Nissan LEAF Ad: If Gas Powered Everything
Nissan’s got a new ad out that shows a world in which gas powers everything instead of electricity: Gas-powered hair dryers, gas-powered MP3 players, even gas-powered dentist drills (scary). Read more »
Toyota’s Electric RAV4: Will Tesla Get the Supply Deal?
Toyota and Tesla have been working on prototypes outfitting Toyota’s classic SUV the RAV4 with Tesla’s electric vehicle tech. But will Tesla be the supplier of the commercial version of the RAV4 EV, which Toyota wants to sell in 2012? It’s yet to be determined. Read more »
Tesla Plans to End Roadster Production in December ’11
Silicon Valley electric car pioneer Tesla plans to stop production of its first electric car the Roadster in December 2011, according to a filing. Read more »
Tesla Could Raise Over $200M in Follow-on Share Sales
Electric car maker Tesla could raise another $214 million in a combination of a follow on public offering and a private placement. The move shows just how much money an electric car maker that is looking to make more mainstream cars needs to scale up. Read more »
Lithium Ion Battery Baby Steps: A 3-Year-Warranty Laptop Battery
The next-generation of lithium ion batteries aren’t just here to power the first wave of electric cars, they’ll be providing better energy storage for gadgets and computers, too. Leyden Energy is launching a lithium-ion battery for laptops that won’t degrade for at least three years. Read more »
How to Convince Consumers to Buy Electric Cars: Free Parking
How do you encourage consumers to switch to electric cars? Here’s two not-so-obvious ways, according to an Accenture survey released on Wednesday: offer free parking and get more utilities to build charging networks. Read more »
GreenRoad Raises $13M (and Check Out Our Video)
GreenRoad’s greener, safer driving technology has gotten another round of investment. The startup, which is backed by Al Gore and Richard Branson’s funds, as well as Benchmark Capital and others, has raised another $13 million and brought on new CEO Jim Heeger. Read more »
Flush With Cash: Fisker Adds Yet Another $100M
Electric car maker Fisker Automotive has already raised over $1 billion in equity, loans and grants. And yet, the company, which will be launching its first inaugural electric car this summer, has raised another $100 million. That’s on top of the $190 million which recently closed. Read more »
Electric Car Maker Think Falters and Ener1 Cuts Its Losses
Lithium-ion battery maker Ener1, which held a 48 percent stake in electric car maker Think, says partly because Think has halted production of its electric cars, Ener1 has written down a $59.4 million impairment charge for its Think investment. Read more »
VIDEO: Coda VP on the Launch of Its Electric Sedan
Electric car startup Coda Automotive pushed back the launch of their inaugural electric sedan to later this year. Check out my video interview with Coda Automotive VP Chris Paulson on Coda’s upcoming launch of its inaugural electric sedan. Read more »
VIDEO: How Zipcar’s IPO Will Affect P2P Car Sharing
Zipcar’s stock is still flying high after the car sharing company debuted on the Nasdaq last month. To the CEO of neighbor-to-neighbor car sharing startup RelayRides, Shelby Clark, Zipcar’s IPO has shown investors that there’s real money to be made in car sharing. Read more »
Fallbrook Pulls IPO, Still Revving for China
The blockbuster IPO by Tesla Motors revved up the public profile of electric cars over the past year. But Fallbrook Technologies, which makes transmission systems for bikes and EVs, pulled its $50 million IPO plan because of “unfavorable market conditions.” Read more »
BMW Launches Electric Car Compatibility App
Interested in buying an electric car, but not sure if it fits your lifestyle? BMW — which has been rather hesitant when it comes to EVs — recently launched an iPhone app designed to help users discover if they are a good fit for owning an EV. Read more »
Google Links With DOE for Electric Car Charging Maps
The federal government, which is one of the biggest boosters of electric cars, announced two initiatives on Tuesday: a Google Map project featuring charging stations nationwide, and $5 million in funding for cities to come up with plans to popularize electric cars. Read more »
Coda to Open Electric Car Store This Summer
Looks like creating an in-store experience is the way to go for electric car companies. This week, electric car startup Coda Automotive is releasing images of its new store at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, Calif., which it plans to open this summer. Read more »
Zipcar Soars in Nasdaq Debut
Combine a year in which IPOs are back and car sharing is hot and what do you get? A smash hit success. Zipcar’s stock debuted on the Nasdaq Thursday at an eye-opening $30 per share, up over 60 percent from its offering price of $18. Read more »
Green Overdrive: Tesla Takes a Cue from Apple Stores
The exec formerly in charge of Apple’s famously successful in-store experience, is paving a new path for electric vehicle company Tesla Motors. Tesla’s VP of Worldwide Sales and Experience, George Blankenship, shows us around Tesla’s first experiential store on Santana Row in San Jose, Calif. Read more »
What BMW i Ventures Wants: Mobility
Move over cell phone firms, car companies are the new mobility leaders. “BMW is a mobile company, and everything we’ve done and do is about mobility,” Edward Robinson, President of BMW’s recently launched $100 million venture fund i Ventures, told me in an interview. Read more »
Green Overdrive: Wrightspeed Unveils Factory, Drive System
For this week’s Green Overdrive show, we catch up with Wrightspeed founder Ian Wright (part of the founding team of Tesla) at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at his new factory. Wright shows us the company’s digital drivesystem, which will be used to build extended-range electric trucks. Read more »
The Next-Gen Utility: When Every Rooftop Is a Power Plant
Will your local utility one day go the way of dinosaurs? As more home and business owners install solar panels, wind turbines and other electricity and heat generating equipment, the roles of the utilities will change and new business opportunities will rise. Read more »
Weak Numbers Underlie Record Q1 Cleantech Deals
A quick scan of the top cleantech deals for the near record first quarter, sent cold shivers up my spine. The deals may be getting done, but are we sure investors are making money? Three of the biggest deals represented 17 percent of the quarter’s dollars. Read more »
Top Gear Responds: Round 2 in Tesla v Top Gear
An executive with the BBC show Top Gear has responded to the law suit that electric car maker Tesla delivered to it last week, accusing the show of libel and malicious falsehood. In a blog post, Top Gear Executive Producer Andy Wilman denies Tesla’s claims. Read more »
Tesla to Become the 4th American Automaker… Really?
Are we underestimating the electric car market? A bullish outlook from Morgan Stanley and President Obama’s energy speech apparently have raised that question, even though neither has made a good case for the answer to be “yes.” Read more »
Zipcar Prices IPO At $14 to $16 Per Share
Apparently, car sharing company Zipcar’s long-awaited IPO is not off! This week, Zipcar priced its IPO at between $14 and $16 per share for a planned run on the Nasdaq under the symbol ZIP. The company’s 8.3 million shares will net $89.2 million. Read more »
Tesla Sues Top Gear Show for Libel, Malicious Falsehood
Electric car company Tesla is no stranger to lawsuits, and is now involved in yet another one that looks to be pretty high profile. On Tuesday, Tesla slapped the BBC show Top Gear with a lawsuit for libel and malicious falsehood. Read more »
Tesla Roadsters Rack Up Collective 10M Miles
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how early electric car startup Tesla was in terms of getting commercial EVs on the roads. Tesla says its Roadsters have driven a collective 10 million miles, which has saved 500,000 gallons of fuel and 5.3 million pounds of carbon emissions. Read more »
Electric Motor Maker Remy Files for IPO
Following Tesla Motor’s successful IPO last year, now more hybrid and electric car tech makers are looking to land on the public markets. Remy International, which makes starters, alternators and hybrid and electric motors, has filed for an IPO for up to $100 million. Read more »
How Plug-In Hybrid Cars Could Be Game Changers
With my daily commute, Nissan’s all-electric LEAF car isn’t a good fit for me, but GM’s extended range electric car the Volt isn’t exactly an inexpensive car. Here’s how the economics work out and why a plug-in hybrid car could be a real game changer. Read more »
Ford Hooks Up With AT&T for Electric Cars
AT&T is starting to look like the network of choice for connecting electric car’s wireless IT systems. This week at the wireless event CTIA, Ford said it has chosen AT&T’s wireless network for connectivity for its upcoming Ford Focus Electric. Read more »
Ford Taps Tiny Bubbles for Lighter, More Fuel Efficient Cars
Ford is turning to a new tech to reduce the weight of its cars and improve fuel efficiency: tiny bubbles. Ford says it is trialling a technology out of the labs of MIT, now owned by Trexel, called MuCell, which injects micro bubbles into plastic components. Read more »
Google Testing Out Evatran’s Wireless Electric Car Charger
Google has installed a wireless electric car charger, developed by a company called Evatran, to charge up plug-in cars on its Mountain View, Calif. campus. The installation is the first public trial of Evatran’s wireless charging tech, which the company unveiled last Summer. Read more »
Green Overdrive: Inside Tesla’s Model S Alpha
For our latest Green Overdrive show we get an inside look at Tesla’s Model S Alpha program, which Tesla will use to test out design and functionality of its next-generation all-electric car the Model S. Read more »
The Three Laws of Batteries (and a Bonus Zeroth Law)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Staff Scientist Venkat Srinivasan delves into what he thinks are the three laws of batteries that govern how batteries operate, plus he throws in a bonus one at the end. Read more »
Tesla’s Model S Battery Is Swappable, Just in Case
Tesla has designed its second electric car, the Model S, to have a swappable battery with the idea that if battery swapping becomes common for electric car drivers one day, the Model S will be prepared. It’s basically hedging its bets with battery swapping. Read more »
PHOTOS: Inside Tesla’s Model S Alpha Workshop
Check out our photos of Tesla’s Model S Alpha build room, where engineers work on testing 20 Model S Alphas for things like safety, durability and electronics. In a couple of months, Tesla will start building 50 Betas, and by mid-2012, will start delivering the car. Read more »
Green Overdrive: Safer, Greener Driving With GreenRoad!
Safer driving isn’t only better for your car and your personal well being, it can also lead to more fuel efficient driving. For this week’s episode of the Green Overdrive show we check in with GreenRoad, which helps companies drive more safely and fuel efficiently. Read more »
What You Need to Know About Obama’s Budget & Energy
President Obama unveiled his proposed budget Monday that calls for boosting funding to the Department of Energy by nearly 12 percent. The spending plan would focus on research and deployment of technologies he’s championed repeatedly: renewable energy, electric cars, biofuel, energy efficiency and nuclear. Read more »
DOE: How to Get to 1M Electric Cars by 2015
The U.S. Department of Energy issued a report Tuesday that outlines how President Obama will achieve his goal of seeing 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. The answer: combine the stimulus funding, with fuel economy standards, and more incentives. Read more »
Hot or Not? A Credit Card That Rewards Green Spending
Consumers love credit cards, so why not start a program to reward them for spending money on eco-friendly goods and services? That’s the idea behind a proposed government program in South Korea in which users can earn points, and cash, for buying greener products. Read more »
Electric Cars Could Thrive in the Second Car Market
A variety of auto makers are vying for the second car market for electric vehicles, so instead of competing head-to-head with traditional car makers for an internal combustion engine replacement, they’re offering EVs as second and even third cars. Read more »
