MAYBE SMARTER CONSUMER CHOICES CAN FUEL $ RECOVERY - Prius Sales up 45% From 2008

Toyota is continuing to see impressive sales of its new 2010 Prius hybrid here in the United States. Though not quite as high as last month's 48-percent sales increase over the previous year, we're sure Toyota is plenty happy to see the 45.7-percent bump in August sales over the same month in 2008.

For those that like seeing actual number in black and white, Toyota sold 19,173 Prius hybrids here in the States in July and another 18,866 in August. It seems highly likely that Cash for Clunkers helped those figures a bit for both months, and the Toyota brand in total saw a sales increase of about 15 percent last month over the previous August.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT AUTOBLOGGREEN

87MPH & 34%PV EFFICENCY - 4time World Solar Challenge Winner NUON SOLAR Unveils Newest Car

The World Solar Challenge is a grueling car race that runs across more than 3000km of Australian outback, spanning the entire breadth of the continent from Darwin to Adelaide. But the real challenge of this race, which is rather obvious from the name, is that all the competing cars must be completely solar-powered. The objective of this race is to promote research on solar-powered cars and teams from various enterprises and universities participate in it for their quest to better alternative power source technology for automobiles.

For the last four outings of the World Solar Challenge, the team from the Delft University of Technology in Netherlands has been taking home the top prize with their Nuna solar-powered racer. Now, the Delft University's Nuon Solar team has unveiled its latest contender for the 2009 challenge, the Nuna5. Like its predecessor, the Nuna5 is covered by six square meters of solar panels, but now, thanks to advancements in technology, weighs in 30kg less, a total of 160kg excluding the driver, than the previous car.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT ZIGWHEELS.COM

HYDROGEN CAR DESTINY - Entrepreneur Dreams of ’Hydrogen-Hybrid’ Car Network

By Steven Cole Smith / The Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. — Malcolm Bricklin, a legendary automotive entrepreneur, says he has spent the last year spending time and money developing "something everybody said was a scam."

His plan could revolutionize the auto industry, keep open at least two factories and offer a product that rejected Chrysler and General Motors dealers could sell, the former Orlando resident says.

In a nutshell, Bricklin is proposing his company, Visionary Vehicles, buy up to 300,000 new vehicles a year from GM and Chrysler, upgrade the interiors "from standard to luxury," and install "hydrogen hybrid" engine technology he says could double fuel mileage.

"I know I have a product that I can put on cars that will make them get 100 percent better mileage," he said in a recent interview.

In a three-page proposal, his company would market these vehicles as Visionary Vehicles/Chrysler or Visionary Vehicles/GM.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT THE BOSTON HERALD

GERMANY INVESTS IN AMERICA'S NEW ECONOMY- Daimler buys stake in Tesla

Tesla's dream of creating affordable, all-electric cars got a high-voltage jolt Tuesday when German auto giant Daimler bought a 10 percent stake in the San Carlos company.

"We're thrilled," said Diarmuid O'Connell, Tesla's vice president of business development. "Daimler invented the internal combustion engine. To partner with them is the greatest endorsement you can have in this business."

Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad only described the dollar value of Daimler's stake in the venture-backed company as being eight figures. In addition, Daimler Vice President Herbert Kohler will take a seat on Tesla's board of directors.

The move follows Daimler's recent purchase of Tesla's lithium-ion battery packs and chargers for the first 1,000 electric Smart cars, which Daimler hopes to introduce next year. Daimler rolled out the gasoline-powered versions of Smart cars in January 2008 in the United States.

Tesla is best known for its Roadster, a zero-emission sports car that can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in four seconds and hit speeds of 130 mph. Unveiled to great fanfare in 2006, the Roadster looks like a Lotus and costs $109,000.

Charged by plugging into an ordinary wall socket, the Roadster can travel 250 miles before its battery needs re-charging.

Tesla executives hope Daimler's investment will help the company achieve its ultimate goal - fine-tuning the technology to create zero-emission, all-electric vehicles with less astronomical prices. The firm is now working on a sedan, expected to come out in 2011, that will cost about $50,000.

article continues here at THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

JAPANESE PRIUS BUYERS NOW HAVE A SOLAR ROOF OPTION-Toyota Taps Kyocera for Prius Rooftop Solar Module Option

Toyota has chosen Kyocera to supply photovoltaic modules for the carmaker's new solar ventilation system option now offered on its Prius hybrids for the Japanese market. The system ventilates the air inside of the car by using the electricity generated by the rooftop module to drive the fans and moderate inside temperatures while the car is parked during the daytime.

Kyocera says it has set up a dedicated production line for the Prius-bound modules at its Ise plant in Mie Prefecture, where it has implemented strict quality control evaluations, done through rigorous testing to confirm heat resistance, vibration resistance, shock resistance, and other aspects, in order to ensure that the quality meets the standards required for onboard components in the car.

The modules, comprised of dark navy-blue crystalline-silicon solar cells fabricated at the company's Yohkaichi plant in Shiga Prefecture, will have cell conversion efficiencies of 16.5% and an average output of 56 W.

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE AT PVTECH.ORG

WANT TO DRIVE A HYDROGEN CAR?-First hydrogen highway opened in Norway

Mazda Hydrogen RX-8 - Click above for a high-res image gallery

Now that Mazda has shipped the first Hydrogen RX8 REs to Norway, our thoughts naturally turn towards the driving experience. Since the biggest question surrounding hydrogen-powered vehicles right now is where to find an appropriate hydrogen pump, it strikes us as a good idea that Norway has opened up its first hydrogen highway.

This hydrogen highway is part of Norway's HyNor project and stretches for 580 kilometers from Oslo on the eastern coast to Stavanger on the western North Sea coast. So far, the route consists of 12 hydrogen pumps, which is apparently sufficient to allow the Mazdas to be refueled along the way.

This is reportedly the first integrated network of hydrogen pumps in the world, and it's a creation of Norway's StatoilHydro, the company that installed the underlying structure as well. Future plans call for the highway to extend into the rest of Scandinavia, as shown in the map to the right. Afterward, the alliance intends to extend into Germany.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT AUTOBLOGGREEN

IT'S TIME - High-speed solar train proposed as Tucson-Phoenix connection

Project, in idea stage, could cost $27B for 1st phase

By Mariana Alvarado - Arizona Daily Star

The solar train could travel from Tucson to Phoenix in 30 minutes and might someday run from Nogales to the Grand Canyon.

A Tucson company wants to send you someday on a sun-fueled ride from one end of the state to the other.

The idea of a high-speed train that runs on solar power is still in its early stage, but the project's creators are pitching the idea to area cities and potential investors.

The idea is to start a train system that connects Tucson and Phoenix in a first phase. In the future it would extend north to Grand Canyon and south to Nogales. The cost for the first phase alone is estimated at $27 billion. It could start operating in 2018.

Retired civil engineer Bill Gaither and business partner Raymond Wright set up Solar Bullet LLC in Tucson in hopes of designing and building the 220 mph solar bullet train, which would run on four tracks.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT ARIZONA DAILY STAR

FORD GETTING READY TO MASS PRODUCE EVs - Will Build Electric Focus in Wayne, Retool Plant FOR 2011 Launch

About 300 UAW workers, Ford Executives and politicians celebrated Ford Motor Co.’s announcement today that it will not only build the Ford Focus at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, but also will built an electric version of the car.
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Ford’s $550-million investment preserves about 3,200 jobs and will help the state transform its image from a rust belt state to a green belt state, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said.

“Thank you for choosing Michigan,” Granholm said. “They could have chosen to go somewhere else in the world, but they chose to have American workers make this car.”

Ford is in the process of transforming Michigan Assembly, previously known as Michigan Truck, from a plant that previously built large SUV's into a plant that will build the compact European version of the Ford Focus starting next year. And, starting in 2011, Ford plans to begin building an electric version of the Ford Focus.

“In the worst of times worldwide, what we are here to do today is to celebrate a plan to profitably grow Ford,” Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT DETROIT FREE PRESS

AT 80mpg FORD READY TO COMPETE - Fusion hybrid 1,000 miles with 1/3 of a tank left

by Sam Abuelsamid on Apr 28th 2009 at 8:47AM

The team that set out this past weekend to cover 1,000 miles on a single tank of gasoline succeeded and then some. When the team of race drivers, engineers and hyper-milers crossed the 1,000 mile a little after 9 a.m. on Monday morning, there was still more than a third of a tank left. Over 47 hours of running, the team led by NASCAR driver Carl Edwards and including record braking hyper-miler Wayne Gerdes averaged over 80 mpg. The plan is to drive the bone stock Fusion until the tank runs dry. Along the way team members are running public clinics to help teach people how to drive more efficiently even if they can't necessarily match the antics of Gerdes. They are also raising money for the Juvenile diabetes Foundation. While it is no doubt possible to achieve these kinds of lofty mileage numbers in the Fusion, it certainly isn't something most people will be doing on a regular basis.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT AUTOBLOGGREEN.COM

ALGAE BIOFUEL ON THE RISE - Solazyme Demonstrates their Efficiency

“Solazyme’s advanced biofuels substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions per mile driven over petroleum-based fuels and result in much lower carbon emissions than currently available first generation biofuels.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A study undertaken by Life Cycle Associates, LLC, using the Argonne National Laboratories GREET model, concluded that full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from field-to-wheels for Solazyme’s algal biofuel, Soladiesel^TM, are 85 to 93 percent lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). The analysis also reveals that Solazyme’s advanced biofuels result in a significantly lower carbon footprint than any currently available first-generation biofuels.

“Solazyme’s advanced biofuels substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions per mile driven over petroleum-based fuels and result in much lower carbon emissions than currently available first generation biofuels. Lower process energy inputs combined with the production of algae derived feed results in much lower GHG emissions than currently available first-generation biofuels,” said Stefan Unnasch, President of Life Cycle Associates, LLC. “With findings like these, we are confident that algal-biofuels have the potential to play a significant role in alternative fuels and are excited that such a promising technology is in commercial development.”

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT BUSINESS WIRE

IMPROVING UNDERWATER STEALTH - Submarines are Supreme Fuel Cell Vehicles

Fuel cells are getting more popular for powering submarines, where they have useful advantages over nuclear power.

Fuel cells apparently make a good submarine hard to find.

Air Products of Pennsylvania this week announced it supplied a new fueling station to supply a state-of-the-art HDW 214 submarine of the Hellenic (Greek) Navy with hydrogen.

The first fueling of its kind in Greece took place this week in Skaramanga, near Athens.

Air Products supplied the integral components of the hydrogen fueling station to the submarine's designer, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), which has been experimenting with fuel cell technology for submarines since the late 1970s.

HDW's Class 212 and 214 non-nuclear submarines have been developed to use a silent operating fuel cell plant that runs on nine 34-kilowatt Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells.

Its air-independent fuel cell propulsion system provides extreme underwater endurance, diving depth and overall efficiency, HDW claims.

The fuel cells, which produce electrical energy from oxygen and hydrogen, allow the submarine to cruise under water for up to three weeks without resurfacing.

Perhaps most importantly, however, because the chemical reactions of fuel cells make no noise and produce no detectable exhaust heat, they make the submarine virtually undetectable, according to designers.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT CLEANTECH.COM

0 to 60 in 5.8 - FISKER KARMA to be FIRST PLUG-IN HYBRID SOLD in the US

The price of green: The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid that can run on batteries alone for 50 miles. Price: $87,000. Credit: Kevin Bullis

In November, Fisker Automotive will begin sales of a car with 50 miles of battery-powered range.

The first plug-in hybrid to be sold in the United States will likely be the Fisker Karma, which is due out in November. Fisker Automotive, which unveiled the concept version of the Karma in January, recently raised $87 million to help put it into production. A number of other plug-in hybrids, including models from GM, Chrysler, and Toyota, are scheduled to come out in the next few years.

The Karma, a luxury four-passenger sedan, can be recharged by plugging it in; it can then be driven on power from a battery alone for 50 miles. After that, an onboard gasoline generator kicks on to recharge the battery, extending the range by 250 miles between fill-ups. Power from optional solar cells on the roof will be used primarily to cool the car when it's parked, but they could also partially recharge the battery. The car will run on a lithium manganese oxide battery made by Advanced Lithium Power, based in Vancouver, BC. The battery is similar to the one selected for the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid due out in November of 2010.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

GM plans to expand its Volt platform

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp has asked for $2.6 billion of low interest government loans to support the development of three new hybrid vehicles, according to a business plan update released on Wednesday.

GM's loan request, which would help develop two spinoffs from its all-electric Chevrolet Volt, raises to $10.3 billion the aid it is seeking under a U.S. Energy Department program designed to support development of fuel-efficient vehicles.

The request for low-interest taxpayer backed loans was made on Monday to the U.S. Treasury Department, GM said. It was the automaker's third request for loans under the program.

It was also the first time GM has confirmed that it intended to move ahead with production of variants of the Volt, a battery-powered car that will carry a small, 1.4-liter engine as a generator designed to kick in after 40 miles (64 km).

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT REUTERS INDIA

NISSAN, PHOENIX, AND TUCSON PAVE WAY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CORRIDOR

by Sebastian Blanco on Apr 16th, 2009

Recently, ECOtality and Nissan announced the creation of an EV Micro-Climate Working Group in the Tucson, Arizona area. Nissan and ECOtality just announced they will expand their Arizona electric vehicle project to Phoenix. The Renault-Nissan Alliance will work with the Maricopa Association of Governments (and ECOtality, again) to promote an electric vehicle charging network with the goal to connect Phoenix and Tucson in an "EV charging corridor."

Nissan could use the charging stations pretty soon. Pure electric vehicles based on technology in the EV-02 prototype (above, a converted Cube) are coming in 2010. These vehicles will be able to go 100 miles per charge and won't cost that much more (or any more) than a standard vehicle, according to Nissan reps that spoke to Green Car Advisor. What will it look like? "It is a dedicated all-new car, not the conversion of something we already offer," the rep said to GCA. "You need something that is different enough to let people know you are driving a special car." Indeed.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT AUTOBLOGGREEN

UCLA plans a Hydrogen refueling station

photo: Gene Lee via flickr

The oft-touted hydrogen economy may still be a bit over the horizon, but a new $2.1 million grant given to UCLA professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering Vasilios Manousiouthakis will give the university and the general public a glimpse of things possibly to come:

140 Kilograms of Hydrogen Per Day
The grant ($1.7 million of which came from the California Air Resources Board and the balance from Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee) will go toward the construction of a hydrogen fueling station with a daily capacity of 140 kilograms of hydrogen.

The station will be run by UCLA Engineering's Hydrogen Energy Research Consortium and will be open to the general public.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT TREEHUGGER.COM

It’s On! Portland and San Francisco Battle For Electric Car Domination

The EV wars have begun.

Written by Nick Chambers

Published on April 7th, 2009

Just a few weeks ago San Francisco’s visionary Mayor, Gavin Newsom, wrote a post for us describing his plan to make the Bay Area the electric car capital of the world by aggressively developing the charging infrastructure to support full-scale EV deployment. At the time he proclaimed:

“Electric vehicles have the possibility to transform our economy, revive our car industry, and improve our environment. To make sure electric vehicles succeed this time around we need to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in battery technology and [charging] infrastructure.”

Well, San Francisco, you have a challenger.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT GAS2.0

Europe’s Grass-Lined Green Railways = Good Urban Design

by Bridgette Steffen

Although it’s certainly not a new idea to combine landscaping with public transportation, we love the sight of these European trams gliding along on beds of grass. From Barcelona to the Czech Republic, Frankfurt, St-Etienne and Strasbourg, these public transit greenways are showing the potential of incorporating landscaping into good urban design.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT INHABITAT

Even GM knows that fuel cells will power most future vehicles

Volt chief engineer still thinks hydrogen is the long term answer

Posted Jan 14th 2009 at 7:32PM by Sam Abuelsamid - Marketwatch

Volt chief powertrain engineer Nick Zielinski on the right

In recent years, Nick Zielinski has led the powertrain engineering teams on a number of GM advanced technology programs including the Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle and the Sequel concept. For the past two years, his focus has shifted to making the Chevrolet Volt a reality. The common thread through all of these recent efforts is electric drive. The difference is the source of the electricity. The Volt, of course, uses a lithium ion battery with an internal combustion range extender. Just because this configuration is coming to the road sooner doesn't mean that Zielinski has given up on his previous efforts.

Following the announcement of GM's battery manufacturing plans at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday, Zielinski spoke with MarketWatch about the program. Throughout all the financial turmoil of the last several months, development of the Volt has proceeded full speed ahead. Sources at suppliers to the program have also confirmed to ABG that Volt-related work is the only thing still moving for GM.

In spite of the current enthusiasm for extended range EVs from GM, Chrysler and Daimler, no one expects this architecture to remain dominant for the long term, including Zielinski. Just like Daimler officials did at the reveal of the Concept BlueZero, Zielinski believes that hydrogen will be the long term answer to energy storage and production in electric drive vehicles.

Plug-in Electric Trucks Coming To U.S.

by Justin on December 5, 2007

The air quality of urban areas would greatly improved if we could replace the thousands of diesel delivery trucks currently in use with zero-emission vehicles. In this vein, a company called Smith Electric Vehicles will be introducing their electric trucks to the U.S. Their Newton truck (pictured above) can be recharged via an regular electric socket. They have some pretty impressive features, including a range of up to 150 miles when fully charged. The battery system is rated at 120 kilowatts, and trucks have a maximum speed of 50 mph. The trucks also use regenerative braking to recover energy from the braking process.

article continues here at MetaEfficient

14 US companies and US govt lab team up on future lithium batteries

12.18.08, 09:56 AM EST By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Aiming to mass-produce a lithium battery for vehicles, 14 U.S. companies with expertise in batteries and advanced materials have formed an alliance with a government laboratory, the lab said on Thursday.

The alliance, which includes battery industry giants such as 3M (nyse: MMM - news - people ) Co and Johnson Controls (nyse: JCI - news - people )-Saft, intends to secure $1 billion to $2 billion in U.S. government funding over the next five years to build a manufacturing facility with an 'open foundry' for the participants to pursue the goal of perfecting lithium-ion batteries for cars.

'It's a huge deal for the nation, and for the lab,' said Mark Peters, who is in charge of transportation and battery research at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, which will advise the group.

China, Japan and South Korea are the current leaders in lithium battery research, he said in a telephone interview.

article continues here at FORBES.COM