Trotting out auto industry veteran and the former public face of Chevy Volt, Bob Lutz, as a spokesman, VIA Motors on Tuesday showed off its technology of converting conventional trucks, cargo vans and SUVs into hybrid electric vehicles and laid out production plans. Read More »
Cleantech
I look at the numbers for whether the DOE and Obama will be able to meet the goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Read More »
Is A123 Systems a company that is good at announcing deals but can’t profit from them? After cutting its 2011 sales forecast last Friday, A123 on Monday announced a licensing deal with Japan’’s IHI, which will make a $25 million equity investment in A123. Read More »
The courtship between A123 Systems and GM didn’t really work out before, but the two are giving it another try. GM on Wednesday named the lithium-ion battery maker as the supplier for its newly announced all-electric Chevrolet Spark, which is set for launch in 2013. Read More »
Looks like GM is planning to compete even more directly with Nissan’s all-electric LEAF. According to reports, GM is supposed to announce on Wednesday that it will start selling an all-electric city car, designed for urban markets in the U.S. and based on its minicar Spark. Read More »
GM just announced the next car in its extended range electric car lineup: the Cadillac ELR. Like GM’s Volt, the Cadillac ELR will have a t-shaped lithium ion battery to enable driving on electric power, but then also features an engine as a backup. Read More »
We stopped by one of the first Chevy dealers in the country, American Chevrolet of Modesto, Calif., that has installed a solar canopy and Volt charging stations. Check out the photos and what we’ve learned about the project. Read More »
Utilities know by now that they need to adopt steps manage electricity supply and demand if electric cars become popular. The trick is to figure out what to do. The Electric Power Research Institute released a report on Tuesday that addresses the utility concerns. Read More »
GPS can provide an important function for the emerging electric car industry: battling so-called range anxiety. On Monday, electric car charging company Coulomb Technologies announced that it has partnered with navigation company TomTom to offer charging locator, reservation and information services for plug-in car drivers. Read More »
Wireless charging is an appealing concept for many of us who loathe the sight of messy power cords or the need to find outlets in public. Carmakers like it, too. Toyota announced a deal Wednesday with WiTricity to bring wireless charging to cars. Read More »
At Green:Net next week, we’ll be exploring how adding IT technologies to anything from the power grid, to data centers, to buildings, to lighting can lead to energy efficiency and a more sustainable consumption of increasingly-constrained resources. Read More »
Freescale Semiconductor and Fuji Electric Systems are forming a new partnership focused on hybrid and electric vehicle tech. The two companies announced plans to collaborate on a type of power semiconductor for electronic powertrains, as well as other products for green cars down the road. Read More »