Peugeot has unveiled a new emission-free electric car in the market coined the BB1. This new concept electric car can seat up to 4 adults and can go as far as 75 miles. It is easy to park and is fitted with two electric motors mounted at the rear wheel. It runs on two lithium-ion batteries and the passenger compartment ventilation keeps operating in daylight thanks to solar panels on the roof of the vehicle.

No word on whether this will become official nor numbers to support it. But maybe when everything is ironed out, we can get more specifics about this latest electric car from Peugeot.

Image Credits: Channel 4

(Source) Press

Tags: adults, bb1, channel 4, electric car, electric vehicle, image credits, lithium, lithium ion batteries, Peugeot, rear wheel, solar panels, specifics, ventilation

You know how this goes–you’re out tailgating and someone brings out one of those awesome beer coolers or electric grills or what have you, and it’d be a great idea except no one knows where to plug it in.  Yeah, sure, you could hook it to your car’s cigarette lighter, but that could wear down the battery.

But now, that’s not even a problem with the 400 Watt Power Dome, a generator that fits in your car trunk.

Granted, four hundred watts is not a lot of juice.  It will, however, run a TV for five hours or a PS2 for eight on a full charge.  And, if you need more continuous power than a charge will carry, you can plug this into your cigarette lighter and, while running your car, run power through the Power Dome and use it like a giant inverter. You’ll have power until you run out of gas.

It’s a pretty nifty idea, and should really put a punch in campouts or tailgating.

Tags: 400 watt Power Dome, car trunk, generator, inverter, power dome, tailgating

That’s right, twenty million dollars in tax credits went from the beleaguered former auto giant state into the hands of a US-French partnership set up to build lithium-ion batteries for Ford.

The twenty million in tax credits will be handed out over the course of three years to Johnson Controls, a subsidiary of Parisian firm Saft Advanced Power Solutions.

But this cash isn’t just going to be lost–Saft et al intend to invest about eleven times that figure in the state and add just under eleven hundred jobs to the sagging state of Michigan by hiring at a plant in Holland.

Electric batteries, folks…seems more and more we’re getting away from the gas car and getting closer to a day without gas.  Hopefully, also, we won’t be surrendering a speed anywhere near fifty five miles per hour, either.

Tags: Ford, johnson controls, Paris, saft, us-french partnership

The world wide auto industry is making the push towards greener and more fuel efficient vehicles. One of the key components currently used in these green vehicles are lithium-ion batteries which are currently manufcatured all over the world.

Today, a country that you probably wouldn’t expect to be a key player in the game has announced that they will be producing their own lithium-ion batteries by 2018. That country is none other than Bolivia.

The purpose of producing their own lithium-ion batteries is so they could bypass the costly expenses of imported batteries made elsewhere. Smart, huh?

via laht

Tags: batteries, bolivia, lithium ion

It doesn’t really look good to win your own sponsored race, but at the same time, if you can’t manage to win the race you set up you end up looking pretty incompetent.

Thus, it’s not exactly a huge surprise that the Suzuki Alto is out in front and looking pretty good on its fuel consumption.

The Alto Green Challenge is sort of, from what I can tell anyway, a hybrid car race.  Both a race for hybrid cars and a two-pronged car race.  Cars are not only trying to clear the track first, but they’re also trying to do it with the least amount of fuel consumed.

For instance, that Suzuki Alto?  It’s burning through about a gallon of fuel for every fifty miles it travels, or 3.99 liters per one hundred kilometers.

I don’t care what country you’re in–fifty miles per gallon is pretty sweet.  So here’s to the Alto, the current frontrunner in its own contest.

Tags: Alto, Alto Green Challenge, car race, hybrid, hybrid car race, Suzuki Alto

What you see there is the concept 2009 Honda Skydeck, which we may never see. Something that we might see is some more hybrids from Honda. Supposedly the company is working on “developing its proprietary Integrated Motor Assist hybrid platform so that it can once again be used to power larger vehicles like the Accord”.

There is even a rumor saying that Honda wants to put this hybrid power into a minivan before 2011. We will see.

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It’s a strange dilemma China has on its hands.  And most Chinese will probably never even see this blog due to the massive censorship on its hands.

We all know that China’s so polluted that their air makes Los Angeles smog taste like a crisp mountain stream.  So naturally, they’re really putting the push on to go green and get some more electric cars on the market.

Well, they’re not the only ones there, but China’s got a SERIOUS problem.  Where most of us have been driving cars for a long time, and are starting to seriously think about going green just by ourselves, the Chinese have not had cars all that long.  Well, not INDIVIDUAL Chinese, anyway.  Individual Chinese haven’t had cars all that long and now that they’ve got them, they mean to keep them.

Now along comes the government telling them, oh, yeah, I know you’ve had this car like all of six weeks but we need you to give it back to the state.  Oh, don’t worry–we have electric cars coming out.  When?  Um…soon.  And they’ll only cost as much as what you paid for the last car!  Subsidies?  Um…look…just get back to work, okay?  Or we’ll kill your children.  You know how this works by now.

It’s a tough road China’s got to drive to get its citizens to go green, and there are plenty of ruts and bumps in it.

Tags: china, Chinese, electric cars, Gas, gas cars, going green, green cars

From the Much Ado About Nothing department, the Progressive Automotive Insurance X Prize committee has announced that the next round of competitors for the big ten million dollar prize has moved on to the next rank.

Only forty three out of the original one hundred eleven teams are still in the running for this title, in which teams are competing to develop a mass production capable car that gets a hundred and ten miles per gallon.  Turns out that this isn’t the only X Prize out there, but this is the one we care about.

Check out some of the project’s goals for winning that ten million:

Safety, Emissions: Vehicles must be designed so that a production vehicle would likely be able to meet U.S. safety standards and U.S. emissions standards.

Manufacturability, Cost: Vehicles must be capable of being manufactured in quantities of 10,000 per year, with vehicle production costs within levels consistent with historical examples of comparable vehicles.

Features: Vehicles must be desirable, addressing the most important features and factors consumers consider when purchasing an automobile.

Business Plan: There must be a credible plan to manufacture, sell, and service 10,000 vehicles (or conversions) per year by 2014. The plan must show that the national fuel infrastructure will support the vehicles, especially if any non-standard fuels or fueling-methods are to be used.

We’ve got a ways to go yet, so keep it here for all the latest X Prize news.

Tags: auto insurance, progressive, progressive insurance, ten million, X Prize

How can I tell?  Well, considering that they’re planning a massive new set of tax initiatives targeting anyone who buys or operates a vehicle, it sure SEEMS like they don’t want you driving anywhere.

How massive, you ask?  Well, in terms of US dollars, you can figure that they’re planning to add roughly FIVE GRAND in taxes to the cost of every new car.  Of course, that particular tax is being phased in in installments over the course of the next eleven years, but still, five grand?  That’s no small feat.

And as if that weren’t horrendous enough, they’re also planning an increase in the gas tax, which will make gas cost, roughly, three pounds per liter, or in US money, roughly thirteen bucks a gallon.

This egregious push is being dubbed “essential” in order for Great Britain to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets, but critics, not surprisingly, are saying that this is all a push to treat drivers like the government’s own personal piggy bank.

This is, of course, nightmarish in its extremity, and hopefully will drive Brits into the streets to protest this sickening abuse of power.

Tags: Engalnd, gas prices, great britain, Law, taxes

The Reva Electric Car Co. is bringing its act to New York, reportedly set to build a new fleet of electric cars to be situated in the Syracuse area. The company will be in cahoots with Bannon Automotive where they will assemble the three-door plug-in hatchback at a site somewhere in the Syracuse area. The plant is expected to be officially announced at a news conference and will open next year with an initial workforce of 100 people.

(Source) WKTV

Tags: cahoots, electric cars, fleet, news conference, nxr, reva electric car, reva electric car co, syracuse area, workforce

I was actually reading about this idea elsewhere, and frankly, it’s too good not to bring up here.  See, solar power fans are going to be jumping for joy over this one, but even if you don’t happen to drive an electric car, chances are you’re still going to love what Dell did to its parking lot, which you can see at right.

Dell put in a bunch of solar panel structures in its parking lot, which serve two basic functions:  one, it provides free electricity to the parked cars.  If you ever needed a jump and couldn’t find another car, well, the Dell lot’s got you covered.  And of course, anyone who drives a plug-in hybrid or full electric vehicle is also covered.

But what most gas car drivers will get out of this is one very rare thing in a parking lot: shade.

We’ve all suffered through a hot car in summertime, sitting in that boiling heat box until the air conditioner can finally overcome the  stifling heat in your car.  But with shaded structures like this, you can park underneath them and keep your car cool.  Meanwhile, free electricity!

That’s a win-win for everybody no matter what kind of car they drive.

Tags: Parking, parking lot, shaded parking, solar panels, solar power

…it’s the government’s fault.

Okay, I know, it’s something of a non sequitur to launch right into blaming the government with absolutely no preamble, but that’s cool.  Because I’ve got the backing to support it.  It’s not ALL the government’s fault, of course, but there’s blame enough for everybody.

One, a huge problem is regulation.  As it turns out, most of those “good, small diesels” I reference above are too small for most American markets.  They have really slow zero to sixty times, which doesn’t work out too well for Americans who actually NEED rapid acceleration for things like merging and making left turns in congested areas.  So the power on most diesel over here is ramped up accordingly and from there, boom.  There are also problems with the various filter systems and a surprising difference between United States and European emissions laws.

Suddenly the emissions are too nasty, and the model is useless here.

Two, there’s a huge cost problem.  Diesel engines are, by their very nature, more expensive to build than regular gas or flex-fuel vehicles, and then when you have to add that power boost, there’s an extra cost tacked on besides.

So between these two factors, good, small diesels are downright hard to come by out here in the States.

Tags: cost, diesel, emissions, emissions standards, government, regulation, small diesel

The other day we told that the Nissan Fuga, or Infiniti M as us Americans will know it as, is expected to hit dealerships towards the end of next year. To stir up a bit of hype regarding the vehicle, Nissan has released the above promotional video showcing off the car as it eloquently hits the streets.

Sure, it’s not very exciting but it’s always nice to see a car in action when all you’ve seen were still shots, right?

Tags: fuga, infiniti m, Nissan, promotional video

Yes, things on two wheels are also on show at the Tokyo Motor Show. Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha had their green cycles on display, and this particular one, with the Xbox colors, is the EC-f from Yamaha. It is only a concept for now.

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In the past Honda has pointed towards fuel cell powered vehicles as the future — Today at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito has again stated his company’s stance on the fuel cells saying that hydrogen energy is the best long term strategy for the auto industry.

Sure, Honda has some electric vehicles in the works such as the Honda EV-N and the Honda CR-Z but Ito says once the industry realizes the limits of batteries they too will turn to hydrogen.

What do you guys think? Is hydrogen the future or will we be seeing batteries stick around for a bit longer?

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Tags: ceo, fuel cells, Honda, Hydrogen, takanobu ito, tokyo motor show