Today the Obama Administration announced $2.4 billion in grants meant to accelerate development of manufacturing capability for electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries. The grants are funding 48 new battery and electric drive projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects were selected through a competitive…
Last weekend Nissan announced the LEAF (see Nissan announces the LEAF, an affordable zero-emissions electric car), an all-electric sedan slated to go on sale sometime between 2010 and 2012. Today the Auto Express is reporting that Renault (Nissan’s partner) seems to be preparing itself to only produce electric cars. They…
It’s risky to closely examine any product which isn’t going to be available until at least 1 year into the future. The manufacturer may change some things before finalizing the product. Still Nissan has published enough information about the LEAF to give us room to examine the details and do…
(part 1: Nissan announces the LEAF, an affordable zero-emissions electric car, part 2: Range anxiety and the new Nissan LEAF EV, part 4: Turning over the Nissan LEAF (to look inside)) Dimensions Length: 4445 mm / 175.0 in. Width: 1770 mm / 69.7 in. Height: 1550 mm / 61.0 in.…
Perhaps the greenest form of transportation is walking. We’re all born with the ability to walk (well, save for the few with birth defects) and it is a very low impact way to transport ourselves from place to place. Walking is good exercise, it promotes blood circulation, and can increase…
In the past electric vehicles have had a bit of fear attached to them: What if I run out of juice and can’t recharge? AAA can’t simply dispatch a truck with a gallon of electrons to refill the tank. The fear has enough of a grain of truth behind it…
Nissan today unveiled the Nissan LEAF, an affordable zero-emission electric car. It is an EV, not a hybrid car, meaning there is no engine, nor any of the other accoutrements associated with gasoline such as the gas tank and tail pipe. While it is an electric car, Nissan stresses that…
Over the weekend of July 24-26 history was made at the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. The TTXGP/eGrandPrix electric motorcycle racing series officially launched in the U.S. (see: part 1 of this report) Seven teams attended the event, four of whom rode a bike on the track. These were exhibition rides…
What happens when quiet clean electric motorcycles show up at an annual motorcycle get-together? While one might think the hard core bikers would shun electric bikes, there is a lot of interest among both riders and the general public. It’s a new and exciting technology which some think have a…
This is an interesting week bracketed by several electric vehicle races. You may be thinking electric vehicles are slow boring golf carts that can’t possibly be good at racing, and if so there are a number of EV fanatics working to destroy that stereotype. Fortunately for this cause the founders…
Details for Why Vectrix is teetering on bankruptcy, pt. I and Why Vectrix is teetering on bankruptcy, pt. II Losing money on each bike sold: The “cost of goods sold” is the expense a company pays in order to sell their product. Vectrix had about $6 million revenue in 2008…
Why Vectrix is teetering on bankruptcy, pt. I covered the general reasoning concerning the source of Vectrix’s corporate woes. Part II relates the story told by the financial filings, and part III goes into nitty gritty details. The Vectrix corporate financial reports tell an interesting story of expensive missteps and…
BP (who wants you to think they are Beyond Petroleum) had formed a joint venture in June 2007 with D1 Oils Plc meant to accelerate the planting of Jatropha curcas. This plant is a drought resistant inedible oilseed tree which does not compete with food crops, and is an excellent…
And, no, they don’t mean that old quip about Ford. Instead they mean to help you navigate the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) popularly known as Cash For Clunkers. As noted before the Cash for Clunkers program is not exactly simple especially in determining whether your vehicle is eligable. The…
Nowadays we have many calling for green vehicles, practically begging for electric vehicles to be available. Vectrix made a very good electric scooter capable of satisfying the transportation needs of many, one with very green zero emissions. Many are scratching their heads and wondering why Vectrix is failing at this…
