Hasta La Gadget!

Nissan has responded to rumors that high demand for its Leaf EV in Japan could cause the company to limit delivery in the United States to just around 3,000 units by the end of March, 2011. That rumor sprang from comments made by a Mossy Nissan general manager, and luckily for electric vehicle lovers in the States, seem to be wholly untrue. Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning says that the statement from Mossy Nissan was “purely speculative,” and that product allocation is decided based on customer orders. Furthermore, he says the company is still targeting around 25,000 units for the US by the end of 2011. So now we can all sleep better: the nightmare has seemingly ended.

Nissan rep confirms delivery of 25,000 Leaf EVs to US by the end of 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First of all, don’t worry, the spontaneously combusting Nano isn’t among the pair of newly Euro-bound EVs from Tata. Going slightly more upmarket, the Indian company will be launching the Indica Vista EV hatchback for eco-conscious Brits and Scandinavians early next year, alongside the somewhat less exciting Ace, a commercial mini-truck. The Indica Vista has clearly had a few trials and tribulations in coming to market in an all-electric form, having originally been promised to Norwegian tree huggers for 2009, so let’s just hope that this schedule is the one that sticks. It’s about time this whole EV movement got some more affordable options.

Tata bringing two all-electric cars to a Europe near you by March originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s being hailed as North America’s first public-use quick-charge station for electric vehicles has just been unveiled in Portland. The station, built by NEC subsidiary Takasago, is installed in a PGE headquarters parking garage and will charge electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries to 80% in about 20 to 30 minutes. So yeah, it’s public, as long as you’ve got a PGE badge apparently. Anyway, the grand opening was led by Governor Ted Kulongoski, pictured above carefully maintaining a safe distance while charging a Nissan Leaf. Guess you can never be too careful when pumping 50kW into a pre-production vehicle. Click through to see a video demonstration of the future, if we’re lucky.

Update: We’re being told that the quick charge station is installed in a public parking garage that is part of the World Trade Center building in downtown Portland (where PGE’s headquarters are). It costs $3 to park, but charging is on the house. Thanks, Chris!

Continue reading North America’s first public-use quick-charge station opens in Portland: 3-handed politician not included

North America’s first public-use quick-charge station opens in Portland: 3-handed politician not included originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Friday, during a visit from President Obama to its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, GM announced some good news for all the Volt fans out there. Production from 2011 to 2012 for the electric vehicle — originally slated at around 30,000 units — has been boosted to a projected 45,000 units, a 50 percent increase. The Volt, which has a range of 340 miles (on gas — it goes approximately 40 miles on battery alone) is being produced at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which received $336 million in investments to prepare for the production. The full press release is after the break.

Continue reading General Motors upping Chevy Volt production by 50 percent in 2011

General Motors upping Chevy Volt production by 50 percent in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might not have expected the future to look like your granddad’s groovy camper van, but take a closer look here and you’ll find that this is indeed nothing like your forefather’s people carrier. The VisLab team from the University of Parma have taken a fleet of Piaggio Porter Electric vehicles, strapped them with an array of cameras, lasers and other sensors, and topped them off with solar panels to keep the electronics powered. Oh, and lest we forgot to mention: the vans are (mostly) autonomous. VIAC (or VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge) is the grand name given to their big demonstration: an 8,000-mile, 3-month tour that will ultimately find them arriving in Shanghai, China, having set off from Milan this Tuesday. You can follow the day-by-day development on the blog below, though we’re still being told that practical driverless road cars are a measure of decades, not years, away.

Continue reading Driverless vans set off on intercontinental trek from Italy to China (video)

Driverless vans set off on intercontinental trek from Italy to China (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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