Test Drive: Nissan Leaf

Devin Coldewey just had the opportunity to test-drive the new Nissan Leaf here in sunny Seattle, and had enough time with the car to garner some first impressions, take some pictures, and shoot a little video.

The Leaf, as you are probably aware, is Nissan’s new plug-in electric vehicle, and the first of the new generation of consumer EVs to be released here in the States. Sure, you’ve got the Tesla, and even the more family-oriented Model S, but they’re beyond the reach of the average city-dweller. Priced at just under $33K ($25K including the government rebate), the car is really competing with Accords and Legacys and the like. While it’s easy to suggest that it also competes with the Volt, the pricing and technology really set the two apart; all they’ve got in common is an electric motor.

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Think Electric is back!

Think Electric is back in a big way after GM invested in the company. Fittingly announced around the New York Auto Show, the company has revealed that it will begin selling its Think City -- one of the planet's first highway-capable electric vehicles, it'll have you know! -- in New York and "other select cities" later on in 2010.

Warren Buffett's Chinese Electric Car Company

"If you think the American auto industry is in trouble now, just wait until the Chinese learn how to make great cars.

BYD is an amazing company. It was started by a chemist and government researcher named Wang Chuan-Fu in 1995 (same year as Yahoo) to make rechargeable batteries, which it learned to do very well. Within a few years, BYD's batteries were cheaper and just as reliable as those made by industry giants Sony and Sanyo. Then Mr. Wang, as he’s known, got into the automobile business by buying a failing state-owned carmaker. BYD's conventional gas-powered cars are selling well these days in China, and his electric plug-in electric model looks like it will come to market with a longer range and a lower sticker price than the new Toyota Prius much-hyped Chevy Volt. As if that were not enough, I'm hearing now that BYD is on the verge of a breakthrough in the solar power business and that the company has big plans to make rechargeable batteries at a utility scale to store energy from intermittent, renewable sources like wind and solar. Today, BYD employes 130,000 people in 11 factories, either in China and one each in India, Hungary and Romania."

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Segway & GM reinvent urban transportation

GM has partnered with Segway for a project called P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility). This electrically powered two-seat prototype has only two wheels and according to GM allows people to travel faster and with lower cost around cities.

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$20,000 Electric Car: Toyota FT-EV

Toyota has unveiled a budget priced electric car that can be driven up to 80km without using a drop of petrol, reports Joshua Dowling in Detroit.

Toyota would not speculate on the retail price of its new electric car so far out from launch, but a similarly-sized petrol-powered hatchback costs about $15,000, and an electric motor and battery pack would likely add about $5000 to the cost of the car, say industry analysts, bringing the total close to $20,000.

Significantly, on battery power alone the tiny Toyota will travel almost 20km further than the Chevrolet Volt electric car to be made by General Motors. However, the Toyota must be recharged after 80km, whereas the Volt has a petrol generator which extends total driving range up to 1000km. The Toyota electric car is a tiny four-seater hatchback whereas the Volt is about the size of a Holden Astra sedan.

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Chinese Electric Cars Coming to America

EASTON, Pa. — Wuzheng North America, which recently made headlines by bringing in China-made pickup trucks, has made a deal with another Chinese company, to sell electric vehicles here.

The Jinan Flybo Motor Company's flagship is called the XFD-6000ZK. The name is almost longer than the vehicle, which measures 102.3 inches long on a 71-inch wheelbase and looks similar to the Smart car from certain angles. The XFD-6000ZK is "100 percent legal for on-road use," the company says.

The Flybo minicar can get you where you want to go electrically. It's now being sold by a U.S. distributor. (Photo courtesy of Globalautoindex.com)

3 Dirt-Cheap DIY Electric Cars for Under $2k

So you want a 100% electric car for commuting or running errands in your town or small city.

Maybe you’ve dreamt of whipsering down the road in a clean, quiet Tesla roadster … and then you woke up screaming at the thought of the $109,000 U.S. price tag.

In that case, may we present the other end of the EV spectrum: a trio of street legal electric cars converted from gasoline to battery power for an average price of $1450 each. (No, that’s not a typo.)

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106 mpg 'air car' creates a buzz

You've heard of hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that can run on vegetable oil. But of all the contenders in the quest to produce the ultimate fuel-efficient car, this could be the first one to let you say, "Fill it up with air." That's the idea behind the compressed air car, a vehicle its backers say could achieve a fuel economy of 106 miles per gallon. New York-based Zero Pollution Motors is the first firm to obtain a license from MDI to produce the cars in the United States, pledging to deliver the first models in 2010 at a price tag of less than $18,000.

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Electric Cars Are Inevitable ...and Essential

The electrification of the automobile is not only inevitable, advocates and experts say, it is essential because plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles offer our best chance to address global warming, achieve energy security and move us beyond oil. The auto industry is beginning to respond, and most of them are working on plug-in hybrids that could be on the road beginning in 2010. But their success is by no means guaranteed. There are concerns about the reliability and longevity of the lithium-ion batteries they'll use, and the cars will be expensive.

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Electric car shootout in London

WhatCar? Britain's Biggest and Best Car Buyer's Guide has a Electric car shootout in London. They review the NICE Mega City, the Smart ed, the Micro-Vett Fiat Doblo, and the Reva G-Wiz together for a group evaluation on the streets of London town to "...decide whether or not they do make a practical alternative to urban transport.".
Now before you start drooling these electric cars can currently be purchased in Europe and hopefully one day a broad spectrum of electric cars will be sold in the USA.


Even "Beautiful beaches and a perfect climate are not enough for the citizens of the South Pacific islands of Fiji. Apparently, they desire cars that are quiet and don't emit pollution as well. If the Korean electric vehicle maker, CT and T, gets its way, that desire will be fulfilled."

Mitsubishi plans to sell iMiEV electric car from 2010 to mid 2009 in Japan about 4 million yen or US $37,496. Sadly currently there are no plans to sell the car in the USA.

A very interesting looking car is the Opel Flextreme and the upcoming Volt will be badged as a Chevrolet or an Opel across "the pond has been decided. The first Euro-bound EV's from the General will be Opels, though we are not sure how much in common the vehicle will share with the Flextreme concept."

In an amusing statement Rick Wagoner, head of General Motors, at a recent conference in Dallas, Texas in response to why GM didn't begin offering hybrid cars earlier is because nobody wanted them. So next time you wonder why the American auto industry is doing poorly look no further then their upper management. Kudos' to Toyota on the foresight to build hybrid cars earlier. In frustration Hank and Joe built their own electric car rather then waiting on the big automakers. While these guys have actually made a working product there are no end of retarded gas saving devices for sale on the Internet that will not save any gas at all.

Last but not least BMW is planning sell 500 electric Minis coming to California.