NHTSA is proposing to make it mandatory that hybrid cars and EVs have the ability to emit a sound when traveling below 18 mph on electric power, as a means of warning pedestrians and cyclists. The system is said to add about $30 to the cost of each vehicle, and will no doubt tie up bureaucrats for months as they debate just what kind of tone will best protect the public from the horror of low-speed injuries. So why don’t we make life easier for them and decide ourselves?
Swedish clothing store H&M offers a generous 30-day return policy that urges customers to Buy It Now, Return It Later. Looks like Vauxhall will be following suit.
After launching a successful bicycle sharing service, Tel Aviv is looking to launch an electric car program using the same model, as a means of reducing private car ownership.
Battery maker A123 was sold to China’s Wanxiang Group, but the company won’t come with more government money. The DOE won’t give A123 Systems Inc. the balance of a $249 million grant, a department official tells Reuters. Wanxiang, in the meantime, let it become known that it did not ask for the grant money, and that it did not anticipate receiving it. Read More >
Wanxiang Group, China’s largest maker of auto parts won the auction for A123 Systems, Reuters says. The maker of batteries for electric cars was funded partly with U.S. government money, but went bankrupt nonetheless. Read More >
Perenially broke Ontario is now subsidizing electric vehicle charges. Consumers can claim as much as $1,000 of the total cost of the charger
In the bankruptcy auction for EV battery maker A123 that begins today, Reuters is reporting that NEC of Japan and Siemens of Germany are going to join China’s Wangxiang and Wisconsin’s Johnson Controls in bidding for the entire company.
Fisker put production of its Karma plug-in hybrid on hold. Reason: It is running out of batteries. Bankrupt battery manufacturer A123 Systems has cut its output. Read More >
Ford has set itself an ambitious target. According to a Reuters report,the company “expects to wind up with 11 percent of the U.S. market for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles this year.” Not next year. This year. By our calculation, Ford would have to sell more than 50,000 of the electrified cars this year to stand a chance. By end of October, it had sold a little over 20,000. They better get going. Read More >
Fisker wanted to sell its $100,000-plus Karma plug-in hybrid in China by the end of this year. It’s not happening. Fisker “encountered a slight delay in obtaining final certification to sell cars in China” spokesman Roger Ormisher told Reuters. The company now targets “the first quarter of next year to take advantage of China’s rapidly growing market for luxury cars.” Good luck with that. Read More >
Shai Agassi thought Better Place was the secret sauce to spice up electric vehicle sales: Swappable batteries as a service, the answer to high battery prices (hidden in a pay-as-you-go model,) range anxiety and long charge times. Instead, Better Place emerges as a novel way to destroy money. Better Place posted third-quarter loss of $71.2 million, greater than $65.8 million a year earlier. The total loss for the January to September period stands at $203 million, Reuters says. Better Place accumulated losses of $561.5 million. Read More >
That GM will launch an electrified Sail in China is no secret, at least not to TTAC readers. You won’t be surprised to hear that GM launched one at the Guangzhou auto show. The car is not the interesting part. The interesting part is the brand behind the car.
Earlier in the year, GE bought 12,000 Chevrolet Volts, and the company was promptly accused of “crony capitalism” and of “forcing its employees” into unwanted cars. The subtext was that the GE purchase propped up GM’s Volt sales. Now GE does the same with Ford, but at a smaller scale. Read More >
Hmm. Fox News has the story about a bolt-on kit that converts just about any car into a plug-in hybrid that gets “ 50 percent to 100 percent better mileage” at a cost of only $3,000. But will it qualify for the tax credit and the HOV sticker? Read More >
Recent Comments