Mar 19

Beautiful Earth’s NYC solar powered EV charger follows the sun to Brooklyn Bridge Park

Posted in: charger, electric vehicle, ElectricVehicle, ev, solar, Today's Chili

The solar-powered, green and white Beautiful Earth Group EV charging station, which once found its shipping container internals filled with a Mini E, is no longer. Well, it’s no longer where it was, anyway. It’s now somewhere completely different, a place that happens to be just down the road, a land known by many as Brooklyn. It’s Brooklyn Bridge Park, specifically, and Better Earth has donated the thing to the facilities department there. It’ll be used to charge up the service vehicles that patrol the place, apparently including a pair of GEM and Toro Workman EVs that look like they might have been Photoshopped into the promotional picture above. The presumably non-digitally-manipulated ones will all be recharged using the charging station’s 24 solar cells, generating 5.6kW and, ultimately, saving the world. Or, at least, the Park.

Beautiful Earth’s NYC solar powered EV charger follows the sun to Brooklyn Bridge Park originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 19

Tesla opens its workshop, shows off more Model S prototypes

Posted in: electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, ev, tesla, Today's Chili
Tesla opens its workshop, shows off more Model S prototypes

It’s expected that when the Tesla Model S hits full production it’ll be rolling out of the company’s newly acquired facility in Fremont, California — formerly the NUMMI plant jointly owned by General Motors and Toyota. For now, though, the cars are being put together at Tesla HQ in Palo Alto and the company invited some media to go check things out. GigaOM has some pictures showing various Teslas in various states of disassembly, including motor and rear suspension assemblies about to be bolted in, and Chief Engineer Peter Rawlinson talking about the car’s massive front radiator assembly. Oh, and the matte orange models? No, they’re sadly not the first examples of a special General Lee edition. Those cars are destined to be run into various walls at various speeds to test the car’s performance in a crash, much like this poor Volvo was. Do spare a thought.

Tesla opens its workshop, shows off more Model S prototypes originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 05:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 18

Renault introduces new ‘get you home’ guarantee for electric vehicles, but there’s a catch

Posted in: car, Cars, charging, electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, ev, Today's Chili


European auto-maker Renault wants EV buyers to know that if you run out of juice, it’s got your back. Dubbed the “get you home” guarantee, the company will provide you with a loaner while they recharge your dead locomotive’s battery. Of course, the offer only stands if it’s due to ‘uncontrollable circumstances’ like inclement weather or unwieldy traffic, so don’t just start trying to push that recommended range tough guy. The new policy should give folks without many charging stations or PlugShare participants nearby some added peace of mind. Sure beats having to wait for Enterprise to come pick you up, huh?

Renault introduces new ‘get you home’ guarantee for electric vehicles, but there’s a catch originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 17

Tesla Model S will support third-party apps and text-to-voice, red lights will never be the same

Posted in: app, apps, automobile, car, Cars, electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, ev, tesla, Today's Chili
Now that pretty much every gizmo from your smartphone to TV has apps available for it, what’s the next logical frontier? Of course, your car! Yesterday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Cleantech Forum attendees in San Francisco that the upcoming Model S would indeed come with support for third-party applications to run on that monster 17-inch infotainment console. We’re happy to see the company encouraging developers to put that Tegra chip to good use, though we can’t help but worry about the myriad distractions that could come along with it. Of course, we’re still in the dark about what OS is powering the whole shebang, but we’re sure there will be a port of Angry Birds before you can come to a complete stop.

Tesla Model S will support third-party apps and text-to-voice, red lights will never be the same originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 17

BYD Motors sneaks on to American market, could make US debut official by year’s end

Posted in: chinese, electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, ev, hybrid, Today's Chili

We’ve heard rumblings of BYD coming to America before, but it seems it won’t be making a big deal of its Stateside entrée — at least not yet. According to the Los Angeles Times, China’s sixth-largest car maker is quietly making its presence known in the US, occupying the offices of Cars 911 — a dealership in Glendale, CA — and solidifying plans to open 10 American dealerships by the end of 2011. BYD is also in the process of building its US headquarters in downtown LA, and has been servicing a fleet of its F3DM hybrids, leased to the city’s housing authority, from the Cars 911 lot. BYD’s e6, which is slated as a Leaf competitor, is suspected to appear on the American market, alongside the F3DM, by year’s end. Considering the Leaf’s recent woes, this might be just the right time for BYD to strike.

BYD Motors sneaks on to American market, could make US debut official by year’s end originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 16

Range anxiety gets real: Nissan Leaf drivers run out of juice on the road

Posted in: eco, electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, ev, Today's Chili

Fears of range anxiety have loomed over EVs since their inception, and those fears were validated courtesy of a couple unfortunate souls whose Nissan Leafs apparently died on them while driving. The drivers put their faith in the Leaf’s remaining range calculation, and were sorely disappointed when the car’s dash said they had enough juice to go 10+ miles, but the batteries had other ideas. Turns out, the Leaf needs some time to get to know you and your lead foot before it can accurately determine the bounds of its own range. Nissan sent engineers out to check the cars and found no technical faults — but one driver reckons the cold sapped some of the batteries’ power (a theory that Mini E drivers would disagree with) and the car’s software didn’t factor that in when making its range estimates. Who’s to blame? We suspect that while there was some user error, Nissan should rework the Leaf’s software to improve range calculation — else we may be talking about the death of EVs instead of internal combustion.

Range anxiety gets real: Nissan Leaf drivers run out of juice on the road originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Cars Electric  |  sourceMy Nissan Leaf  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 14

GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all

Posted in: charger, charging, electric vehicle, ElectricVehicle, ev, Today's Chili
Last week, GE kicked off its EV Experience Tour in San Francisco, to “bring GE experts together with local businesses, industry leaders, and public sector stakeholders for educational workshops, test drives, and dialogue on the business case for EV ecosystems.” The Yves Behar-designed GE WattStation EV charger was on display at the event in both mock-up and ice sculpture form. We spent some time chatting with Luis Ramirez, CEO of GE Energy Industrial Solutions, and Clarence Nunn, President and CEO of GE Capital Fleet Services about the future of EV charging. We discussed efforts like PlugShare and the recent addition to EV charging stations to Google Maps, concepts like smart parking spots with embedded inductive charging, as well as ways to accommodate folks without garages who park their vehicles on city streets. They both assured us that GE is committed to providing an EV charging infrastructure for all, starting with the installation of a bunch of WattStations in San Francisco soon — though they didn’t say exactly how “soon”. In the meantime, remember that EV charging is always just an outlet away. Take a look at our gallery below and jump past the break for the press release.


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GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 13

Google adds EV charging stations to Google Maps, but you still have to drive to them yourself

Posted in: Cars, electric car, ElectricCar, ev, Google, Today's Chili

If electric cars are ever going to replace their gas-guzzling ancestors, we’ll inevitably need a few more places to plug in and charge up. Cue Google, who’s just added a database of EV — that’s electric vehicle for you non-green folk — charging stations to Google Maps, enabling drivers to locate places to get their juice on while on longer trips or when out of town (though without the social flare of PlugShare). We’ve gotta say, a future of self-driving cars that can automatically charge themselves doesn’t sound too bad to us — and spending less on gas only makes the deal even sweeter.

Google adds EV charging stations to Google Maps, but you still have to drive to them yourself originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AllCarsElectric  |  sourceGoogle LatLong Blog  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 11

EX trike powered by dual electric screwdrivers, designed by eccentrics

Posted in: electric vehicle, ElectricVehicle, ev, Today's Chili

We’ve seen some pretty wild-looking means of transportation in our day — the FOF-inducing BMW Flymag concept and Airbike 3D-printed nylon bicycle, for example — and now comes a vehicle that practically defies description: the EX. In what can only be described as over-engineering run amok, this custom-built three-wheeler is powered by two electric screwdrivers and can hurtle one brave soul headfirst down the road at speeds up to 30km/h (almost 19mph for those using real units of measure). The joint connecting the front and rear portions of the frame lets riders steer with “organically floating movement” that leans the driver into every turn — hopefully the handling is a bit more predictable than the trike’s design. So, if you’re lining up to buy one in a parallel universe, there’s just one question left to answer… Philips or flat-head?

EX trike powered by dual electric screwdrivers, designed by eccentrics originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 10

GM looking to offer lower-cost, shorter-range Volt?

Posted in: electric vehicle, ElectricVehicle, ev, hybrid, Today's Chili
GM looking to offer lower-cost, shorter-range Volt?

We’ve certainly had some complaints about the Chevrolet Volt, including mediocre highway mileage, but far and away it’s that $41,000 MSRP keeping it from being a real contender for mass adoption. Now we’re hearing rumors that GM is thinking about down-sizing the car’s batteries in an attempt to drop that price as well. The battery pack is far and away the most expensive single component in the car and the thought is that a reduction of the pure EV range to just 20 miles (down from its current 30 – 50) could have a whopping $10,000 reduction in cost. That would mean buyers would dip into the gas tank a little sooner but be a lighter on their bank accounts — at least in the beginning.

GM looking to offer lower-cost, shorter-range Volt? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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