Recent Comments:
Tomberlin releases Anvil NEV [w/VIDEO] {Autoblog Green}
Jul 2nd 2009 5:06PM I agree that the look and marketing on this model is strange and out-of-place with its low-speed limitations, yet the concept of NEVs being able to replace many gas vehicles is still valid. I live within 1 mile of 2 large cemeteries, a 12,000-student university and a large public park that all use numerous gas-powered vehicles for patrols and light hauling of branches and grass clippings.
The college security drives Crown Victorias on campus and never exceed 25 mph. Ditto for the cemetery workers who use full-size pickup trucks and even small vehicles that look like GEM open mini-trucks, but they have gas engines!
None of these ever travel more than a mile from a building or use a public road for more than a few hundred feet to get to the next driveway (or Dunkin Donuts). If they can be electric -- why not?
Tomberlin releases Anvil NEV [w/VIDEO] {Autoblog Green}
Jul 2nd 2009 2:24PM I don't understand the vitriol and hatred for NEVs on this blog. The fact that it isn't a suitable vehicle for you (or me) doesn't mean that it shouldn't be built.
In 20 years in the package delivery business, I've been to hundreds of plants, many on huge campuses with multiple buildings, colleges, hospitals, resorts, etc. that are currently using gas-powered vehicles to move people, mail, parts around. The vehicles are always near buildings with a power outlets and don't travel that far or on public roads.
If there are uses for tens of thousands of NEVs in this country, why the big stink over them? It's not like the manufacturers are taking your money that could be used elsewhere.
Contrary to reports, second generation Chevy Volt is already under development {Autoblog Green}
Jun 29th 2009 2:33PM ** Remember, the cheap a-- Kcar resurrected Chrysler in their first bankruptcy. **
Chrysler didn't go bankrupt in 1979 -- loan guarantees PREVENTED that. Yes, the K-car allowed them to repay the loans and move forward, but I question whether those poor quality crapboxes haven't contributed in some way to their current troubles.
People with long memories probably have a built-in prejudice against anything the company builds today. Honda and Toyota have decades of goodwill from buyers who have been happy with their cars from the 1970s onward.
Chrysler needs to build rock-solid, reliable cars and trucks -- not tinny junk just to turn over cash.
Ford to launch Focus BEV test fleet in the UK {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2009 6:06PM ** You build it, people drool over it and you sell it to them before they loose interest. Simple. **
No thanks! There have been far too many cars (both ICE and electric) that have been unleased on the public without proper testing. It seems that all the freeway-capable models due to come out use LiOn batteries with varying chemistries that have never been tested over the long-term, under a variety of charging and climactic conditions.
What works well in a climate-controlled laboratory may not pan out in the real world of traffic, potholes, and every type of weather from extreme heat to bone-chilling cold that Mother Nature can serve up.
If you want "just anything" so you can have an EV, fine. Don't expect the rest of us to want the same. You could end up with a car similar to the Citroen Ev'ie that was revewed recently in the UK on http://www.aminorjourney.com and failed miserably during an actual road test.
ExxonMobil/Electrovaya's electric car, the Maya 300, gets detailed tomorrow {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2009 5:11PM I've seen another photo (possibly an older version) that looks like a very low-rent Smart fourTwo, but the car at http://www.mayamobility.com seems to be the same as the BG C100, probably with a different battery. The BG is much more reasonably priced at $16-18K.
http://www.bgelectriccars.com/
ExxonMobil/Electrovaya's electric car, the Maya 300, gets detailed tomorrow {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2009 5:01PM You're not buying a car from Exxon -- except for their affiliation with the car-sharing service, AltCar, all they provide is the separator film in the battery. I hardly think of this as an Exxon/Mobil product.
We're probably all using products made with chemicals/plastics derived from petroleum that came from Exxon's wells (or Shell, BP, etc.). What do we do -- throw ourselves in front of a bus over misplaced corporate hatred?
REPORT: Nissan considering building EVs and batteries in the U.S. {Autoblog Green}
Jun 22nd 2009 1:31PM This is actually one of the big questions that will need to be addressed. So far, what we've been getting are the manufacturer's estimates of range, but not too much in terms of real-world driving under a variety of conditions.
I forwarded 2 links to this blog of tests of the i-MiEV in the UK during the past winter. In each case, the testers, driving normally, would have only gotten 35-45 miles on a full charge with heater, lights and radio on. UK winters are mild compared to the northern US and Canada, for sure. Mitsubishi claims 112 miles on a charge.
Living in New England myself, range during the period from Oct. through April could be a deal-breaker if it's less than half the range under optimal conditions.
REPORT: New auto assembly plant to be announced this week... perhaps for Th!nk? {Autoblog Green}
Jun 15th 2009 3:07PM I guess we'll have to wait a few days to find out for sure. Didn't feel that Th!nk needed as many employees as mentioned in the original article (1400 jobs) or that it had the financing available to start operations in the US when they're barely afloat in their home country of Norway. It's been reported that production here is dependent on receiving funding from the DOE.
http://www.hybridcars.com/news/electric-carmaker-think-grasps-doe-funding-25659.html
There's another article that brings up other possibilities for an automaker:
http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10001347/who-is-kleiner-perkins-new-electric-car-company/
KBB: Shoppers likely to change vehicle choices as gas prices rise {Autoblog Green}
Jun 15th 2009 1:44PM The news networks are already breaking out their stock video of the well-fed soccer mom (Big Butt Bertha) standing next to the Expedition/Suburban/Grand Cherokee complaining about the price of gas.
Of course, she's got the bottle of Evian in her hand that she just paid the equivalent of $10+ a gallon for.
BREAKING: House, Senate reach terms on 'Cash for Clunkers' program - but only with $1B in funding {Autoblog Green}
Jun 12th 2009 1:56PM Agreed! The government shouldn't be involved with this in the first place. Being that it is, the fuel economy improvements should have been MUCH higher to justify the cost.
BTW, I desperately need new shoes and pants. Can I get a voucher for turning in my worn-out duds, please?
