Ford To Debut Electric Focus at Consumer Electronics Show?

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The 2011 North American International Auto Show starts in Detroit next week...but the buzz in the blogosphere is that Ford will unveil its electric Focus EV at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.


Full story from Automotive News (free registration required).

Post Title → Ford To Debut Electric Focus at Consumer Electronics Show?

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40,000 Volts Is Quite A Shock. So's One Volt For $40,000

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That's the price General Motors has arrived at for its 2011 electric Chevrolet Volt, according to Automotive News (free subscription required).

The announcement comes tomorrow, and the blow will be softened somewhat by a $7,500 tax credit...but, still...$40,000? A chunk above now-retired GM product guy Bob Lutz' prediction of "the upper 20s"...and significantly higher than the Nissan Leaf's $32.780 before tax credits.

Would you? And if not you, then who?

Post Title → 40,000 Volts Is Quite A Shock. So's One Volt For $40,000

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Nissan Goes DIY For EV Leaf; Building Battery Plant Next Door To Assembly Line

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One day after Nissan's announcement that the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric vehicle is sold out, the carmaker broke ground on its own battery plant next door to the Leaf assembly line in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Opening day isn't until 2012, but when the plant does debut, it will be able to build 200,000 lithium-ion battery packs a year...meaning CEO Carlos Ghosn's plan to build 150,000 Leafs a year won't be done in by outside supplier issues.

All told, batteries and cars, Nissan's investing $1.7 billion in Leaf production ($1.4 million billion of that comes from a U.S. government loan), which, if production hits the levels Ghosn predicts, will create 1,300  new jobs.

The TireKicker take? Good for Ghosn. Critical ventures are all too often undone or kept from realizing their potential by weak links in the chain. Outsourcing production of components has also made some manufacturers feel less responsible about the final product., giving them a convenient third party to whom to point the finger of blame. Let's hope this starts a trend toward more auto manufacturers putting their names on and their resources behind more of their product.

Post Title → Nissan Goes DIY For EV Leaf; Building Battery Plant Next Door To Assembly Line

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GM Unveils Chevy Volt MPV5 Crossover At Beijing Auto Show

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Chevy's getting this PR momentum thing down cold. Just days after WXYZ-TV in Detroit spotted one of the first pre-production sedan models of the electric Chevy Volt parked on the street, the wraps have come off a crossover Volt.

Full details, including more pix and the GM press release at Autoblog Green.

Post Title → GM Unveils Chevy Volt MPV5 Crossover At Beijing Auto Show

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Nissan Leaf Electric Car Reservations Start Tomorrow

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Want the new Nissan Leaf? You need to register like...oh, now. And then stand by for a priority reservation tomorrow. Oh, and have money ($99) ready.

Full details in the Nissan press release.

Post Title → Nissan Leaf Electric Car Reservations Start Tomorrow

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Chevy Volt On The Street

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The first pre-production Chevrolet Volt electrics (built just last week) are popping up on the street in Detroit.

A crew from ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV caught one parked in the Motor City and has a slideshow here.

Post Title → Chevy Volt On The Street

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More Chevy Volts Roll Off Assembly Line

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One week after the first "manufacturing validation" example was built, three more Chevolet Volt electrics have rolled off the assembly line. They are the first of a few hundred preproduction models that will be built this spring and summer.

Full details from The Detroit Free Press.

Post Title → More Chevy Volts Roll Off Assembly Line

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2011 Chevrolet Volt: First One Built

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The first "manufacturing validation" example of the Chevrolet Volt electric car went down the assembly line earlier this week.

The Detroit News reports that several hundred more will be built for evaluation and testing before production of for-sale cars begins this fall.

Post Title → 2011 Chevrolet Volt: First One Built

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Nissan Leaf Orders Begin April 20; Price $25,280 With Tax Credit

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Nissan says it will begin taking North American orders for its electric vehicle, the Leaf, on April 20.

The New York Times reports the sticker will be $32,780, but a federal tax credit gets it down to $25,280...which pretty well puts it head-to-head with the Toyota Prius.

There's also a $2,000 charger, but a federal tax credit will reimburse half of that cost.

Post Title → Nissan Leaf Orders Begin April 20; Price $25,280 With Tax Credit

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GM EN-V Unlikely To Produce Envy Among Enthusiasts

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General Motors says that by 2030, urban areas will be home to more than 60% of the world's then 8-billion people. Public transport will have trouble keeping up, GM says, so....

Behold the EN-V, short for Electronic Networked-Vehicle. Seats two, electric powered, 25 mile range and with interactivity that will allow the car to consult GPS, select the best route and take it from there. The design? Evolved from Segway's P.U.M.A prototype.  It's a partnership with SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp) Group.

The EN-V will be on display at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai from May 1 through October 31. Full details in the GM news release here.

Post Title → GM EN-V Unlikely To Produce Envy Among Enthusiasts

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Around The World In 6 And A Half Months: Tesla Odyssey of Pioneers

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Electric car maker Tesla Motors and watchmaker TAG Heuer are partnering for an around-the-world trip in the one of a kind TAG Heuer Edition Roadster you see above.

Launching from Basel, Switzerland this week, the plan is 27,000 miles, 15 cities, 150 towns and three continents, wrapping up in Paris, France on October 4.

Follow along on the Odyssey of Pioneers website,  Facebook or Twitter .

Post Title → Around The World In 6 And A Half Months: Tesla Odyssey of Pioneers

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Mitsubishi To Triple Electric Car Output; Sell i-MiEV In U.S. In 2011

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Mitsubishi says it plans to triple its electric car output over the next three years, and will sell the i-MiEV, currently on sale in Japan, here in the U.S. in 2011.

A seven-hour charge is good for up to 100 miles in the i-MiEV, according to Mitsu, but even they admit that it's a pricey vehicle...it costs double what a Prius does in Japan...the equivalent of $51,000 in today's American dollars.

Full story from AP and The Detroit News here.

Post Title → Mitsubishi To Triple Electric Car Output; Sell i-MiEV In U.S. In 2011

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Chrysler/Fiat To Build Electric 500 In 2012

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Seems like a natural...Chrysler/Fiat says it will build an electric version of the 500 minicar in 2012.  Full details on that, plus a fleet of electric Ram pickups, from The Detroit Free Press, here.

Post Title → Chrysler/Fiat To Build Electric 500 In 2012

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Electric Ford Focus Coming In 2011

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Who killed the electric car? Well, it wasn't GM.

In fact, no one killed it. The EV-1 was born with congenital defects (severely limited range, expensive batteries) and couldn't have survived.

11 years later, technology has changed and Ford believes it can succeed where GM couldn't back in the 90s. It made the announcement Monday at the North American International Auto Show that the all-new Ford Focus will have an all-electric version beginning in 2011.

Will this get Ford the kind of eco-love usually showered upon Toyota and Honda? Time will tell.

Post Title → Electric Ford Focus Coming In 2011

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