The Porsche Boxster E will begin trials in Germany, marking the German sports car maker’s first foray into performance EVs. With the Boxster’s chassis dynamics firmly established, the 240 horsepower electric-powered roadster should provide formidable competition to cars like the Tesla Roadster. Porsche says that acceleration is comparable to the Boxster S, which can sprint...
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BMW is looking for an alternative to traditional purchasing options for their upcoming MegaCity urban vehicle, as the high cost of developing substantially new technology may result in the vehicle becoming prohibitively expensive for consumers. Among the projects being considered are a car-sharing service similar to the one operated by Daimler for their Smart car...
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An estimated 14,000 taxpayers claimed $37 million in tax credits meant for buyers of plug-in or electric vehicles, while attempting to pass of vehicles like the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Camaro and “golf cart” as worthy of the credit. Among the most ignominous offenders were 88 prisoners and IRS employees who attempted to claim the credits....
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Here at the AutoGuide office, we are quite fond of the Tesla Roadster. We like its battery technology, its range, and most of all its amazing performance. It certainly has shown us a glimpse of the future, and thankfully its not boring. However, the Roadster model is quite expensive and impractical and Tesla is aware...
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Tesla‘s Model S Sedan will be profitable for the company, even at lower volumes thanks to its cheaper batteries. While Tesla says it only needs 20,000 vehicles a year to make money, whereas competitors like Nissan need to move 500,000 units annually to amortize the R&D costs of their EV systems. Tesla’s battery systems are...
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General Motors is increasing Chevrolet Volt production numbers in 2012, from 30,000 to 45,000 to a maximum output of 60,000 units. The increase in production to maximum capacity will conincide with the nationwide rollout of the Volt. Doug Parks, vehicle line director in charge of the Volt, said that “Starting in ‘12, we’ll be at...
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Toyota‘s initial investment of $50 million in its partnership with Tesla will also cost the company another $60 million in development costs needed to bring its RAV4 EV to market. The $60 million is, according to SEC filings, for services rendered by Tesla, and any future components will require additional funds. Tesla took over Toyota’s...
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BP is set to install charging ports at 45 gas stations across the United States, which will be able to charge a Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i-MEiV to 80% capacity in under 30 minutes. The charge stations use 480 volts rather than the 220 volts used in the home charging units. With the lower voltage,...
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Congratulations Nissan! The Leaf has just won the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award. What are you going to do now? Picked as one of the year’s 10 most transformative products, the Nissan Leaf made the cut based on a panel of experts and Popular Mechanics’ editorial board of advisers. Says Popular Mechanics of the Nissan Leaf:...
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Infiniti has just released a teaser design sketch of what it’s upcoming luxury electric car will look like. Believed to be based on the same platform as Nissan Leaf EV, the Infiniti model is set to hit dealers in North America in 2013. Little info is available yet, but Infiniti promises the EV will deliver...
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Nissan has finally hit the magic number of 20,000 Leaf pre-orders, and will not be taking any more pre-orders for the time being. An announcement posted on the website MyNissanLeaf states that “Nissan aggressively anticipated reaching its goal of 20,000 consumer reservations by December 2010 and we are excited to announce that we have reached...
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BMW will allow consumers to try out their ActiveE electric car, based on the 1-Series Coupe, in certain markets, prior to a broader rollout of electric vehicles, culminating in the Megacity EV’s debut in 2013. The ActiveE will be offered for lease starting next summer. The ActiveE will be offered in New York City, Los...
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Audi looks set to debut an e-Tron Spyder at this year’s Paris Auto Show despite the poorly translated name. The sketches were originally released on a French website, and from our high-school level knowledge of the language, we gather that…no substantial details are out yet. Think of this car as the Spyder version of the...
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Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that parent company Fiat is looking to increase its stake in Chrysler to 35 percent, and is looking to bring out a Chrysler IPO in the second half of 2011. “I don’t think it’s the first part; I think it’s a second-part-of-the-year event,” Marchionne told the assembled media at Chrysler’s...
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When you bought that new electric car of yours, we bet you thought you’d be saving all kinds of mad money. We hate to break it to you, but it turns out it is probably going to cost you more than an gas car in the long run. Many people buy electric cars because of...
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Prince Charles is shutting down The Mall in London to display environmentally friendly vehicles for 10 days in September. The Prince is not only a keen environmentalist but a collector of Aston Martins and other sports cars, and the nexus of both conservation and automobiles is an appropriate area of interest for him. The Prince...
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Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is launching an ambitious plan to triple market share in the U.S. by 2018, with an electric vehicle and an all-new range of products designed with the U.S. market in mind at the forefront. An electric car based on the Golf or the new Up city cars will by sold by...
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BMW‘s new joint venture with SGL Group on a carbon fiber plant in Washington state got underway, as the two companies broke ground on the factory. While vehicle assembly will take place in Germany, the carbon fiber material production will take place in the state, due to the large presence of aerospace expertise in the...
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The end goal for most venture-capital financed start-ups is to issue an IPO and help get some money into the hands of those investors brave enough to give the company money at the early stages. Tesla Motors, perhaps the first Silicon Valley car company(and headed by Elon Musk, a former dot-com executive), is about to...
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Nissan sure knows how to target future customers for the Nissan Leaf. At Steve Jobs’ keynote speech this week, the Apple CEO unveiled the new 4th generation iPhone, and what product made a prominent appearance to display the new iAd system? Why, the Nissan Leaf, of course! The Apple demographic is probably more open to...
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A new 400-horsepower sports car is in the works at BMW, but if you ask executives at the German car company, they’ll tell you that the most promising new product is at the other end of the spectrum. Speaking at a meeting in London, Ian Robertson a BMW board member told Inside Line that they...
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Let’s get ready to ruuuuuuuummmmbbble. Reports from various blogs say that the Nissan Leaf will tip the scales at 3,500 pounds, the same as its arch rival, the Chevrolet Volt. While the Volt is a plug-in hybrid, with a gas engine and battery pack, the Leaf is a true electric car, with no internal combustion...
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Of all the problems associated with electric vehicles, like charging stations, vehicle range and environmental impact, the most overlooked is arguably how emergency responders will rescue accident victims. An electric vehicle (or even a hybrid) is substantially different than a conventional car, with batteries and electric motors being the biggest changes. The dangers of electric...
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Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz and BYD, China’s fastest growing car company, established a joint venture to develop electric cars in China. Based in the industrial city of Shenzen, the two companies respective experience with electric cars complements one another. BYD is experienced with battery and drivetrain systems, while Daimler will bring their knowledge of...
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