In recent weeks, I have either received questions or read articles about how gas prices impacts the fortunes of plug-in electric vehicles and PEV manufacturers. As gas prices stretch to $4 per gallon, many are trying to figure out if that’s the trigger to make PEVs mainstream, and with it, bring
What choice will consumers make? After attending the 2011 Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar in La Jolla, California (April 4-7, 2011), this is what I walked away thinking. In all respects, Americans are already asking themselves questions like this about the life they live. With regard to the cars we drive it is time to think hard about the way we drive and what we drive.
In the world of electric vehicle manufacturers, Tesla Motors is known for their sporty and speedy Roadster that came onto the scene all at once and surprised even the most negative onlookers with their success. Now with the Roadster at their back, the Model S sedan in the works, and the partnership with Toyota still fresh in people’s minds, Tesla is taking their
With all the electric vehicles that are being made available now and in the years to come, many are hailing the changing point towards a greener transportation industry as starting right here and now. Most electric cars also boast about how quickly they can be charged, frequently offering a quick charge mode and an overnight figure. The key to all of that, however, is the very
Strangely enough Edison had one of the first electric vehicles and Detroit made them until World War II. Then they died until in the 1990s some electric battery driven cars were recreated as something brand new to the marketplace. Then they withered and were reborn again in the
As electric cars continue to become a prominent method of alternative transportation, companies are continuing to find new ways to make their vehicles more efficient and longer lasting. Recently, Ford has joined the ranks of other electric car manufacturers who are trying to tackle the issue of a loss of charging power in batteries when the temperature outside the
I recently attended a talk at Tesla Motors about the state of the electric car industry and the history of Tesla. Wow, was I impressed. Driving an electric car fueled entirely by solar power no longer is a dream of the future. It’s here today, it’s happening around the country, and I can’t wait to join in!
The relationship between Toyota and Tesla Motors will soon bear fruit. The two companies will be bringing RAV4 EV back from the scrap heap upon which it was tossed in 2003 after only a short time on the market. Tesla Motors will provide the powertrain for the all-electric small SUV.
Toyota made a small ($50 million)
Investors Love Tesla: Observers were taken aback by the overwhelming success of Tesla’s IPO. But does $226 million amount to even a drop in the oil pan?
The Leaf Stampede: Nissan revealed that 90 percent of the U.S. presale orders for the all-electric Leaf are customers new to the Nissan brand. Perhaps there’s a lesson for other companies: Lead the way into green, and a whole new class of customers could follow.
Belkin Kills the Vampire: The company debuted a line of power
On a day when the rest of the stock market was tanking, Tesla Motors cruised to an IPO win worth $226.1million.
Concerns over consumer confidence, the European economy and growth in China brought the market to its lowest level of the year finishing down 268 points. Don’t tell Tesla. In a clear testament to the position the automaker has already achieved as a brand, investors lined up for a ride as the company became the first American car manufacturer to go public since Ford in 1956.
Recently my colleague John Voelcker over at Green Car Reports wrote about why he and some fancy report thought that people will buy hybrid electric cars if more car companies offer electric cars and prices come down. Only then will we see that it’s not about being “seen.” Instead, it’s about trying to do the right thing, which is moving our transportation sector to an all-electric model.
People who buy new technology do that because they are early adopters. However, I can tell you that most of the electric cars that come out (except for the Tesla) have not been the sexiest. Does anyone remember the first generation Toyota Prius or the THINK City in 2001?
However, here is the thing:
The End of the World…Or the End of the World As We Know It? The Gulf oil nightmare deepened, as crude oozed deeper into Louisiana’s wetlands and British Petroleum sputtered in its attempt to “top kill” the leak. Yet as the Deepwater Horizon officially surpassed Exxon Valdez to become America’s worst oil spill, another, quieter event seemed destined to compete with it in the history books. Craig Venter created a bacterial cell that is, as he called it, “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer.”
Elite electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors has revealed in a revised S1 filing with the SEC that it will cooperate with Toyota on the development of Tesla’s Model S sedan. To grease the deal, Tesla will pay Toyota $42 million for the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.( NUMMI) auto plant in Fremont, California where the vehicles will likely be produced.
The NUMMI facility, which had been the site of a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors, had closed its doors earlier this year as part of GM’s financial liquidation. Indications are that several thousand laid-off auto workers from the area could be rehired as a result of the agreement.
There has been a great deal of talk and excitement about the electrification of transportation that is expected to occur over the next few years. The Prius proved to everyone that electric technology can work as well as or better than only gas power. Now, companies such as Tesla and Mission Motors are proving that high-performance and electric not only belong in the same sentence but that these terms are increasingly becoming synonymous.
How far along are we? Its already common to see Teslas’ quietly cruising around many parts of California and partially electric bicycles are becoming an increasingly regular sighting.