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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Europe/EU Nissan and General Motors would've been clicking their heels if electric vehicles accounted for one in 500 new cars last year. But in the homeland of big EV builder Renault, not so much. EV sales in France have accounted for less than 0.2 percent of new car sales this year, Bloomberg News reports, citing Les Echos. Automakers like alliance partners Renault and Nissan sold 1,594 EVs through April, according to the wire service. Automakers are hoping that EVs account for as much as 10 percent of vehicle sales in France. Still, 0.2 percent isn't exactly a horror story. Last year, models like the Nissan Leaf battery electric vehicle and Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in moved about 17,000 units, or about 0.13 percent of the nearly 13 million light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2011. That's about one in 750 new cars. That said, automakers were hoping the French would take after the fine citizens of Norway. There, the Nissan Leaf moved 1,000 units...

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, BMW, Lightweight There once was a time when BMW only produced a handful of its models in high-performance M guise. There was the M3, the M5, and that was pretty much it. Now, however, it offers M models based on the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, X5 and X6. And that's only expected to grow. The first on the docket, according to BMW North America CEO (and former M chief) Ludwig Willisch in speaking with TheDetroitBureau.com, will be an M7. The Bavarian automaker has long resisted going down the same road as the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG and Audi S8, but that's slated to change in the near future. But while the X5 M and X6 M have been hot sellers, Willisch rules out the possibility of M versions of the smaller X1 and X3 crossovers, as well as bringing the M550d xDrive super-diesel sport-wagon (or presumably its crossover counterparts) to North America. Of course BMW could opt to apply a similar sub-M formula to the 7 Series like it's doing with...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, MPG The good news? Alt-fuel vehicle sales will rise during the next few years. The bad news? So will their prices. Global sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric vehicles and other electric-drive variants will jump 30 percent this year and will rise fivefold between 2011 and 2017, says a Dallas-based research firm. Worldwide, low- and zero-emission vehicle sales, which stood at $21.1 billion last year, will reach $27.5 billion in 2012 and then increase to $103.1 billion in 2017, according to MarketsandMarkets. Meanwhile, the number of vehicles sold will rise to 3.53 million in 2017 from 826,800 last year, which is great until a little long division (or a trip to an Excel file) is performed, revealing that the average price of advanced-powertrain vehicles will be $25,556 to $29,198. Either way, hybrids will continue to be the most commonly purchased alt-fuel vehicle during the next few years, the report says. So far, Americans appear to be...

Filed under: Hybrid, BMW Anybody out there who knows how to multiply 114 percent by "impressive improvement" gets a prize. In the meantime, we're just going to have to accept the fact that the 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 will get better fuel economy than its predecessor. As it is, we know that the German automaker's 7-series hybrid gets a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine that provides the same horsepower - 315 - as the prior version's V8. In all, the car's hybrid powertrain puts out 348 horsepower and 367 pound-feet of torque, providing a 0-to-60 mile per hour acceleration time of 5.5 seconds. The hybrid can also go as fast as 37 miles per hour in all-electric mode. As for fuel economy, well, what we do know is that the old version got an EPA-rated 20 miles per gallon, the same as BMW's 2012 740Li, and that the new ActiveHybrid 7 gets 14 percent better fuel economy than the new 740Li. Also, the car's fuel economy marks "an impressive improvement" over the 2012 version, according to...

Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants, Chevrolet, GM They're not all for the Chevrolet Volt, but 200 new jobs are coming to General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck plant in July. GM is adding the positions to the factory because the overall production rate will increase once the facility starts making the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, sources "familiar with the situation" told the Detroit Free Press. Those same sources told the paper that there is now a shortage of Volts in California, following a four-week shutdown (originally scheduled for five weeks). Another shut-down - this one for three weeks - is still on the calendar for June before the new Malibu comes on board, the sources said. GM is having decent months of Volt sales, selling 1,462 in April after moving a record 2,289 in March. GM introduced the Eco version of the Malibu (made in Kansas City) first, and the Hamtramck plant will only be building the standard versions for that launch later in the summer. Hamtramck Chevy Volt plant getting 200...

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Legislation and Policy, Racing Think of it as a "do as we say, not as we do" scenario. Stock-car racing organization NASCAR and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are going to work together to help the environment by using NASCAR's marketing punch to push more environmentally sustainable behavior. Not addressed? Running a bunch of cars at full speed around an oval for a few hundred miles. NASCAR and the EPA reached a memorandum of understanding (MOU), in which NASCAR will push products that have the EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) label. The racing organization will also encourage suppliers to move towards cutting energy use and use more sustainable products for manufacturing. NASCAR is also pushing for concessionaires to conserve water, cut waste and encourage recycling. Last month, NASCAR featured its first all-electric pace car with a Ford Focus Electric at the Richmond 400. Overall, though, the cars still burn a heck of a lot...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA For those nostalgic for mullets, the Cosby Show and Oakland A's dominance, the Nissan Leaf may be for you. Those late 1980s hallmarks harken back to the days of $1-a-gallon gas, and that's what you're in for - forever - if you drive a battery electric vehicle, says Green Car Reports, citing a study from Natural Resources Defense Council staff member Max Baumhefner. Baumhefner found that, while oil and gas prices fluctuate because of various supply shocks and political shenanigans, electricity prices stay relatively constant, meaning that the cost of juicing up an EV isn't going to change much. Additionally, our friends at Green Car Reports found a Union of Concerned Scientists study that estimated that EV drivers can save as much as $1,200 a year in the form of lower refueling costs when compared to gassing up conventional vehicles. Either way, the study addresses the very topical issue about how much more it costs to buy an plug-in vehicle or a...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and Policy, USA According to the 2012 U.S. Automotive Industry Survey and Confidence Index by Booz & Co., alternative vehicle powertrains may take up as much as 10 percent of the total market by 2020, but only if the federal government continues to support development. Without a helping hand from Uncle Sam, only 30 percent of the researchers, executives and consumers who participated in the survey believe alternative-fuel machines will be able to carve out that small slice of the market. Specifically, federal tax incentives for potential buyers could help push the technology forward in the future. According to Wards Auto, further development faces a double hurdle. First, additional urban planning is required to demonstrate plug-in hybrids and EVs will be viable options for buyers, but at the same time, government agencies also need to see fuel cell and battery costs come down before being willing to pony up for chargers or incentives. Even...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan, Europe/EU Nissan has installed the first of 400 quick-charging electric-vehicle chargers in Europe that it's planning to deploy during the next few years, the Detroit News reports. The Japanese automaker, which along with alliance partner Renault is said to be investing more than $5 billion (U.S.) in electric-vehicle and infrastructure development, will install 40 quick chargers each in France and the Netherlands. Once the Dutch chargers are deployed, all of the country's drivers will be within 20 miles of a Nissan quick charger. The chargers use the CHAdeMO standard and can recharge an EV like a Nissan Leaf to 80 percent capacity within 30 minutes. Last month, Nissan launched a campaign called "The Big Turn On" that uses social media to entice people to compete for free quick chargers. As part of the contest, the automaker is giving away other prizes ranging from tablet computers to Nissan Leafs. Nissan said in February that it was looking to sell as...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, USA Whaddya think, that Volt buyers were trading in a Cadillac for their new plug-ins? Nope. Most buyers of Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in vehicles are coming in from outside of the General Motors family, the automaker says. About two-thirds of Volt buyers are trading in non-GM cars, and more than 90 percent of recently surveyed Volt drivers said they'd buy another one. This fits with the results of a Consumer Reports survey on vehicle owner satisfaction released late last year. GM says the Toyota Prius hybrid is the most common vehicle sacrificed traded-in for the Volt, followed by the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic and BMW 3 Series cars. GM is looking to drum up more sales for the Volt, which missed sales targets last year but is showing signs of life in 2011. Through April 2012, Volt sales tripled from a year earlier to 5,377 units, or about two-thirds of what GM sold during all of 2011. Continue reading The lure of the plug:...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Chevrolet The winner of the first year of the EcoCar 2 Challenge is the design for a series-parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle from Mississippi State University. EcoCar 2: Plugging In to the Future is a three-year competition where college students try to make the most efficient modifications to a base vehicle - in this case a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The first year is spent emphasizing "engineering design though modeling and simulation to select and virtually test their plug-in hybrid electric vehicle architecture." Now that the deck work is over, the actual mods can get started. Fifteen schools are participating in the competition, which is the second three-year event of this type. The first was the Ecocar NeXT challenge, which Virginia Tech won with an E85-burning extended-range electric Equinox. Parhaps you've noticed that there are only General Motors vehicles involved here. EcoCar 2 is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, GM...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels When it comes to promotions, "25,000 free miles" certainly sounds sexier than $200 cash back, doesn't it? However it's framed, that's what Zero Motorcycles is offering to buyers of the company's battery-electric two-wheelers during 2012, according to Two Wheel Mania. Zero calculated how expensive the electricity would be that's needed to power the bike for 25,000 miles and came up with $200, so that's what Zero is putting on a Visa gift card for buyers. Zero, which conducted its "National Demo Day" last weekend, is trying to keep sales going strong this year after the company more than tripled first-quarter sales from 2011. Late last year, Zero said its 2012 models include a battery option that provides more than 110 miles of single-charge range in city driving and more than 60 miles on the highway. Prices for this year's Zero models range from $7,695 to $13,995. Minus $200, of course. Zero Motorcycles offers buyers 25,000 miles of 'free'...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Saab, Europe/EU The all-but-lifeless corpse of Saab continues to stagger forward in hopes of finding a juicy investor to sink its teeth into. Autocar reports that National Electric Vehicle Sweden is currently close to buying the brand's remaining assets. The freshly minted electric car consortium is helmed by none other than Karl-Erling Trogen, the former head of Volvo Trucks. Beyond that, few details are known about the company or its plans for Saab. National Electric Sweden is owned by two bodies, Sun Investment and Mikael Kubu, the president of law firm Ac-Gruppen. We can only speculate about what the consortium wants with Saab, though fan site SaabsUnited reports the company may have its eyes on an electric rear axle program developed with in conjunction with eAAM. Whether that means we'll see electric or hybrid Saab models whirring around in the future is still uncertain. If we did, it would probably take quite a while. As SaabsUnited notes, "Saab, the...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Mitsubishi, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, At Witz End An affordable, semi-practical, entry-level EV I've driven a fair number of electrics over the last couple decades, beginning with General Motors' bullet-shaped 1991 Impact concept car and continuing through a progression of Geo Storm-based mules, prototype and production EV1s with both lead-acid and later range-doubling Ni-MH battery packs. And since returning to this side of the business, my list has expanded to include the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf, MINI E, BMW ActiveE, Tesla Roadster, Smart ED and a right-drive, Japanese-market Mitsubishi i-MiEV. All have shared the EV blessings of strong, near-silent, shiftless acceleration, home "refueling" and no more gas station stops with fluctuating fuel prices. All have also shared the EV curses of big, heavy, expensive batteries, the resulting high purchase/lease prices and (excluding the Volt) limited range, long recharge times and occasional range anxiety. Most...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, USA, Middle East Plug-in vehicle drivers are probably less likely to get cited for shredding rubber or doing 80 in a 50 zone and, apparently, insurance companies are taking note. Drivers of vehicles like the Nissan Leaf battery electric and Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in hybrid pay, on average, lower insurance premiums than their conventional-vehicle counterparts, according to the Detroit Free Press. Companies like Hartford Insurance have started offering a five percent discount for U.S. electric vehicle drivers, apparently taking into account statistics that show that these drivers tend not to speed or rear-end other folks, the publication reported. Of course, there are some insurance companies that charge more to insure plug-ins because of their higher price tag, compared to gas-powered vehicles of a similar class. Still, on average, EV drivers appear to be paying less. Specifically, a typical Leaf driver pays about 15 percent less than a driver of a...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA Hollywood Electrics isn't Zero Motorcycles' top dealership by accident. The retail shop is all in on all-electrics, and it doesn't stop at simple sales and service. It also offers unique personalizations of the bikes it sells, along with complete custom creations. Its newest product takes that revamp ethos to eleven: introducing the Zero Cafe Racer with iPad integration. The first bike to benefit from this reimagining is a 2010 trade in, but the package can be fitted to 2012 models as well. The bike has been stripped of most of its original bodywork and given a classic cafe racer seat and tail stock, with sweet LED brake and signal lights neatly assimilated. The tank gets a modern twist with an embedded - and removable - iPad that handles all your instrumentation, gives an in-depth look at your battery status, and lets you check things like range radius and charger proximity. It also allows you to tweak some basic tuning parameters. Other...

Filed under: Biodiesel, Ethanol, Legislation and Policy, USA It looks like Blue's fighting Red over the Green. Democratic members of Congress and some U.S. military leaders are planning to fight the Republican-led effort to quash efforts to expand use of biofuels for the U.S. military, the Colorado Independent reports. Proponents of more biofuel use by the military say they can help hedge against the type of fuel-price increases that will cost the federal government $1.3 billion in 2012. Petroleum use also causes safety issues. About one in 30 convoys designed to ensure the operation of refueling lines in Iraq and Afghanistan has led to a soldier casualty. More petroleum use also causes more greenhouse gas emissions, and the resulting climate change causes natural disasters that boost disaster-relief requirements from the military, biofuel proponents say. Last week, the Talking Points Memo blog reported that a Republican-led group within the House Armed Services Committee put at risk...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Fisker, Videos The Fisker Karma might look good from the outside, but the view from the driver's seat is anything but infotaining. That's the detailed, expert opinion of Brian Greenstone, an Austin, TX-based programmer who owns both a Karma and an Aston Vantage, according to The Truth About Cars. Greenstone also has enough time and passion for his cars that he recorded a 41-minute video about just why the Karma's infotainment and climate control panel, the Command Center, is so tremendously bad (he also made a 27-minute video reviewing the car as a whole. Both are available below). Greenstone gives the system an F. That's up from an F- before a recent software update. These are grades only an owner can give, someone who's spent time getting to know the car. He says: Automatic climate control? It "basically doesn't work." Bluetooth? The screen "gives you no information." Changing audio inputs using the steering wheel controls? "I have no idea what audio...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Mercedes Benz Reports of Mercedes-Benz and Tesla building an electric A-Class together are nothing new. In fact, a fleet of 500 A-Class-based E-Cells was built for Europe. Most recently, a Tesla earnings report revealed that Tesla was still working on an all-electric powertrain for an unnamed EV for Daimler, the evolution of a deal that began when Daimler invested in the Silicon Valley automaker in 2009. The two automakers also worked together on the Smart ED. So, what's this then in a Dutch website? A report on Groen7 says that "a source at Tesla" has revealed that the previously unnamed EV Tesla is busy with (among other things) is an updated, electric version of the new A-Class, one that will perhaps arrive in 2013. We had previously guessed the secret Tesla-Daimler deal would result in an all-electric B-Class, but being wrong there won't stop us from trying to predict the future again: the hints are present that this next A-Class EV will remain a...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, Nissan There are two ways automakers can go when producing a vehicle with electric propulsion - be it a hybrid or an outright EV: make it look the same as any other car, or make it stand out. Like Toyota (for example) did with the Prius, Nissan made the Leaf look (for better or worse) unlike a conventional sedan. But while Toyota answered the call for more space with the equally "distinctive" Prius V, Nissan has gone a different route in producing a bigger brother for the Leaf. That route is called the e-NV200, pictured above in concept form. And while the nose, unique shade of blue and electric powertrain are conceptually borrowed from the Leaf, the rest is nearly identical to the existing NV200 van that is being rolled out in New York as the city's new taxi of choice. Nissan has just announced the production of the e-NV200, set to start next year at the same plant in Barcelona, Spain, as the conventionally-powered NV200. As a result,...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM, Nissan The battle lines are hardening. At issue here are the competing DC fast charge standards, CHAdeMO (which is established and works with the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i) and the new SAE Combo Charger (which is not yet available on any cars for sale, and won't be for a while). CHAdeMo is, mostly, supported by Japanese companies, while the SAE Combo plug gets its backing from U.S. and German automakers. The two sides are currently in a war of words, but an important one. Shad Balch, GM's manager of environment and energy policy, said during a recent public hearing in California that there should be a CHAdeMO embargo, "we need to make sure, especially because we're talking about taxpayer money, that ONLY those standards [i.e., the SAE combo plug] are installed going forward," Torque News reports. The crowd booed Balch, but he went on to say that, "there is a very small group of cars that use a non-standardized level 3 charging connector."...

Filed under: Natural Gas, Europe/EU, USA Vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) aren't quite as exciting as cars that pack a big battery pack, but there's a good chance the gas-burners will play an increasing role in our transportation choice moving forward. Like 1,150,000 big. Frost & Sullivan has released an analysis that claims that these alternate fuels will sell almost 900,000 units in Europe and almost 250,000 in North America by 2018. The coming CNG/LPG boom is the result of EPA and ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers' Association) regulations that call for lower emissions and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that moving from gasoline to CNG or LPG costs much less than shifting to battery or hydrogen fuel cell powertrains. In North America, the early adopters will mostly be fleets (i.e., UPS) while Europe already has a growing number of CNG and LPG vehicles, with LPG cars - for example the Kia Picanto, pictured, which can run...

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, USA Chip Yates retired his electric motorcycle last year after setting records at the Mohave Mile and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and notching several (slower than Lightning) FIM World Land Speed achievements on the Bonneville Salt Flats. If you thought he was done with his pursuit of battery-powered feats, however, you have underestimated just how crazy this Californian is. Case in point? He's just announced a plan to trace the path Charles Lindbergh took during his historic flight from New York to Paris in an electric airplane. Not just any electric airplane though. To get around the energy density limits of today's batteries, the craft is to be refueled during in-flight rendezvous with drones, which will either recharge or swap packs. No, we're not making this up. In the time it takes to make this flight of fancy flight of the century happen, Chip will keep busy with other high-flying adventures....

Filed under: Hydrogen, Legislation and Policy, USA This is one political flip-flop scenario that could actually please some constituents. The Obama Administration might reverse its policy of cutting support for hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle development (FCEV) in favor of battery-electric vehicles by putting more resources towards FCEV advancement, Slate reports. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently spoke at a private event and supported expansion of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, Slate said, citing ex-Shell USA President John Hofmeister. The government's executive branch may be reversing course because of what's so far been lower-than-expected battery-electric vehicle sales in the U.S. Some consider hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles a best-of-all-worlds solution to cutting both petroleum use and greenhouse-gas emissions because the vehicles can be filled up in minutes and can go almost as far on a full tank as gas-powered vehicles. Still, costs remain an issue because...

Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota A million here, a million there. Sooner or later, those numbers add up. Toyota announced today it has sold over four million hybrids around the world since introducing the first Prius in Japan all the way back in 1997. Sales were slow, at first, but the pace is now picking up. For example, it was around 14 months ago that Toyota announced it had sold three million hybrids around the world. With the sales success of the newly introduced V, C and Plug-In models and Toyota looking for hybrid production capacity in the U.S., we imagine it won't take another 14 months to sell the next million. Especially since Toyota now sells a total of 18 different hybrid models around the world and make up 15 percent of the company's overall sales. You can see a timeline and lots of numbers in the press release below. Continue reading Toyota sells over four million hybrids worldwide Toyota sells over four million hybrids worldwide originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue,...

Filed under: Hybrid, Ford We've noticed that 2013 Ford Fusion configurator has been updated with dollar values for each of its four models, however, we're not so sure the pricing is that black-and-white. Ford has also updated the disclaimer at the bottom of the page, to read, "Prices and features are for survey purposes only and are subject to change and features may become unavailable at the time of vehicle introduction." In other words, don't get too fixated on the numbers, as they're not locked down yet. And by playing with the configurator, you're likely serving as a FoMoCo lab rat - after all, this is the company that never met a focus group it didn't like. It's worth noting that Ford has not issued an official press release on pricing yet. But for now, it seems like the base Fusion S will start at $22,495, though we're not sure whether that includes destination or not. Stepping up to the SE at $24,490 will upgrade the steel wheels to alloys, add heated, lighted mirrors with turn...

Filed under: Green Culture, MPG It seems like it was just a few years ago that car manufacturers used to laugh at us when we'd ask why a new model didn't get any better fuel economy than its outgoing predecessor. "Car buyers don't care about fuel economy," was the refrain, "They certainly won't pay for it." A few years of three- and four-dollar-per-gallon gas has apparently changed that attitude. According to a new study by Consumer Reports, 37 percent of respondents said fuel economy was now their leading consideration in car shopping, topping all others by a landslide. Quality was the second-most-important factor at 17 percent, while safety was mentioned by 16 percent, and value by 14 percent of shoppers. Two-thirds of respondents said they expected their next new vehicle to beat their current one on fuel economy. And yes, it is the economy, stupid, as 90 percent of those surveyed said high gas prices were the reason why they wanted a more fuel-efficient vehicle. None of this is too...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, Tesla Motors The early delivery hints were spot on. Tesla's vice president of worldwide sales and ownership experience, George Blankenship, has declared June 22 - just one month away - as the day when the first Model S will be delivered. He wrote on the official Tesla blog today that, "We are ahead of schedule and can't wait to put our first Reservation Holders behind the wheel!" We're sure the buyers feel the same way. Perhaps most exciting, the Model S will now feature adjustable regenerative brakes, which is something we certainly like to see in our EVs. For highway driving, having the brakes grab hold each time we take our foot off the accelerator is annoying, so we look forward to seeing just how much "coasting" the Model S will allow. Blankenship writes that, "Having less Regen means you will likely get less range, but some people still prefer the feel of their car with less Regen." We can't wait until some inspired hypermiler...

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Ford The 2012 Ford Focus Electric is officially on its way to dealerships. Outlets in California, New Jersey, and New York - 67 in all - are going to be the first to receive the electron-fueled Focus, with about six cars each winding up on lots. To help dealers build more excitement for what's likely to be a slow-starting sales story, the dealers will hold one of the Focus EVs as a demonstrator. Even if fewer than 5,000 Focus Electric models find buyers this year, Alan Mulally won't be disappointed. While Ford ultimately expects electrics and hybrid vehicles to account for up to 25 percent of its sales volume by 2020, the company is moving deliberately. Rather than develop and tool an entirely new platform, Ford's move to modify the Focus for electric propulsion is said to allow some semblance of a profit margin, but it's going to take time for consumers to warm to the idea of a $40,000 Focus, even if a third of that price is the battery, and Ford appears to...