A dozen EV models exhibited in Geneva

Electric cars (okay, and hybrids) are definitely the stars at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show in Switzerland. Here's a list of the models unveiled or exhibited this week:

Ford Focus electric
The 2012 Focus family comes with an electric version with the capability to fully charge in three to four hours total.

Chevrolet Volt
The American Car of the Year 2011, a hybrid already available for order in the US, is still one of the stars in Geneva. Its European cousin, the Opel Ampera, will soon roll out to the Old Continent's streets.

BMW Active E
This German sports car can accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 8.5 seconds and has a top speed of 90 mph.

Volvo V60
A highly efficient plug-in electric hybrid and the first station-wagon electric vehicle.

Toyota iQ EV
The electric version of the popular Japanese microcar.

Tesla Model S
The troubled's Californian start-up's super car.

Honda Fit EV
Honda's first all-electric vehicle.

Smart fortwo concept car
Modeled after the company's popular non-electric version.

Tata Pixel concept car
Tata claims that the Pixel will return more than 60 mpg and only releases 89 grams of C02 per kilometer. The efficiency comes by way of a 1.2-liter three-cylinder turbodiesel, which, though it isn't a full hybrid, employs stop-start technology and regenerative battery charging.

Nissan ES Flow concept car
Nissan's first sport's concept car can go from 0-62 miles per hour in 5 seconds.

Nissan Leaf
One of the first EVs on the market, the vehicle can go up to 90 miles per hour, can get 80% charge in a half an hour, and its batteries feature a 100,000 mile warrantee.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Experimental Car
Lotus and Rolls-Royce teamed up to produce this luxury EV, which possesses the largest battery ever used in an electric passenger car, for 'market study purposes'.

Source: Go Electric Drive
and Autoblog Green

Read More

Ford to hire 7,000 thanks to hybrids and electric vehicles

From the Detroit Free Press: Ford Motor will today announce that it is on course to add 7,000 new jobs through the end of next year, according to a person familiar with the planning.

Of those jobs, 1,800 have already been announced for Ford's Louisville plant, where the Ford Escape SUV is built, and another 2,200 blue-collar jobs and 750 salaried jobs will come by year's end.
Another 2,000 jobs will come next year.

The move comes as Ford puts the finishing touches on its 2006 Way Forward turnaround and begins a period of expansion. Ford is expected to post a profit of $8.2 billion for 2010 and sales are stronger than they have been in years. Sales were up 19.5% last year.

The automaker is also planning to embark on an aggressive strategy to expand its fuel-efficient car models, with a new emphasis on plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars.

"We are going to have, clearly, the most comprehensive electrification strategy available," Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally told the Free Press in a recent interview.

Today at the 2011 North American International Auto Show, Ford is to show off plug-in hybrid and gasoline hybrid versions of its C-Max, a minivan coming to the U.S. from Europe in 2012, as well as a battery-powered Focus Electric compact car.

James Tetreault, Ford's vice president of North American manufacturing, said he expects to add a third shift to Ford's Wayne assembly plant where those models are built by 2012, bringing the workforce to 4,400 from 3,200 today.

Customers, Pick Your Fuel

While Ford might be behind some rivals in offering mainstream electric cars -- a market it will enter later this year with the Focus Electric compact -- the Dearborn automaker has taken a deliberately different tack.

Already the No. 1 domestic seller of hybrids, Ford plans to promote the wide variety of fuel-efficient models across its lineup, stressing the words "choice" and "family of electric vehicles."

Ford is planning to launch five hybrid, plug-in or battery-powered cars in North America by 2012, and it already sells several others.

Read more...

Read More

VIDEO: Ford Focus Electric is unveiled in Las Vegas

From the Autoblog: The Focus Electric is powered by 100-kilowatt electric motor with a 23-kWh battery, capable of producing 123 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque at its peak.

Ford says its EV can reach a top speed of 84 miles per hour, and while the official range hasn't been disclosed just yet, we're told it should be able to travel up to 100 miles on a single charge (just like the Leaf).

Speaking of charging, Ford says the Focus Electric can be fully charged in just three hours from its 240-volt home-installed charging station, though the car will take up to 20 hours to charge via a standard 120-volt outlet.

Read More

All 2011 Green Car Vision Award finalists are electric vehicles

The Green Car Journal has nominated five electric vehicles for the 2011 Green Car Vision Award: the Ford Focus BEV, the Honda Fit EV, the future Mitsubishi i model for the American market, the Toyota RAV4 EV (currently under development with Tesla) and the Volvo C30 DRIVe. The winner will be announced on January 27 at the 2011 Washington Auto Show, in the American capital. Here's what the jury has to say about the finalists:

Ford's Focus BEV, which is based on the automaker's all-new 2012 Focus model, will be introduced in the U.S. sometime in 2011. The automaker is leveraging global platforms like the Focus and collaborating with key powertrain suppliers like Magna International as part of its global electrification strategy.

The Honda Fit EV concept shares the direction and styling of the upcoming production Fit EV that will be coming to U.S. shores in 2012. The five-passenger electric will be powered by lithium-ion batteries and feature Econ, Normal, and Sport modes to maximize efficiency or improve acceleration.

Mitsubishi will produce the newly-named Mitsubishi i electric vehicle, a battery powered iteration of the automaker's popular 'i' minicar sold in Japan. Retooled and larger for U.S. tastes, this lithium-ion powered car will be sold in four Western states starting in November 2011 with a national roll-out to follow.

Toyota's second generation RAV4 EV will begin a demonstration program in 2011 with plans for market arrival of a fully-engineered vehicle in 2012. The automaker has partnered with Tesla to fast-track development, with Tesla providing the lithium metal oxide battery and related components and Toyota handling the rest.

The Volvo C30 DRIVe is an electric variant of this automaker's small sport hatchback that's powered by lithium-ion batteries from Indiana-based ENER1. A small test fleet is currently operating in Sweden with a larger demonstration of DRIVe electrics planned for Europe, China, and the U.S. in 2011.

Read More

New Scientist: 2011 will be the year of the electric car

Tweet this post From the New Scientist: Gentlemen - and women - plug in your engines. This will be the year of the electric car. No, seriously. After seemingly endless testing, technical hiccups and plain reluctance on the part of manufacturers to move electric vehicles from the concept phase to the showroom, it's finally happening. A fleet of new cars powered by the plug instead of the pump will take to the road in 2011.

Leading the charge is the Chevy Volt. With a 16-kilowatt-hour battery and a 110-kilowatt (149-horsepower) electric motor, it can go 60 kilometres on a single charge, plenty for commuting and weekend grocery runs. Critics point out that a 1.4-litre gasoline engine kicks in when the battery runs down, making the Volt a mere hybrid rather than a fully fledged electric car. And with demand for the Volt forecast to far outstrip supply, some dealers in the US are reportedly slapping steep premiums on top of the already hefty $40,280 price tag.

Even if the Volt fizzles, the Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus Electric and Renault Fluence will all be widely available in the next 12 months. Then there's Mitsubishi's diminutive i-MiEV, powered by a 47-kilowatt electric motor and boasting a range of 160 kilometres. It has been on the road in Japan since 2009 and is expected to go on sale in both the UK and the US in the new year.

Two factors have combined to bring electric cars to the mass market at last: the arrival of high-capacity batteries and the near-collapse of the American auto industry, which forced US car makers into building small, efficient vehicles that can compete with foreign offerings.

The biggest remaining obstacle is cost. Electric vehicles offer the amenities of a compact car at the price of a luxury sedan. Tax breaks in some countries should help. But if the quiet whoosh of the electric motor is to replace the growl of the internal combustion engine, prices will have to plummet. Competition and yet more innovation in battery and drivetrain technology could allow that to happen.

Share

Read More

Ford to deliver its first EV, the Transit Connect Electric

From the Boston Globe: The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf have gotten nearly all the attention, but they are not the only electric vehicles making their way to customers this month. Ford Motor Co. said yesterday that it had started shipping a battery-powered version of a delivery van, the Transit Connect Electric, to a handful of business customers.

The Transit Connect is Ford’s first electric vehicle, coming to market about a year before it plans to challenge the Leaf and the Volt with a battery-powered car, the Focus Electric. The first electric vans are being delivered to several companies that agreed to be early users, including AT&T, the Canada Post, the New York Power Authority, and Southern California Edison.

Check out more...

Read More