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This is the Kodak Moment for the Auto Industry

Plug-In Drivers Not Missin' the Piston Electric vehicles are here to stay. Their market acceptance is currently small but growing...

Friday, December 31, 2010

Five Reasons to Buy An Electric Car > GED

Five Reasons to Buy An Electric Car > GED: "over half of the oil we use is imported (57%), and our dependence will increase as we use up domestic resources. Most of the world's oil reserves are concentrated in the Middle East, and about two-thirds are controlled by OPEC members. Oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession. We may never eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand."

Five Reasons to Buy An Electric Car > GED

Five Reasons to Buy An Electric Car > GED: "1. EVs will reduce U.S. oil dependence: Today, over half of the oil we use is imported (57%), and our dependence will increase as we use up domestic resources. Most of the world's oil reserves are concentrated in the Middle East, and about two-thirds are controlled by OPEC members. Oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession. We may never eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand."

Five Reasons to Buy An Electric Car > GED

Five Reasons to Buy An Electric Car > GED: "• The average car produced in North America has 50-55 pounds of copper in it. In an electric car, that amount will triple – to 150-180 pounds.

• More than two-thirds of the copper will be found in car’s wiring harness and electrical components.

• Copper has the highest conductivity of any metal that can be practically used for conveying electricity.

• Copper is an important natural resource and there’s no danger of running out of it. According to US Geological Survey (USGS), worldwide resources of this valuable metal exceed 3 billion metric tons (more than 6.5 trillion pounds), of which only about 12% has been mined throughout history. Nearly all of this is still in circulation because copper’s recycling rate is higher than that of any engineering metal."

Did GM make the Chevrolet Volt too different from the Prius? - Dec. 9, 2010

Did GM make the Chevrolet Volt too different from the Prius? - Dec. 9, 2010: "That's a steep price. In effect, Volt drivers are paying more than $10,000 for an extra 30 miles of EV range.

While some GM'ers are predicting a substantial price reduction for the Volt in future years as volumes increase, the Council is not optimistic.

'Battery technology has been developing rapidly, but steep declines in cost do not appear likely over the next couple of decades because lithium-ion batteries are already produced in large quantities for cell phones and laptop computers,' the Council says."

Did GM make the Chevrolet Volt too different from the Prius? - Dec. 9, 2010

Did GM make the Chevrolet Volt too different from the Prius? - Dec. 9, 2010: "Toyota brought out the less ambitious but more commercial Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, in 1999 and made it a huge public relations success. 'I was getting sick of it,' vice chairman Bob Lutz said to the Detroit News."

Ultimate electric car challenge: dead batteries - Dec. 20, 2010

Ultimate electric car challenge: dead batteries - Dec. 20, 2010: "Think of it as 'work, retirement and death.'

'Work' means running a car, and that's a tough life. Even so, the batteries in electric cars are expected to last about a decade"

Ultimate electric car challenge: dead batteries - Dec. 20, 2010

Ultimate electric car challenge: dead batteries - Dec. 20, 2010: "Lithium batteries just don't use as much of the rare and valuable metals found in some other types of batteries."

Monday, December 27, 2010

Volt battery life affected by hot weather, but 10 years means 10 years — Autoblog Green

Volt battery life affected by hot weather, but 10 years means 10 years — Autoblog Green

"During an information-heavy battery and technology update on the Chevy Volt's progress recently, GM said the following about the 16 kWh battery pack in the plug-in car:

'The biggest challenge in testing is hot-weather storage of the vehicle. Currently, ten years of battery life is the norm, but some people could get more battery life depending on the climate where they live and their driving conditions.

We understand that outside temperatures can have a big impact on how a battery operates and will affect the Volt as well, but the good news for Volt fans is that Green Car Advisor got it wrong. They said that hot weather Volt owners will get less than ten years of life from the pack, saying Volts in 'many parts of the western and southern U.S.' would not get 'the normal 10-year life of the battery.' Not true, says GM, which is confident that everyone will get 10 years from the pack. GM's hybrid and battery technology communication spokesman Brian Corbett told AutoblogGreen that, 'in more moderate areas of the country, battery performance could last beyond 10 years. 10 years is our minimum target life for everybody.'

[Source: GM via Green Car Advisor]"

We’ve always had cars that couldn’t go the distance | Bill Hall - The News Tribune

We’ve always had cars that couldn’t go the distance | Bill Hall - The News Tribune: "electric cars don’t scare me with their limitation of 100 miles"

2011 Nissan Leaf | Tucson

2011 Nissan Leaf | Tucson: "600-pound laminated lithium-ion battery made up in a series of four cells to a module, and 48 modules, for a total of 192 batteries in the pack"

2011 Nissan Leaf | Tucson

2011 Nissan Leaf | Tucson: "Low Emission Automobile of the Future" - That is not how I heard it.

2011 Nissan Leaf - KansasCity.com

2011 Nissan Leaf - KansasCity.com: "Environmental Protection Agency classifies the Leaf as a midsize car because of its interior volume, but Nissan considers it a compact. It rides on a 106.3-inch wheelbase, has decent trunk space and room for five."

2011 Nissan Leaf - KansasCity.com

2011 Nissan Leaf - KansasCity.com: "72 percent of typical consumers drive fewer than 50 miles a day during the week, and two-thirds of them drive fewer than 50 miles on a weekend."

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Mobile electric car charging stations called Angel Car unveiled in Europe - SlashGear

Mobile electric car charging stations called Angel Car unveiled in Europe - SlashGear

Chevy Volt Versus Nissan Leaf: Let the Race Begin - BusinessWeek

Chevy Volt Versus Nissan Leaf: Let the Race Begin - BusinessWeek

Electric Vehicles and the Smart Grid: Charging Forward! - Scott Lang, Chairman, President & CEO; SilverSpring Networks - Electric Energy Online

Electric Vehicles and the Smart Grid: Charging Forward! - Scott Lang, Chairman, President & CEO; SilverSpring Networks - Electric Energy Online

Electric Vehicles & Demand Response: How Utilities Are Beginning to Prepare - Jeff Meyers, Smart Grid Executive; Telvent - Electric Energy Online

Electric Vehicles & Demand Response: How Utilities Are Beginning to Prepare - Jeff Meyers, Smart Grid Executive; Telvent - Electric Energy Online

Smith Electric Vehicles selling electric trucks to the U.S. Marines - National Green Transportation | Examiner.com

Smith Electric Vehicles selling electric trucks to the U.S. Marines - National Green Transportation | Examiner.com

Electric cars flooding the market in 2012 - Dec. 8, 2010

Electric cars flooding the market in 2012 - Dec. 8, 2010: "If you want to buy an electric car today, good luck, it's slim pickins. But fast forward three years and you could be facing more plug-in choices than you'll know what to do with."

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Electric vehicles charging into U.S. - San Antonio Express-News

Electric vehicles charging into U.S. - San Antonio Express-News: "Korthof said. “Once you live with an electric car, you realize the range anxiety thing is a crock. We have never run out of juice.”

And “once you start driving an electric vehicle, you become radicalized,” he said. “You really enjoy that you don't have to stop at gas stations anymore.”"

Toyota Adopts Tesla Laptop Strategy for Electric Cars - BusinessWeek

Toyota Adopts Tesla Laptop Strategy for Electric Cars - BusinessWeek

Wave of electric vehicles gaining momentum

Wave of electric vehicles gaining momentum: "The latest wave of all-electric vehicles is trickling into the market, sparking excitement among green-power enthusiasts and auto tech junkies. On Friday night, Washington's first all-electric Nissan Leaf was delivered to a Seattle dealership. Oregon's first Leaf hit the road last week. Nissan is the first large automaker to jump into the all-electric market, launching the Leaf in California earlier this year."

Sunday, December 12, 2010

What Gasoline Really Costs Us

What Gasoline Really Costs Us via progress.org

What Gasoline Really Costs Us
energy policy gasoline

The Real Price Of Gas

Americans deserve freedom. But terrorists, oil corporations, and politicians seem determined to keep absorbing citizens' money in a wide variety of ways.Here is a summary of a new report from the International Center for Technology Assessment.

This report by the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) identifies and quantifies the many external costs of using motor vehicles and the internal combustion engine that are not directly reflected in the retail price Americans pay for gasoline. These are costs that consumers pay indirectly by way of increased taxes, insurance costs, and retail prices in other sectors.
The report divides the external costs of gasoline usage into five primary areas: (1) Tax Subsidization of the Oil Industry; (2) Government Program Subsidies; (3) Protection Costs Involved in Oil Shipment and Motor Vehicle Services; (4) Environmental, Health, and Social Costs of Gasoline Usage; and (5) Other Important Externalities of Motor Vehicle Use. Together, these external costs total $558.7 billion to $1.69 trillion per year, which, when added to the retail price of gasoline, result in a per gallon price of $5.60 to $15.14.

TAX SUBSIDIES

The federal government provides the oil industry with numerous tax breaks designed to ensure that domestic companies can compete with international producers and that gasoline remains cheap for American consumers. Federal tax breaks that directly benefit oil companies include: the Percentage Depletion Allowance (a subsidy of $784 million to $1 billion per year), the Nonconventional Fuel Production Credit ($769 to $900 million), immediate expensing of exploration and development costs ($200 to $255 million), the Enhanced Oil Recovery Credit ($26.3 to $100 million), foreign tax credits ($1.11 to $3.4 billion), foreign income deferrals ($183 to $318 million), and accelerated depreciation allowances ($1.0 to $4.5 billion).

Tax subsidies do not end at the federal level. The fact that most state income taxes are based on oil firms' deflated federal tax bill results in undertaxation of $125 to $323 million per year. Many states also impose fuel taxes that are lower than regular sales taxes, amounting to a subsidy of $4.8 billion per year to gasoline retailers and users. New rules under the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 are likely to provide the petroleum industry with additional tax subsidies of $2.07 billion per year. In total, annual tax breaks that support gasoline production and use amount to $9.1 to $17.8 billion.

PROGRAM SUBSIDIES

Government support of US petroleum producers does not end with tax breaks. Program subsidies that support the extraction, production, and use of petroleum and petroleum fuel products total $38 to $114.6 billion each year. The largest portion of this total is federal, state, and local governments' $36 to $112 billion worth of spending on the transportation infrastructure, such as the construction, maintenance, and repair of roads and bridges. Other program subsidies include funding of research and development ($200 to $220 million), export financing subsidies ($308.5 to $311.9 million), support from the Army Corps of Engineers ($253.2 to $270 million), the Department of Interior's Oil Resources Management Programs ($97 to $227 million), and government expenditures on regulatory oversight, pollution cleanup, and liability costs ($1.1 to $1.6 billion).

PROTECTION SUBSIDIES

Beyond program subsidies, governments, and thus taxpayers, subsidize a large portion of the protection services required by petroleum producers and users. Foremost among these is the cost of military protection for oil-rich regions of the world. US Defense Department spending allocated to safeguard the world's petroleum resources total some $55 to $96.3 billion per year. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a federal government entity designed to supplement regular oil supplies in the event of disruptions due to military conflict or natural disaster, costs taxpayers an additional $5.7 billion per year. The Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration provide other protection services totaling $566.3 million per year. Of course, local and state governments also provide protection services for oil industry companies and gasoline users. These externalized police, fire, and emergency response expenditures add up to $27.2 to $38.2 billion annually.

ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SOCIAL COSTS

Environmental, health, and social costs represent the largest portion of the externalized price Americans pay for their gasoline reliance. These expenses total some $231.7 to $942.9 billion every year. The internal combustion engine contributes heavily to localized air pollution. While the amount of damage that automobile fumes cause is certainly very high, the total dollar value is rather difficult to quantify. Approximately $39 billion per year is the lowest minimum estimate made by researchers in the field of transportation cost analysis, although the actual total is surely much higher and may exceed $600 billion.

Considering that researchers have conclusively linked auto pollution to increased health problems and mortality, the CTA report's estimate of $29.3 to $542.4 billion for the annual uncompensated health costs associated with auto emissions may not adequately reflect the value of lost or diminished human life. Other costs associated with localized air pollution attributable to gasoline-powered automobiles include decreased agricultural yields ($2.1 to $4.2 billion), reduced visibility ($6.1 to $44.5 billion), and damage to buildings and materials ($1.2 to $9.6 billion). Global warming ($3 to $27.5 billion), water pollution ($8.4 to $36.8 billion), noise pollution ($6 to $12 billion), and improper disposal of batteries, tires, engine fluids, and junked cars ($4.4 billion) also add to the environmental consequences wrought by automobiles.

Some of the costs associated with the real price of gasoline go beyond the effects of acquiring and burning fuel to reflect social conditions partially or wholly created by the automobile's preeminence in the culture of the United States. Chief among these conditions is the growth of urban sprawl. While monetizing the impact of sprawl may prove a challenging endeavor, several researchers have done significant work on the subject. The costs of sprawl include: additional environmental degradation (up to $58.4 billion), aesthetic degradation of cultural sites (up to $11.7 billion), social deterioration (up to $58.4 billion), additional municipal costs (up to $53.8 billion), additional transportation costs (up to $145 billion), and the barrier effect ($11.7 to $23.4 billion). Because assessment of the costs of sprawl is somewhat subjective and because study of the topic remains in a nascent stage, the CTA report follows the lead of other researchers in field of transportation cost analysis and reduces the total of the potential cost of sprawl by 25% to 50% to arrive at a total of $163.7 to $245.5 billion per year.

OTHER EXTERNAL COSTS

Finally, external costs not included in the first four categories amount to $191.4 to $474.1 billion per year. These include: travel delays due to road congestion ($46.5 to $174.6 billion), uncompensated damages caused by car accidents ($18.3 to $77.2 billion), subsidized parking ($108.7 to $199.3 billion), and insurance losses due to automobile-related climate change ($12.9 billion). The additional cost of $5.0 to $10.1 billion associated with US dependence on imported oil could rise substantially, totaling $7.0 to $36.8 billion, in the event of a sudden price increase for crude oil.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The ultimate result of the externalization of such a large portion of the real price of gasoline is that consumers have no idea how much fueling their cars actually costs them. The majority of people paying just over $1 for a gallon of gasoline at the pump has no idea that through increased taxes, excessive insurance premiums, and inflated prices in other retail sectors that that same gallon of fuel is actually costing them between $5.60 and $15.14. When the price of gasoline is so drastically underestimated in the minds of drivers, it becomes difficult if not impossible to convince them to change their driving habits, accept alternative fuel vehicles, support mass transit, or consider progressive residential and urban development strategies.

The first step toward getting the public to recognize the damage caused by the United States' gasoline dependance is getting the public to recognize how much they are paying for this damage. The best way, in turn, to accomplish this goal is to eliminate government tax subsidies, program subsidies, and protection subsidies for petroleum companies and users, and to internalize the external environmental, health, and social costs associated with gasoline use. This would mean that consumers would see the entire cost of burning gasoline reflected in the price they pay at the pump. Drivers faced with the cost of their gasoline usage up front may have a more difficult time ignoring the harmful effects that their addiction to automobiles and the internal combustion engine have on national security, the environment, their health, and their quality of life.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

AeroVironment to Build Private EV Charging Ecosystem - autoevolution

AeroVironment to Build Private EV Charging Ecosystem - autoevolution: "Electric vehicle charging solutions provider AeroVironment managed to land an important contract in light of the battle ahead with rivals like Coulomb or ECOtality. The company will be building what it calls the privately funded EV charging ecosystem"

Friday, December 10, 2010

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Region lacks charging capabilities for electric cars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Region lacks charging capabilities for electric cars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
#falsechickenandeggclaim

Nissan’s First Electric Vehicle: The 1947 Tama | The Truth About Cars

Nissan’s First Electric Vehicle: The 1947 Tama | The Truth About Cars: "It’s probably a bit of a stretch to call the 1947 Tama a “Nissan.” This lead-acid battery-powered two-door was developed in response to post-War oil rationing by the unemployed aircraft engineers of Tachikawa Airplane Company, a firm that later renamed itself the Tokyo Electric Motorcar Co. That company later became the Prince Motor Company, which in turn merged with Nissan, making the Tama a tenuous but real part of Nissan’s EV legacy."

YouTube - Nissan Leaf: European Car of the Year 2011

YouTube - Nissan Leaf: European Car of the Year 2011: "Nissan Leaf: European Car of the Year 2011"

Electric Vehicles (EV) Now Being Served - Thanks Bubba, Your Focused Vision Should Serve Us All Well

Electric Vehicles (EV) Now Being Served - Thanks Bubba, Your Focused Vision Should Serve Us All Well: "It's time for the First World to mandate that it will no longer accept gasoline burning vehicles to be built or imported into their countries after 2014...no more, never again. Between now and then the free world must commit the resources and capital to establish manufacturing sources for millions of high powered sustainable renewable batteries to power the main drive system for all new vehicles."

Electric car use beats wind to cut oil use: study | Reuters

Electric car use beats wind to cut oil use: study | Reuters

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Are Americans Willing to Try Electric Cars? - Driver's Seat - WSJ

Are Americans Willing to Try Electric Cars? - Driver's Seat - WSJ: "the number of respondents who said they see themselves driving an electric car 10 years down the road is still higher than some of the more optimistic estimates coming recently from industry analysts and car-company officials"