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plug-in-hybrids


PEV 2009: GM's Lauckner wishes for bigger incentives to get drivers out of gas-powered vehicles

At this point, it's no secret that the Chevy Volt and other plug-in vehicles are not going to come cheap. The least-pricey full-speed electric vehicle may very well be the Nissan Leaf, which after incentives might drop into the $27-28,000 range before the extra cost of leasing the battery. While the operational costs of these cars should be substantially less than any internal combustion vehicle, customers rarely think that far ahead when signing up for a car loan. That's especially true when gas remains well under $3 a gallon here in the U.S. ... Read more →

Webchat with Tony Posawatz and Felix Kramer, 3:30pm EST today Sam Abuelsamid

Readers of this site are probably quite familiar with the names of Felix Kramer and Tony Posawatz. Kramer is the founder of the California Cars Institute (CalCars) and major proponent of plug-in ...

St. Petersburg to test 'plug-in' hybrid cars in green partnership Sam Abuelsamid

The city of St. Petersburg, Florida isn't part of Ford's plug-in hybrid test program but it will soon be testing a PHEV Escape anyway. Progress Energy will be partnering with the Florida city to ...

Nancy Gioia explains why Ford isn't doing an ER-EV Sam Abuelsamid

So far, the market for extended range electric vehicles in North America seems to be the exclusive province of General Motors, Chrysler and Fisker with Ford sticking to the parallel hybrid route ...

Detroit 2009: Toyota's iQ based FT-EV concept to hit production in 2012 Sam Abuelsamid

In addition to the new third generation Prius and its sibling the Lexus HS250h, Toyota will be showing a battery electric concept here in Detroit called the FT-EV. As previously suspected, the car is ...

eBay Find of the Day: plug-in Prius with A123 Hymotion kit installed charity auction 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Want a 2009 Prius with a plug? It's available now, to the lucky winner of this auction on eBay. This particular vehicle was modded by the Green Car Company out in Bellevue, Washington and features A123's Hymotion plug-in hybrid kit already installed. That kit doesn't come cheap and this price of ...

Austin Alt Car: panel looks at the future of plug-in hybrids 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The last in our series of reports from the discussion panels from last week's Austin Alt Car expo focuses on the panel that had the broadest possible appeal: an overview of plug-in hybrids. Taking place on the Saturday, and therefore more accessible to the working public, the free-form panel ...

Austin Alt Car: Will Consumers Buy In? Duh. 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

If you want to get an answer to the question of whether or not consumers will flock to plug-in vehicles, Southern California Edison's Ed Kjaer and Better Place's Sven Thesen would be great people to get to put up some answers. That's exactly what happened at the Austin Alt Car expo last weekend, ...

Austin Alt Car: Congressman Lloyd Doggett talks PHEV tax credits and GM's influence 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was present at the Alt Car Expo in Austin, Texas yesterday. This is quite the reasonable place for him to be, not just because he's the Representative from this area but because he's been a long-time promoter of more government support for plug-in vehicles. ...

Auto industry responses to the bailout bill; what do you think? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

When the U.S. Congress passed H.R. 1424 and President Bush signed it into law today, not everyone was paying attention to the part about plug-in vehicles. Sure, this got a little play - and green car sites like ours were on it - but what's a few $7,500 tax credits in a $700 billion bill? Still, ...

AltCar 2008: AMPLE taking orders for $29,999 PHEV truck, two other plug-in hybrids 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The headline above is what we call a "bait & switch," and it recreates the feeling I got when I approached the AMPLE Motion booth at the AltCar Expo. AMPLE, a new company incorporated on Earth Day this year, is trying an unusual strategy to get the word out about its plug-in hybrid vehicles ...

Honda not interested in plug-in hybrids yet, batteries not ready 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The same week that General Motors unveiled the production version of its Volt extended range EV, Honda R&D president Masaaki Kato downplayed the importance of plug-in hybrids, at least in the short term. While GM and Toyota are both developing hybrid vehicles with plug-in capability and a wide ...

GM Centennial: How the Chevy Volt might affect the electric grid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/Will_the_Chevy_Volt_affect_the_electric_grid'; Over at the RenCen yesterday, AutoblogGreen sat down with Britta Gross, GM's manager of Hydrogen and Electrical Infrastructure Development and Strategic Commercialization, and Mark Duvall, program manager at the ...

VIDEO: Plug-in Prius tests in London 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The plug-in Prius tests that started yesterday in London were not without a bit of hoopla, and our friend Adam V. from Smartplanet was on hand to video a bit of the introduction. We, sadly, don't get to see the PHEV on the road - but I guess we've all seen Priuses driving by now and you can't ...

EDF, Toyota start UK plug-in Prius tests today 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/environment/Plug_in_Prius_Test_Starts_Today_in_the_UK'; Now, this is tasty. Toyota and EDF Energy today kicked off a series of road trials of the much-desired plug-in Prius. And it's not just because of those fancy stickers that we want this car, either. EDF (also ...

VIDEO: Larry Nitz talks about the plug-in Saturn Vue hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During the recent Plug-in conference in San Jose CA, Matt Kelly of GMNext talked with Larry Nitz about the new PHEV version of the Saturn Vue. The PHEV Vue is still at least a year away and is based on the Two-Mode Vue that comes out late this year. The nickel metal hydride battery is replaced with ...

Convert Your Prius to Run on E85 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

You've heard about plug-in hybrid conversions to the Toyota Prius. Now, a new company offers another eco-upgrade - E85 conversions. A Dutch firm named GreenFuelSystems has created an E85 bio-ethanol conversion kit that is available for 549 Euros. While the English-language version of the company's ...

California considers legislation for PHEV conversions 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

If the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passes the legislation that it is currently considering, getting your hands on a PHEV conversion, like the one recently created by Hymotion, might be a bit more difficult. Whether or not this is a bad thing depends on your point of view. Those looking to ...

Elon Musk on PHEV's, battery technology and solar cells 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria recently got some face-to-face time with Elon Musk, who, as you surely know by now, is one of the "product architects" at Tesla Motors. There were plenty of interesting quotes to come from the interview, but a few truly stood out from the rest. For instance, Musk slams ...

San Jose residents can get a PHEV and BEV fix at Plug-In 2008 Public Night 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Coming up in a few weeks is the Plug-in 2008 conference and expo, a three-day event (July 22-24) highlighting the benefits of cars with plugs. The official sessions will deal with related legislation, technology, the business benefits of PHEVs and BEVs. Luckily, if you can't commit to the full ...

Miss the Google Plug-In conference? Plug In America has got your back 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

In Washington, D.C. last week, Google's non-profit arm, Google.org, held a conference on plug-in hybrids. If you, like us, weren't able to go but still wanted to see some of the luminaries - dare I say celebrities? - of the plug-in movement, the check out what Plug-In America's Stefano Paris has ...

Ford asks, DOE delivers: U.S. will spend $30m to fund PHEV development 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Just yesterday, Ford's Mark Fields gave a speech in Washington, D.C. asking for U.S. government help in developing plug-in hybrids. Today, the Department Of Energy announced a $30m, three-year, three-project PHEV funding program that is intended to help create vehicles that can drive 40 miles on ...

Plug-ins and power: promise and problems 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

A Wall Street Journal story today highlights the promise and potential problems with plug-in cars. More accurately, it highlights the problems and shoves most of the promise to the bottom. As automakers ready plug-in hybrids and electric cars for market, the sensational headline poses a clash of the ...

Hymotion launching Prius plug-in conversion kits 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

All you Prius owners out there who have been waiting patiently to to start running on grid power can almost stop holding your breath. Hymotion, the company that has been developing a plug-in kit for the Prius, has now started taking deposits for the L5 conversion kit. The kit costs $9,995 plus $400 ...

Argonne Lab tests EnerDel-equipped plug-in Prius 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

EnerDel's lithium-titanate battery has been independently tested by the Center for Transportation Research of the Illinois-based Argonne National Laboratory. For the tests, a stock Toyota Prius had its nickel metal hydride battery pack replaced with a new 1kWh lithium ion unit from EnerDel. No ...

No plug? No Problem. MIRA Debuts the "Plugless Plug-In Hybrid" 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the image for more high-res shots What in the world is a plugless plug-in? That's the question we were asking ourselves as we read over the press release pasted after the break. It seems that MIRA, a design, development & certification consultancy in the UK, has created three removable ...

PHEV test program to start in Quebec City 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

A new four year plug-in hybrid test program is kicking off this spring in Quebec City, Quebec with involvement from battery supplier EnerSys, financial cooperative Desjardins and Laval University. EnerSys is a supplier of industrial batteries and its subsidiary ModEnergy will be supplying lithium ...

Silver lining: CARB creates huge new market for plug-in hybrids 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Reader reaction to last week's California Air Resources Board vote to cut the ZEV Mandate by 70 percent was pretty resoundingly negative (although it's only fair to note some of you said the result was a good thing). Automotive News' Richard Truett has written an article that finds the decision's ...

Electric Power Research Institute joins Escape PHEV test program 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Ford's test program for the Escape plug-in hybrid is expanding beyond the original partnership with Southern California Edison (SCE). The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will join the program, setting up a group of utilities in the New York-New Jersey area that will also participate in the ...

Reagan's Ex-Secretary of State asks Gov. Schwarzenegger to bring back the electric car 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

As the California Air Resources Board meets today to vote on revisions to the ZEV Mandate, the voices calling on CARB to not kill the electric car all over again are rising. Jim Woolsey, Tesla's Ze'ev Drori, the Sierra Club and many more are telling CARB to keep the EV alive. Another voice, perhaps ...

ABG First Impression: Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid w/Video 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

At the New York Auto Show last week we had our first opportunity to actually go for a drive in one of Ford's new plug-in hybrid Escapes. Last year Ford announced a partnership with Southern California Edison to build and test twenty plug-in hybrid Escapes. SCE will be using the crossovers in their ...

95 years for a PHEV conversion to pay for itself in gas savings? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Last year, Google made some waves when they announced the RechargeIT project to convert a fleet of Toyota Priuses and Ford Escape hybrids to plug-in capability. The company has just issued their first progress report on the program, and the results may be disappointing for those promoting plug-in ...

New vocabulary: "Smartlets" could charge plug-in vehicles from sidewalk 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Smartlets. Sounds like a new, electrolyte-filled candy or something you plug into your MacBook. Instead, Smartlets are one idea that would provide power to plug-in electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt or the Saturn Vue. Partners Richard Lowenthal, CEO of California-based Coulomb Technologies, and ...

EDTA responds to USA Today article that pooh-poohed plug-in vehicles 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Many of you were critical of USA Today for publishing an article recently about a study on the relative cleanliness of plug-in vehicles. Those of you who joined the criticism have something in common with the Electric Drive Transportation Association, which has sent a letter to USA Today's editor ...

Iacocca: "Plug-in hybrids: that's the wave of the future, not hydrogen." 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Bloomberg editors selected as the lede of a story yesterday about former Chrysler head Lee Iacocca the comment that Cerberus is doing the right thing with Chrysler, the AutoblogGreen audience might be more interested in something buried down at the bottom of the article. Iacocca made comments on ...

Finally, news from Monday's protest against Toyota 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

When we spoke with Chelsea Sexton at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo over the weekend (the above video), she said her organization, Plug In America, and others (Rainforest Action Network and the Global Exchange) were going to be protesting Toyota on Monday. I've been watching the news reports since ...

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