January 2011

Thank goodness the first electric car recall is out of the way

January 31, 2011

And it had nothing to do with it being an electric vehicle The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued two recalls regarding the 2011 THINK City electric vehicle (EV). We are thankful that neither recall has anything to do with the drivetrain. The first recall was issued on January 19, 2011. It affected 16 cars and the [...]

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The state of Toyota and electric cars

January 30, 2011

Fourth part in a series on the state of electric cars for American consumers Toyota – not going it alone with their new EV Toyota chose to introduce the new RAV4 EV at the 2010 Los Angeles International Auto Show with these words by Jim Lentz, President of Toyota Motor Sales USA: Ladies and gentlemen, it [...]

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Speaking of Nissan LEAF incentives…

January 28, 2011

What incentives are available for the LEAF? It seems that we have been caught up in the gravitational pull of a financial black hole that is demanding ever more information about the dollars and cents implications of purchasing (or leasing) a Nissan LEAF. As we wander about the web we find items that may be [...]

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Nissan LEAF cold weather operation and federal tax incentive news

January 27, 2011

The Nissan Prairie EV in service during its six year tenure in Norway Real world extreme cold weather performance The photo above is from an early (2000-2006) Nissan electric vehicle (EV) battery extreme cold weather endurance test. But Consumer Reports just wrote about their more recent experience with the LEAF in sub-freezing Connecticut. The article could be [...]

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What did President Obama actually say about electric vehicles?

January 26, 2011

The comments from the speech We were bombarded with interpretations today about what President Obama said about the administration’s stance on the electric vehicle (EV) marketplace in the United States. So we tracked down the transcript of his speech last night to see what he had to say. This quote is pulled directly from the transcript: [...]

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Analysis: Pure EV or Plug-In Hybrid?

January 24, 2011

Which would you prefer? Let’s be realistic – we live in a world with many realities. Each of our realities is unique, but they exist nonetheless. These realities may include children, families, jobs, commuting, financial werewithal (or lack thereof), time (or lack thereof)… you get the idea. We live in an extremely complex world in [...]

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Chrysler’s electric car stable

January 23, 2011

Third part in a series on the state of electric cars for American consumers You didn’t know that Chrysler had an electric car stable? In January 2008 Chrysler introduced the Dodge ZEO (Zero Emissions Operation) concept. This four door, four passenger 2+2 sport wagon offered 23″ wheels, 268 horsepower (200 kilowatt electric motor), rear-wheel drive with a zero [...]

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Battery supply constrains annual LEAF production initially

January 22, 2011

AESC supplied battery is the limiting factor Based on a comment in our post of yesterday, we followed up on the thought that perhaps the battery pack was causing the constrained initial supply of LEAFs. We found that it is a contributing factor to the annual production rate, if not the slow initial rate of production. On [...]

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Nissan LEAF production and delivery process – firsthand

January 20, 2011

Follow the timing on one LEAF On January 11, 2011 we received the following note from Nissan via e-mail: Hi Ernie, congratulations! Your vehicle is scheduled to arrive at your Nissan Dealer in the month of March 2011. As your Nissan LEAF™ is being built and shipped, we will continue to update your vehicle’s status. So [...]

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Are cars gadgets?

January 18, 2011

Has it come to this? Engadget.com, the site about gadgets and consumer electronics now has an automotive editor. As of the beginning of the year, Tim Stevens, credited as a contributing editor on the sites “About Us” page, has been named the Engadget Automotive Editor. Mr. Stevens has been one of the more prolific writers on [...]

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