The newest music video by pop music sensation/possible crazy person Lady Gaga is a darker spin on her signature “out there” style. While free of product placement (as well as eyeliner) it’s getting a perfectly-executed premiere courtesy of Vevo and YouTube. Read more »
General Motors moved this week to link its upcoming Chevrolet Volt and in-vehicle communications system, OnStar, with Google navigation tools and smartphones based on the search giant’s Android platform. This marks a key intersection in the trajectories of automakers and Internet giants and could pave the way to much more comprehensive partnerships across previously disconnected industries and systems. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Nissan has previously described its upcoming LEAF electric car as being priced for profitability from the get-go. Now the automaker say it expects to initially lose money on the vehicle, at least until it fires up high volume production. Read more »
Electric cars and emerging markets: That’s the name of the game for Nissan in the next fiscal year. Reporting a 42.4 billion yen profit for the year ending March 31, Nissan executives emphasized signs of recovery and commitment to greener vehicles Wednesday. Read more »
During the next few years, plug-in hybrid and all electric vehicles will be mass-produced for the first time. The promise of reducing emissions, fuel consumption, and the cost of driving will prompt fleet operators and consumers to purchase more than 800,000 of these vehicles between 2010 and 2015, according to Pike Research’s forecasts. Keeping EVs charged and ready to go will require an infrastructure of equipment for vehicle charging and new IT management system for monitoring, analyzing, and controlling vehicle charging. This report looks at the opportunities for IT companies to solve a variety of challenges for utilities, automakers, consumers and others in the EV ecosystem. Includes market segment forecasts forcustomer information management, smart charging management and data analytics. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Renault-Nissan Alliance has just recruited two more players to its team in the race to dominate the global electric vehicle market. This morning the duo announced plans to collaborate with Italy’s largest electricity producer, Enel, and Spanish utility giant Endesa. Read more »
Under the current structure of vehicle ownership and warranties, automakers would suffer from the depreciation of electric vehicle batteries if the devices used to provide certain services for the power grid. But utilities and consumers could benefit. Read more »
French-Japanese allies Renault and Nissan, and German automaker Daimler AG, have a deal in the works to cooperate on development of hybrid and electric vehicle tech, and to share platforms for small cars. How could that shape the green car market? Read more »
Ford is turning to Microsoft’s home energy management tool Hohm to enable smart charging for its electric vehicles. Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the announcement this morning. Read more »
I worked for many years as a consultant, and spent more frustrating time in Excel spreadsheets on a Tablet PC than I care to remember. With Numbers it looks like Apple has beaten Microsoft at its own game, and on the first try with the iPad. Read more »
Today forward thinking developers are eying the iPad — tomorrow they’ll be focused on your family sedan. These so-called connected cars will ultimately offer a next-generation platform for entrepreneurs and car makers to develop auto-focused applications. Read more »
Nissan announced the sticker price for its upcoming LEAF electric sedan today, and at $32,780), it could be among the cheapest highway-capable electric vehicles on the road in coming years. Nissan also plans to lease the vehicle for $349 per month. Read more »
“Extremely surprised” and “shocked” are some of the words that secretive startup V-Vehicle and local officials in Louisiana have used this week in the wake of V-Vehicle’s failed bid for a federal loan to build a low-cost, high-MPG car. Is it really so shocking? Read more »
As Google mulls pulling out of China, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is digging in. The French-Japanese auto duo has just detailed its first deal with a Chinese city to develop electric vehicles and infrastructure. Under the pilot program announced Thursday, Nissan will roll out 25 electric vehicles in Wuhan starting in 2011 with the Nissan LEAF sedan. The Wuhan government will build 250 electric vehicle chargers, and two additional “quick chargers,” for installation in the city. Both Wuhan and Nissan plan to work on marketing, collaborating on “education and awareness programs.” Read more »
Here at jkOnTheRun, we have some of the smartest and most well informed readers around when it come to mobile devices. With this in mind, we wondered what would happen if we asked you your thoughts about tech products such as smartphones and web tablets. So, […] Read more »
Not too long ago, EnerDel seemed mighty close to winning the contract to supply batteries for Fisker Automotive’s upcoming plug-in hybrid Karma. After several months of talks between the companies, EnerDel told us it had entered the in-vehicle testing phase, or what it described as “just […] Read more »
The week marches on and today being Saturday means it is time to recap the recent happenings in the world of Windows Mobile. The end of the year has seen things quiet on the Windows Mobile front, although Microsoft is looking to fill some jobs that […] Read more »
During the next few years, EV and plug-in choices will multiply and the newness of being propelled by an electric motor will wear off. When that time comes, you can expect potential buyers to start paying closer attention to the technology packages and convenience features ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As the year winds to a close, GigaOM Pro’s crack team of contributors takes a look back at what went right, what went wrong, and for whom in the world of Green IT. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The flood of funding from the Department of Energy’s $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program — $8 billion for Tesla Motors, Nissan and Ford in June — has slowed to a trickle in recent months, comprising just two awards totaling some $552 million, and […] Read more »
A new rule in California meant to help keep vehicles cool in the sun (and thus cut the need for fuel-chugging air conditioners) could interfere slightly with signal reception for GPS devices, but probably won’t block most mobile phone signals. Those are some of the findings […] Read more »
The award of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and loans for electric vehicles, batteries and charging infrastructure in the last few months has provided a major boost for companies working in the space. That’s true for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based ECOtality, whose subsidiary eTec (with several […] Read more »
Top executives from 13 companies including California utility Pacific Gas & Electric, Japanese automaker Nissan, smart grid startup GridPoint, battery maker A123Systems, battery giant Johnson Controls-Saft, and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, are joining forces this morning as the founding members of a new alliance called […] Read more »
Automakers based in China are investing heavily in electric vehicle technology these days, but some car companies see a troublesome hole in the set of policies China has put together to spur adoption of plug-in cars: direct consumer incentives, such as subsidies or rebates for electric […] Read more »
