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U.S. consumers looking to get Nissan's all-electric Leaf will have to wait another year, after dealers sold this year's entire shipment before the zippy sedan even hit showrooms, the Japanese automaker said Monday.
Nissan dealers have collected more than 20,000 orders for the Leaf, and the bulk are wealthy "early adapters" on the West Coast of the United States, said Carlos Tavares, chair of Nissan's management committee for the Americas.

greennumbers Nissan Leaf nissan ev Electric car electric vehicle

It is not an easy task to compare the environmental effects of battery powered cars to those caused by conventionally fuelled automobiles. The degree to which manufacture, usage and disposal of the batteries used to store the necessary electrical energy are detrimental to the environment is not exactly known. Now, for the first time, a team of Empa scientists have made a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) or ecobalance of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, in particular the chemically improved (i.e. more environmentally friendly) version of the ones most frequently used in electric vehicles.

The investigation shows that if the power used to charge the battery is not derived from purely hydroelectric sources, then it is primarily the operation of the electric car, which has an environmental impact, exactly as is the case with conventionally fuelled automobiles. The size of the environmental footprint depends on which sources of power are used to "fuel" the e-mobile. The Li-ion battery itself has, in contrast, a limited effect on the LCA of the electric vehicle. This is contrary to initial expectations that the manufacture of the batteries could negate the advantages of the electric drive.

lithium ion lithium ion batteries Electric car electric vehicle environmentally friendly

Four out of 10 US adults are keen to test-drive an electric vehicle (EV), a new study has found, suggesting manufacturers in the emerging sector could be pushing against an open door.

The online study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) found 40 per cent of American adults were likely to test-drive an electric vehicle, lured by promises of improved environmental quality and potential cost savings.

ev Electric car electric vehicle Consumer Electronics Association cea

The UK government last week made a rare exception to its spending review process, otherwise scheduled to conclude in October, by confirming grants for the purchase of electric cars would go ahead.

The grants contribute 25 per cent towards the purchase of battery electric cars or plug-in hybrids, up to a maximum of £5,000 per car. In total £43m has been allocated – sufficient for an initial 8,600 cars – starting in January 2011 and running until the end of March 2012, with a review slated for January 2012.

Renault Fluence ZE Electric car Nissan Leaf

Cenex – the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon vehicle technologies – has announced the results of a six month trial of electric passenger cars, run by Cenex in the North East of England. One of the trial’s key findings was that 72% of the 264 participants stated after the trial that they would be happy to use an electric vehicle as their regular car.  This is one of the most comprehensive trials yet undertaken in the UK on driver attitudes to electric vehicles.

cenex electric car electric vehicle

Irish motorists who buy electric cars will be given a grant of up to €5,000 for the cost and will be exempted from paying vehicle registration tax (VRT), it has been announced.

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Ireland's first on-street charging points for electric vehicles will be unveiled today by the ESB.

electric car ev phev esb Ireland electric vehicle

San Francisco has adopted building codes requiring all new homes and offices to be wired for electric car chargers, in an attempt to position itself as America's green car capital.

The move comes in advance of the release this year of the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, which promise to deliver driving distances of 40 miles or more on a single battery charge and are being marketed to middle-class families.

electric car electric vehicle san francisco homes offices wired

Think announced today that it has teamed up with AeroVironment, Inc., a leading developer and supplier of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, to demo the company’s level III fast-charge system and the Think City electric-car.

The team held a 15-minute news conference at the 2010 Washington Auto Show where they charged a Think City from 0-80% using AV’s fast-charge system in 15 minutes.

think think city AeroVironment greennumbers electric car electric vehicle

Interesting piece on Better Place in Denmark

better place ev electric car denmark

"Chetan Maini, the man behind Reva Electric Car Co., is building in southern India what he says will be the world's biggest factory making battery-powered city commuter cars."

reva electric car india

At SEMA 2009, AMP=D changed every hot rodders' perception of performance and innovation. AMP=D introduced their all-electric powered '33 Hot Rod. With 300+ hp [horse power] and over 660 foot pounds of torque in a 2400 pound car, it will stay with the best of the gasoline-powered Hot Rods.

hot rod ev electric car greenmonktv

"BYD says that its new E6 electric car due out before the end of the year will do 250 miles (400km) on a single charge.

This is a very big number. The Tesla electric sports car does almost as much, but has little room for anything else in the car but the battery.

The E6 is roomy with space for five passengers and a good-sized boot. The battery tucks under the back seat. "

byd electric car ev e6 greenmonktv

The new Trabant NT concept car has been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs until Sept. 27.

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The rise of the mobile phone has left the streets of Madrid littered with increasingly redundant telephone booths. But these underused installations are now set to play a key role in Spain's electric car revolution under government plans to make them part of a network of electric charging stations for vehicles.

madrid seville barcelona smart grid ev electric car electric vehicle greenmonktv

It’s official. Last week, German automaker Mercedes-Benz confirmed its intentions to build a fully electric version of the SLS AMG Supercar.

The AWD car will have separate transmissions for both axles and electric motors at each wheel. With a combined power output of 392 Kw–which packs 649 lb-ft of torque–the car will get a jaw-dropping 526 horsepower.

mercedes amg mercedes benz bev electric car gullwing supercar greenmonktv

Introduction:

The Mini-e is in a 'field trial' in the US. It is an all-electric car. It has the same body as a Mini Cooper S. People were invited to apply for one. Well, actually, for a 1-year lease. My sister and her husband applied and recieved one of the first ones to be delivered in LA. (They are only availalbe in the LA and New York areas.) At the end of the year the car will have to go back to Mini Cooper for evaluation.

We picked up the Mini-e at Alexander Mini in LA on Saturday, May 30, 2009.

This the review...

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You could call electric car company Coda Automotive the anti-Tesla.

The company, formed by fleet vehicle provider Miles Electric, on Wednesday unveiled the Coda, a plain-looking electric car that's designed for everyday use.

The highway-capable four-door sedan can go between 90 and 120 miles on its lithium ion battery pack. It will be available to consumers in California in the fall of 2010 at a price of $45,000. The cost can be offset by about $10,000 from a federal tax credit and state incentives, the company said.

coda ev electric vehicle electric car greenmonktv

a guest post by Joost van den Bulk in which the costs and benefits of electric cars available by 2010 are compared with internal combustion cars powered by gasoline for the Netherlands. It is a summary of his Master thesis in environmental science at Wageningen University in the Netherlands (PDF, 3 Mb, 72 pages).

Developments in battery technology have made cars driven by electric propulsion cost competitive with internal combustion based cars. Based on a scenario in which a car owner drives 15,000 kilometers annually, the car is owned for a period of 6 years, and the oil price on average remains above 100 dollars per barrel in the next two decades, it was found that an electric car for the consumer is already cheaper than a gasoline powered vehicle in the Netherlands, and that this will only improve in the future. This is the case because higher initial investments in the purchase of an electric car are more than compensated by lower fuel costs, reduced maintenance and tax benefits. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions of an electric car are at least half that of the gasoline powered car based on the current Dutch electricity mix.

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Auto critic Lawrence Ulrich tells us to "get ready to pull the plug" on Tesla motors. Mr. Ulrich says that transmission glitches and the delayed roll out of its model "S" roadster is proof that the demise of Tesla is around the corner.... On the contrary, the revenge of the electric car is around right around the corner!

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