Overall, between 2012 and 2017, more than 900,000 light-duty PEVs will be sold in the United States. But there remain hefty inhibitors to mainstream plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) use, including limited vehicle driving range and large battery packs, not to mention steep prices. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
This quarter the EV market struggled to find its footing. Meanwhile, the smart-grid sector solidified and low-power technology proved itself important in the data center. Read more to learn what these news pieces and others mean for the larger space over the next few months. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
This is Jonathan Koomey’s third essay in a series of four this week that highlights, and excerpts from, his upcoming book, “Cold Cash, Cool Climate,” which discusses how entrepreneurs and investors can profit from tackling climate change, one of this century’s greatest challenges. Read more »
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It was a tough week for electric cars, with Chevy Volt’s sales falling short and Aptera’s filing for bankruptcy. The barriers to EV adoption are widely known but center around a few major issues, including range anxiety, charging time and initial cost. Range anxiety and unease ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Need to covert a file from one format to another and don’t want to have to bother with downloading a dedicated conversion program? Check out online-ConVert.com, a free online file converter that can convert files into a huge number of popular formats. Read more »
As Toyota’s Prius problems continue, other models across the spectrum of green cars will also get bruised. Given the Prius’ status as the poster child for hybrids, consumers may extrapolate its troubles out to other cars. Read more »
Microsoft Visio still reigns as the standard tool in diagramming for business, project management and technical communications. While you don’t have to be an artist to use Visio productively, in my experience a lot of users still very intimidated by this application. Like most of the […] 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 »
Diesels and hybrid-electric cars have often been posed as competitors racing to capture the green-automotive market. Diesels are more popular in Europe, while hybrids are more popular in the United States. Both have their advantages and disadvantages: diesels can get impressive fuel economy without complicated drivetrains […] Read more »
The Problem With MPGs: The folks behind the Automotive X Prize lay the smack down on General Motors’ 230 MPG claim for the Chevy Volt, and make the case for their MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) method of calculating the fuel efficiency of plug-in vehicles. — […] Read more »
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Car-sharing networks like Zipcar — the largest in the U.S. — often earn environmental points for helping to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. And as we’ve written on GigaOM Pro (subscription only) and on Earth2Tech, these services — hooked up to communications networks […] Read more »
The Verizon MiFi may be handling all my mobile data connections, but that’s because I’m not roaming globally. I’m stuck in North America with my MiFi and business travelers need more than that. That’s why Verizon is releasing the ZTE AD3700 global modem, which works on […] Read more »
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson promised earlier this week that the new GM, fresh out of bankruptcy, will have more direct communications with customers, dealers, suppliers and employees. The lingering consumer perception “that GM makes lower-quality cars,” according to the White House auto task force, combined […] Read more »
10:30 a.m.: The Michael Jackson funeral has begun. Watching CNN.com Live feed with Facebook integration. Facebook reports 6,000 status updates/minute, on a more global scale than what they saw with live Obama Inauguration coverage. CNN doesn’t have audio from the Staples Center, switching to MSNBC. 10:35: […] Read more »
Less than three years: that’s the wait time left for a plug-in hybrid from Toyota at commercial scale, according to reports this weekend from Japan’s Nikkei (h/t Reuters). The news that Toyota plans to start churning out at least 20,000 to 30,000 plug-in hybrids in 2012 […] Read more »
Until the launch of Honda’s low-cost hybrid Insight earlier this year, Toyota was pretty much the unchallenged king of the hybrid market. It took an early lead with the launch of its Prius, and has hung onto it, acquiring patents along the way — or, as […] Read more »
It may have come a little late, and it may not have come via a first-party solution, but the iPhone is now able to emulate one of the Palm Pre’s neatest tricks: wireless charging. I assume I’m not the only one who enviously ogled the Pre […] Read more »
The fact that they included parental controls for games in the 3.0 beta sort of hinted at this, but along with the iPhone 3.0 update today came app ratings, which appear rather inconspicuously under the app’s price and buy button on the detailed info screen. It […] Read more »
The federal tax credit for plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles in the U.S. — $7,500 — is just enough to let Tesla Motors tout a sub-$50,000 base price for its planned Model S electric sedan. But is the credit, and other incentives now coming into play […] Read more »
Qualcommm’s (QCOM) MediaFLO mobile television service has the potential to reach 40 percent more people once the DTV transition occurs on Friday. The switch from analog television signals to digital television signals had been scheduled for mid-February, but concerns that a subset of the population weren’t […] Read more »
Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers wants a bigger piece of the green car pie than the slim slice it could get through its investment in Fisker Automotive. While Fisker aims to produce affordable cars for the mass market if DOE loans come through, […] Read more »
REC Halves Solar Cell Output: Renewable Energy Corp. plans to cut solar cell and module production in the second quarter by nearly 50 percent to adjust to weak markets, although it will restart halted production later in the year. — Reuters Think to Scope Out Oregon: […] Read more »
Back in January, when we reported on the slew of electric cars rolling out at the Detroit Auto Show, we questioned whether the EV renaissance had really arrived. While electric cars had seized center stage, hybrid vehicles were much closer to having a significant impact on […] Read more »
Bigger in Texas: The state senate in Texas is considering so many proposals to boost state incentives for solar power this week that the entire legislative session has been dubbed the “solar session.” The state aims to ramp up solar production and dominate the sector. –NYT’s […] Read more »
China “Absolutely Opposed” to Chu’s Tariff Idea: China’s top negotiator for climate treaties has called a U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s recent suggestion to consider new duties on imports from countries that don’t try to limit their carbon emissions “an excuse to impose trade restrictions.” — […] Read more »
Toyota Feels the Heat from Honda on Hybrids: Toyota may cut the price of its Prius down to $19,250 in Japan to match Honda’s new Insight Hybrid. — Bloomberg Feds Figure Out Permitting for Ocean Energy Projects: Two federal agencies have finally ended a turf war […] Read more »
When Toyota Prius sales sank more than 40 percent last May compared with the same month a year earlier, the automaker blamed it on a global battery shortage. But while the 7 percent drop in fiscal 2009 sales Toyota forecast this week has less to do […] Read more »
Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere — in your phone, laptop, and by this time next year, maybe your car. The technology is slated for GM’s Chevy Volt, Toyota’s plug-in Prius, and electric versions of the Daimler Smart and BMW Mini. Until recently, lithium went primarily into ceramics […] Read more »
Solar Subsidies Strike Back: Japanese officials announced plans today to bring back subsidies for solar panels on homes, starting with $99.6 million for the first quarter of 2009. — Reuters End of the SUV Era: Factory closings in recent years have left the Big Three with […] Read more »
General Motors has put the brakes on construction of a $349 million plant slated to produce engines for the extended-range electric Chevy Volt and compact Chevy Cruze in Flint, Mich. by 2010. According to the Flint Journal, preliminary surveying, property security, and underground work on the […] Read more »
When you absolutely must have a full-sized keyboard to use when you’re out and about you might want to look at the Atek OnBoard Travel Keyboard. The Atek is a full-sized keyboard that sits in a sliding cover that the company says lets you "get more […] Read more »
If your car’s sunroof lived up to its name it could be doing a whole lot more for you. That’s the idea Sunrise Solar has with its new Solar Roof, a set of photovoltaic cells integrated into a car’s sunroof. By swapping out the boring tinted […] Read more »
The Daily Deal has a piece on the recent trend of venture capital investments in the blogs and they look at Huffington Post, Paid Content and us. That is a nice surprise to get early on Monday morning. I did not get a chance to chat […] Read more »
A new photographic tool calculates various optical equations such as depth of field or hyperfocal distance to let photographers make more effective use of photographic equipment Hampshire, United Kingdom. – April 24, 2006: Douglas Software announces today the release of version 1.1.0 of Camera module for […] Read more »
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