A German auto engineering company is working on a project that just might solve the world’s oil problems. IAV Automotive Engineering has secured a patent for their electric vehicle (EV) wireless road-charging system. Conceptually, roads would be fitted with electrical conductors that create magnetic fields, which charge your battery powered vehicle as you drive. Radio chips would identify [...]

Lyle over at GM-Volt was able to interview the CEO of Compact Power about the costs involved in making the lithium batteries that will go in the Chevy Volt. Here’s an excerpt: I recently had the chance to ask him about the cost of lithium-ion batteries.  As some sources suggest cost could be as high [...]

In anticipation of these mainstream rollouts and the vehicles’ likely popularity, a number of cities are developing or are already implementing plans for charging stations and buying incentives. New-home builders should be planning ahead, as well, to ensure the garages of the houses they sell are ready if and when future occupants choose to go [...]

The Chevy Volt, General Motors says, should earn an EPA rating of 230 mpg.  The Nissan Leaf will beat that, its builders say, with a 367 mpg rating. The EPA isn’t so sure. USA Today reports, “The concept of judging fuel efficiency on electric cars by the ‘miles per gallon’ they consume is dying a [...]

Ford Motor Company has teamed up with “The Jay Leno Show” in the United States to provide an all-new battery electric version of the Ford Focus ST five-door for celebrities to drive in the programme’s regular “Green Car Challenge” segment. Ford has especially made the car for the programme, using an Electric Orange Ford Focus [...]

A CANBERRA group of Electric Vehicle (EV) enthusiasts is proposing a set of policies, in the lead-up to the National Electric Vehicle Festival, to be held on Sunday 4 October 2009, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the grounds of the Old Parliament House Lawns in Canberra, Australia. The group, known as Canberra EV, [...]

Mission Motors, an electric motorcycle startup based in San Francisco, said Tuesday that its prototype vehicle had set a world speed record for battery-powered bikes of 150.059 miles per hour at the Bonneville Speedway in Utah. That was the average speed achieved during two, mile-long trials but the motorcycle, called the Mission One, hit 161 [...]

20% is nothing to sneeze at.  That’s a huge number in terms of greater efficiency.  Smith Electric Vehicles in North East England is working on a new ultra-efficient electric drive line, along with smarter, more energy efficient ancillary systems, such as heating and air conditioning.  Combining all these elements together, Smith’s engineers believe they can [...]

We here at EVWeblog are very interested in electric vehicles.  So count us in that 48%.  Of all the EVs that will be on the market in the near future the plugin hybrid will almost certainly be the most common.  Something like a hybrid Prius or Fusion that is on the road today but can [...]

Renault is playing coy, this bird’s-eye-view is all we’ve seen of the French automakers electric vehicle concepts which will debut at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show. We imagine Renault will take a similar design path with these EV concepts as it has in the past. The Be-Bop ZE concept was a thinly-disguised Kangoo Be-Bop, and [...]