Targets for 2015 and thereafter are due out by Nov. 10, with final targets due by early next year.
In its fifth major revision of the program since 1990, it voted last year to reduce the 2014 sales target from 25,000 to 7,500 vehicles.
A philosophical difference emerged between conventional car manufacturers and electric-only car companies.
Nissan, which is shooting for a 100-mile range for its Leaf EV, is playing down its perks. When asked to compare gasoline-powered and EV batteries, a company executive said not to expect comparable performance.
"Since the battery's not part of the emissions, it's not required to last 10 years and 150,000 miles," said Brian Verprauskus, senior manager of corporate planning for Nissan North America. "The issue's going to be the degradation. If the customer is OK with reduced range after 10 years, it'll definitely last that long, but after 10 years, we think there'll be more advanced batteries and the customer's going to want to swap it out with a next-generation battery."
Tesla Motors, on the other hand, is emphasizing the ways EVs differ from conventional cars. "We're trying to market cars based on the new attributes of EVs themselves," said J.B. Straubel, Tesla's chief technical officer. "It's an offensive technology shift. We can offer some new competitive advantages to customers."
EV manufacturers said the installation of charging infrastructure remained the biggest bottleneck to widespread implementation. BMW, which ran into charging issues with its MINI E pilot program, said the industry needed to agree on a standard for in-home charging infrastructure.
Toshiyuki Tabata spent 30 years as a Nissan Motor Co. engineer trying to make gasoline-powered cars quieter. Now he's consulting music composers to make electric cars noisier -- and safer.
An article published by Bloomberg news service today addresses the efforts Tabata in particular and automakers in general are making to make electric and hybrid cars, with little or no engine noise, safer for pedestrians.
Some of the automakers are simply seeking sounds that resemble conventional engine noises. But as we learn from Tabata, Nissan is doing something completely different.
The company consulted Japanese composers of film scores. What Tabata and his six-member team came up with is a high- pitched sound reminiscent of the flying cars in "Blade Runner" (pictured), the 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott portraying his dystopian vision of 2019.
"We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art," Tabata said.
The article is well worth the time it takes to read it.
Hyundai Motors' ix-Metro Hybrid city car is one of several dozen 'green' cars and concepts debuting at Frankfurt show.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
This week's Frankfurt Auto Show promises to be the greenest major auto show to date - a showcase for fuel efficiency improvements and alternative powertrains that are coming to the forefront as the mainstream auto industry finally begins coming to grips with the need to begin weaning itself - and us - from petroleum.
Perhaps motivated by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu's proposal last May to slash more than $100 million in federal funding for hydrogen-vehicle research, nine major automakers today issued a joint statement announcing that they had signed a letter of understanding to develop and launch fuel-cell electric vehicles.
---------- A trio of Ford FCEVs get pumped up. ----------
FCEVs use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system.
Today's announcement came one day after Chu said in an interview that he will no longer seek to eliminate federal funding for the R&D of hydrogen cars, but instead will work with lawmakers to ensure the money is "invested wisely."
The automakers' announcement states that they "strongly anticipate that from 2015 onwards a quite significant number of electric vehicles with fuel cell could be commercialized. This number is aimed at a few hundred thousand units over life cycle on a worldwide basis."
It continued: "As every vehicle manufacturer will implement its own specific production and commercial strategies as well as timelines, commercialization of electric vehicles with fuel cells may occur earlier than in the above-mentioned expected year."
Beyond those statements, the announcement -- signed by Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Nissan and Toyota -- offered little more information regarding the automakers' plans.
Nissan Altima hybrid was one of the stars of August, more than tripling sales for the month despite limited availability.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The federal Cash for Clunkers program may have been good for conventional cars in August, but monthly sales performance was a letdown for hybrids after an explosive July.
Oh, sales of gas-electric cars and SUVs were up last month - a 9.2 percent gain from July, but that pales by comparison to the 35 percent gain the segment recorded in July over June and doesn't stand up well, either, against the 26.6% August increase posted by conventionally powered vehicles (cars and trucks except hybrids).
Overall, however, August 2009 hybrid sales of 38,701 gas-electric cars, SUVS and pickups were up 48.6 percent from 26,044 in August '08 - a significant gain explained in large part by the addition of half a dozen new hybrid models, including the Honda Insight, Ford Fusion and Lexus HS250, that weren't available a year earlier.
Arizona-based Electric Transportation Engineering Corp. today announced receipt of $8 million from the government of California to aid in development of an electric-vehicle charging infrastructure for San Diego.
The same company earlier this month landed a $99.8 million grant from the Obama administration to join Nissan in the biggest deployment of EVs - and creation of the largest charging infrastructure - ever undertaken.
The $8 million from the California Energy Commission is among the roughly $15 million in funds the agency is in the process of awarding to EV projects that received federal funds from the U.S. Department of Energy on Aug. 5.
With the two grants and others it expects to get from regional project participants, eTec has pledged to install about 2,550 charging stations in each of five selected markets: the states of Tennessee and Oregon, the cities of San Diego and Seattle, and the Phoenix/Tucson region.
Those approximately 12,750 charging stations will be used to recharge up to 1,000 LEAF EVs that Nissan will provide for each of the five markets, for a total contribution of up to 5,000 EVs.
Whether the zero-emissions vehicles will be donated, leased or sold by the automaker has not been determined, according to a Nissan source familiar with the collaboration.
In a statement released today, eTec said its project will collect and analyze data characterizing vehicle use and charging patterns in diverse topographies and climate conditions; evaluate the effectiveness of charge infrastructure; and conduct trials of various revenue systems for public charge infrastructure.
By testing and analyzing electric vehicle usage and charging patterns in a simulated mature charging environment, eTec hopes the project will foster the expansion of the EV infrastructure and widespread EV use throughout the country.
ETec is a subsidiary of ECOtality, a Scottsdale, Arizona, company that has been involved in every major electric vehicle initiative in North America since the 1990's. ETec is known for its Minit-Charger line of battery fast-charge systems for on-road EVs.
Honda Motor Co. plans to develop an electric car to debut in the U.S. market by around 2015 as tighter environmental regulations push demand for zero-emissions vehicles, the Nikkei business journal reported Saturday.
---------- 2015 wouldn't mark the first year a Honda electric vehicle appeared in the U.S. Right, the Honda CUV-4 test EV in California two decades ago. It led to the Honda EV Plus, below, shown at a line-off ceremony in Japan in 1996. ----------
A spokesperson for the company, Japan's No. 2 automaker, said it was developing an electric vehicle but had not decided when to launch it.
The company would not comment on a Nikkei report, published without attribution to any sources, that a prototype of the car would be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October.
The vehicle is expected to be about the size of a minicar, the Nikkei said.
Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third biggest automaker, unveiled its electric car "Leaf" earlier this month with plans to begin selling it in the United States, Japan and Europe towards the end of 2010.
Other major automakers such as Toyota and Volkswagen have also announced plans to launch electric cars in the next few years.
Tesla Motors, a small California electric-vehicle maker, has sold more than 700 highway-capable EVs since it began producing them last year.
The New York Times is reporting today something we've been saying for months: That Toyota, maker of the mighty Prius hybrid and the No. 1 automaker worldwide by volume of units sold, is falling behind in the race to bring all-electric vehicles to market.
---------- Right, Toyota sold the RAV4 EV sport ute from 1997-2203. ----------
The article notes that Mitsubishi Motors has begun leasing its i-MiEV and that Nissan is set to leave its EV next year. But when oh when is Toyota's? 2012 is the answer the automaker gives.
The article quotes Masatami Takimoto, Toyota's executive vice president, as saying earlier this year that the electric car's "time is not here."
Electric cars "face many challenges," he said, adding that "to commercialize pure EV's, we need a battery that far exceeds the current technology."
Predictably, the Times reporter turned to EV proponents and analysts who have no experience running an automaker, let alone one that manufactured and sold an all-electric SUV from 1997-2003; that would be Toyota's RAV4 EV, many of which are still going strong and enjoy great popularity with their owners.
Which isn't to say the analysts weren't good for some interesting speculation.
"In a world where vehicles run on electrons rather than hydrocarbons, the automakers will have to reinvent their businesses," Russell Hensley, an analyst at the consulting company McKinsey, told clients in a recent report, the Times reported.
The newspaper also quoted analysts as saying that Toyota would like to profit all it can from the current technology before shifting to a new one - which makes sense, doesn't it? - especially because the company is facing a second down year after a loss last year of about $4.4 billion.
Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford (pictured), in an interview with Edmunds.com reporter Bill Visnic earlier today, suggested the EPA's methodology for electric-vehicle fuel economy figures was meaningless.
"This question devolves into madness," he said in response to a question regarding General Motors' and Nissan's recent claims that their Chevrolet Volt and Leaf plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will have government fuel economy ratings of 230 and 360 miles per gallon, respectively.
"The government will have to come up with a meaningful number for customers - a user-friendly label. And I think they will. I can't dispute that number, but I'm not sure it's relevant to the customer either," he said.
GM announced last week that it is investing $43 million in a Detroit-area factory that will make lithium-ion battery packs for the Volt. Asked if Ford intends to make batteries for its EVs, the grandson of the company's founder said, "Initially, we should just buy batteries. We don't have any particular expertise in batteries. We'll probably stick to the vehicle-integration part of the puzzle."
On GM and Nissan huge claims for mpg for Volt and Leaf: "This question devolves into madness. The government will have to come up with a meaningful number for customers - a user-friendly label. And I think they will. I can't dispute that number but I'm not sure it's relevant to the customer either."
It seems Japan is really getting serious about this EV business.
---------- Mistubishi's i-MIEV electric car now comes with a rapid-charging port as Japan begins studying fast-charging systems to make EV driving more accessible. ----------
Both Mitsubishi and Subaru are marketing small electric city cars in the Tokyo-Yokohama area, Nissan is following with its full-service, five-seat Leaf next year and now a trio of companies including Nippon Oil are launching a national test of rapid charging systems for EVs.
The six-month test of EV chargers for Japan's Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry will be conducted in five of Japan's largest prefectures (like counties in the U.S.) and participants will be given (yes, given) Mitsubishi i-MIEV electric cars to drive for the duration.
Perhaps the most notable of the stories within a story stemming from today's $2.4 billion grants announcement is the $99.8 million the Obama administration awarded to a little-known company that, together with Nissan, has pledged the biggest deployment of electric vehicles - and creation of the largest charging infrastructure - ever undertaken.
With the grant and matching funds provided by regional project participants, Phoenix-based Electric Transportation Engineering Corp., or eTec, has pledged to install about 2,500 charging stations in each of five selected markets: the states of Tennessee and Oregon, the cities of San Diego and Seattle, and the Phoenix/Tucson region.
Those approximately 12,500 charging stations will be used to recharge up to 1,000 LEAF EVs (pictured) that Nissan will provide for each of the five markets, for a total contribution of up to 5,000 EVs. Whether the zero-emissions vehicles will be donated, leased or sold by the automaker has not been determined, according to a Nissan source familiar with the collaboration.
The project will: collect and analyze data from vehicle use in diverse topographies and climate conditions; evaluate the effectiveness of the charging infrastructure; and, conduct trials of various revenue systems for the infrastructure.
As for eTec, it's a subsidiary of ECOtality, a Scottsdale, Arizona, company that has been involved in every major electric vehicle initiative in North America since the 1990's. ETec is known for its Minit-Charger line of battery fast-charge systems for on-road EVs.
The state government of Victoria in Australia has become the latest entity to form a partnership with the Renault-Nissan Alliance to explore the development of a zero-emissions vehicles program.
The state and the alliance announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding under which representatives from Victoria and Nissan will identify potential areas of co-operation in promoting the use of electric vehicles in the state.
Nissan is hoping to bring its new LEAF EV (pictured) to Australia by 2012.
The alliance has formed partnerships with about 30 governments, cities and other organizations in the U.S., Japan, Europe and Asia to advance the deployment of electric vehicles worldwide.
Toyota's Perennial Best-Seller Records 48% Sales Jump For Month; Honda Hybrids Flat
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
If Cash for Clunkers lit a fire under July's auto dales in the general market, it apparently set off a rocket booster under the hybrid market.
---------- It was blue skies for Toyota as its 2010 Prius rebounded in July. -----------
Sales of gas-electric cars, SUVs and trucks were up an impressive 35 percent in July - for the month and from a year earlier. Almost all hybrid cars best the 22 mph minimum combined EPA mileage that qualifies a vehicle to be purchased using a cash for clunkers voucher. By comparison, sales of conventional new vehicles rose 15.4 percent for the month and were down 13 percent from July '08.
The explosive performance was led almost single-handedly by Toyota's 2010 Prius, which saw its first full month of sales with an adequate supply on hand at dealerships.
"I think hybrids are benefiting from the buzz of new models such as the 2010 Prius and Honda Insight and fresh models in segments other than compact car, as well as from Cash for Clunkers," said Edmunds.com industry analyst Jessica Caldwell.
Nissan Leaf concept's snazzy white leather upholstery isn't likely to make it to production, but the rest of the interior,including soft-touch buttons, is pretty much what will be in the finished car when the new EV hits dealerships in select U.S. and Japanese locations late next year.
We still don't know exactly what it'll cost -somewhere from $25,000-$30,000, batteries not included (they'll be leased), is our best guess, but we can give you some other numbers about the Nissan Leaf EV.
We know from a conversation in Japan last week with several Nissan executives that the company can make as many as 120,000 of the Leaf EV after new battery plants in Europe and the U.S. are up and running and has every intention of doing so.
Look for initial sales/leases in the U.S. and Japan to top out at around 50,000 in 2011, the EV's first full year on the market - that's the annual capacity of the only plant - its in Japan - now making the laminated lithium-manganese batteries (left) for the Leaf.
Nissan says it will travel up to 100 miles on a single charge.
Top speed is 90 mph.
The motor is rated at 80 kilowatts (107 hp) maximum power and 280 Newton-meters (207 lb-ft) maximum torque.
Charging time to 80 percent is just under 30 minutes with a three-phase, 220-volt rapid charger.
YOKHAMA, Japan -- Nissan unveiled its new EV today and while the car looks pretty good, the name could use some work.
It's the LEAF (Nissan's uppercase, not ours), a name, the company says, that signifies the battery-electric five-seater's ability to mimic leaves, which purify the air, by "taking emissions out of the driving experience" and thus "purifying mobility."
Ah well, they may need better copy writers, but Nissan did hand us a pretty sharp car.
And in what the automaker hopes is a prophetic pairing, the new electric car was unveiled as part of the grand opening ceremonies for Nissan's new, high-tech headquarters building in Japan's semi-official zero emissions city.
Leading the Charge
The whole thing points to Nissan's determination to be the global leader in advanced tech electric vehicles.
The five-seat, electric-blue LEAF hatchback is to be launched in select U.S. and Japanese markets late next year. The limited-market compact is to be followed in 2012 by the global introductions of two new, and smaller, subcompact EVs.
Nissan's quest for leadership in the mass EV market shouldn't be evasive if the Leaf (we're gonna drop those capital letters) lives up to its performance billing -- a top speed of 90 mph, a range of 100 miles per charge with a sub 30-minute recharge where quick-charging stations are available, and cushion-compressing acceleration that will launch it from zero to 30 mph faster than an Infiniti G37, thanks to 207 lb-ft of torque from its 80-kilowatt (107 horsepower) electric motor.
Price Leader
To the degree that price matters, Nissan's also got a big edge in the EV world. Pricing hasn't been announced, but the company insists the leaf will be "affordable" with pricing equivalent to a well-equipped C-Class (compact) car.
That's a European compact, though, and they're a lot better equipped, and more costly, than compacts in the U.S. So figure $28,000 to as much as $35,000 -- not super cheap but less than the five-place Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid due in 2011.
Mitigating things a little will be the government tax credits in Japan and the U.S. that are available to purchasers of EVs.
We don't know the Japanese program, but in the U.S., a fully electric car like the Leaf would qualify for a $7,500 tax credit -- as log as Congress keeps the program funded. That would knock the actual ownership cost down considerably.
The Leaf's price, however, probably doesn't include the $10,000 lithium-ion battery pack.
YOKOHAMA, Japan -- It's a cliche, but that doesn't make it less true: Get into Nissan's latest electric vehicle test car, stomp on the "gas," and the quiet that accompanies the rather serious acceleration is nothing short of remarkable.
That can be said of almost any all-electric vehicle, lots of torque and lots of quiet are characteristics of their high-revving electric motors.
What makes Nissan's quiet torque worth writing about is that it is almost ready to hit the market.
On August 2 (August 1 in the U.S.), Nissan will unveil the preproduction "concept" of the five-seat hatchback electric vehicle it plans to begin offering for sale in select regions of the U.S. and Japan next year.
We'll have pictures as soon as Nissan takes the covers off the car, and we can tell you now that what you'll see is, essentially, the car the Nissan will place in dealerships.
It won't be as fancy as the concept, which is tricked out with all sorts of flash and high-end treatments to impress -- but Green Car Advisor has been assured by Nissan people who know that the concept is "99 percent there."
Affordable Price
Word also is that the retail price of the EV will put it in Altima territory. Looking at the high end of the Altima lineup and adding a bit for the electric drivetrain and batteries, that would be somewhere in the mid $30,000s.
The purchase price might even be less -- Nissan officials tell us they are still undecided on whether to sell the car and lease its lithium-manganese battery pack, or to sell both.
Leasing the battery could get the car down into the mid-to high $20,000s, with buyers on the hook for another $100 a month of so (we're guessing here) for the batteries.
If C4C Comes Back, Tech Premium For Many Could Be Offset; Manufacturer Rebates Would Do Same
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Got a gas guzzler that would qualify under the cash for clunkers program for a federal credit toward a new, more efficient car or truck? (That's if we still have a cash for clunkers program when the dust settles from Thursday's reveation that the programs's initial funding apparently has run dry.)
The situation's up in the air right now, but if you are in the mood to keep doing research, or perhaps have had the car-buying impulse jump-started and have decided to take the plunge - clunker incentive or no - this is a good time to look at hybrids and diesels.
----------
2009 Camry Hybrid has lowest technology premium, $239.
----------
If Congress keeps cash for clunkers going, or automakers step up with bigger incentives of their own to keep the market moving, the credits - ranging in the C4C program from $3,500 to $4,500 depending on the fuel economy of the new car or truck - could help make a previously unaffordable hybrid or clean diesel a lot more compatible with your budget.
Nissan Motor Co. has tapped U.S.-based lithium-battery maker EnerDel to help develop a material designed to improve electric- and hybrid-vehicle efficiency and cut battery costs, marking at least the fifth agreement in the past two months involving EnerDel's efforts to either make lithium-ion batteries or do research on them.
Nissan, Japan's third-largest carmaker by number of vehicles sold behind Toyota and Honda, is working with EnerDel, a division of Ener1, on improving conductivity between battery electrodes by creating a new electrolyte, the conductive liquid material between battery electrodes, EnerDel said in a statement today.
The research will take place at Argonne National Laboratories in Chicago.
The agreement signals Nissan's continued effort toward selling electric cars on the global market within three years. The company said last week that it would build battery plants in the U.K. and Portugal to make as many as 120,000 lithium-ion battery packs per year for Nissan and partner Renault.
Nissan, which is already is manufacturing advanced batteries in Japan, earlier this year announced plans for a U.S. battery plant in Tennessee and is making a limited launch of EVs in the U.S. and Japan next year.
Earlier this week, EnerDel said it was working with former Ford drivetrain-making unit Th!nk Global on converting about a quarter of Japan's 22,000 postal trucks to electric from gasoline.
Last month, EnerDel was awarded $3.3 million to do research at Argonne for the U.S. Energy Department related to improving the safety and efficiency of batteries earmarked for hybrid-electric vehicles.
Since May, the company has also won a contraact to make batteries for buses of Northern California's Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District while signing a letter of intent to make batteries for Fisker's Karma plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Ener1, which releases second-quarter results next week, said in May that its first quarter revenue was $8.19 billion, up from $97,000 a year earlier.
The company, which last year announced that it would expand the manufacturing capacity of EnerDel's Indianapolis plant, last October acquired a controlling stake in South Korea-based Enertech in a move designed to allow Ener1 to meet automakers' rapidly growing demand for lithium-ion technology.
It's months yet, maybe close to a year, before Nissan starts selling the electric car it has promised for the U.S. and Japanese markets in 2010, but the automaker already has launched a website to collect information on potential EV buyers.
The site, which is now running a "days until" clock counting off the time until it unveils a prototype of the car in Japan this weekend, is simply titled: "Nissan Electric Car/Nothing But Zero."
It asks for names and contact info and in a short questionnaire wants to know how you heard about the Nissan EV (tell 'em Edmunds Green Car Advisor) and whether you are just curious or really interested in buying.
Nissan Motor Co. and its transmission partner Jatco say they've co-developed the next-generation continually variable transmission, or CVT, and that it will provide a 10 percent fuel economy boost over the CVTs Nissan now uses.
The automaker said it will begin installing the new transmission in most of its its cars and crossovers early next year.
The new CVT design uses a higher transmission ratio, smaller pulleys and cuts overall length by 10 percent and weight by 13 percent compared to other CVTs in the same class.
Fuel economy, and lower manufacturing cost, is the principal reason Nissan and several other automakers use CVTs instead of traditional geared transmissions.
Nissan has been using them since 1991.The automakers owns a controlling interest in Jatco, one of the world's largest CVT manufacturers.
Also: Illinois, Colorado, Austria announce plans to invest heavily in plug-in infrastructures.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
When it rains, it often pours. That's certainly the case now, as the U.S. Department of Energy, the states of Illinois and Colorado, and an Austrian utility all announced in recent days that they will invest many millions of dollars to create recharging networks for electric vehicles.
That's wonderful news, because it brings electric-vehicle makers and potential EV makers a step closer to solving one of the two major problems they face: That being a lack of infrastructure to support pure EVs and plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.
The other problem remains development of inexpensive, safe, reliable, lightweight and energy-rich batteries to power the vehicles. Many companies and governments are working on a solution to that problem.
The Energy Department on Monday awarded $47 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to eight ongoing smart-grid demonstration projects. The $47 million investment will add to the $17 million in funds DOE had awarded these eight projects last year, thereby accelerating the timelines for the projects.
Most of the projects relate to technologies to help transmission and distribution systems operate better, but a few are directly related to clean energy. For example, the city of Fort Collins, Colorado, will research, develop and demonstrate a coordinated and integrated system of mixed clean energy technologies and distributed energy resources, allowing the city to reduce its peak electrical demand by at least 15 percent.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago will focus on implementing distributed energy resources and creating demand-responsive microgrids, which are small power networks that can operate independently of the utility power grid. In addition, the University of Hawaii will explore the management of its electrical distribution system to better accommodate wind power.
The Energy Department also just released the first Smart Grid System Report, which examines smart-grid deployments nationwide. The findings show that while many smart-grid capabilities are just beginning to emerge, the adoption of various technologies such as smart metering, automated substation controls and distributed generation are growing significantly.
The report also notes that smart-grid capabilities are socially transformational. As with the Internet or cell phone communications, smart-grid technologies have the potential to dramatically change how we experience electricity in the country, but improvements in physical and cyber security and information privacy will require consumers, manufacturers and utilities to closely follow a range of best practices for the smart grid.
Additionally, the Energy Department has begun the development of a Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse, tapping Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for the $1.3 million initiative to develop and maintain the clearinghouse Website, which will provide information to the public about smart-grid initiatives happening nationwide. The Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse was mandated by the Recovery Act.
Furthering its plan to begin selling an electric cars on the global market in 2012, Nissan Motor Co. said today that it will build a pair of battery plants, in Portugal and the United Kingdom, to supply it and partner Renault with up to 120,000 lithium-ion battery packs per year.
Nissan said that it has selected Sunderland, England, where it already has an auto plant, to be the site of its UK battery factory.
The site of the Nissan battery plant in Portugal plant hasn't been selected yet, the automaker said.
The Alliance earlier this year signed a deal with Portugal to supply it with electric vehicles beginning in mid-2011 in return for the Portuguese government's guarantee that a network of at least 1,300 pubic battery charging stations will be in place throughout the country.
It has seemed, and sounded, for nearly a year that Nissan Motor Co. was intent on bypassing conventional and plug-in hybrids and jumping straight into the electric vehicle market. But the automaker says it hasn't abandoned hybrids.
Although Nissan will introduce an EV in the U.S. and Japan next year, and plans to have a global model or models ready to launch in 2012, it also is looking at expanding its hybrid lineup beyond the single model it now offers - the Altima hybrid sedan sold only in seven states in the U.S.
The company would use its previously announced proprietary hybrid system for the new models, replacing the system it licensed from Toyota Motor Co. for the Altima.
A spokesman for the company in Japan told Bloomberg News this morning that Nissan is "studying possibilities to put our hybrid system in other models" in addition to the Altima and a previously announced Japanese-market luxury hybrid, likely to be the Fuga - that'd be an Infiiti M here- set to launch in 2010.
Nissan Motor Co. today announced that it has developed a dual injector system that can improve the fuel efficiency of small gasoline engines by 4 percent.
---------- Right, one port of the new dual injector. Far right, a conventional system injecting to both ports. ----------
That's significant, because it will be awhile before electric motors, compressed-air engines and the like replace internal combustion engines. The new system is scheduled to appear in Nissan vehicles starting next year.
The new fuel delivery system, the first of its kind in the world for mass-produced passenger cars, uses an injector for each port rather than one per cylinder. That improves fuel vaporization and reduces the amount of unburned fuel and hydrocarbon emissions.
While most gasoline engines utilize one injector per cylinder - supplying fuel to two intake ports - the new dual injector system doubles the number of injectors per cylinder. This reduces the diameter of the fuel droplets by about 60 percent, which the automaker says results in smoother, more stable combustion.
The system also adds continuous valve timing control on the exhaust side to conventional intake-side control, improving heat efficiency, reducing pumping losses and raising fuel efficiency by up to 4 percent compared with Nissan gasoline-powered engines in the same class.
While similar in theory to direct-injection systems, which also inject fuel directly into cylinders, such systems are difficult to use on small-displacement engines because they require a high-pressure pump that complicates system design, making component layout less cost-efficient.
The dual injector system (left
), on the other hand, is lighter and structurally simpler because it supplies fuel at what Nissan calls "normal pressures," reducing cost by about 60 percent compared to direct-injection engines of similar displacement.
Nissan said the new dual injector system also uses half the amount of rare metals in the catalyzer while maintaining the efficiency of the catalytic conversion system. Cool.
(Note: updated 10 a.m. July 13 to include Better Place's explanation that study questions did include EV cost parameters.)
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The problem with surveys, as countless political polls have shown, is that people often tell the survey takers what they think they want to hear - or give an answer they think makes them look best - then go out and do whatever it is they want to do, even if it is diametrically opposed to what they said for the survey.
---------- Prototype Nissan EV sits on Better Place robotic battery swap stand during test in Yokohama, Japan. Better Place commissioned a multi-nation survey to measure consumer interest in electric vehicles. ----------
But that's why there are margins of error and why, even when the polls are off by a big margin, they can still serve as signposts, showing the direction in which the public is traveling even if unable to pick out the exact road.
That's why people with products or candidates to push and ideas or ideals to sell keep commissioning polls and surveys.
The green crowd is no different and the latest, being released right now, is from Better Place, the California-based firm promoting a global EV charging and battery exchange system.
Understanding - no dummies they - that chargers and battery swap systems aren't worth much without electric vehicles that use batteries that need to be charged or swapped, Better Place commissioned Paris-based global market research firm Ipsos to find out if there is much market potential for electric vehicles.
The poll was taken in five countries during March and April, when gasoline prices were relatively low all over the world - not the best of conditions for EVS, which tend to be more costly that gasoline vehicles and can't be justified on a purely economic basis unless gas prices are very high.
The Ford Fusion (above) and Toyota Prius help propel hybrid sales gains despite weak economy and credit woes.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Led by strong showings from both third-generation Prius and the gas-electric version of Ford's Fusion, hybrid car sales in June were up 9 percent from a year earlier and rose 2 percent form May's tally to mark the sixth consecutive monthly increase in sales volume for the segment.
Hybrids, which gained traction from the June introduction of the new 2010 Prius and continued consumer interest in the well-reviewed Fusion hybrid that was introduced in March, outperformed the new-car market as a whole - which was down 28 percent from June of 2008 and off 7 percent from May.
It's too early to declare a recovery in the segment, but rising gasoline prices and renewed public awareness of the importance of improved fuel economy in addressing climate change issues seem to be underlying a gradual strengthening of market performance.
"The most important thing is that there have been a couple of new models that are putting some excitement into the segment, said Edmunds.com industry analyst Jessica Caldwell.
"Then there's all the news of government fuel efficiency and emissions initiatives, and some pretty generous incentives in a segment that really hasn't seen many incentives in the past."
Caldwell doesn't think gas prices were a significant factor in June's hybrid market, but says "they certainly are on people's radar, with a broad expectation that they'll keep going up."
The Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has plans to offer electric vehicles in the U.S. beginning next year, announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Italy's A2A energy company to promote EV sales in the Lombardy region next year.
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Right, N-R's zero-emissions concept car.
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The significance of this news is that despite the financial turmoil in the automotive industry these days, one of the first automakers likely to bring a plug-in electric vehicle to market is forging ahead with efforts to create the infrastructure needed to support the vehicles.
In this case, A2A has agreed to install recharging stations in Milan and Brescia and join Renault-Nissan in testing an electronic payment service.
Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the Alliance is leading a collaborative approach with business and governments to advance the EV industry worldwide. To date, it has signed nearly 30 agreements with partners to launch its first electric vehicle starting in 2010 and to mass market a full range of EVs in 2012.
Yesterday we reported
that Nissan, Ford and Tesla will be the first auto companies to receive factory retooling loans under the $25 billion federal program to speed production of fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.
Today, President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu confirmed that the administration has granted $8 billion in conditional loan commitments to the three automakers for the development of vehicle technologies that, as the president put it, "will create thousands of green jobs while helping reduce the nation's dangerous dependence on foreign oil."
The loan commitments include $5.9 billion for Ford to transform factories across Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio to produce 13 more fuel-efficient models; $1.6 billion to Nissan to retool its Smyrna, Tennessee, factory to build electric automobiles and an advanced-battery manufacturing facility; and $465 million to Tesla to manufacture electric drivetrains and EVs in California.
The loans represent the first in a series of conditional loan commitments reached as part of the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. Chu said the department plans to make additional loans under this program over the next several months to large and small automakers as well as parts suppliers.
In a statement, Ford said it plans to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced-technology vehicles over the next seven years. "Our partnership with the Department of Energy also will help retool our U.S. plants more quickly to produce fuel-efficient vehicles and help meet the new, rigorous fuel-economy requirements," it said.
In its statement, Nissan said construction at Smyrna was scheduled to begin by the end of this year, with production slated to start in late 2012. It said modifications at the plant include a new battery-production facility and changes in the existing structure for electric-vehicle assembly.
"When fully operational, the vehicle assembly plant will have the capacity to build 150,000 zero-emissions vehicles a year and the new plant will have an annual capacity of 200,000 batteries," it said, adding that Nissan's EV "will comfortably seat five people, drive on any American road or highway, and have an initial range of 100 miles before recharging."
Model S News
And Tesla said it will use $365 million of the $465 million it received for production engineering and assembly of the Model S, an all-electric family sedan that will supposedly carry seven people and travel up to 300 miles per charge.
The Model S has an anticipated base price of $49,900 after a $7,500 U.S. federal tax credit. According to Tesla, it will have lifetime ownership costs equivalent to a conventional car with a sticker price of $35,000, thanks to the lower cost of electricity versus gasoline and a relative lack of service and maintenance.
Ford, Nissan and upstart electric car maker Tesla Motors will be the first auto companies to receive factory retooling loans under the $25 billion federal program to speed production of fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S., the Detroit Free Press reported
late Monday.
Ford, which had applied for $11 billion in loans under the program, is likely to receive the largest loan. The company wants to retool an SUV factory to use for a new electric vehicle it plans to launch in 2011.
Nissan has asked for $1.1 billion to help retool its Smyrna, Tenn. plant to build electric vehicles that it has said will go on sale in selected areas of the U.S. next year.
Tesla has asked for $350 million to refurbish a Southern California factory, believed to be a recently emptied aerospace plant, for production of its upcoming Model S electric sedan.
General Motors corp. and Chrysler are not eligible for loans from the program until they emerge from their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The loan program is only open to companies that can show they are "financially viable."
In all, 75 companies have asked for $38 billion in loans from the program, exceeding the available funds by 52 percent. A proposal to double the loan pool to $50 billion is pending in Congress.
Taking a page from fellow EV-maker Nissan's playbook, Mitsubishi Motors says it will collaborate with local governments and businesses in Japan to install a network of battery chargers that can be used by drivers of its rechargeable electric minicar.
The Mitsubishi i-MIEV rolls out next month in limited production for leasing by fleet customers, followed by retail sales in 2010 - first in Japan and then globally.
Nissan, which plans to launch its own EV in the U.S. next year, has been criss-crossing the country seeking government and private partners to facilitate installation of EV chargers in municipal and private parking lots.
Both companies realize that, despite the oft-voiced claim of plug-in electric vehicle backers that there are hundreds of millions of plugs already in existence, most aren't in locations that make them convenient for EV users.
A national network of public chargers is a key ingredient in making EVs realistic transportation of more than a handful of people.
Mitsubishi and Nissan believe that people will be more open to electric vehicles if they see street-side chargers all over major cities such as Tokyo and San Francisco before they ever begin thinking about how an EV might fit into their lives.
Mitsubishi has begun manufacturing the i-MIEV battery-electric city car it plan to begin leasing to fleet customers in Japan next month, according to a report in Japan's Kyodo News.
The automaker hasn't said anything officially, but the news report cites unidentified Mitsubishi executives as the source of its information.
The report also says that sales of the Mitsubishi EV to consumers in Japan will begin early next year and that the price of the small four-seat EV will be about 4 million yen, the equivalent today of $41,750, with Japanese government subsidies reducing it to about 3 million yen, or $31,300.
Mitsubishi reportedly will begin selling the i-MIEV in global markets in mid-2010.
There's been no official word on U.S. sales, but the company has been testing the car here and the market is too big to ignore.
With Nissan planning to launch an electric car of its own in the U.S. next year, Mitsubishi needs to get its foot in the door as early as possible.
It's still 18 months before California's revised zero emissions vehicle requirements kick in, but the lobbying, has quietly begun.
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Cars such as this plugin Toyota Prius are needed to meet California ZEV mandate, but increase automakers' operating costs.
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Toyota Motor Co. will be most impacted by the rules requiring major antomakers to provide electric and plug-in vehicles for at least 3 percent of their sales in the state from 2012 through 2014, and in an interview with Bloomberg reporter Alan Ohnsman last week a Toyota insider said the company faces $1 billion in new costs to comply.
There's no overt complaining in the article, published today on Bloomberg.com, but Toyota's meassage is clear: $1 billion is a lot of money anytime, and is a particularly sizeable pile of cash to come up with in the midst of a recession that is hurting the entire auto industry including the world's biggest car company.
In addition Toyota, which has the biggest share of the California new-car makert, the mandate would apply to Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and pre-bankruptcy General Motors Corp, and Chrysler LLC.
The two domestics have said that major production cuts are part of their recovery plans and if their sales in California drop below 60,000 a year as a result, they would no longer be bound by the mandate
Toyota, according to Bloomgerg's calculations, would have to produce 16,000 plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles to by 2014 to comply with the rules, which require major automakers to make non-polluting vehicles equal at least 3 percent of their sales for the 3-year period.
Sales of hybrid cars and trucks outperformed the market in May, giving lie to the belief, popular among mainstream industry analysts and pundits, that Americans are only interested in the gas-electric vehicles when fuel prices are stratospheric.
---------- 2009 Prius was top hybrid with best sales in 7 months. ----------
In a month when sales of non-hybrid vehicles rose 12.9 percent from the prior month, hybrid sales were up 18.2 percent. Incentives were applied liberally to hybrids and conventional vehicles alike during May, reducing the likelihood that cash-back offers or cheap interest rates unfairly boosted hybrid sales.
And while sales of both hybrids and conventional vehicles fell far short of matching year-earlier tallies, hybrid sales were off only 26.7 percent from May, 20008, compared to a 33.5 percent decline for non-hybrids.
At the same time, conventional small car sales fell short of overall market performance, indicating that shoppers had more than just fuel economy on their minds. The hybrid market may be benefiting from increased concern that fuel prices, which have been below $3 a gallon for nearly a year after approaching the $4-per-gallon mark last summer, are on the rise again and may be heading for new highs.
In all, dealers sold 25,693 hybrids last month, up from 21,735 in April but down from 35,042 in May 2008.
With the exception of Toyota's Camry hybrid, the top-selling Prius - which continues to dominate the U.S. hybrid market - and Honda's Civic hybrid, sales of individual models are low enough that it doesn't take much to cause a large jump in percent of increase or decline.
That said, Ford's new Fusion sedan hybrid scored an impressive 75 percent gain from April while sales of the Ford Escape SUV hybrid were up 62.2 percent for the same period.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour today at Stop 6 of a 9-day, 28-stop, 1,700-mile road trip, telling a group of reporters at the site of the state's first integrated (H2 and gasoline) station that California remains committed to a future where hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles replace gassy rides regardless of what Washington does.
Speaking at a Shell station in West Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger reminded reporters that the California Air Resources Board, which sets vehicle-emissions standards for the state, recently passed a low-carbon fuel standard - the world's first such standard.
It will, he said, ensure that the cleanest fuels, including hydrogen, will always have a strong market in California.
"And the reason why this is so important is that on the federal level, they [politicians] make decisions based on where the oil price is. That means that sometimes the federal government, when the oil price goes up, they go in the direction of renewable energy and alternate fuels. And when the oil price goes down, they abandon those policies," the "Governator" said, his back to a row of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles made by Daimler, Honda, Toyota, KIA, Volkswagen and Nissan.
"Well we don't do that here in California. We only march in one direction and that is forward. And we're not going to slow down. In 2010, we will have seven new hydrogen refueling stations in California and we will invest another $40 million over the next two years in hydrogen stations."
The governor reminded the automotive press that 20 percent of the new vehicles sold in the United States are sold in California, which is home to 25 million cars and trucks. (Those vehicles, not incidentally, consume 50 million gallons of gasoline and diesel a day and produce 40 percent of the state's greenhouse gases.)
As a result of California's vehicle market share, and that fact that Washington often follows the state's lead regarding tailpipe-emissions regulations, automakers can count on there being a large market for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and companies considering investments in an H2-refueling infrastructure can rest assured there will be vehicles requiring the fuel, he said.
Nissan is likely to receive a low-interest loan topping $1.1 billion from the U.S. government to encourage the manufacture of alternate-fuel and fuel-efficient vehicles in the country, Kyodo News reported Friday.
Citing "unidentified sources close to the matter," the newspaper said access to the loan will likely hasten Nissan's global production plan for electric vehicles.
If true, Nissan would be the first foreign automaker to get such a loan from the U.S. government, which has set aside $25 billion in loans to automakers to support fuel-economy advances and the building of manufacturing facilities in the U.S. to produce low-emission vehicles.
The money is separate from emergency loans provided to General Motors and Chrysler.
Nissan reportedly plans to introduce its gas-electric hybrid vehicles in Japan and the United States in 2010, and Japan's No. 3 automaker (behind Toyota and Honda) has already decided to manufacture the model at its plant in Yokosuka, Japan.
Nissan had reportedly sought a $1.1 billion loan from the state-backed Development Bank of Japan, in addition to already having borrowed half that amount from the Japanese government.
Nissan has been suffering from the global economic slowdown and recently posted its first annual net loss for a decade.
Auto Industry Lines Up To Praise National Program Idea, Now the Hard Work Begins
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The auto industry, tired of being seen as the bad guy whenever fuel economy and emissions regulation is on the table, is wasting no time lining up in support of tomorrow's White House announcement on development of a national carbon emissions and fuel efficiency program.
A cynic might think this doesn't bode well for the ultimate result of the rulemaking process that President Obama will outline at a press conference in Washington Tuesday morning: That the auto industry figures it has enough clout left to wring the life out of any effort to significantly improve fuel economy.
But we think it simply shows that an industry on life support and dependent on government largess here and overseas has finally read the writing on the wall and realizes that this is as good as it is ever going to get and that if it doesn't play ball it will have no say in the rules it eventually will have to live by.
Automakers also have been caught in a trap of their own making. They've been fighting California, the national leader in establishing greenhouse gas controls on motor vehicles, insisting that individual states shouldn't be able to set carbon emissions rules and that a national standard is needed.
Now the Obama administration has stepped to the table and said, as the president is wont to: "Okay, let's develop a national rule."
To oppose that would be political suicide.
In that vein, the two lobbying groups representing almost every car maker that does business in the U.S. have jumped on board and are voicing support for the so-called National Program for Autos.
Now the Silicon Valley Start-Up Has To Do It a Couple Hundred Thousand Times More
Model of Better Place battery exchange station shows cars on top level waiting for service while new battery (blue) is being installed in bottom car. Underground storage facility (center) is where charged batteries are kept and depleted batteries are recharged after being removed from cars.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
YOKOHAMA, Japan - Better Place strutted its stuff here Wednesday and it was a production well worth watching.
The would-be leader of the nascent electric-vehicle charging industry trotted out its battery switching technology at a demonstration project in downtown Yokohama and showed that, with a national network of battery exchange stations and vehicles designed to properly interface, EV ownership wouldn't have to be subjected to any significant limitations.
The battery exchange station - the first in the world to be shown to the public - ought to come with a knife and fork so those who've said that battery-electric vehicles' usefulness always will be constrained by lengthy recharging times can eat their words.
An End to Range Anxiety
In Better Place's better world, a depleted battery could be swapped for a freshly charged one in less time than it takes to pump 10 gallons of gasoline into the family sedan.
At the demonstration station, which will be open for the next six weeks in this bustling port city just south of Tokyo, a battery exchange was deliberately slowed down so those in the audience could follow it step-by-step. Even so, the exchange took just under 90 seconds.
If this kind of station were readily available, a cross-country trip in a battery-electric car wouldn't have to be interrupted every 200 miles or so to complete 4- to 6-hour battery charging sessions.
Better Place's founder and chief executive, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Shai Agassi, boasted that the engineering mule at the company's R&D center in Israel can do the job in as little as 40 seconds. That would get most of us into the station and back out with a fresh load of electrons in about a tenth of the time it takes to gas up a car with an internal combustion engine.
There was a bit of green news along with the river of red ink that Nissan Motor Co. reported earlier today in Tokyo.
---------- The Denki Cube, a concept Nissan EV. ----------
Nissan reported a $2.85 billion net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31. The Japanese automobile company reported a full-year loss of $2.4 billion, down from a $4.9 billion profit for fiscal 2007.
Last week, Toyota Motor Co. reported a $4.5 billion loss, while Honda Motor Co. Ltd. posted a $1.4 billion profit.
"The global economic recession and financial crisis continue, but we are beginning to see some signs of improved access to credit, the impact of government stimulus packages and a gradual return in consumer confidence," Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said in a statement. "We remain cautious about the economic environment and fully focused on our company's recovery efforts."
Now for the green.
Nissan said that the tough times in the automobile world won't slow its plan to start building electric vehicles at its Oppama plant outside of Tokyo in the fall of 2010. The plant's initial production capacity will be 50,000 units, but that volume will "continuously increase for the start of EV mass-marketing in 2012," according to Nissan.
(Note: Updated 5 p.m. 5/7/09 to include link to Hydrogen and Fuel Cell groups' joint statement.)
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In a huge blow to backers of fuel-cell electric vehicles, the nation's top energy official said today he sees little promise of the technology becoming a significant player in the nation's transportation system within the next two decades.
---------- Honda's FCX Clarity, now being tested in Southern California, uses a hydrogen fuel cell to provide electric power. ----------
As a result, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu is proposing that more than $100 million be cut from the Energy Department hydrogen program in the 2010 budget the administration is submitting to Congress.
The proposed budget slashes hydrogen fuel cell spending by 59 percent to just $68 million and focuses on programs for stationary power generation rather than for transportation.
"We asked ourselves, 'Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will covert to a hydrogen car economy?' The answer, we felt, was 'no,'" Chu said in a briefing today.
The National Hydrogen Association and the U.S. Fuel Cell Coalition quickly issued a joint statement criticizing the program cuts.
Hybrid sales in the U.S. rose in April for the fourth consecutive month and posted the highest monthly volume since October 2008.
---------- Honda's 2010 Insight was one of the bright spots in the U.S. hybrid market in April. ----------
The bump illustrates the influence that novelty and price still have on the market: Honda's new Insight, Ford's new Fusion and a heavily incentivized Honda Civic hybrid overcame slumping sales of many other gas-electric models to account for the gain.
But in a month when car and light truck sales overall still fell well below the one-million mark, the performance of the hybrid segment wasn't much to get excited about.
The month-over-month increase wasn't strong enough, for example, to put April's hybrid sales in contention with April 2008, when gasoline prices averaged above $3.50 a gallon, car buyers were scouring the market for fuel-efficient models and recession hadn't begun wreaking havoc with the economy.
It's not the city government this time, but a regional utility - Progress Energy - and a non-profit agency called Advanced Energy, that have signed an agreement with the Renault-Nissan Alliance to promote and help develop, deploy, operate and maintain a network of electric vehicle charging stations in the city.
The Raleigh coalition is the eight locale in the U.S. to sign up with the alliance (which works through Nissan here as its French partner, Renault doesn't operate in the states).
Others are the states of Tennessee and Oregon; the cities of San Diego, Calif., and Seattle, Wash.; California's Sonoma County, and the metropolitan government associations representing the Phoenix and Tucson regions in Arizona.
Here's a report that offers evidence that government-provided incentives can help to grow the market for cleaner, more-efficient vehicles.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. hopes to increase production of its i-MiEV to 30,000 vehicles annually during its 2012/2013 fiscal year, according to a report in the Kyodo News. The Japanese automaker previously said that it would produce 15,000 i-MiEV electric cars during its 2010/2011 fiscal year, according to the newspaper.
Mitsubishi President Osamu Masuko told the newspaper that the anticipated production increase is being driven by consumer response to government-funded incentive programs around the world that encourage consumers to purchase low-emission, fuel-efficient vehicles.
Seattle has joined to the growing list of U.S. localities partnering with the Renault-Nissan Alliance to promote development of an electric vehicle charging network in advance of Nissan's introduction next year of a 5-passenger electric sedan.
The automakers and Seattle city officials announced their deal about a minute ago, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickles saying his city will develop plans to help streamline installation of an EV charging network. Among other things, that means making sure zoning codes and safety and construction permit policies are adapted to facilitate public charging stations.
Nissan and the city also will cooperate on deployment, operation and maintenance of the chargers, and Nissan has committed to make a number of its EVs available in and around the Seattle metropolitan area (there won't be a blanket nationwide launch, as is usual with conventional internal combustion engine vehicles: the Nissan electric vehicles will be allotted to dealerships in areas where charging systems exist).
"Nissan and the city of Seattle share in the belief that electric vehicles offer one of the best solutions to reducing CO2 emissions," said Dominique Thormann, senior vice president of administration and finance for Nissan North America.
Nissan, through the Renault-Nissan alliance, has entered into similar EV infrastructure development pacts on the West Coast with the state of Oregon and, in California, the county of Sonoma and city of San Diego.
The areas are too far apart to create an "electric highway" that would enable EV drivers to traverse the length of the U.S. West Coast without worrying about finding public charging stations, but with San Diego and Seattle on board, both ends are covered and Nissan is working on filling in the gaps with new charging system development pacts excpeted to be announced periodically in coming months.
The alliance (it's actually all Nissan in the U.S., but the deals are doen in the name of both companies) also has signed agreements with the state of Tennessee and the regional government associations representing the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas in Arizona.
In Seattle, where hydroelectric power makes the city's electric utility carbon-neutral - the first public utility in the world to be able to make that claim - Nickels has set a goal of using clean, green electricity to help power city's transportation system.
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Diablo Dam on the Skagit River is part of Seattle's hydroelectric system.
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Outside of the U.S., the Renault-Nissan Alliance has begun initiatives in Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama in Japan, and in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, the UK, France, Switzerland, Ireland, China and Hong Kong.
As the once-favored hydrogen highway becomes a mere side road on the route to oil independence with the Obama administration's push for rechargeable hybrid powertrains as the new favored alternative to the conventional gasoline engine, hydrogen pioneer Honda Motor Co. says it, too, will begin to pursue the way of the plug.
In an interview with Bloomberg news last week, Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui said his company still sees hydrogen as the best long-term replacement for gasoline in the effort to slash automotive emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases tied to global arming.
Fukui, who is stepping down in June as part of Honda's regular executive shuffle, has in the past has been outspoken in his disdain for plug-in technology, calling it an unnecessary intermediate step form gasoline to pure electric power.
Honda has developed a hydrogen fuel-cell sedan, the FCX Clarity, that it leases to select customers in a Los Angeles-area test program, and isn't planning to abandon the effort.
But, Fukui said in a Bloomberg news wire article published this morning, the automaker also will accommodate the perceived preference of the U.S. government for plug-in hybrid-electric cars and trucks.
Unlike a conventional gas-electric hybrid that charges its batteries from on-board power sources such as regenerative braking, a plug-in hybrid gets its initial charge from the commercial grid, by "plugging in" to a wall socket or a special rapid-charging station
Plug-ins use larger battery pack than a conventional hybrids. They store enough power to permit the vehicle to be driven for an extended amount of time on all-electric drive before the grid charge is depleted and the gas engine kicks in.
Although others, including General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Volkswagen are developing fuel-cell vehicles, Honda has been the only major automaker championing hydrogen above other technologies and so far has stayed out of the rapidly developing race to bring plug-ins to market.
While federal support of hydrogen development has all-but evaporated in the U.S., the government is providing billions of dollars for battery development programs and for federal tax credits of up to $7,500 for purchasers of plug-ins.
We've been trying for months now to get some face time with entrepreneur Shai Agassi, founder of EV charging infrastructure pioneer Better Place, so far to no avail.
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Exchanging large hybrid and EV battery packs such as this form a Ford electric vehicle test model, won't be easy, automakers say.
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We want to ask him about his business model and how he intends to get the world's contentious and competitive automakers to sign on to a plan that would make it possible for an independent such as Better Place to set up shops to easily and economically swap depleted battery packs for fresh ones in various brands of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
It seems to us this would take a degree of cooperation and commonality (where to put the packs so they could be pulled and exchanged quickly would require some common design features, battery attachment points and even size and weight ranges) that automakers so far have been loath to agree to.
Our paths almost crossed this week as Agassi attended a forum on battery development near out home base in Southern California - unfortunately, though, we were on the other side of the country in Florida at an alternative fuels and vehicles conference.
But several major automakers were there, as part of a panel, and according to E&E News' coverage of the Fortune magazine-sponsored event, were pretty united in their opposition to the idea of swappable batteries.
While patting Agassi on the back for his vision - a network of roadside "service stations" where the fuel is electric and the main service the swapping of depleted batteries for fully charged ones - executives from Toyota Motor Co., BMW and Ford Motor Co. all were doubtful it would work.
E&E News reports that Bill Reinart, national manager of Toyota's advanced technology group, said lithium-ion batteries and the highly charged plugs that power are not designed for constant switching and that a number of safety hazards could be created
Tom Baloga, vice president of U.S. engineering at BMW, agreed, according o the report , explaining that constant damage to batteries is likely during switching.
"Anytime you have a rapid connect and disconnect, you have to think about stability," Baloga said. "We have to be concerned about that."
Baloga added that Better Place's battery swap model is worth studying, but raised the same concern we have with battery pack uniformity and whether a battery exchange station could afford to stock a variety of packs to meet the needs of motorists who, some day, might be driving a dozen or more makes and styles of electric vehicles.
We're talking about the need to stock lots of various designs of 400- to 1,000-pound assemblages that cost $5,000 to $25,000 each, not a bunch of 50-pound, $120 lead-acid batteries.
As Nissan Motor Co. expands its pilot program for prototype electric vehicles and EV charging stations in several U.S. cities, a high-ranking executive said this week that the company also sees a need for extended-range electrics such as General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt.
---------- The Denki Cube, a concept Nissan EV shown at last year's New york Auto Show. ----------
Minoru Shinohara, a top Nissan engineer and corporate senior vice president, said that because they don't need an extensive public charging infrastructure, range-extending plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles will be an important transition solution to the fully electric vehicles the company sees as the future of private transportation.
Nissan plans to begin selling a full-electric vehicle to fleet customers in the U.S. in 2010, and the Renault-Nissan Alliance has started pilot programs to demonstrate the technology and develop infrastructure.
The company also has programs in Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama in Japan and in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Ireland.
In the U.S., Nissan says it is "exploring ways to promote zero-emission mobility and the development of an EV infrastructure" with the states of Tennessee and Oregon; California's Sonoma County and the City of San Diego, and the Tucson and Phoenix metropolitan regions, in Arizona.
In a presentation at the SAE World Congress in Detroit this week, Shinohara also showed two novel charging concepts for the future.
In addition to conventional plug-in electric vehicle charging, Nissan is experimenting with plugless - inductive - charging while the vehicle is parked on a special pad, and with a wild charge-while-driving scheme in which inductive charging technology would be embedded in roadways, permitting battery charging while the vehicle is moving.
Innovative charging technologies outside the home environment would "help EVs to be less dependent on the initial amount of energy storage," Shinohara said. Less requirement for initial energy storage means the vehicle might get by with a smaller, less expensive battery, lowering retail costs and making them more affordable.
---------- (Editor's note: We like both of Shinohara's ideas, but shudder thinking of the cost and disruption of ripping up a few hundred thousand miles of highway to install charging cables. Perhaps that's one best left to smaller, more compact countries.)
There are those who maintain that electric vehicles need a public charging infrastructure like fish need bicycles - that wall plugs already available in homes, apartments, stores and office buildings will suffice.
Nissan and its French partner, Renault, aren't part of that minimalist crowd, though, and see the value of public chargers for travelers and those who don't have easy access to a wall plug for their cars.
The latest to sign on to the program, and the sixth in the U.S., is the private-public partnership of the Maricopa Association of Governments, which represents communities in the Phoenix, Ariz., area, and Ecotality, a Phoenix-area electric transportation and power storage company.
The alliance is scheduled to announce the deal in Phoenix Thursday morning.
As have previous arrangements - and this is the second in Arizona following the announcement last month of a pack with the regional government group representing the Tucson area - the deal calls for the region's governmental agencies to promote and assist in "the development, operation and maintenance " of a public electric vehicle charging network.
Nissan's Mark Perry poses beside a test car using the electric drivetrain that will be in the company's upcoming EV.
Nissan has unveiled a few more details this week about the electric vehicle it will launch in only 18 months.
Mark Perry, director of Product Planning and Strategy for Nissan Americas, said the EV will be a "real car" offering real-world practicality. It will be a five-door hatchback with a 100-mile range on a single charge and will be "aggressively priced."
That means, he said, no EV technology premium, unlike current hybrids that sometimes sell for 20 percent more than comparably priced cars.
Furthermore, the Nissan EV will be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit, he said, and there may be other state and local incentives to reduce the cost even more.
Add Nissan to the list of automakers (including Chongqing Changan Auto, BYD, Brilliance, Chery, Dongfeng and SAIC) that are intent upon plugging into the rough-and-tumble Chinese market for hybrid-electric and battery-electric cars.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Nissan is negotiating with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to create a pilot electric-vehicle program in Wuhan, a city in central China with nine million residents.
The deal is unusual, the Journal reports, because Beijing typically doesn't forge such partnerships with foreign companies. The newspaper reported that the deal, which calls for Nissan to contribute cars and help create a recharging network, could be completed as soon as Friday.
Cheaper Batteries, Lots of Chargers, Government Incentives are Necessary Ingredients By Danny King, Contributor
The jury's still out on whether battery-electric vehicles will be a luxury or relatively commonplace within the next six years, according to a recent report that finds a lot of uncertainty still exists regarding battery performance characteristics.
---------- Electric cars such as the proposed Tesla Model S could proliferate, but would only trickle into the market without infrastructure development and government support, report says. ----------
Annual global battery-electric vehicle sales will range from as few as 500,000 to as many as 3 million units by 2015, depending on factors such as how long the cars can run on a single charge and how quickly they recharge, high-tech consultant Strategy Analytics
said in its report.
Battery-electric car manufacturers will build about 10,000 units this year, up from 4,000 in 2008, according to the report's author, Kevin Mak, industry analyst of Strategy Analytics' Automotive Electronics Service.
It will take cheaper battery costs that drive electric-car prices closer to their gas-powered counterparts, a comprehensive recharging infrastructure, cars with features such as batteries that may be swapped out, and hefty government incentives for battery-electric vehicle sales to hit that 3 million mark by 2015; without such advances, annual sales will be closer to 500,000 units, Mak said.
"More advances are needed to make recharging faster - battery swap is an alternative approach - and to make more accessible recharging infrastructures, to increase range through greater energy density in batteries, to enhance reliability, and to lower costs to make electric vehicles more affordable to consumers," Mak said.
One thing is certain, though. The number of electric vehicles will grow, even if very slowly. Companies ranging from larger automakers like Nissan to relative start-ups like Tesla Motors are planning to start selling all-electric vehicles to the U.S. public within the next two years.
Nissan Motor Co. plans to start selling its EV to U.S. fleet customers late next year and has reached an agreement with Japanese electronics giant NEC that will allow production of enough lithium-ion batteries to supply as many as 200,000 hybrid vehicles and electric cars per year.
Meanwhile, Tesla, which last week unveiled the $57,400 (base-price) Model S sedan that it plans to start selling in late 2011, said it has received more than 500 advance orders for the car, which can be equipped with a variety of battery packs good for 160, 220 or 300 miles between charges.
Others with EVs on tap include Miles Electric Vehicles, which is planning to launch its own highway-legal sedan late next year; Mitsubishi Motors, which will start selling a battery-electric city car, the i-MIEV, later this year in Japan; and Subaru, which has said it will sell a limited production EV in Japan in 2010. Several Chinese auto makers also have announced plans for EVs of their own.
Strategy Analytics cited EV battery-charging network developer Better Place as a potential factor in advancing the product enough for mass adoption.
The Silicon Valley-based company is working with Nissan and its partner, Renault, to develop electric cars and a recharging infrastructure for Israel and Denmark, though the car makers may not adopt Better Place's strategy of designing electric cars with swappable battery packs.
Ford's SmartGauge features a multitude of displays to help people become more fuel-efficient drivers.
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
Regardless of the kind of car you drive, one of the keys to improving fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to drive smarter - don't hammer the accelerator pedal, don't brake harshly and do steadily maintain just enough speed to keep up with the flow of traffic without passing everyone in sight.
These often are not easy tasks.
To help, automakers have begun rolling out new features and technologies that call attention to uneconomical driving behavior and offer "rewards" for fuel-efficient driving.
Some of these features are passive, like instrument panels that change color as fuel economy improves.
Others more actively engage with the driver, such as an accelerator pedal that pushes back when pressed too aggressively.
Some automakers are even working on technologies that will be able to take the driver out of the fuel economy equation by allowing the car to practically drive itself with best mileage in mind.
Read on to learn more about the driver training features and technologies in cars you can buy today, and be able to buy tomorrow.
Smart Gauges Make Smarter Drivers
"The whole idea is coaching the driver, but as a good coach you don't want to preach," says Sonya Nematollahi, driver information engineering supervisor at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich., while describing the "SmartGauge with EcoGuide" instrument cluster in the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids.
Conceived by Ford in collaboration with IDEO, the design and innovation consultancy that also devised the Swivel 'n Go seating in Chrysler minivans, SmartGauge consists of two 4.3-inch, high-resolution color LCD screens - one on either side of the analog speedometer - that display a collection of digitally rendered gauges accessed through multi-layered menus.
SmartGauge with EcoGuide, fashioned by Ford Design Studio with features input from the industrial design firm Smart Design, uses the menus and gauges to offer increasingly detailed information in four modes: Inform, Enlighten, Engage and Empower.
"Like a good coach, we designed modes into SmartGauge to engage drivers at their experience levels and then guide them to new energy-efficient behavior," says Steve Bishop, global lead for sustainability at IDEO in Palo Alto, Calif.
----------
Green leaves 'grow' on fusion instrument panel as visual reward when fuel economy improves.
---------
"Video games engage their users in a similar fashion with levels. In fact, when we observed hybrid drivers, we found they were going for high scores, a gaming behavior that has never existed in cars before. We designed to accommodate it."
Steering-wheel mounted directional buttons are used to navigate through the modes, and the driver can customize the displays in each mode by adding or removing gauges.
It's no secret, hybrids haven't been doing well lately, on dealers' lots, in the media, or in a lot of political arguments. Sales data that comes in on a monthly basis shows hybrid sales sinking faster than auto sales as a whole. And there's nothing pretty about auto sales as a whole.
Indeed, looking at March's tally shows that the 21,433 hybrid cars and trucks sold in the U.S. last month represents a 43.9 percent drop from hybrid sales in March of 2008, while sales of all other types of new passenger vehicles, on a March-vs-March basis, were off "just" 36.5 percent.
So, the argument goes, hybrids can't hold their own, they cost too much and people don't really want them.
---------- Nissan Altima hybrid was one of only two models posting a first quarter gain. ----------
But we've never been big on the idea that a trend can be made, or broken, in a single month.
One could also argue, for instance, that March hybrid sales were up substantially from February and recovered more than did all other segments combined.
On a sales-per-day basis, to account for the shorter February selling period, March hybrid sales were up 20.9 percent, versus an 11.6 percent increase from February in sales of other types of new cars and trucks.
Does that mean that March sales show that people have changed their minds and are flocking to hybrids in droves?
Electric vehicle activist Paul Scott, a founding member and director of Plug In America, reports that Nissan wants to build its own advanced battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. as part of its electric car initiative.
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Nissan EV concept at last year's New York auto show.
----------
The automaker already has announced its intent to launch a Nissan EV in the U.S. late next year, with global sales to follow by 2012.
Scott said he was invited to a breakfast meeting this week with several of the automaker's representatives, including Nissan North America product planning chief Mark Perry, to discuss various aspects of the Nissan electric vehicle plan.
Nissan previously said that the car would be a unique addition to its lineup rather than an electric version of an existing model.
While specifics about the proposed new car's performance and battery capacity weren't divulged, Scott says he was told that Nissan is shooting for a five-passenger vehicle with a range of 100 miles at highway speeds.
While Nissan plans to sell or lease the car to fleet customers at first, Scott said he "made a pitch to offer some to private buyers to generate interest" and that his proposal "seemed to be well received, so maybe they'll offer a couple thousand cars for sale to the early adopter set."
Nissan is partnering with NEC in Japan to build the lithium ion batteries for the new car, but told Scott that Nissan developed the battery chemistry and the control system in-house. The batteries already are in production, Scott reports.
The automaker intends to use the universal standard for Level 2 battery charging at 240 volts but will ensure that the car can charge at standard 120-volt household current (now called Level 1 charging) and at Level 3 fast-charging as well, if and when fast charging stations become available.
Huge Region Becomes 5th in U.S. To Help as Nissan Preps for 2010 EV Launch
Add California's southernmost big city, San Diego, to the growing list of places plugging into the Renault-Nissan Alliance's effort to promote an electric vehicle battery-charging infrastructure to coincide with the launch of the EV it has promised for next year.
---------- Nissan will use this electric vehicle "mule" to show off its technology in a U.S. tour that begins in San Diego. ----------
Just weeks after announcing that it signed an EV promotional pact with the Tuscon, Arizona, metropolitan area's regional government association, the Renault-Nissan Alliance
this morning is unveiling a similar deal with San Diego Gas & Electric. The public utility that supplies power to a 4,100 square-mile region with a population of 3.4 million.
The joint agreements the auto-making partners are executing with utility and government groups around the country (and in a number of foreign countries as well) call for Nissan and Renault to aid the entities in the acquisition of electric vehicles and to work with them to promote installation of an EV charging infrastructure as well as use and understanding of the vehicles.
The government and utility groups in turn agree to take the necessary actions -- including changes in zoning laws and building permit policies when necessary -- to make it easier for privately or publicly owned EV charging stations to be installed in convenient locations.
The San Diego deal specifically calls for the automaker and the utility to work together to "implement and maintain" a battery charging network. Officials from San Diego's city government and several other area entities including San Diego County's association of governments, were on hand for the announcement, an indication of regional support for the plan.
The San Diego announcement also kicks off what Nissan Motor Co. is calling a coast-to-coast tour of its electric vehicle prototype: A late-model Nissan Cube converted to electric drive.
Hybrid isn't a word that generally gets used in the same sentence as Nissan. The company has been slow to enter the gas-electric vehicle market -- though it is pushing hard on development of an all-electric car.
But Edmunds' Inside Lineis reporting that Nissan hopes to make up for lost time with a rear-wheel drive hybrid version of the Infiniti M Sport Sedan (a standard version is pictured, left).
The new 2010 Infiniti M hybrid, which will reportedly will use the same chassis that underpins the next Japanese-market Fuga sedan, is expected to take aim at the Lexus GS 450h. Its Nissan-designed parallel hybrid system apparently will match a 3.5-liter gasoline V6 with an electric motor of undisclosed power. A high-efficiency lithium-ion battery pack is the reported choice for energy storage.
Nissan's hybrid system is best suited to a rear-wheel-drive application, according to the company. Nissan also believes that improving fuel economy for the larger cars will have a greater impact on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum consumption.
The company hasn't said when the new model would reach the U.S. market. And a spokesman on Monday said that Nissan isn't commenting on possible pricing or anticipated fuel economy numbers.
Inside Line also reports that Nissan is believed to have plans to make hybrid versions of all Infiniti models within 10 years.
Car prices are falling, we all know that, but did you realize that for some makes the declines, combined with the industry's ubiquitous cut-rate financing offers, has made it cheaper to buy new than used?
A just-released study by Edmunds.com's analysts shows that shoppers who may think the budget will only stretch to cover payments on late model used vehicles could, with a little research, find themselves in a new model for lower overall costs if they are financing rather than paying cash.
Mostly, the findings apply to conventional models, although many of those are fuel-efficient compacts. But there are even two hybrids in the mix.
Yup, the price on the window of that brand new, 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid (above, left) may be a lot higher than what's being asked for a year-old "previously owned" model (below, right), but the new Civic Hybrid comes with a national interest rate deal that means a savings of nearly $2,000 over the year-old model in the course of a 60-month loan.
To compute potential savings, our analysts used the Edmunds True Market Value
® - what people are really paying - rather than the sticker prices and figured a 10.5 percent annual percentage rate on the used car loans. New car loans were figured at a national average of 5.9 percent, and where a national interest rate discount is being offered - as with the Honda Civic Hybrid - it was applied instead of the higher, 5.9 percent rate.
(Incentives can change from region to region. For the most up-to-date information abut deals and discounts in your area, check Edmunds' incentive finder.)
In the case of the Civic Hybrid, the new '09 model has a True Market Value® of $21,788, the use '08 model a TMV of $20,167.
Because of the higher interest on a used car loan, the new hybrid would be $795 less expensive than the used model over a 60-month loan even if Honda weren't offering a discount interest rate on new-car financing. With that rate the savings jumps to $1,991.
Adding another name to its list of target communities for sales of its upcoming electric vehicle, the Renault-Nissan Alliance today said it has signed an agreement with an Arizona regional government association to promote development of an EV charging network in the Tucson metro area.
Nissan has said it will introduce an electric vehicle in the U.S. next year and plans a global rollout of Nissan branded EVs in 2012.
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Nissan was testing this EV, a version of the Cube, in Japan last year but says its retail model will be a new design.
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The agreement with the Pima Association of Governments, which represents the Tucson metro area, calls for the region's governmental agencies to promote and assist in "the development, operation and maintenance " of a public EV charging network.
That typically is done by encouraging zoning and permit policies that allow installation of chargers on public and private properties
A private electric transportation and power storage company, Ecotality Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., is part of the partnership and will assist in installation of the EV chargers and coordination of various government policies affecting EV charging systems, Nissan said.
The automaker has agreed to "assist" the government association and its member agencies in acquiring electric vehicles - language that likely means the company will sell or lease them its EVs at discounted rates.
Nissan works with its French partner, Renault, though the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has begun zero emission vehicle initiatives alone and with other partners in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture and the City of Yokohama, French electric utility company EDF, and two private British firms, the car-rental company Greentomatocars, and zero-emission transport system company Elektromotive.
In the U.S., the Alliance is participating in electric car partnerships with the states of Tennessee and Oregon, the County of Sonoma in California, and now the Tucson regional government group, to explore ways to promote zero-emission vehicles and development of an electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
Sales of hybrid cars and SUVs continued falling in February but their plunge was slowed somewhat by a strong updraft of incentives.
---------- Camry hybrid sales were down 50 percent from February '08 but with incentive spending rose 82 percent from January ----------
While new car sales overall were down 41 percent from a year earlier, hybrid sales were off just 28.5 percent with 16,020 vehicles sold, down from 22,411 in February 2008.
The gas-electric cars cost more than their conventional counterparts and haven't been doing well as the economy tanks and gas prices remain relatively low.
Sales also have been slowed as interested consumers hold off in anticipation of the new Honda insight compact 5-passenger hybrid and the redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius, both due to hit showroom floors soon.
One Gainer
February saw only one gain - the Lexus RX400 hybrid crossover SUV was up 31 percent from a year earlier - but several models posted smaller declines than the segment as a whole.
The Lexus RX400 hybrid was helped by significant incentive spending, as Toyota's luxury division poured an average of $6,338 into each vehicle, according to Edmunds.com's True Cost of Incentives data. That was up from just $503 per vehicle incentive spending on the RX400 hybrid a year earlier and was $1,300 more than Lexus was spending on RX400 incentives in January.
Both the Ford Escape hybrid and the Toyota Camry posted big gains for the month. The Escape, with 1,172 sales, climbed 55.6 percent from January and the Camry, with 2,080 sales, was up 82.3 percent.
Camry sales really show the power of incentives: the car was among the worst performers in comparing February '08 and '09 sales, down almost 50 percent.To get the big January to February improvement, Toyota pumped up incentive spending on the model to $1,495 per vehicle from "virtually nothing in January," said Edmunds.com industry analyst Jessica Caldwell.
No surprise, hybrid sales in January went down the drain along with the rest of the industry.
The gas-electric cars, pricier than their conventional counterparts, typically don't do well when gas prices are cheapish, as they are these days.
---------- Lexus RX 400h was one of only two hybrids to post a gain over January '08 sales. ----------
Add in a recession teetering on the edge of depression and the picture is grimmer.
Piling on, Toyota and Honda -- the industry's hybrid sales leaders -- have new models coming out in a few months, a situation that doesn't do much to promote sales of models that are soon to be outdated.
The only good news is that, as a percentage of an overall abysmal market, hybrids gained in January, rising to a 2.33 percent market share from 1.97 percent in December and 2.14 percent a year earlier.
In terms of market share, January was the seventh-best month for hybrids since the first model went on sale in the U.S. in 1999.
Good market share in a bad market isn't much to cheer about, though. In terms of sales volume, January was the worst month for hybrids in almost three years.
Total sales of 15,393 hybrid cars and SUVs were down 12.8 percent from December and plunged 31.2 percent from a year earlier.
The last time sales were lower was February 2006, when only 14,957 hybrids were sold.
Gains
As usual, Toyota's Prius was the month's volume leader with 8,121 sales -- almost 53 percent of the total.
The Prius also was one of only five hybrid models of the 16 tracked by Edmunds.com to post a gain from December, up 3.3 percent. Prius sales were down 28.6 percent from a year earlier, though.
The other January gainers were:
The Lexus 400h crossover hybrid, up 6.3 percent with 1,556 sales;
Toyota's Highlander hybrid SUV, up 10.6 percent with 984 sales;
Honda's Civic Hybrid, up 3.8 percent with 1,076 sales; and
The Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV from Ford Motor Co., up 19.8 percent with 127 sales.
Despite the one-month gains, the Civic Hybrid was down 38.3 percent from January '07, the Mariner was off 28.7 percent from a year earlier, and the Highlander was down 54.1 percent.
Potential buyers holding back in anticipation of the improved 2010 Prius and Honda's new 2010 Insight Hybrid, both due later this year, didn't help any of the January-over-January sales comparisons, said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com's manager of industry analysis.
"Hefty price tags combined with the promise of newer, more-efficient models to come within the next few months have really hindered hybrid sales in January," she said.
Two hybrid models did post gains from their year-ago, marks, though.
---------- Nissan Altima Hybrid joined Lexus in winner's circle with an increase from January '08 sales. ----------
The Lexus 400h was up 28.3 percent from 1,211 sales a year earlier -- the only model to gain for the month and the year -- while Nissan's Altima Hybrid, with 644 sales last month, was up 36.1 percent from 473 sales in January '07.
Big Losses
The rest of the pack lost ground, although most are such low-volume sellers that the losses didn't make much impression on January's total sales picture.
General Motors Corp.'s hybrid cars and crossovers were the biggest losers, percentagewise, all but one falling more than 50 percent from December (none were in the market a year ago, so there are no January '07 numbers to compare to).
The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV was hit hardest, down 69.5 percent with 299 sold versus 981 in December.
The Chevy Malibu Hybrid sedan was a close second in the loser column, its 145 sales a 68.1 percent decline from 454 sales a month earlier.
The GMC Yukon Hybrid SUV (a twin to the Tahoe) was down 62 percent to 168 sales from 442 in December; Cadillac Escalade Hybrid SUV sales fell 56.8 percent to 132 from 306; the Saturn Vue Greenline Hybrid crossover was off 54.7 percent with 153 sales, down from 338; and the Saturn Aura Hybrid sedan was down 44.1 percent to 19 sales from 34 in December.
Sales of Ford's Escape Hybrid SUV fell 27.9 percent from December, to 753, and were off 41.9 percent from January '07, and Toyota's Camry Hybrid sedan dropped 39.6 percent from December, to 1,141 sales, and was down 49.7 percent from a year earlier.
In Toyota's luxury stable, the Lexus LS 600h L hybrid sedan posted 33 sales, down 34 percent from December and 68.6 percent below January '07 sales, and the Lexus GS 450h crossover hybrid dropped 19.6 percent from December, to 41 sales, and was off 35.9 percent from a year earlier.
Although the new models from Toyota and Honda could pump a little excitement into the hybrid market later this year, Caldwell and other analysts don't expect much improvement before the latter part of the year.
GM Gets Three Models on 'Greenest' List and Tops 'Meanest' Ranking With Hummer H2
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In an anticlimactic repeat, Honda's natural-gas burning Civic GX topped the annual "greenest vehicles" of the year listing being published this morning by the non-profit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
It is the 12th year the Washington-based environmental and economic lobbying group has published its Green Book Online, which ranks passenger cars and light trucks for overall environmental impact.
Although the list for the 2009 model year contained no big surprises, it was marked by the reappearance of General Motors Corp., with trio of small cars among the dozen "greenest" vehicles in the market - the Chevrolet Cobalt compact and its Pontiac G5 twin placed eighth overall and the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact finished10th.
The GM cars, which were rated highly for their fuel economy, knocked Ford's Focus off the "greenest" list after its appearance there last year as the only domestic car in the top twelve.
The Ford didn't get a lower score - but the average scores in the top 12 were higher this year than last.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Generally, the 2009 list was marked by continued improvements in the fuel economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of scores of vehicles rather than by stellar performances from just one or two models.
Manufacturers are fine-tuning their engines and transmissions, improving materials, and adding emission control technologies, said ACEEE transportation program director Therese Langer.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor Better Place
, the California-based electric vehicle battery charging infrastructure pioneer, said this morning that it has secured a 103-million euro ($133.8 million) equity and debt financing in conjunction with Denmark's DONG Energy
to fund initial deployment of its previously announced Danish charging infrastructure.
DONG will be the preferred supplier of renewable energy to the charger network and will assist Better Place in rolling out the nationwide system of EV battery chargers and battery exchange stations.
The charging infrastructure is part of a plan by Better Place, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and the Danish government to begin marketing electric cars in Denmark in 2011.
Renault-Nissan is designing and building the vehicles, which will have a battery pack system that can be quickly removed when depleted and replaced with a fully recharged pack.
The rapid exchange system is part of Better Place's plan to extend the effective range of electric vehicles so they can be lengthy trips without the without the inconvenience of otherwise lengthy battery charging sessions.
Better Place charging stations, to be located in parking lots and other public areas, will be available for short "top-ups" of the battery packs while a car is parked for short periods, perhaps while the driver is shopping or attending a theater performance.
The company, founded by high-tech entrepreneur Shai Agassi, believes that installing an electrical "fueling" infrastructure is the necessary first step in making electric vehicles a marketable alternative to gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles.
While we're well aware of how faddish this world can be, we're heartened by all the attention the electrification of the passenger vehicle is getting these days - and we hope it lasts.
---------- Wind-generated electricity for EV charging is part of Better Place vision. ----------
One company trying its best to make a permanent part of life going forward is Better Place.
The Silicon Valley developer of an electric-vehicle battery charging and exchange system is signing deals right and left to help develop an EV "fueling" infrastructure that will be there to help provide juice to the electric cars and trucks almost every automaker now says it will be making soon.
The latest pact, announced this morning, is a research and planning agreement with Canada's Ontario Province, which wraps around the top of the Great Lakes and contains the cities of Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor and Timmins - home of country singer Shania Twain and the Toyota Motor Co.'s North American cold weather test facility.
The province also contains many of Canada's auto plants (Windsor is directly across the Detroit River from General Motors Corp's headquarters in downtown Detroit) and its autoworkers have produced more cars and trucks in each of the past two years than have Michigan's.
Shai Agassi, the high-tech entrepreneur who founded and heads Better Place, said the deal calls for the company to set up a Canadian headquarters in Toronto and spend the next four months doing a thorough analysis of what it would take to install a network of EV battery chargers and battery exchange stations in the sprawling province.
At the same time, Ontario's state government would run a analysis of what it could do to encourage electrification, including rules to make it easier for a charging infrastructure to be installed; establishing government subsidies for electric vehicles, including a policy for government use of EVs in its own fleets; and development of a public education and promotion campaign.
"This is one step to getting us a little bit closer" to a future of clean, oil-free transportation, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said in announcing the pact at a press conference in Toronto.
"We'll both (Better Place and Ontario's government) announce our findings in reports issued in April and then we'll proceed from there," Sean Harrington, Better Place global development director told Green Car Advisor.
The deal also calls for Better Place to build an EV demonstration and information center in Toronto should things move beyond the study stage (Better Place is developing a similar center in Japan for the city of Yokohama, and a smaller one in Hawaii as part of its deal there).
It also introduces Canadian renewable energy company Bullfrog Power into the mix with an agreement for all of the power to be used by EVs operating in Ontario to come from Bullfrog, with uses wind and hydroelectric generation.
It may be a case of piling on, but Ford Motor Co. gleefully issued a press release today touting yet another fuel economy win over Japanese rivals - this time it's the conventionally powered Ford Fusion S beating the 4-cylinder Toyota Camry and Honda accord models.
The base model in the 2010 Fusion lineup has been rated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency at 23 miles per gallon in city driving and 34 mpg on the highway, Ford said.
The company has proudly been touting the EPA fuel efficiency rating for the 2010 Fusion hybrid - 41 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway - as best-in-class in the mid-size car segment, easily overshadowing Toyota's Camry hybrid and Nissan's Altima hybrid.
Toyota took umbrage at that claim, however, maintaining, as we reported earlier today, that despite being much smaller that the Fusion and the Camry, the Prius qualifies as a mid-size under federal rules and thus beats the Fusion hybrid with its 48 mpg city-45 mpg highway rating.
In today's announcement, Ford tried to fix that by proclaiming the Fusion, which goes on sale in the spring, as "American's most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan for both hybrid and conventional gasoline models."
The key word there is "sedan." Toyota's Prius is a hatchback and thus no longer part of the comparison set.
The Fusion S uses Ford's new 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine linked to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission.
Its 23/34 mpg rating tops the 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder Camry's by 2 miles a gallon in the city cycle and 3 mpg on the highway. It bests the 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder Accord by just 1 mile per gallon in the city, but by 3 mpg in highway driving, according to the EPA.
We don't really care who is mileage champ, it's just good to see the automakers battling it out over fuel economy claims as well as doing the standard horsepower and 0-60 acceleration match-ups.
December's gas-electric car and SUV sales plunged almost 43 percent from the final month of 2007 as the year wound up on a discouraging note for the only alternative technology vehicles to so far make a dent in the auto market.
It was a near repeat of a stupendously disastrous November, when sales of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles fell 50 percent from a year earlier.
For all of 2008, hybrid sales tumbled 10.3 percent with 310,724 models sold. While nothing to boast about, the hybrid segment bested the overall market's performance of an 18.2 percent drop for the year, according to Edmunds.com statistics.
The only bright spots were that hybrid sales in December actually rose a bit from November, and that 2008 hybrid sales were the second-best on record in the decade since 1999, when Honda introduced the first model, the now-discontinued two-seat Insight. The year's sales trailed only 2007, when 346,431 hybrids were sold.
Incentives Made the Difference
The 6.8 percent rise in sales volume from November to December was due to hefty incentives and discounting by most automakers and to an especially effective financing program that General Motors' financing arm provided for almost all of the company's lineup.
Industrywide, the same pricing and financing incentives led to a one-month sales gain of 20 percent.
In the hybrid segment, December's total of 17,652 sales was the second lowest of the year, trailing only November's dismal 16,536.
After that, you'd have to go back to January 2007, when only 17,591 gas-electric cars and sport-utes were sold, to find a worse month for hybrids.
It would appear that Daimler not only views electrification of the automobile as the key to sustainable mobility, but it also views the shift from gasoline- and diesel-powered cars and trucks to electric vehicles as an opportunity for the Stuttgart automaker to compete head on with major automotive parts suppliers.
In an interview today with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Chief Executive Thomas Weber (pictured) said Daimler -- parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart -- intends to compete directly with German automotive parts supplier Robert Bosch and other companies in selling high-performance lithium-ion batteries to third parties.
Weber's comments follow the joint announcement last month by Daimler and German chemical, energy and real estate company Evonik Industries that the two companies had partnered to develop lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and hybrids, with the first publicized target for the new batteries being the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid due out this year.
Daimler and Evonik made that announcement less than a week after Mercedes-Benz disclosed plans to unveil a trio of BlueZero electric-drive concept vehicles at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, which starts next Monday, and Daimler's announcement to expand its test program of electric-drive Smart Fortwos from London and Berlin to the Italian cities of Rome, Milan and Pisa.
According to industry forecasts, the market size for high-performance lithium-ion batteries will exceed $13 billion within the next decade. Clearly, Daimler and Evonik Industries want a chunk of that market, as do Toyota, Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan, all of which have recently partnered with battery-makers.
We're talking about EV battery manufacturing
and development
in the U.S., but they're doing it in Japan.
Nissan Motor and NEC Corp. reportedly have agreed to pump almost $1.1 billion, into Automotive Energy Supply Corp., their previously announced joint venture for manufacturing lithium-ion battery packs (right) for electric and hybrid cars.
If the Nikkei business daily report is accurate, this will be the fourth major battery venture in Japan: Toyota has teamed with Matsushita Electric, Honda with Sanyo and Mitsubishi with GS Yuasa.
Nissan has an agreement with its French partner, Renault, to begin producing electric vehicles by 2010, and needs an assured battery supplier. The Japanese model calls for important components for a Japanese-built vehicle to be developed and produced at home when possible.
The deal, according to the Nikkei report as reviewed by analysts at Global Insight, calls for the Nissan-NEC partnership to ultimately produce sufficient batteries to supply 200,000 hybrids and EVs a year, with initial production of 13,000 battery packs a year to begin in 2009.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance
team tasked with partnering with utilities and governments to develop battery-charging networks for electric vehicles has done it again.
Swiss electric utility company Energie Ouest Suisse and Renault-Nissan announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding under which the automaker will supply electric-drive vehicles to the utility and both parties will study ways of implementing and maintaining the battery-charging network throughout the land-locked, lake-filled, clock-cuckoo country.
The utility produces 85 percent of its electricity from hydropower, which means that not only will the EVs zip around without spewing greenhouse gases, but the electricity they use will, for the most part, come from sources that don't produce climate-changing emissions.
Renault-Nissan has reached similar agreements with Israel, Denmark, Portugal, the Principality of Monaco and the French utility company EDF, as well as the U.S. states of Tennessee and Oregon, Sonoma County in Northern California, and in Japan, the Prefecture of Kanagawa and the City of Yokohama.
German automotive giant Daimler of Stuttgart and chemical, energy and real estate company Evonik Industries of Essen have partnered to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and hybrids, with the first publicized target for the new batteries being the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid due out next year.
The German companies made the announcement Monday -- less than a week after Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler, disclosed plans to unveil a trio of BlueZero electric-drive concept vehicles at next month's 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Presumably the new batteries will make their way into whatever production models arise from the concepts.
Daimler officials have often stated that electrification of the automobile is the key to sustainable mobility. To that end, Daimler engineers have registered more than 600 patents associated with battery-powered vehicles over the past three decades, of which 230 were in the field of lithium-ion technology.
For its part, Evonik Industries has invested $110 million in battery technology in recent years. The outcome, according to Evonik Industries and Daimler: "Production-ready high-technology battery cells that are superior to competitor products in several key areas."
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski's recent sweep through China and Japan appears to have paid dividends for his bold bid to make his state America's primary launching pad for electric cars, according to an article published today by Climate Wire
(subscription required).
Kulongoski (pictured), a two-term Democrat, went to Asia last month with the express purpose of attracting Asian carmakers to Oregon. He returned with a deal in hand from Nissan Motor Co. to provide electric vehicles to the state fleet starting in 2010 and a tentative commitment from a fledgling Chinese company to start a pilot program in Oregon.
And while the deal with Nissan and related talks with Toyota Motor Co. may have won the governor the most press, the meetings with BYD Auto Co., a Chinese battery manufacturer turned electric-car outfit, may ultimately do more to position Oregon as a leader in the low-emission vehicle market.
"We want Oregon to be the launch site for electric cars," Jillian Schoene, a Kulongoski aide who traveled with the governor through Asia and took part in meetings with BYD, told Climate Wire. "These car companies knew that about us before we walked into their door."
BYD, which stands for "Build Your Dreams," is shopping for a U.S. pilot site to roll out its hybrid plug-in sedan, the F3DM, which goes on the market in China in less than two weeks. Oregon could emerge as the ideal test market, given Kulongoski's vision of charging stations every 60 miles on the highway, not to mention Pacific Power's direct connection to the Chinese battery maker.
The utility, based in Redmond, Oregon, is owned by a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which bought a 10 percent stake in BYD this fall for $230 million. That relationship could propel the Portland area past Los Angeles, the other U.S. city in the running for the project.
A company founded by California EV entrepreneur Shai Agassi has dedicated the first of what it says will be as many as 500,000 electric vehicle recharging stations in Israel, the first country to sign on to Agassi's vision of electric cars for everyone.
----------
Better Place Israel's Moshe Kaplinsky demonstrates EV charging station.
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The company, Better Place (formerly Project Better Place), has agreed to install 500 of the charging points in a number of Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in a pilot project now, and says its expects to have half a million installed by the time electric vehicles made by Renault and Nissan are ready for market in 2011.
More to Come
The Israeli EV charging network would be the planet's first nationwide commercial system, but Better Place has similar agreements with Denmark, the Australian state of Victoria, the state of Hawaii and a consortium of major San Francisco Bay Area cities.
The company also announced Monday that it has been invited by the Japanese government to build a battery exchange station in Yokohama early next year as part of a electric vehicle demonstration project involving a number of Japanese auto makers.
Israel's First
In a report in today's edition, Britain's Guardian newspaper said the first charging spot in Israel has been installed in a parking lot atop a shopping center in the coastal city of Ramat Hasharon, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
The paper quotes Moshe Kaplinsky, head of Better Place Israel, saying that the firm believes electric cars are a fundamental challenge to the ubiquitous gasoline and diesel vehicles.
"The vision is to stop this addition to oil," he told the paper.
In addition to charging stations, the Better Place network will include quick-exchange stations where depleted EV battery packs can be replaced with fully charged packs - the same sort of station the company will build in Japan.
Participants in the Israeli system would purchase an electric vehicle but the local arm of Better Place would own the batteries and lease them to vehicle owners - an electrified version of buying the car and then purchasing fuel on an as-needed basis.
Like Cell Phone Contracts?
EV customers would pay for fixed or unlimited mileage on their batteries - much as cell phone users sign up for plans based on minutes of use - and when they didn't want to wait for a recharge from the grid would go to one of the battery exchange stations for a battery pack switch.
Better Place has teamed with the Renault-Nissan Alliance for a program in which the California-based company will provide the charging infrastructure and the automakers will design and build the vehicles to use them.
So far, the automakers have only shown a concept for a Better Place car based on a Renault Megane sedan (left).
Various government partners can provide financial assistance and ease the way for installation of the charging infrastructure.
Such a system works in small, self-contained territories such as Israel and Hawaii, or in urban areas such as San Francisco, because the average automobile trip is relatively short.
Israel, for example, is 260 miles long and only 85 miles across at its widest point. It is about 75 miles from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, well within the 100-mile range of the lithium-ion battery packs Better Place says the Renault-Nissan EVs will use.
Sales of hybrid cars and SUVs took a worse beating than the industry as a whole in November, plummeting 50 percent from a year earlier and off 24.8 percent from October.
---------- Industry leading Prius hybrid sales in November were off 50 percent from a year earlier. ----------
Industrywide sales of all new cars and light trucks were down 37 percent from a year ago.
The hbrid segment was hit with the triple whammy of falling gasoline prices, high sticker prices in a recessionary economy and tight credit that cut many potential buyers out of the market.
"The environment is taking a back seat to the macroeconomic situation," said Edmunds.com market analyst Jessica Caldwell.
With gasoline falling below $2 a gallon, many hybrid models just didn't pencil out for consumers when their premium prices were compared with prices for other fuel efficient vehicles with conventional powertrains, she said.
Altogether, automakers sold 16,536 gas-electric hybrids last month, down from 21,979 in October.
To make matter worse, consumers purchased twice as many hybrids - 33,063 of them - in November 2007, when there were several fewer models available.
Hybrids' market share dropped to 2.21 percent in November, down from 2.62 percent in October and 2.82 percent in November 2007.
EV charger manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, which recently announced that it has orders for 40 of its networked charging stations to be installed along major traffic corridors in California, says it now has established distributorships that cover 28 states with plans to expand into all 50.
Coulomb, headquartered in Northern California, is displaying its wirelessly linked charging stations at the Electric Drive Transportation Assn.'s annual conference in Washington, D.C. this week.
The company's "Smartlet" stations supply current at a variety of voltages for battery-electric and pug-in hybrid vehicles. Station users' would use prepaid accounts that would be debited via a wireless transaction when they access one of the charging stations - unless the station owner has opted, as several have, to deliver the power at no charge.
Coulomb said it will market the stations exclusively through its regional distributors, who now cover the major states in all regions except Texas and the Midwest.
Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb's chief executive, has said that he wants to position the company to have a commercial recharging infrastructure in place when vehicles with rechargeable batteries beginning appearing in the marketplace.
In addition to independents such as Tesla Motors, Miles Electric Vehicles, GEM and Zap that already market electric vehicles, several major and independent automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, BMW, Fisker Automotive and Aptera Motors have announced plans for plug-in hybrids or battery-electric cars that will begin to hit the market -- some for testing, others for retail sales or leasing -- by late next year.
Nissan North America and California's Sonoma County
have partnered to develop electric-vehicle charging stations and standards.
The announcement late last week was the second partnership unveiled by the Renault-Nissan Alliance within days and was the seventh that the company had established in an effort to prepare the market and consumers for a transition to plug-in electric vehicles and plug-in electric hybrids.
Nissan believes it is critical to develop standards and to build a recharging infrastructure to support electric vehicles as Japan's No. 3 automaker introduces the vehicles to consumers.
Nissan has announced plans
to introduce zero-emission vehicles in the United States and Japan in 2010 and intends to make them available to the mass market two years later.
The partnership with Sonoma, a Northern California county famous for its wines located 30 miles north of San Franciso, also includes agreements with eight cities within the county. Nissan said it plans to supply electric vehicles to the county as it works with the communities to develop plans for the creation of an EV battery-charging network.
Earlier last week, Nissan announced a similar partnership with the state of Oregon and Portland General Electric, a utility company.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance announced today that Nissan and Oregon are forming a partnership to advance zero-emission mobility by promoting the development of an electric vehicle charging network.Â
Portland General Electric also is a participant in the partnership and is working toward the development of an easily accessible and reliable network of charging stations throughout the state.
The Alliance has committed to being a global leader in zero-emission vehicles. Nissan will introduce ZEVs in the United States in 2010 and will mass market ZEVs globally two years later.
Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, announced the Oregon agreement during an address at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
"This partnership represents a major step toward reliable zero-emission mobility in the state of Oregon," Ghosn said. "Together, we are creating conditions that will encourage consumers to consider an electric vehicle as an attractive choice that is also good for the environment."
The partnership supports Oregon Gov. Theodore Kulongoski's commitment to sustainability, which includes the effort to lead the nation in establishing the infrastructure necessary for a greener transportation system.
As part of the agreement, Nissan has committed to make available a supply of ZEVs to Oregon and work with the state to develop plans to promote the EV Charging Network.
The state, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation, has committed to promote the deployment, operation and maintenance of the EV Charging Network by developing specifications for charging stations and seeking agreements with suppliers that may be used by entities such as local governments and utility companies, Ghosn said.
Over the past several months, PGE has installed six charging stations--with the capability to charge several dozen vehicles--across the Portland and Salem areas, with more on the way.
The Alliance has begun ZEV initiatives in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Japan and with French electric utility company EDF.
Because the United States is so large, the Alliance is entering partnerships there on a state-by-state basis. Prior to today's announcement, the Alliance had partnered with Tennessee.Â
In Washington's infinite wisdom, the tax incentives that have bolstered U.S. sales of the most fuel-efficient hybrids are gone or soon will be at a time when experts agree the vehicles could play an important role in reducing America's addiction to foreign oil and in stopping global warming.
---------- Honda's 42-mpg 2008 Civic Hybrid; its tax break ends next month. ----------
Tax incentives tied to Toyota's 2005-2008 model-year Prius, which gets a phenomenal EPA-rated 48 miles per gallon in the city, 45 mpg on the highway and 46 combined, expired in October 2007.
That same month saw the tax credit for the 2007-2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid vanish, despite the fact that model gets an EPA-rated 34 mpg combined.
And soon we'll witness another mystery: In the final minutes of next month, as people around the world usher out the old year and celebrate the new, the U.S. tax incentive for the 2006-2008 Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg combined!) will dissolve at the stroke of midnight.
But the strangeness won't end there.
Beginning next spring, Honda will offer a hybrid achieving a claimed 60 mpg. What tax break will Uncle Sam provide buyers of this gas-sipper, the 2010 Honda Insight? None whatsoever.
None, as in the 2,200 fewer taxpayer dollars than he's offering buyers of the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid right now, despite the fact that big ol' honkin' SUV achieves only 21 mpg combined.
Pushing forward with its plan to electrify the personal transportation world, the Renault Nissan Alliance said today that it had signed a deal with the city of Yokohama to begin preparing for introduction of a Nissan electric car there in 2010.
Nissan has shown a concept EV called the Mixim (right) but is expected to offer different models for retail use. The vehicles to be used here and in Japan are still under development, said Fred Standish, a Nissan spokesman in the U.S.
Standish also said that sales or leases of the Nissan EVs initially would be limited in scope, with a global rollout planned for 2012.
The U.S. program is likely to concentrate on California, where an electric-vehicle charging infrastructure exists because of the state's early flirtation with EVs in the late 1990s under its since-amended Zero Emission Vehicle mandate.
There is no mutual development agreement with the U.S. government, but the Renault Nissan Alliance has signed electric vehicle introduction deals similar to the Yokohama pact with the nations of Portugal and France, the Australian state of Victoria and the state of Tennessee, site of Nissan's North American headquarters.
Additionally, the alliance has teamed with a California-based venture, Better Place, to supply electric vehicles in Israel and Denmark. Better Place would provide the charging infrastructure in those countries.
Except for the U.S. and Yokohama EV launches in 2010 and the Australian launch in 2012, all of the programs are scheduled for 2011.
The Yokohama agreement calls for feasibility studies of customer incentives and citywide electric vehicle recharging infrastructure development as well as use of navigation system networks to alleviate traffic congestion and introduction of programs to promote what the car-maker calls eco-driving -- the use of fuel-saving driving techniques.
Nissan has been working with Yokohama city officials since 2006 on a pilot program combining telematics and in-car navigation systems to offer real-time traffic information to drivers.
Yokohama is participating in a Japanese program called the Environment Model City pilot project. Under the program, Yokohama aims to achieve significant CO2 reductions by experimenting with a range of methodologies in various key areas including transportation, housing and renewable energy development.
About the only thing sinking faster than new car sales these days is consumer interest in hybrids.
As the economy continues to tank and gas prices continue to fall, the number of consumers using the various Edmunds.com information channels to gather data on hybrid models has plummeted.
Hybrid consideration -- tallied by tracking the number of visitors to Edmunds' sites who spend time looking at model specifications and pricing data and cross-shopping hybrids with other hybrids and with conventional models -- is off 86 percent from its peak in mid-June.
By comparison, considerations of all new car and truck models are down 35 percent from the peak in May, according to data compiled for Green Car Advisor by Dr. David Tompkins, Edmunds.com's executive director of business solutions.
Consideration doesn't necessarily predict sales -- it could be that we're seeing the casual shoppers being knocked out of the box with only hard-core, determined buyers left looking.
Indeed, hybrid sales in October, while down 45 percent from their peak in April, were off only 9.4 percent from a year earlier. If seven models that weren't sold a year ago are omitted, the drop is sharper, at 16 percent. By comparison, total sales for the month were off 39 percent from the year's high in May and were down 32 percent from October 2007. Subtracting the 1,551 extra hybrids sold this year makes almost no difference in drop in total sales.
The sales figures show that hybrids continue to be popular among a significant slice of the public that's still buying cars -- they accounted for 2.6 percent of total October sales, their highest market share since July.
But Edmunds' hybrid consideration numbers may portend a bigger drop as the year progresses.
---------- Hydrid consideration (green) grew as gas prices rose but since summer has fallen faster than has consideration of all vehicles (red), according to Edmunds.com data.(Click on chart for expanded view.) ----------
With the nation in a recession that's been building since summer, you'd expect the numbers of people shopping for new cars, on-line and in dealerships, to decline, said Daniel Hall, vice president and data analyst at global auto industry consulting firm AutoPacific.
That the rate of decline for hybrid consideration is so much sharper, said Edmunds analyst Tompkins, shows that shoppers are being far more cautious about expenses than when gas prices were at their peak this summer and the line for hybrids at any price stretched around the block.
Back then, shoppers were enamored of the fuel economy a hybrid model could deliver in comparison to a conventionally powered model of the same vehicle.
Now, shoppers are looking not only at fuel economy -- which is less important to many as gas prices fall -- but at the so-called hybrid premium automakers charge to cover the extra cost of the battery packs and advanced powertrain components a hybrid requires.
Additionally, the nation's economic woes have made it more difficult for people to obtain loans, especially for big-ticket items such as homes and cars. When credit is already tight, a hybrid's premium price thins the herd, said Edmunds.com pricing and sales analyst Jessica Caldwell.
Nissan North America today announced that a 2009 Nissan Versa sedan fitted with a new fuel-efficient 1.6-liter engine (pictured) will go on sale in the U.S. on November 18 for $9,999, which will make it the least expensive new car available in the country.
The low price excludes destination and handling charges of $695, but it will still significantly undercut those of top contenders in the economy-car segment, which include the Toyota Yaris (starting at $12,205 for the three-door liftback model) and the Nissan Versa hatchback and sedan fitted with a 1.8-liter engine (starting at $12,990).
The Versa sedan's DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine achieves 107 horsepower and fuel-economy ratings of 26 miles per gallon in the city and 34 mpg on the highway with the five-speed manual transmission.
The fuel economy drops a tad, to 26 mpg city and 33 mpg highway, with the four-speed automatic transmission.
Brian Carolin, a senior vice president for Nissan North America, said the new model "combines the low price of a used car with the dependability, high quality and full factory warranty of every new Nissan."
The current 1.8-liter Versa hatchback and sedan models produce 122 horsepower, which offers one of the highest standard horsepower/torque ratings in North America and the largest interior in the entry-level segment. Their fuel economy is rated at 26/31 mpg city/highway with a manual transmission and 24/32 with an automatic.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued its 2009 fuel economy guide
, with Smart cars and Volkswagen diesels now appearing on the government's top-10 list of most fuel-efficient vehicles available in America.
The Toyota Prius once again retains its position atop the list, with fuel-economy ratings of 48 miles per gallon in the city and 45 on the highway.
The additions to the top 10 list this year are the Smart ForTwo convertible and coupe and the Volkswagen Jetta diesels.
The Smarts, which arrived in the U.S. in January, were too late to make the 2008 guide. This year the Smart models hold down the No. 5 spot with ratings of 33 mpg city and 41 mpg highway.
The Jetta diesels were too heavy on emissions to enter the U.S. market last year, but they are in this year with improved emissions controls.
The Jetta diesel sedan and wagon with manual transmissions are in seventh place with ratings of 30 mpg city and 41 mpg highway. The sedan and wagon with automatic transmissions are in eighth place with ratings of 29 city and 40 highway.
Without further ado, here is the top 10 list for 2009:
Electric cars are the hot topic at this year's Paris auto show, with General Motors, Renault, Nissan, Smart and many lesser-known car manufacturers showing off a huge variety of EVs.
They range from wildly exotic supercars to tiny commuter cars that look ready to park in your driveway. Some are strictly concepts. Others could go on sale - even here in the U.S. -- much sooner than you think.
Green Car Advisor's man in Paris, contributor Nick Kurczewski, was at the show last week and offers some thoughts on the biggest electric-car newsmakers there.
Chevrolet Volt
- Yes, we've written a ton about it and you've read even more, but we still can't ignore it. There it was, sitting on the GM stand in Paris, bowtie gleaming in the spotlights.
Chevy's Volt is often called a plug-in hybrid, and it is a hybrid by definition. But it also is an electric car, using only an electric motor for propulsion.
Its small 1.4-liter gasoline engine cranks over only to recharge the batteries and never sends its power directly to the Volt's wheels.
Whether you consider it an EV or a hybrid, chances are the bigger factor in consumer acceptance of the four-door sedan will be its escalating price tag.
A new bill just signed by the White House makes the Volt eligible for a $7,500 federal income tax credit, but before applying that, the sticker price - which determines the size of down payments and monthly lease or purchase costs - is likely to be at or above $40,000 when it goes on sale in late 2010 in the U.S.
That's awfully steep sticker-price, especially considering that new Honda Insight hybrid will cost less than $20,000 when it arrives next year.
Renault Z.E. Concept
- Renault and its sister company, Nissan, are busy co-developing electric vehicles that will go on sale as early as 2010. The Z.E. Concept is the first indication as to where Renault is taking its version.
The design of the Z.E. - for Zero Emissions -- looks like a shortened version of the humble Renault Kangoo, a tall and boxy utility van currently sold throughout Europe. The green glass in the concept model adds a bizarre touch of show-car drama.
Other details include the use of rear-view cameras instead of side mirrors - to smooth out the aerodynamics and improve range - along with solar panels built into the roof, to aid battery recharging.
The Z.E. concept car uses double-walled insulating bodywork, which keeps the cabin cozy whether it is hot or cold outside and requires less energy from the ventilation system.
Its lithium-ion batteries provide a driving range between 60 to 90 miles.
Renault does not currently sell cars in America, which makes it unlikely the French manufacturer will ever bring its EV stateside.
But it's Japanese partner has other plans.
Nissan Nuvu
- Don't worry if you love the idea of an electric-powered Nissan but hate the blobby looks of the Nuvu concept car.
The 2+1 seat Nuvu is important chiefly because it offers a glimpse of the lithium-ion powered drivetrain of the electric vehicle Nissan says it will start selling in the U.S. in 2010.
The Japanese company reassures us that the quirky Nuvu is not a totally faithful indication of what this production car will eventually look like.
Under its skin, the Nuvu's battery pack provides a range of 75 miles and a top-speed of 78 miles per hour. Range will likely be improved, and the wacky looks toned down a bit when Nissan unveils a more accurate glimpse of its upcoming EV during next year's Tokyo motor show.
Looks like someone who's really into highlighters got to this Renault.
Called the Z.E. Concept -- as in Zero Emissions Concept -- this gem is the French automaker's vision of the electric vehicle as an efficient, user-friendly car.
It features lithium-ion batteries and a 70-kilowatt electric motor producing 166 foot-pounds of torque.
The electric vehicle is one of handful we can expect from the Renault-Nissan Alliance that aims to bring a string of EVs to market beginning in 2011.
The windows aren't simply intended to get attention, although they are doing plenty of that at the Paris Auto Show right now. Rather, they are intended help control the climate inside the vehicle without the use of electricity.
Just how the greenish yellow or yellowish green glass windows manage that is anyone's guess, as Renault doesn't offer an explanation, but they are undeniably fun.
In case you've been in a deep, dank cave with no wireless connection for the past few hours, the news du jour
is that the House has approved the Wall Street rescue measure that includes the original $700-billion in bail-out bucks plus wads of cash for renewable energy, biofuels and energy-efficiency programs.
The $17 billion energy package also includes a plug-in hybrids tax credit plan
with an estimated price tag of $1 billion. It won't expire until the auto industry has, collectively, sold 250,000 plug-in cars and trucks that run at least part of the time on all-electric drive from energy stored in rechargeable, on-board batteries.
While none of the major automakers has yet to offer a plug-in, just about all (Honda Motor Co. is a notable exception) are working on them, with General Motor Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt perhaps the best known of the bunch.
Reporters walking the floor of the Paris Auto Show this week, however, are seeing a lot more as European car makers seem to have embraced the idea
of electric cars and gas- and diesel-electric hybrids with a fervor usually associated with revival meeting preachers.
It's been pretty well established that there wasn't much of an auto market in the U.S. last month.
"Catastrophe" and "disaster" are applicable adjectives; "It sucked" is how some wags have described it.
---------- Sales of new GM hybrid SUVs like this Chevrolet Tahoe helped hybrid market. ----------
We've had Edmunds' crack number crunchers parsing the data for us, looking for any glimmer of hope that might be found in the "green" and fuel-efficiency parts of the market and, so, far, have to say that they haven't come up with much.
The first pass through Wednesday's raw sales data provides at look at how hybrids did in comparison to the market as a whole.
And depending on how you do the comparison - to the previous month or to the same month a year ago - we found a mixed message for September hybrid sales.
Hybrid Segment Outpaces Market
The market as a whole was down 26.5 percent from September 2007 and was off 22.5 percent from August '08. It was the first month since the late 1990s that sales dropped below the 1-million mark.
Thanks largely to the rapid and sudden shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S. - a shift driven by soaring fuel prices - industrywide fuel economy for new cars and trucks sold this year is expected to top 20.8 miles per gallon, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said today.
The new "real-word" figure from the EPA marks the fourth consecutive year fuel economy has risen since a gradual 16-year decline that began with the rise of the full-size truck and SUV markets in 1988 and ended in 2004 as Asian automakers began rapidly increasing their share of the U.S. market with vehicles that were markedly more efficient than domestic models.
In a preliminary report
released today, the EPA said it is estimating the average adjusted fuel economy for the light vehicle - or passenger - fleet this year will be at least 20.8 mpg, up 0.7% or two-tenths of a gallon, from last year.
That's still 1.2 miles per gallon, or 5.4 percent, below the all-time high of 22 mpg set in 1987.
For cars alone, the preliminary average is 24.1 miles per gallon, while the truck average is 18.1 mpg.
The agency said, though, that it expects final figures, to be released late this year, to show even higher averages for cars, trucks and the combined total.
We opined last week that Honda was skipping at least the initial heat of the battery electric vehicle race to concentrate on its hybrid and fuel-cell electric programs.
----------
Honda believes fuel-cell electric cars such as its FCX Clarity will be marketable before battery-electric vehicles can make the grade.
----------
Now comes word, via Bloomberg News, that the automaker also is bowing out of the plug-in hybrid contest.
Batteries just aren't advanced enough to make rechargeable gasoline-electric vehicles sensible replacements for gasoline-only cars, Honda research chief Masaaki Kato said in a recent interview with the business news service.
"For battery-powered vehicles to become more widespread, more popular in the market, we feel battery technology needs to advance further,'' Kato said. "We just don't see it providing the type of driving performance you get with a gasoline-powered vehicle.''
Honda's reticence flys in the face of aggressive moves by General Motors Corp, with its promised Volt plug-in sedan, due in fleets in small numbers toward the end of next year and scheduled for mass production at the end of 2010, and Toyota Motor Corp., which is developing a plug-in Prius hybrid for fleet use and has scheduled a late 2009 introduction (no word on when or if the car will be made available in the retail market).
Paris, fashion capital of the world, usually has more influence on what hangs in your closet than what's parked in your driveway.
But from October 4th through the 19th, when the doors to the Paris auto show are open to the public, the automobile takes center stage in the City of Lights, and big fuel economy numbers will be as essential to automakers as little red dresses or neatly tailored black suits are to the fashion world. Â
Car manufacturers will be displaying everything from hybrids, such as the new Honda Insight, to electric cars and fuel-sipping diesel and gas-powered models like the new Ford Ka and Toyota iQ (above) city cars.
To help whet your appetites, Green Car Advisor offers a look at the cars that are set to make the biggest impression in this distinctively enviro-chic auto show:
Honda Insight
The newest hybrid from Honda represents the Japanese company's most determined effort at cracking Toyota's stranglehold on this increasingly important market.
The five-passenger, four-door hatchback uses an improved version of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist system. Better fuel economy, a lower center of gravity and reduced cost are said to be the main benefits.
The Insight is expected to be cheaper than its rival, the next-generation Toyota Prius, when both cars go on sale early next year. Our one complaint: Why did Honda feel the need to copy the potatolike profile of the Prius?
Toyota iQ
If the Insight is Honda's take on a Prius fighter, the iQ is Toyota's attempt at outsmarting the Smart Fortwo.
The iQ is slightly longer than the Smart, and the Japanese city car offers two tiny rear seats, whereas the Fortwo -- as the name makes clear -- is strictly a two-seater.
The iQ goes on sale in Japan in October and in Europe later this year.
Will Toyota bring the iQ Stateside? The company's not saying, but with the sales success of the Smart Fortwo in America, it would be pretty dumb not to consider the idea. And Toyota's not noted for dumb.
While rivals in Japan are increasingly experimenting with small electric vehicles, Honda Motor Co. apparently is sticking to its guns and arguing that battery-electric cars still don't make sense.
The automaker, which already boasts the industry's most fuel-efficient fleet, doesn't believe that battery technology is sufficiently advanced to make a case for electric vehicles, Honda's research and development chief told industry trade journal Automotive News.
R&D chief Masaaki Kato said he sees EVs limited for now to short-range commuter and inter-city delivery vehicles.
Rival Toyota Motor Co. apparently figures that's a good-enough market and is joining Mitsubishi and Subaru in developing a minicar EV of its own.
And Nissan, Renault and several other carmakers apparently don't buy Honda's argument at all and have invested in battery-making enterprises and are designing full-service electric cars for the global market.
Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries has decided to join the growing cadre of carmakers hustling to launch battery-electric vehicles for the retail market.
A report in Automotive News, a subscription-only auto industry journal, says the company intends to build a limited run of four-seat minicar EVs with a range of 50 miles per charge. The cars will be based on the gasoline-fueled Subaru Stella model and intended for Japan's intra-city commuter market.
Actually, Subaru pretty much confirmed production plans for the car during the New York Auto Show in March, and introduced a few concept models of its EV at the recent G8 economic summit in Japan earlier this summer. But it's nice to see additional info hitting the media.
Subaru plans to launch the cars next year and is aiming to sell about 200 to fleet customers in Japan.
Like Mitsubishi's minicar-based i-MiEV electric car, the Subaru EV isn't intended for the U.S. market, Automotive News reports - although Fuji put a couple test cars into service in New York following the auto show there earlier this year and is about to wrap up a six-month test to gauge the cars' chances in this market.
(We also suspect that Mitsubish, which has tested its i-MiEV in the States, is rethinking its plans and considering the possibility that these tiny cars just might have a future here if marketed to the proper audience.)
Power for the Suby EV will be storied in and delivered by a lithium-ion battery pack from Automotive Energy Supply Corp. - a joint venture of Nissan Motor Co. and NEC.
A top executive at Nissan Motor Co. says the automaker is developing a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle, according to a Website that covers Japanese corporate news.
The report, posted by JCNnetwork Tuesday, quotes Nissan Vice President Mitsuhiko Yamashita. No further details were provided.
Yamashita effectively reiterated the ambitious electric-vehicle plans of Japan's No. 3 automaker. Green Car Advisorreported on those plans in detail less than a month ago.
Yamashita's remarks underscore how suddenly the automaker has embraced electric vehicles. Only three years ago, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn called battery-powered vehicles "niche products."
Today, Nissan, Toyota and other automakers are in a race to be first to bring affordable electric cars to U.S. showrooms.
The race to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles took an expected turn today, with German parts supplier Bosch and Korean electronics giant Samsung announcing they have received all regulatory approvals to launch a joint venture to develop the batteries.
The joint venture will be headquartered in Korea and bear the name SB LiMotive Co. Bosch and Samsung each own 50 percent of the new company.
The company's objective, Bosch and Samsung said in a statement, is to "series-manufacture highly efficient lithium-ion batteries customized to automotive requirements and to market them worldwide from 2011."
Samsung has extensive experience developing lithium-ion batteries for a broad range of non-automotive applications, including notebook computers, power tools and mobile handsets.
Bosch will contribute the experience it has gained in recent few years with its "Project House Hybrid," which focused on power electronics, battery management, electrical engines and transmission systems.
The development of new, advanced lithium-ion batteries is widely regarded as the last big obstacle separating a world in which the vast majority of vehicles are gasoline powered and a world predominated by gas-electric hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
SB LiMotive enters an increasingly competitive market. Among the companies that are working on advanced lithium-ion batteries are Mitsubishi, Honda, Sanyo, LG Chem, Compact Power, A123 Systems, Continental, General Motors, and Johnson Controls-Saft.
Many people if not most who buy a small or midsize sport utility vehicle do so because they believe it offers greater personal protection than a car. And for that extra measure of protection, they are willing to sacrifice fuel economy.
Today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced that the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid earned top ratings in recent crash-test evaluations, bringing to three the number of hybrid SUVs getting superior mileage without compromising safety.
The other hybrid SUVs earning top-safety-pick honors from the respected institute are the midsize 2008 Saturn Vue Hybrid and the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which the institute had previously evaluated.
But the big winner announced today by the institute was the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan, which outperformed the competition in recent front, side and rear crash test evaluations of eight small SUV models.
The 2009 Escape, including the hybrid version, 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander and 2008 Nissan Rogue joined the Tiguan in earning top ratings in all three of the institute's evaluations. All four models come equipped with electronic stability control and side airbags, which the institute considered very important.
The institute ratings of good, acceptable, marginal or poor are based on results of front and side crash tests, plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against whiplash injury in rear crashes.
The 2008 Chevrolet Equinox, 2008 Jeep Patriot, 2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara and 2-door 2008 Jeep Wrangler all earned the second-lowest rating of marginal.
In case you've been wondering, major automakers and the lame-duck Bush Administration have reaffirmed their joint commitment to hydrogen fuel and to getting fuel-cell electric and other hydrogen-using vehicles into the retail market by 2018.
The happy group renewed its vows during a hydrogen technology showcase Thursday in Washington.
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A pair of Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric Vehicles are shown in rendering of a hydrogen fuel station being installed near los Angeles International Airport.
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"With continued investment, hydrogen holds the potential to help fundamentally change the way we power our vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Bud Albright, an Energy Department undersecretary, said in remarks delivered during the public showcase.
The Energy Department, Transportation Department, nine automakers with prototype hydrogen-using vehicles and a number of fuel companies and other hydrogen advocates are in the midst of a cross-country tour to promote hydrogen as the logical successor to oil for fueling cars and trucks.
The manufacturers in "Hydrogen Road Tour '08" are BMW, Daimler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai-Kia, Nissan Motor Co., Toyota Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.
Chrysler will spend $1.8 billion to convert a Detroit automotive plant tooled to produce the full-size Jeep Grand Cherokee into a factory rolling out more fuel-efficient, car-based crossovers.
Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda, speaking Wednesday at a conference in Traverse City, Michigan, said the Auburn Hills-based automaker intends to make a "new generation of world-class vehicles" at the factory.
While skimping on specifics, LaSorda said the new vehicles would be "of various sizes and dimensions" and represent an "evolution" of the older, gas-guzzling Jeeps.
The 2.7 million-square-foot Jefferson North assembly plant was built in 1991 and expanded in 1999. Its main product has been the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The current Grand Cherokee (above) began production in August 2004 and the Jeep Commander was added in July 2005.
No vehicle illustrates Chrysler's financial woes more than the Grand Cherokee. Unlike its competition, the SUV had a so-called unibody construction rather than a body mounted on a truck frame.
We brought you news of Nissan's new rear-wheel drive hybrid
system earlier this month, now we're reviewing the prototype we drove in Japan.
Short version is that we liked it and think that when it gets here in late 2010 it will be a gret addition to the lineup of hybrids carmakers are offering. But there's still a lot of development work and fine-tuning to be done.
For the long version, click here to read our review of the prototype -- First Drive: 2008 Infiniti GT35 Hybrid -- on Edmunds Inside Line. Â
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced Monday that it will build a factory to meet an expected fivefold increase in demand for lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles.
The plant will open after April 2009 and have initial output of 200,000 battery cells per year -- enough for 2,000 cars.
Mitsubishi will ramp up capacity to equip 10,000 vehicles "shortly afterward," amid higher hopes for its i MiEV plug-in electric vehicle (below), the company said in a statement. The four-passenger i MiEV, which runs on LEV50 lithium-ion batteries (above right), goes on sale in Japan next summer.
Mitsubishi's new factory will be operated by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture with GS Yuasa Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. It will be located in the western prefecture of Shiga.
Earlier plans had called for GS Yuasa to make the batteries at an existing plant in Kyoto, with annual output for 1,000 vehicles. But the partners decided that a bigger plant was needed to meet growing demand for fuel-efficient cars.
As Green Car Advisor reported last week, the all-electric, zero-emissions i MiEV will be tested in California this year to evaluate a U.S. launch.
The i MiEV is the centerpiece of Mitsubishi's effort to leapfrog Japanese rivals in the green-car race. Lithium-ion batteries are seen as critical to that effort because they are lighter and more powerful than the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in most hybrid and all-electric vehicles today.
Rivals such Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. also are developing lithium-ion batteries. Nissan has a joint venture with NEC Corp. and plans to start production next year. Toyota is teaming with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. on its own battery technology.
With established rent-a-car companies reporting that they are having trouble meeting customer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, a Southern California company has begun renting nothing but hybrid vehicles.
Business has been brisk at Eqocar in Burbank since it opened its doors three months ago, General Manager Nick Hamed told Green Car Advisor today. Hamed said Eqocar, which rents only hybrid vehicles, is in talks to open four more rental-car centers, all in California.
Eventually, the company would like to expand nationwide, Hamed said.
Eqocar has a fleet of 45 hybrids, which include the Toyota Prius, Camry and Highlander hybrids, Ford Escape Hybrid, Lexus LS600h L, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe hybrids, and the Nissan Altima hybrid. Daily rates range from $59 for the Prius to $650 for the LS600h L.
There are plans to add the extended-range plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt, hybrid versions of the Smart Fortwo, Chrysler Aspen, Cadillac Escalade, and Porsche Cayenne and Panamera, as well as the Tesla and Fisker plug-in sports cars and the bubbled-faced three-wheel Aptera to the rental fleet, Hamed said.
The Aptera is reminiscent of vehicles appearing in The Jetsons, a futuristic cartoon series produced during 1962 and '63.
Honda's FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric car (right) is one of 10 vehicles traveling 'cross country in Hydrogen Road Tour '08.
Ever wonder what a hydrogen fuel cell really looks like, or how a fuel-cell electric vehicle handles? Itching to try that hydrogen-burning BMW 7-Series that so far has been piloted publicly only by high profile business, entertainment and political people?
(Article modified at 6:45 a.m, Pacific Daylight Time)
Your chance of laying eyes, or hands, on a vehicle using what many still believe will be the fuel of the future increases beginning today as a coalition of hydrogen backers launch a 13-day, 18-state, 31-city, cross-country tour to boost interest in hydrogen vehicles.
We wish them well. And we hope everyone who has a chance stops by, takes a look - or a drive - and becomes a hydrogen missionary.
But there's a sad note to what is being billed as the "Hydrogen Road Tour '08."
At times, Mostly,
the vehicles will be trucked rather than driven to locations very near their various destinations on diesel or gasoline-burning commercial carriers. After being off-loaded, they'll be driven under their own power just a few short miles to the venues.
We told you earlier this week about an ad on Israeli television
touting the fuel efficiency of the Nissan Tiida (sold here as the Versa) that had offended Saudi Arabian sensibilities for the way it portrayed a few Arab oil moguls cursing the car for its negative impact on oil sales.
"Hawks should peck at you night and day!" one traditionally garbed oil magnate shouts at the car.
The initial story, as broadcast on Saudi Arabia's state-owned MBC TV, made it sound as though the ad had been developed by Nissan.
But the carmaker says that's not the case.
It was an ad developed, produced and paid for by an independent Nissan distributor group in Israel, said Nissan spokesman Simon Sproule.
Indeed, Nissan "didn't know about, didn't review it and had nothing to do with it," he said, adding that Nissan dealers and distributors are free to spend their own money on their own advertising without asking Nissan to first okay the material.
After learning that the ad was viewed by at least some in Saudi Arabia as offensive, Nissan did, however, ask the distributor to stop airing it -- a request, Sproule said, that has been agreed to and complied with.
As for the suggestion by a Saudi representative interviewed in the MBC broadcast that Nissan apologize for the ad or face a boycott, well, that doesn't seem to have much traction.
Nissan hasn't received any such request from the Saudi government, insiders said.
With violence in the Gaza escalating last week and chances of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal crumbling, who'da thunk the lead story on an prominent Arab newscast Sunday night would revolve around a Nissan commercial
promoting the fuel efficiency of one of its cars?
But Saudi Arabia's MBC TV began its Sunday night news broadcast with an outraged report about a Nissan commercial for its Tiida (pronounced Tee-da), a somewhat-sporty economy car that goes easy on the gas.
The advertisement, which has been airing in Israel, depicts wealthy Arab oil barons cursing and otherwise assailing the Tiida, enraged that the car is so fuel stingy.
"You destroyed my home! May God destroy your home!" one shouts at the little white car with a tan interior. "Hawks should peck at you day and night," says another.
It's entirely possible that some Israelis have found the commercial amusing and that possibility angered some Saudis, but that's only a hunch.
After showing snippets of the commercial, MBC proceeded to interview a Saudi representative, who was asked why he thought Israel would broadcast the commercial.
Nissan packaged its new electric vehicle ssytem in a Cube compact van for testing, but is planning a more conventional sedan for production.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
OPPAMA, Japan -- Much of the rest of the auto industry seems to be slowing down, but Nissan Motor Co., hoping to ride the green wave to growth in the U.S. and globally, is pumping billions into environmental initiatives that executives say could propel the company to the top tier of automakers in a just a few years.
In pursuit of that goal, Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's charismatic chief, already has committed the company to zero-emissions leadership by 2012.
Nissan this year has announced plans for a rear-wheel-drive hybrid and a battery-powered electric car by 2010; has formed a partnership with electronics giant NEC to develop a new generation of powerful lithium-ion batteries for hybrids and EVs; is helping develop a rapid charging system for electric cars that could recharge battery packs in as little as 10 minutes; and continues development work to commercialize hydrogen fuel cells for automotive use.
It showed off many of those technologies for the first time in a seminar this week at its research and development facilities in this port city southwest of Toyko.
The company isn't alone. As fuel prices have soared globally and international concerns about energy independence grows, most automakers have begun or stepped up efforts to bring alternative fuel and alternative power plant cars and trucks to market.
But Nissan is a standout for its push for battery EVs and its determination to make the technology -- promising in the late 1990s but long-since abandoned by most -- viable once again.
On Wednesday (Tuesday night in the U.S.) Nissan let a group of journalists try out prototypes of its 2010 EV and hybrid powertrains and showed us the technology behind the advanced lithium-ion batteries that will make them go.
Minoru Shinohara (right)
, Nissan's senior vice president of technology development, told Green Car Advisor
that the company sees a business advantage in EVs and intends to be the industry leader in affordable, mass market zero emission cars that use batteries to power electric motors.
Nissan also wants to be a leader in providing the batteries and the battery-charging infrastructure that will make EVs work, he said.
While others champion the gas-electric hybrid and the plug-in hybrid with limited all-electric range, Nissan's faith in the all-electric vehicle is based on its belief that people all over the world are moving out of suburbia and back into cities as they try to minimize commutes and economize on fuel.
Nissan's Eco Pedal, unveiled in Tokyo today, calculates the rate of fuel consumption and transmission efficiency during acceleration and cruising and then calculates the optimum acceleration rate, Edmunds.com's Inside Linereports
.
"When the driver exerts excess pressure on the accelerator, the system counteracts with the pedal push-back control mechanism," the automaker said, adding that the system can be turned on or off based on the driver's preference.
A gauge on the instrument panel shows the "optimal level for fuel-efficient driving." A green light shows that you're exerting the proper pressure on the pedal to achieve the best fuel economy; it flashes when it detects increased acceleration and turns to amber as a final warning.
Nissan said drivers can expect to improve fuel efficiency by 5-10 percent, depending on driving conditions. The automaker plans to commercialize the Eco Pedal during 2009, but it did not say whether it will be offered on all of its vehicles.
Honeywell International
has been selected by Ford Motor Co. to develop turbochargers for the first of its EcoBoost engines
, which will initially appear in next year's 2010 Lincoln MKS.
The new turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 engine will perform like a large V-8, but will deliver the fuel economy of a V-6, Honeywell announced today.
To help bring the new engine to market, Honeywell says it leveraged the latest advances in turbine design and materials to optimise the performance and ensure the reliability of its gasoline turbo technology.
The twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 will deliver upwards of 340-plus pound-feet of torque across a wide engine range - 2,000-5,000 rpm - versus 270 to 310 pound-feet of torque for a conventional naturally aspirated 4.6-liter V-8 over the same speed range.
Honeywell expects the global turbocharger segment to grow from 30 percent of the overall automotive market to more than 38 percent by 2013 as automakers look to boost engines to help increase fuel-efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions without sacrificing performance.
Honeywell provides turbochargers to many automakers, including BMW, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen.
The future of diesel passenger vehicles in the U.S. market is coming under question by some in the auto industry as diesel fuel continues to run about 20 percent higher than gasoline, nearly erasing the diesel vehicle's fuel efficiency advantage.
But European automakers with a strong diesel product line - including Volkswagen
, Mercedes-Benz
and BMW
- all say they will stick with their plans to launch a number of 50-state legal diesels in the U.S. in coming months and years.
The doubters are no slouches, though.
We've written about Nissan Motor Co.'s diesel concerns
(which exist even though the company intends to being a diesel car to the U.S.) and on Monday the Wall Street Journal
quoted a board member from tier-one auto industry supplier Continental saying he's become more skeptical about the economics of diesel in the U.S.
Fuel-Sipper Savings
Our own number crunching,
however, shows that even at a 20 percent fuel price disadvantage, diesels can still save money at the pump because they can deliver 30 percent or better fuel economy over gasoline-fueled versions of the same models.
The new diesels also are qualifying for federal green car tax credits that help offfset the diesel premium carmakers charge to cover the higher cost of diesel engines and emissions equipment.
Right, Nissan's Denki Cube concept, the battery-electric version of the popular Cube compact van.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Never one to pussyfoot around an issue, Carlos Ghosn turns up his nose at the idea of a plug-in hybrid, insisting that any electric cars sold in the U.S. by Nissan - one of the two automakers Ghosn heads - will be "pure" EVs.
In remarks Ghosn made to reporters Tuesday following the dedication of Nissan North America's new headquarters in a suburb of Nashville, Tenn., Ghosn said that building range-extended electric hybrids with on-board gasoline or diesel generators is an "unsustainable" plan because they still will depend on the world's diminishing supply of oil.
Same for conventional and plug-in hybrids, he said, reports Michelle Krebs, editor of Edmunds Auto Observer and a member of the press corps Ghosn was addressing.
Interesting, because Nissan still has hybrid plans of its own.
Right, BMW 7 Hydrogen on Nürburgring racetrack. The car or one like it will be available for test drives.
The Detroit area is famous for the Woodward Dream Cruise, a summertime showcase of thousands of hotrods, muscle cars and other exotics.
Now in an effort to improve Motown's gas-guzzling image, a new group has organized what they call Nextcruise, which will actually give the public an opportunity to drive what many see as the next generation of vehicles - hybrids, fuel cell, clean-diesel, plug-in electric and other green machines.
The low-emissions, fuel-efficient vehicles will be available for free 15-minute drives on a first-come, first-served basis in Pleasant Ridge, just outside Detroit, in mid-August.
The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at Memorial Park, 23925 Woodward Avenue, Pleasant Ridge 48069-1199.
Nine automakers have agreed to provide green vehicles and green-car-technology demonstrations for event to date. They are: General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
After all, Nissan is there, in a master-planned business park next door to Nashville; Nissan wants to promote electric vehicles; and the Tennessee Valley Authority, which oversees a vast hydroelectric empire, has juice to spare.
-----------------
Nissan's Mixim EV Concept, right
-----------------
So Nissan and the state of Tennessee announced today that they are forming a partnership (actually, Tennessee and the Renault-Nissan Alliance) to promote zero emission vehicles - a category that right now includes only electric vehicles.
Nissan, which has said it will begin marketing electric vehicles in the U.S. in 2010, apparently will provide the ZEVs, while the state, working with the TVA and other corporate and non-profit participants, will work on ways to keep those electric cars running. That would include installation of publicly available recharging stations.
Efforts initially will be focused on the mid-Tennessee region along the Interstate 24 and Interstate 65 corridors.
The Tennessee Valley Authority - the nation's largest public power supplier - "is looking forward to being part of this project to explore the potential of electric vehicles," said TVA Chairman William B. Sansom.
"Electric vehicles could put electricity to work overnight, or off-peak, when other power needs are lower," he added, "and that has the potential to be an economic and environmental plus for all of us."
Lithium Ion battery packs being tested in U.S. at Argonne National Laboratory.
We don't think this is one of those signs and portents that mark the impending end of the world, but it does seem a near miracle: Several Japanese automakers, battery developers and power companies reportedly have agreed to work together to establish a global standard for lithium-ion batteries.
If you can remember back to the late 1990s and early 2000s and the days of the EV1, Nissan Altra, Toyota RAV4 EV and other first-generation electric vehicles built in extremely limited numbers to meet California's then-new Zero Emissions Vehicles mandate, you'll also remember that there were several types of batteries in use and two competing charging systems required.
That added more complexity and cost to an already complex and costly new-vehicle development program and helped hasten the demise of hopes for a vast fleet of readily available, affordable and easy-to-charge EVs.
A global standard, which means - among other things - that all battery systems would be designed to use the use the same recharging system, is one of the things needed if there is to be any chance of bringing back the battery-electric vehicle in a meaningful way.
Soy foam in the seats the Ford F-150 pickups and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. Locally farmed hemp
, "ethically produced" woolen fabric and floor mats made of sisal in the Lotus Eco Elise.
Some automakers are increasingly going to great lengths to make the interiors of some of their models if not environmentally friendly, at least a bit wholesome.
But others, well...
Early today the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, posted its second-annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and children's car seats at www.HealthyCar.org.
More than two hundred 2008- and 2009-model-year vehicles and more than 60 children's car seats were tested for unhealthy chemicals that seep in gaseous form from the steering wheel, dashboard, armrests, seats and carpet.
The "new-car smell," as the gases are commonly called, mingle with the air occupants breathe and have been linked to allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer.
The Ecology Center reported that Mazda, General Motors and Nissan improved since last year's findings, with GM showing the greatest gains of the domestic automakers, with an average vehicle ranking improvement of 27 percent.
The list of the 10 best and 10 worst vehicles as picked by the Center appears in the chart above.
Average child-car-seat scores improved 28 percent overall. The list of 10 best and worst car seats for 2008 as picked by the Center appears at left. Click on the chart for a better look.
Below are the three worst 2008-model-year vehicles by interior pollution, according to the Center (click on each to enlarge). From left to right: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Suzuki Reno and Volkswagen New Beetle.
Below are are the three best vehicles by interior pollution, according to the Center (click on each to enlarge). From left to right: Acura RXD, Chevrolet Cobalt and Smart Passion Cabriolet.
The Automotive News reported today that Tesla Motors, the fledgling California electric-car maker, received a 2008 corporate average fuel economy rating of 244.0 miles per gallon.
Indeed, here's their entire article on the matter:
"The latest government fuel economy report says 2008-model cars and trucks sold in the United States will average 26.8 mpg, up only slightly from 26.6 mpg in 2007.
"But one eye-popping number appears in the report: Tesla Motors, the upstart maker of an electric sports car, gets a 2008 corporate average fuel economy rating of 244 mpg. The federal CAFE standard for cars is 27.5 mpg.
"The figures show government may have more work to do to compare fairly the energy and environmental impact of electric vehicles with those that use gasoline. But Tesla's CAFE number is more than a curiosity. It could mean cash.
"Tesla Vice President Darryl Siry told Automotive News today the company is eager to sell its CAFE credits when trading begins. 'It's all upside for us,' he said."
That's our sensational headline for 2008, but there's more than a smidgen of truth in it.
Last year Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Ecology Center released the first-ever consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and child car seats -- and what they reported was sickening.
The odor you inhale when you slide into a new car? It might very well be bromine, chlorine, lead, other harmful chemicals or a witches' brew of them. They've been linked to birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, premature births and, no doubt, cancer.
If you think the government protects you against such things, think again. Some of the vehicles on the road today are veritable toxic dumps on wheels. And many drivers are exposed to these chemicals through inhalation and contact with dust every day.
In case you missed last year's report, Ecology Center found the most toxic vehicles were the Nissan Versa, Chevy Aveo, Scion xB 5dr and the Kia Rio. The least toxic vehicles were the Chevy Cobalt, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Honda Odyssey and the Volvo V50.
Next Tuesday -- July 22 -- Ecology Center will release its second annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and child car seats, and if you're thinking of buying a new car anytime soon, you'll want to check it out. The guide will be posted at www.healthycar.org a little after midnight on the 22nd.
The first-ever international conference dedicated exclusively to plug-in electric hybrid technology will be held in California's Silicon Valley next week.
"Plug-In 2008: A Short Drive to Tomorrow" takes place July 21-24 in San Jose. The event is open to anyone and on-site registration is available.
Admission isn't cheap, with full access to the conference starting at $250 for students with ID, but everyone who's anyone in the PHEV world will be there. Among the attendees:
Senior representatives from the automakers, high-tech component manufacturers, electric utilities, state and federal government.
Exhibitors who will showcase the latest innovations associated with PHEVs and supporting electricity infrastructure.
Scientists who will share current technical research on PHEVs in areas including batteries, powertrains and vehicle to home technology.
Analysts who will discuss the business case for PHEVs, including potential adoption scenarios, customer segments and profit potential.
Policymakers who will explain how regulations impact PHEVs and the electricity grid, and how future rules may accelerate PHEV adoption.
Clean-tech entrepreneurs who will outline their ideas to expand the PHEV market with new technologies for vehicles and communication systems.
While most automakers have shifted production to focus on smaller vehicles, nearly 70 percent of consumers want the companies to invest more in existing and emerging powertrain technologies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study released today.
Now in its third year, the Alternative Powertrain Study examines the reasons why consumers consider or avoid alternative powertrain vehicles, such as gas-electric hybrid, flex fuel and clean diesel models.
The study includes the Automotive Environmental Index, which rates the 2008-model-year vehicles on the basis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data to fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as expert input from J.D. Power & Associates.
The study found that more than 80 percent of the 4,000 consumers polled believe the U.S. is currently facing an energy crisis. Only 18 percent of these respondents believe the issue can be addressed by building small, fuel-efficient vehicle.
Thirty percent believe automakers should continue to produce a comparable vehicle lineup with a focus on gas-electric hybrid, clean diesel and flexible-fuel vehicles, while another 39 percent believe carmakers should focus on developing fuel cell and all-electric vehicles.
Choosing a fuel-efficient automobile was a whole lot simpler 30 years ago, the last time the U.S. was in the throes of a gasoline price crisis. It was often as simple as buying a small vehicle with a manual transmission.
Today, with gas prices soaring to new record highs almost weekly, finding fuel economy means navigating an almost bewildering selection of vehicles. Even enormous SUVs can qualify if they come equipped with gasoline-electric hybrid drive systems.
Behind this tremendous hike in choices -- to a fairly significant extent, experts say -- has been a concomitant increase in the variety of transmissions.
Whereas in the 1970s there were only four- and five-speed manual transmissions and three- and four-speed automatic transmissions, now there are six-speed manual, six-, seven- and eight-speed automatic, six- and seven-speed "dual-clutch" automatic-manual, and continuously variable transmissions.
The result: more efficient engine operation and higher fuel economy in every car, whether it's a high-performance Porsche Carrera or a modest Volkswagen Jetta.
But there are important differences among these sophisticated transmissions, including in how much they contribute to better fuel efficiency. Knowing those differences may help you the next time you're in the market for a new car.
Assuming the major impediment to creating electric vehicles for the masses can be overcome -- that being development of batteries that are lightweight, powerful, reliable, long-lived, cheap, non-toxic, fast-charging, and easy to recycle and eventually dispose of -- all that stands in the way of a world where the EV is king is the installation of millions of recharging stations.
As frequent visitors to this blog know, there are armies of brainiacs working on the battery problem, and a far fewer number of people working on the recharging-stations problem. Skeptics say EVs will stay niche until motorists feel confident there are enough recharging stations around to rejuvenate their batteries when they need rejuvenating. Gas-powered cars, they say, would have been doomed had it not been for gas stations. Right? Right.
But if recent events portend things to come, the Renault Nissan Alliance is taking serious steps to overcome the recharging-stations hurdle. Its solution: a mix of public-private and private-private pacts.
Its most recent success story unfolded Wedesday, when alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to lay the groundwork for use of electric vehicles in Portugal.
Even the ever-popular Toyota Prius crashed in June as sales fell almost 34 percent from a year earlier.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Trucks and SUVs weren't the only types of vehicles that took a big hit in June's car market massacre.
Car salesmen who couldn't move conventional cars were equally unlikely to have hawked any hybrids.
From Toyota's popular Prius to Lexus' luxury LS 600h, sales of the usually popular and fast-moving gas-electric fuel savers were down 30 percent from a year earlier and were off 31.4 percent from May.
Premium Not a Big Factor
A small part of the decline is likely due to the so-called hybrid premium that makes the cars cost more than their conventional counterparts because of the extra equipment packed on board. Every hybrid comes with two powertrains, an expensive battery pack and a load of sophisticated electronic controls to make it all work together.
At a time when consumers -- hit hard by falling real estate values and a rising unemployment rate -- are buckling down for what increasingly looks like a national recession, penny pinching becomes the rule of the day.
Cheap but fuel-sipping economy cars that many wouldn't have glanced at on their way to the hybrid sections of their dealers' lots suddenly are looking a lot more interesting to many.
Indeed, subcompact and compact cars captured a 27 percent share of the U.S. auto market last month, up from 17 percent four years ago and a 35 percent gain from just three months ago.
But price was only a small part of the hybrid story in June, said Jesse Toprak, senior industry analyst for Edmunds.com.
Cloudy Crystal Ball
The real reason all but one hybrid model fell from June 2007 levels was that automakers -- like just about every other business in the country -- failed to anticipate such a fast and furious economic decline and such a rapid run-up in the price of gasoline.
Renault today unveiled additional details and a schematic of the Scenic ZEV H2, the fuel cell-electric prototype we blogged about last month that loads Nissan's fuel cell technology and lithium-ion batteries onto Renault's five-seat Grand Scenic minivan.
The French carmaker says the Scenic ZEV H2 (for zero emissions vehicle, hydrogen) project is part of wider, continuing efforts with its Japanese alliance partner to develop and bring to market a range of zero-emission vehicles.
Renault engineers redesigned the Scenic's floor and raised its ground clearance by 2.3 inches to accommodate Nissan's fuel-cell stack, a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank, and lithium-ion batteries.
Instrumentation has been adapted to the new powertrain...
Chevy Aveo tops ownership cost study. Civic hybrid and other gas-electric vehicles don't fare well because of hybrid premium in initial purtchase price.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
If saving money is your thing, and in these rugged economic times who isn't into that, then Chevrolet, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all have cars for you.
But they aren't hybrids
Previous studies using Edmunds' True Market Value calculations have shown that the so-called hybrid premium makes it difficult for the fuel-efficient cars and SUVs to save enough on fuel to earn back the higher price automakers charge for the advanced technology packed into a gas-electric powertrain.
Now a new Edmunds.com True Cost to Own study finds that even with their sometimes hefty federal tax credits, hybrids slip well down into the pack when long-term ownership costs are considered.
The Civic Hybrid is No. 14 in the TCO rankings being released today, while the nation's best-selling hybrid, Toyota's Prius, doesn't even make the top 25. It finished 34th overall, although it is in second place among hybrids.
BMW's X6 gets critic's nod as one of silliest packages on the market.
As do most automotive evaluators, we here at Edmunds are criticized from time to time for having an import bias.
Well, if we ever did, Auto Observer sage Bill Visnic is putting things right today with a funny – and insightful – critique of a number of vehicles, foreign and domestic, that were given the green-light back when gas was cheap and the economy wasn't lying in a hospital bed on life support.
Sure, his piece on automotive DOAs skewers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, but it doesn't do any favors for the likes of Honda, Toyota, Nissan, BMW and Volkswagen, either...
Nissan Motor Co. will reportedly respond to Honda's much-anticipated CR-Z with a compact gasoline-electric hybrid sports car of its own.
7tune.com reported today
that Nissan is working on a two-door, front-wheel-drive four-seater (above) with specifications very similar to those of the CR-Z, which is set for release early next year. A photo of the CR-Z concept appears at right...
Tundra and Sequoia (below) are victims of $4 gasoline and weak economy.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Even giants stumble.
Toyota is cutting production at its truck plants in San Antonio, Texas, and Princeton, Ind., and at its Alabama truck engine plant, hoping to adjust to the steep and sudden plunge in sales of large pickups and sport utility vehicles as shell-shocked consumers scramble for more fuel-efficient transportation.
The automaker, famed for its ability to read the market, also is dismissing all 200 members of the fulltime temporary workforce – contract workers supplied by a temp agency – at the San Antonio plant, where production is dedicated to the Tundra full-size pickup. The Indiana plant, which builds both the Tundra and the full-size Sequoia SUV, has no temporary workers.
"This is a painful but necessary step, given the state of the economy," said Toyota manufacturing spokesman Mike Goss.
$4-a-gallon gasoline, a moribund housing construction industry and a weak overall economy points to a permanent change in auto-buying habits in North America, with sales of small cars and compact trucks and SUVs expected to continue rising while sales of large trucks and SUVs shrink.
At present sales rates, it would take Toyota dealers about four months to sell out the backlog of built but unsold Tundras and Sequoias.
Among green vecicles to be shown by Japan's carmakers at July economic summit will be (clockwise from top left) Mitsubishi battery-electric i MiEV, Toyota Crown hybrid, Honda Clarity fuel cell and Nissan X-Trail clean diesel.
By Peter Nunn, Contributor
TOKYO-- Japan's automakers are rolling out a big green carpet for the coming G8 economic summit on the northern isle of Hokkaido.
Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Honda are among those planning major environmental vehicle and technology displays at the July 7-9 meeting.
As the world’s leaders and media gather up in Hokkaido, the G8 meeting is seen as the perfect platform to promote Japan's new, green-era cars -- even though no new, previously unseen models or technologies are likely to be unveiled.
"The G8 represents an important opportunity to showcase our latest environmental technologies," said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of Nissan’s global communications department in Tokyo.
"With environmental challenges an important part of the agenda for the G8 meeting, we want to ensure the delegates can see for themselves the progress being made in the auto industry."
True to its word, Honda Motor Co. began production of its long-awaited FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric sedan this evening (Monday morning in Japan) and said that it would begin putting the strikingly sculpted vehicles into the hands of carefully selected customers early next month.
The first of the cars, which produce electricity from hydrogen gas and oxygen and emit only water vapor from their tailpipes, will go to Hollywood producer ("Little Miss Sunshine") Ron Yerxa, who traveled to Japan to attend the ceremony at Honda's new fuel-cell vehicle assembly facility at its advanced R&D campus in Tochigi, about 100 miles north of Tokyo.
Honda introduced the production model of the garnet-red car at the 2007 Los Angeles International Auto Show in November and said at the time that it would launch a three-year Clarity leasing program this summer.
Yerxa and other lessees – there will be about 200 in Southern California and Japan by the end of 2011 – will pay $600 a month and will be required to provide considerable feed-back to Honda about their experiences with the vehicle.
Closer But No Cigar
"This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel cell cars will be part of the mainstream," John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, said in a statement.
"Our customers and dealers share in our vision for a cleaner and more sustainable transportation future, and share in our challenge to embrace a new generation of automotive technology that we think will carry the auto industry and its customers into the future."
While fuel cell cars represent the auto industry's best effort so far to free the motor vehicle from its dependence on oil and to avoid some of the perceived pitfalls of using rechargeable batteries to store power for electric cars, the technology is not without problems.
The head of research and development for Nissan Motor Co. predicts advances in lithium-ion battery technology will boost the range of electric vehicles to 248 miles by 2015.
Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan's executive vice president for research and development, said advances in lithium-ion battery technology will dramatically boost the operating range of electric vehicles, potentially broadening their appeal, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The breakthrough will come with fourth-generation lithium-ion batteries that will be ready by 2015, he said. The current generation of lithium-ion batteries have a much smaller range, confining the use of electric vehicles to mainly urban commute distances of under 60 miles.
We presume Yamashita was confining his remarks to battery packs that are little enough to fit in small vehicles such as Nissan's all-electric Cube concept, pictured above, and priced low enough to keep the cost of the vehicles within the reach of most consumers. Nissan is currently testing lithium-ion batteries in the vehicle.
Chrysler LLC is developing a global compact car model based on the Dodge Hornet concept car (above) that debuted at the 2006 Geneva Auto Show, Financial Times Germany reported Wednesday, citing Thomas Hausch, the company's vice president for international purchasing.
"We are working intensely on the Hornet study," Hausch said. "I think we will announce something on this in the future."
The new model will likely be launched in 2010 in Europe, the U.S. and other markets, the newspaper said...
Toyota's Prius is not only the sales leader but the payback champ as well.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
What a difference a little panic buying and $4-a-gallon gas can make!
In a piece posted last month, we reported that the payback period for hybrid cars shrunk a bit in March, with four models -- 30 percent of the market segment at the time -- whose fuel savings could amortize the so-called hybrid premium in under 5 years.
Now we're talking terms like 11 years, 14 years, even 99 years for one luxury model.
The premium is the extra cost of a hybrid over that of the comparable non-hybrid model in the same manufacturer's lineup. The payback period is the time it takes to recoup that difference with fuel savings.
This month, with two new hybrid models in the mix, for a total of 15, there are only three models -- 20 percent of the segment -- with a reasonable chance of paying back the premium in less than five years: Toyota's Prius, Nissan's Altima and Chevrolet's two-mode Tahoe SUV.
The difference between then and now is the rise in gas prices – regular was 37 cents a gallon more when June's figures were crunched – and the rush to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Demand Boosts Premium
Higher demand has stiffened sales prices for hybrids and other cars and crossover SUVs with decent fuel economy while dealers and manufacturers are discounting less-efficient conventional gasoline models to try to move them off the lots.
That boosts the difference between the retail price of a hybrid and the equivalent gasoline model in a manufacturer's lineup, and makes it harder for the hybrid to earn back its price premium from fuel savings alone.
Autowriters from all over the world last month traveled to Portugal to drive and familiarize themselves with Nissan Motor Co.'s entire global model range – nearly half a hundred Nissan and Infiniti models and their derivatives.
Green Car Advisor Senior Editor John O'Dell was there and filed one piece on the automaker's plans to introduce two electric vehicle models to North America, and another on his experience behind the wheel of the Nissan vehicle he liked most – the Micra, pictured above – which is not available on this side of the Pacific.
Today, Auto Observer Senior Editor Bill Visnic, who was at the Nissan event as well, describes how the company, like most of its Japanese rivals, is intrinsically better positioned to deal with drastically changing demand from U.S. customers for smaller, more efficient vehicles...
Ford Motor Co. has added a hatchback version of the Fiesta to the 2010 North American launch of the small economy car, which will be sold alongside the sedan.
Ford will build the hatchback and sedan at its plant in Cuautitlán, Mexico, starting in early 2010 as part of a $3 billion investment in the country, the automaker said in a statement today.
The Fiesta will give Ford a fuel-efficient competitor against such cars as the Honda Fit and the Nissan Versa...
Nissan X Fuel Cell Vehicle will begin making rounds in Europe next month.
Nissan and Renault haven't started making and marketing their much-anticipated battery-electric cars yet, but already are moving beyond batteries to hydrogen fuel cells.
The first, previously announced, steps in the Renault-Nissan Alliance's "zero-emission motoring future," as the companies call it, is to begin selling battery EVs in the U.S. and Japan by the end of 2010 and to mass-market them in Israel and Denmark beginning in 2011 as part of an energy independence program developed by California entrepreneur Shai Agassi and his Project Better Place foundation.
Step Two, the companies said Thursday, is to continue development of fuel-cell electric vehicles.
Nissan Motor Co.
has launched a carbon-offset program linked to vehicle sales as part of the company's efforts to combat global warming.
For every March Collet compact car sold in Japan, Nissan will acquire one carbon credit issued under the Kyoto Protocol, the Japanese automaker said in a statement Tuesday.
One carbon credit represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
It's turning into a banner year for hybrid and other green car news.
After all the Honda hoopla this morning, word leaks out that Toyota will debut the next-generation Prius, expected to be longer, lower and more powerful, but not radically different-looking, at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show with a sales launch slated for later in the year.
If that's not enough, Toyota's luxury marque, Lexus, is believed to be considering two new hybrids of its own, one of them a premium-priced version of that new Prius, the other a midsize crossover utility vehicle.
Underscoring its newfound commitment to electric cars, Nissan Motor Co. said today that the joint-venture company it formed with NEC Corp. and NEC Tokin Corp. last month would invest $115 million over three years to make lithium-ion batteries starting next year for use in next-generation green vehicles.
Batteries that are long-lived, fast-charging, lightweight, powerful, reliable, cheap, safe and easy on the environment continue to elude automakers worldwide. As we reported recently, they represent the missing piece in the otherwise complete electric-drivetrain puzzle.
Car and battery manufacturers generally believe that the solution will come in the form of advanced lithium-ion batteries.
Automotive Energy Supply Corp., the three-way joint venture announced last month, would initially have capacity to build 13,000 units a year at a planned factory in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, first supplying batteries for forklifts in 2009.
The idea of spending less on gas seems to be driving far more people into the green car ranks than the idea that you are doing something good for the planet and those who occupy it.
We can see this pretty clearly in the astonishing growth of small car sales in the U.S. – hardly anyone was buying them a few years ago and last month they accounted for a record 22.6 percent of the new car market, according to Edmunds.com's market analysts.
Meantime, large trucks' market share plunged to just 11 percent, down from a high three years ago of 19 percent.
Small used to mean cheap. Now it means fuel efficient (although not all small cars are particularly miserly with gas). And as compacts and subcompacts continue to capture market share, look for automakers to start piling high-margin luxury goodies into their small cars as they seek ways to replace the profits they used to book from truck sales.
Hybrids Rising Too
We can also see concern about fuel prices in the steady rise of hybrid sales – they accounted for a record 3.2 percent of the market in April, with Toyota's Prius the month's 10th best-selling model of any type.
That hybrids are increasing their market penetration even though they cost more than comparably equipped conventional versions of the same models (except the Toyota Prius, which has no conventional counterpart) is testimony to people's desire to pare their fuel bills.
Just a year or so ago, the Prius was the only hybrid with a reasonable chance of providing sufficient fuel savings to pay back the so-called hybrid premium – the price a hybrid purchaser pays to get a car or SUV with two powertrains and enough complex electronics to make a NASA engineer jealous.
French automotive executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters attending a product review in Portugal today that automakers Renault and Nissan are talking with a Gulf region country abut participating in a bold electric car project that already has been adopted by Israel.
"We are negotiating to launch an electric car with a Gulf state," Ghosn told a news conference in the coastal resort of Cascais, near Lisbon.
Renault and Nissan, which have operated as an alliance since the French company took control of the Japanese automaker in 1999, plan to put an electric-powered car on the road by 2010.
Nissan Micra convertible is example of fuel-efficient cars we can't get in the U.S.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
I'm in an airplane winging its way to Los Angeles from Amsterdam (by way of Lisbon, Portugal) as this is being posted – returning from a two-day event called Nissan 360.
It was designed to give journalists the opportunity to drive all of the company's motor vehicles (a 360-degree view, get it?), from the same Altimas and Maximas and Titans and Zs sold in the U.S. to passenger vehicles and even light commercial vehicles that we never see here -- the Micra and Cube small cars and Elgrande maxi-van, for instance, and the Atleon 15-ton delivery van.
Nissan's GT-R on track at Estoril, Portugal, delivers world-class power.
We also got to drive the rather fantastic GT-R on the track at the Estoril Autodrome outside of Lisbon – two laps as a passenger and three behind the wheel. But my colleagues at Inside Line have far better credentials than I do to tell you about that insanely powerful but incredibly well-mannered speed machine, and I'll leave that task to them. Suffice it to say that no one who enjoys automobiles should ever say no to the opportunity to drive a GT-R at speed.
The gist of what I am carrying away from the event is that Nissan's motors, gas and diesel remain some of the best in the business. Its interiors are improving tremendously and in some cases are world class, and its designs are – well, very Japanese and subject to a lot of interpretation. I loved a few, hated others and was ambivalent about many.
I didn't drive all 61 vehicles available to us – regardless of the hype from Nissan in the invitation, two days is not sufficient time to do that.
I tried instead to experience cars (and trucks -- that big Atleon is a gas to maneuver – and it has a better interior than many passenger cars) that we don't get a chance to drive in the U.S.
CASCAIS, Portugal – Nissan Motor Co. which has promised to introduce an electric vehicle in North American in 2010, now sees enough market potential for battery-powered electric cars that it is planning a second model for as early as 2012.
The Japanese carmaker was late to the game with gas-electric hybrids and doesn't intend to get caught with a bare product portfolio as cheaper and more reliable batteries make EVs an economic and practical choice in coming years, product planning chief Tom Lane told Green Car Advisor in an interview at Nissan's global vehicle show-and-drive program in this coastal resort town just west of Lisbon.
Lane said that while Nissan began its green planning half a decade ago with a broad slate of possible technologies, economic and scientific changes have pushed battery-electric vehicles to the forefront as a near- and midterm market strategies to meet increased political and social demand for cleaner, more efficient vehicles.
Could fuel-slurping Nissan Titan's appetite shrink as a Chrysler-built truck?
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
It wasn't long ago that most auto industry consultants – and auto industry insiders, at least those in the truck departments -- were poo-pooing the idea that rising gas prices and oil shortage concerns would bring big hurt to the full-size pickup market.
But sales of those trucks are off by 12.5%, and the first casualty has just been announced as Nissan Motor Corp. said Monday it can no longer justify building its slow-selling Titan pickup – a truck launched in 2003 with hopes of making Nissan a significant player in what some company insiders cheerily referred to as the BFT market ("B" for Big and "T" for Truck and you can fill in the rest). The Titan isn't leaving the market – at least not yet – but it is leaving the billion-dollar assembly plant Nissan built in Canton, Miss., to handle its new big trucks.
Under a deal announced Monday, Chrysler – whose Dodge Ram proves its mettle in the big truck segment -- will build the next-generation Ttitan for Nissan at a plant in Saltillo, Mexico.
In return, Nissan – which does small cars a lot better than Chrysler – will supply a new small passenger car that its new "partner" will sell in the U.S., probably under the Chrysler brand.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Kazuhiro Doi laughs when we ask why Nissan chose to give its electric-powered concept car, the Mixim, such a strong performance streak.
"If a customer wants a slow electric vehicle, we can provide that," Doi says, chuckling. "But I don’t think he will."
As Nissan's general manager and technology chief, Doi has the inside line on the Japanese company’s work in everything from electric vehicles, to hybrids and highly advanced safety features – it was under his direction that Nissan developed a car capable of detecting when a driver is too drunk to drive.
One of Doi's latest projects is the Nissan Mixim, a futuristic wedge-shaped hatchback of diminutive proportions – at just 145 inches in length it's the same size as the Mini Cooper.
EVs from Monaco's own Venturi will be on display at annual eco-car event .
By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor
MONTE CARLO, Monaco – A convention hall filled with electric, hydrogen, biofuel and hybrid-powered vehicles is a strange site in any town, much less the world’s most famous principality and one of James Bond’s favorite holiday hideaways.
A haven for the rich and powerful -- where champagne glasses are never empty, every parking lot is overflowing with Ferraris and Aston Martins and Formula 1 takes over the town once a year -- Monte Carlo is the most unlikely setting in which to find a show dedicated to green-car technology.
The EVER Monaco ecological car show, here from Thursday through Sunday, is dedicated to all forms of transport powered by fuels offering environmental benefits. Now in its third year, the annual Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies (EVER) exhibition is a showcase for vehicles powered by alternative fuels or technology.
We’ll be attending the show, and making our way through the Grimaldi Forum to see what progress is being made and what technology looks promising – not to mention what looks far-fetched and totally unfeasible.
New York -- Nissan Motor Co. unveiled its non-working "Denki Cube" electric vehicle concept Wednesday at the New York auto show, but cautioned that there are no plans to produce commercial version of the show car – a battery-powered version of the small and boxy gasoline-fueled Cube the company currently sells in Japan.
The automaker does plan to begin selling an all-new gasoline-powered Cube in the U.S. beginning next year, and to start supplying a fully electric vehicle to commercial and government fleets in 2010, with sales to consumers to follow in 2012.
But that Cube isn't going to provide the platform for the EV, said Larry Dominique, vice president of product planning at Nissan North America in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Nissan Cube EV concept makes it debut at the New York Auto Show press preview Wednesday, and photos were supposed to be kept under wraps until then.
The Cube concept
showcases Nissan's battery-electric technology and may provide a good hint as to what the company's production electric vehicle will look like when it hits the market in 2010.
Despite the embargo, a handful of photos popped up on a Nissan fan website
this morning, and as long as they're out there, we thought we'd share a couple with you.
Nissan is calling the concept the Denki Cube, which translates -- roughly -- as Electric Cube...
Nissan Motor Co., which has come late to the hybrid game, doesn't want to be caught unplugged when electric cars start hitting the market, says company boss Carlos Ghosn.
An electric Nissan will be introduced in the U.S. in 2010, he told reporters Wednesday during an impromptu discussion at the Geneva Motor Show, with a global launch of the vehicle to follow in 2012.
Ghosn, who chairs both Nissan and its French partner, Renault, said the electric car would be sold worldwide by both brands. He did not elaborate on brand distinctions, model variances or particulars of the electric drive system being prepared, but did say the cars would not be identical.
Renault would target the European market, Ghosn said, while Nissan would target Asia and the U.S.
Ghosn said that California's 2004 law aimed at reducing automotive carbon-dioxide emissions has spurred Nissan and Renault engineers' joint research into alternative energy sources such as electric drive.
French automaker Renault and Japan's Nissan have confirmed that they are teaming with California-based Project Better Place and the state of Israel to develop a new electric car and a related battery recharging infrastructure.
The cars and battery stations will be launched in Israel in 2011, the companies said, and ultimately will be made available globally.
Green Car Advisorreported Friday on the then-pending deal, and Edmunds AutoObserver provides some fresh details today, so jump on over and take a look.
An electric car and battery exchange program that's been in the works for months appears to be ready to launch.
Renault and Nissan Motor Co. are expected to announce Monday a joint venture to build and test electric cars, using Israel as the first test site and a California entrepreneur's vision for a battery exchange network as the catalyst to make it all work.
The automakers, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, are teaming with California entrepreneur Shai Agassi (right), who last year began a venture aimed at establishing a global network of battery charging and replacement centers to facilitate electric car use.
In a recent interview with Green Car Advisor, Agassi said his "Project Better Place" would solve the nagging problem of how to keep electric vehicles running after the initial battery charge is depleted – how to make them cars that can be used every day by all kinds of drivers, for long trips as well as short commutes.
The system envisioned by Agassi – former product division president at business software giant SAP -- works much like a conventional fueling system in which people buy cars from automakers and get their gasoline or diesel fuel as they need it from filling stations affiliated with various energy companies.
Production version of Honda FCX concept (above) will be unveiled at the LA Show
Although environmental transportation isn't a central theme of this year's Los Angeles auto show, there's still a touch of green to be found among the displays at the LA Convention Center.
Green used to be a big thing for the West Coast's premier auto show, but that was before environmental issues became part of just about every auto show on the calendar.
From Detroit to Tokyo, these days they all have a green component, ranging from the unveiling of concepts that explore things like plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and the hydrogen future to the introduction of production models that give us the newest in gas-electric hybrids and alternative fuels such as diesel and ethanol.
In LA this year, events will include an announcement Thursday morning of the Green Car of the Year award winner. Nominees for the award, sponsored by the Green Car Journal magazine, all are hybrids this year, and three are from General Motors: The Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Saturn Aura sedan and Tahoe SUV hybrids. The other finalists are the Mazda Tribute SUV hybrid and the Nissan Altima sedan hybrid.
As the 2007 show prepares to open its doors this week, for a two-day media preview Wednesday and Thursday and to the general public Friday evening for a 10-day run, here's a look at what to expect.
As if on cue, the cars of the future queue up and drive past Vijay Vaitheeswaran.
A shiny new Nissan Altima hybrid powered by both gasoline and electricity zips by silently. A slick European-spec Audi A6 sedan purrs by, burning clean diesel.
Then comes a Prius hybrid with a short power cord where you'd expect to find a tailpipe, signifying its aftermarket conversion to a 100-plus mpg plug-in. There's even a Hyundai Tucson fuel-cell electric SUV carrying three tanks full of hydrogen, enough to travel about 150 miles.
A weekend devoted to worship of fuel-swilling, carbon-spewing muscle cars wouldn't seem the ideal place to preach the gospel of clean transportation, but the California Fuel Cell Partnership pitched its tent just inside the entry gates to the Coronado Speed Festival this past weekend -- and got a lot of action.
Almost 1,500 people attending the two-day festival on Coronado Island in San Diego Bay dropped by the partnership's stand to take a drive in one of the eight fuel-cell electric vehicles on hand.
“It’s actually a smart thing to do,” Hyundai spokesman Kevin Oates said of the decision to force-feed fuel cells to the speed crowd. “It lets us reach out to the trend-setters. These are people who are dedicated auto enthusiasts, and they can influence the industry,” he said of festival-goers.
“They’re auto enthusiasts,” he said, “so they’re enthusiastic about their muscle cars and racecars, but they’re also very open to the idea of the fuel cell as a door to the future of the auto.”
EPA fuel economy ratings for individual models are posted on price stickers
America’s passenger vehicle fleet, still top-heavy with light trucks and large sport utility vehicles, turned in an average fuel economy of 20.2 miles per gallon for 2007 models, unimproved from 2006, according to a new report by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
That the numbers didn’t change despite soaring fuel prices and a nationwide push for greater fuel economy to help reduce our dependence on imported oil reflects both the slow pace at which automakers can adopt improved technologies and the reluctance of U.S. car buyers to give up the kinds of vehicles they’ve been buying for years.
The federal tax credits that helped pump up hybrid car sales for Toyota and Honda are winding down.
The program, established in the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, rewards success by disappearing in several stages after a carmaker sells 60,000 hybrids. Toyota’s Prius hit that mark last year, and Honda’s Civic hybrid crossed the threshold last month.
Buyers of the 2007 Civic hybrid can still receive a $2,100 credit on cars purchased through December 31...
Although there's plenty of development work on alternative fuels and power plants going on in U.S. automakers’ R&D labs, the industry is consumed these days with fixing its collective financial woes and there's not much noise being made about advancing green technology. Not in the U.S., anyhow.
We likely won't hear too much about what's close to being market ready until the carmakers and the UAW complete their ongoing master contract negotiations and possibly not until the hype around January's Detroit auto show begins.
But Asian and European car companies, including European subsidiaries of both Ford and GM, are stepping in to fill the environmental void, with a spate of clean diesels and gas-electric hybrids in the works. A lot of green goodies will be shown off at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, which begins a two-day press preview on Tuesday.
Electric-sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, Reuters reported today, citing two sources familiar with the matter said. 
