With the economy slowly sliding into a recession and sales of cars overall, especially SUVs and sports cars, declining, hybrid cars are still selling at a record pace. GM’s recent announcement of a $38 billion loss definitely got people’s attention and while sales for hybrids in December 2007 was off slightly from the year before, […]
August 21st, 2008 | Justin Stewart | 0 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "EV"
Environmentalists Push Plug In Hybrids
Hybrids are proving popular choices for people who want to save money on gas and reduce their car’s carbon foot print. Many people say that hybrid cars do not make a significant impact on the environment. Critics claim that hybrids are nothing more than a feel good option dressed up in green paint.
If environmental activists […]
GM readies Volt unveiling
DETROIT, July 7 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp is rushing to finish the production version of its Chevy Volt and plans to unveil a showroom-ready model of the heavily touted electric car in September, people familiar with the project say.
Battered by a deepening slump in sales and concerns about whether it can ride out the […]
Gasoline prices stabilize; oil continues to rise
Gasoline prices leveled last week, but the same couldn’t be said for oil prices.
Crude oil prices climbed to another record of more than $142 Friday (June 27th), signaling a likely return to rising prices at the pump.
The price of crude oil reached $142.26 in pre-market electronic trading before falling to $140.65, up $1.01 as of […]
In Norway, they’re building your first electric car
OSLO, NORWAY — Ingvil Ladehaug is battery challenged.
Her laptop is running out of juice. Her cellphone is down to its last electrons. But the director of communications for Norway’s Think — beginning production in September of perhaps the best electric car in the world — feels good about our chances of getting home.
“We’re going to […]
June 26th, 2008 | On The Road | 0 comments | Continued
Daimler to offer electric Mercedes in 2010:
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler plans to roll out a Mercedes-Benz model that runs on electricity in 2010, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview.
“We plan an electric Smart for 2010 and for the same year a Mercedes (electric) model as well,” Dieter Zetsche told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in comments to be published in the […]
Lithium ion batteries power converted Priuses
WASHINGTON
— Toyota dealerships in four U.S. metropolitan areas are offering to convert customers’ Priuses into plug-in hybrids, using technology from the battery maker A123 Systems.
The arrangement provides the strongest indication yet that lithium ion battery technology is ready for mainstream automotive use.
A123, of suburban Boston, is among the four battery companies General Motors is considering […]
Toyota will add 2 all-new hybrids next year
TOKYO — As $4-per-gallon gasoline drains Americans’ wallets, Toyota Motor Corp. last week promised two new hybrid vehicles.
The two hybrids — one badged a Toyota and the other a Lexus — will debut in January at the Detroit auto show and come in addition to the third-generation Prius, also due in 2009.
Masatami Takimoto, executive vice […]
Is the gas crisis real or just temporary?
That’s the $64,000 question. Will it go away, or is the shift in consumer preferences permanent?
There are many who see this as a watershed; something that is real and has stunned the North American continent permanently. It has never happened before.
Well, that part’s simply wrong. When we had the first oil crisis in the early […]
GE teams with Chrysler for plug-in hybrid
WASHINGTON — General Electric is interested in supplying components for plug-in hybrid vehicles and is teaming with Chrysler on a project to demonstrate a technology GE calls a dual-battery energy storage system.
Vlatko Vlatkovic, a GE official, told Automotive News today that the company has developed a hybrid railroad locomotive — which he compared to a “6,000-horsepower Prius […]
GM breaks up with big oil in new campaign
General Motors is sending a “Dear John” letter to big oil.
Katherine Benoit, GM corporate marketing director, told attendees at the American Advertising Federation meeting this week that the automaker is launching a corporate campaign this month that addresses the oil-price issue head-on, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek twist.
“Dear Oil,” a new TV commercial begins. “We’ve had […]
Small-car surge is a replay of 1979
Folks too young to remember the oil crises of the 1970s may see the recent small-car surge as the greatest market flip in U.S. auto history. But these aren’t uncharted waters.
For historical perspective on the shocking sales numbers that rolled in last week, put them alongside this passage from Lee Iacocca’s 1984 autobiography: “Never before […]
Toyota plans 2 new hybrids, lithium ion production
Toyota Motor Corp. fired a fresh volley in the green car wars, promising two new hybrid vehicles and the start of lithium ion battery production next year (2009). The two hybrids — one badged a Toyota, the other a Lexus — will debut at the Detroit auto show and come on top of the third-generation Prius car, also due in 2009.
June 12th, 2008 | On The Road | 0 comments | Continued
Cycle sales up, drivers switch to save
Ricky Cook was growing weary shelling out $60 every time he filled the tank of a Dodge Ram diesel pickup that got 18 miles per gallon — on a good day. When diesel reached $4.75 a gallon, he started looking for a cheaper way to get to work and zip around town.
He found it two […]
Gas Prices - Worldwide
If you’re wondering what that same gallon of gasoline would cost in the far reaches of the world, read on, but prepare to be upset and maybe even angry, and it’s only going to get worse for Americans. Auto makers are hurting too (see ‘Bummer for Hummer story
- here)! Production of hybrids and […]
Drill Here - Drill Now - Pay Less
We look at the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less Campaign.
81% of Americans Support Greater Use of Domestic Energy Resources
73% of the American people agree that with appropriate safeguards to protect the environment, we should drill for oil off America’s coasts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.