TOYOTA HAS ANNOUNCED the development of revolutionary new lithium-ion battery technology, which enables enormous gains in power storage and, ultimately, increased range for electric and hybrid vehicles.

The new battery tech was developed in partnership with Japan’s Tohoku University and reportedly uses single crystals of lithium cobalt oxide to create its prodigious capacity.

Toyota is keeping the [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

THE RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE has announced a partnership between it and the Victorian Government that aims to smooth the introduction of zero-emissions vehicles to the state’s roads.

The Alliance will work with the Brumby Government to identify potential issues that may delay the wide scale uptake of battery-electric vehicles, principally the recently-revealed Nissan LEAF EV.

The LEAF is [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

WITH JUST ABOUT every volume-selling carmaker - and more than a few supercar and luxury manufacturers - getting set to offer all-electric vehicles in the near future, a universal infrastructure is vital.

So important is the electric car’s future in the new car market that, according to US consulting firm Pike Research, the number of recharge [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

NISSAN ANNOUNCED today that it plans to mass-produce a range of zero-emission electric vehicles from 2012, to be offered through its dealerships worldwide.

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said Nissan would unveil its first electric vehicle in Japan on August 2, this year, and begin sales to the Japanese market next year.

The company will then move [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

WHILE SUBARU AND TOYOTA work to bring a Subaru hybrid to market in 2012, the all-electric version of the Subaru Stella, which combines technology from the company’s R1-E prototype with the regular Japan-only Stella platform, is about to go on sale in the home islands.

With deliveries scheduled to begin in late July, Subaru is expecting [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

With the car-buying market becoming increasingly conscious of environmental issues, there is a growing impetus among manufacturers to meet consumer demand for greater fuel economy and lower emissions.

Now, with the advent of ‘plug-in-and-charge’ electric vehicles such as the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, and a number of other all-electric models expected in Australia within the next three [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

In line with Britain’s goal of making London the world’s Electric Vehicle capital, UK firm the Electric Car Corporation (ECC) has launched its own all-electric version of Citroën’s C1.

Called the C1 ev’ie, Electric Car Corporation’s version of the French minicar looks for all the world like a standard C1. The only visible change to the [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Ford has announced it is another step closer to production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Ford America, in conjunction with supplier Johnson Controls-Saft, has announced plans to build its first Lithium-ion battery facility in Holland, Michigan.

The partnership with Johnson Controls-Saft will see an advanced Lithium-ion battery system developed for the company’s first commercial plug-in vehicles, [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mitsubishi’s electric i MiEV is about to become a part of a NSW government test program to assess its ability to reduce carbon emissions from the State’s 26,000 strong vehicle fleet.

NSW Minister for Climate Change and Commerce, Carmel Tebbutt, announced that the i MiEV evaluation vehicle  currently touring the country would be evaluated for potential use [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

After conducting a feasibility study into an electric vehicle partnership back in June 2008, Mitsubishi Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen have today announced that a formal joint venture will be formed with the goal of sharing the development, manufacture and distribution of electric cars.

The biggest deal brokered as part of the agreement will be that [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Auto parts supplier Magna Steyr is set to unveil a little project of its own at the Geneva Motor Show, in the form of the all-electric mila ev (lower case letters preferred by Magna Steyr it seems).

Magna Steyr says that because the mila ev was designed from the ground up to utilise a range of [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Jim Dowle, designer of the McLaren F1, has announced plans to power his upcoming P1 project (first announced back in February ‘08) through an electric drivetrain, renaming it the P1-E project. No doubt you can figure out what the E stands for. At an expected price point of about £55,000 (AU$115,834) and aiming [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More