By Joanna Schroeder •
November 2, 2009
Ford Motor Company and Azure Dynamics have teamed up to introduce a battery electric commercial van called the Transit Connect. The electric van will be available in America and Canada beginning in 2010 and is the first vehicle to be produced as part of Ford’s accelerated electric vehicle strategy. Azure will integrate its Force Drive battery electric drive train into the van and Johnson Control-Saft has been selected as the lithium ion battery cells and battery packs supplier. The Transit Connect van is being marketed for fleet and retail use.
What Ford has not brought to market is their Ford Escape Flex-Fuel Hybrid which they have been working on for close to a decade. I actually drove one in a car rally in upstate New York two years ago (it was a great car) but the company discontinued its work claiming that there was no demand. How quickly times change.
By Jo Borras •
October 26, 2009
Indiana-based Bright Automotive has released some pretty impressive performance figures for its technically (and aerodynamically!) slick new IDEA cargo van. Aimed primarily at delivery fleets and in-town rental companies, the freshly-upgraded guppy promises to shave operating costs by thousands of dollars per year, per van.
More pictures, an official company press release, and my own opinions (that nobody asked for) after the jump.
By Jo Borras •
October 19, 2009
Many manufacturers of high-mpg and electric vehicles have adopted a 3-wheeled layout for cost and weight savings, and—in some cases—aerodynamic efficiency. In most states, however, these vehicles are classified as motorcycles. That motorcycle moniker has made them ineligible for DOE funds set aside to foster innovation among American automakers… until now!
More details, after the jump.
By Susan Kraemer •
September 16, 2009
Imagine driving from San Francisco to New York City in a plug-in hybrid Prius that uses algae for fuel.
At the beginning of this month the first ever algae-powered plug-in set off on a ten day coast to coast demo from California to show that a plug-in hybrid can be fueled with green crude.
The algae fuel for the plug-in Prius was supplied by Sapphire Energy. They are developing an algae fuel completely compatible with current gas pumps and pipeline infrastructure.
By Susan Kraemer •
September 8, 2009
Total US hybrid sales jumped 48.6% in August from last August, buoyed up by Cash for Clunkers.
We Americans did the right patriotic thing with our clunker money last month, it turns out. We bought more American. And we bought more hybrid cars. Ford was the big winner, making a big dent in Toyota’s hybrid sales.
Consumer reports tells us that 80% would rather buy US cars and 46% of us now prefer fuel efficient cars.
By Felix Kramer •
August 10, 2009
Entrepreneurs have begun to retrofit ordinary combustion vehicles into all-electrics or plug-in hybrids. Here’s why this could be the “big fix” that the auto-industry needs.
Are we stuck with our oil addiction? What if millions of our middle-aged vehicles could be reincarnated as superior versions of their youthful selves, while developing new revenue streams for Detroit? What if that “fix” could start reducing the billion a day we spend on imported oil, while creating tens of thousands of local jobs in communities and cutting greenhouse gases from fossil fuels?
Automakers could do all this—by thinking of vehicles as upgradable high-tech products. For example: A pioneering Chicago startup makes a prototype Ford F-150 pickup with an all-electric range of 30 miles per charge. After that it’s a hybrid, boosting the best-selling truck’s 15 city miles per gallon to 21.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
April 30, 2009
Members of Michigan’s Congressional Delegation are pushing to double a $25 billion Energy Department program designed that provides loans to U.S. automakers and parts suppliers for advanced technology retooling.
By Jennifer Lance •
March 30, 2009
So how much does a foreclosed home in Detroit cost? Two weeks ago, you could buy a home for $1 in the city. Today the lowest price I could find was $40. The city’s morale has dipped so low that only 14 percent of voters turned out for the big mayoral election in February, and two-thirds of children drop out of high school. What could we do to boost moral in Detroit? We could buy up [...]
By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 4, 2009
Considering that the Big Three automakers are in Big Trouble, a little economic retooling in the country’s manufacturing midsection may be as prudent now as it ever has been.
By Richard Elen •
December 20, 2008
Letting the auto industry go to hell in a handbasket is probably not an option. The impact on the economy would be one thing. But the direct and indirect human impact would be terrible.
That leaves us wondering how to square this particular circle. We are faced with a powerful combination of crises, both economic and environmental. Is there a way to address both at once? Well, yes.
By Ben Robinson •
December 18, 2008
The problems of the US auto manufacturing industry have been widely reported in recent weeks.The big surprise is that to many, this actually came as a surprise.
But is it really surprising that the industry is in a state of collapse considering they continue to make cars that are increasingly irrelevant to the needs of the rest of the world?
This issue is no better demonstrated than by the US Government’s introduction last year of average fuel consumption targets. The legislation mandates a national passenger car fleet average consumption of 32 mpg by 2015, and 35 mpg by 2020.
Is this progress, or is it too little too late?
According to a recent report the fleet average for Europe was 34.4 mpg in 2007. Putting Europeans practically 14 years ahead of the game. Other major auto markets are similarly ahead.
