Technology has revolutionized the urban and suburban landscape across the United States. As more people embrace a green lifestyle, city planners are looking for ways to incorporate energy-efficient lifestyles and transportation methods. In many cases, cheap travel is possible through the use of public transportation services. Reaching a new destination can be as
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Clean Transportation
Almost every big automaker fell short of their first-year sales targets for electric vehicles (EVs), and even though total EV sales in 2011 beat hybrid sales in 2000 (the vehicle’s first year on most markets) by a hefty margin, EVs took a beating from media outlets. Bad press or not, EV sales will continue to remain a mere fraction of overall vehicle sales until OEMs figure out
One of the problems with an all electric car is charging them. As opposed to gasoline stations, there are far fewer opportunities to charge electric vehicles. Shai Agassi hopes Israel is ready to embrace the efficiency and economics of electric cars. His company Better Place rolled out four electric car charging stations in northern Israel. It is planned to
A quick note from the electric vehicle show in Los Angeles this week:
It’s true that most of the credible car-makers have EV products scheduled for delivery in the not-too-distant future. But they’re obviously hedging their bets, delaying their market entrance as long as possible, so as to maximize the penetration
Eight U.S. and German automakers have agreed on a standardized technology system for electric vehicle charging, a coordinated approach they say will allow drivers to rapidly re-charge their vehicles at most charging stations regardless of power source.
The announcement is an important breakthrough for
High fuel prices are back and are slowing our economy’s growth, eating into businesses’ profit margins and sapping household discretionary budgets. Today, consumers have a range of options for buying hybrid or even electric vehicles to help reduce their fuel costs. But businesses are far behind consumers in their adoption rate of hybrid vehicles. However, high
Ever since the introduction of the Tesla Roadster in 2008, compressed natural gas (CNG) has taken a back seat as an alternative fuel in the U.S. retail automotive market. Despite heavily financed advocacy campaigns, the technology has suffered from a lack of model availability, infrastructure, and public interest. Recent announcements from both
As I wrote last month, global biofuels production is nearing 2 million barrels per day – an impressive number that ranks biofuels ahead of Libya among oil producing nations – but most of this consists of conventional biofuels derived from corn starch and sugarcane. While these fuels may meet ground transportation needs, they lack the performance
Let me first preface this piece by saying Alaska may not, in fact, be the best place to own and operate an electric car. Confused? Let me explain. A new study (pdf) by the Union of Concerned Scientists explores the often asked but rarely answered questions surrounding the issue of whether some geographic regions may be better than others for electric cars in terms of their
The U.S.’s continued reliance on coal and natural gas to generate electricity makes efficient gasoline-powered vehicles a lower-carbon alternative to electric vehicles in most states, according to a new report by Climate Central.
In an analysis of life-cycle emissions from vehicles,
There’s been plenty of bad news recently in the world electric vehicles, mostly related to start ups like Fisker and Azure. Adding to the mix, Deloitte has released a survey showing that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are not very popular with Generation Y (ages 19-31).
The reasons appear to be multiple, including high
At this week’s Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Conference I had a wonderful conversation with a senior player at Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I began by validating him for coming to a show like this; to me it shows, at a minimum, a kind of progressive, forward-thinking approach to the business.
Electric vehicles in general are a great step in reducing emissions that cause global warming. The emissions from a gasoline-powered car are always greater than the emissions created to charge an electric vehicle. However, a new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) suggests that the “greenness” of electric vehicles is not uniform across
A couple of times a year, I order up a free “press pass” and head out to a local conference on electric vehicles. Tonight, I’ll be driving south, staying with a friend in Los Angeles, then getting up early and continuing down to San Diego for the first day of the Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure USA 2012. Topics include: