So says Henrik Fisker who is behind the 4-door luxury Fisker Karma EV that begins production in Finland in March and is expected in U.S. showrooms a month later - with a $95,000 price tag! Fisker's point? New technology is always expensive in the beginning, but once developed the production price drops. Still, EVs as popular as iPhones? What do you think? Is that a leap of faith or is Fisker spot on? That's this week's Tuesday Topic.
It's going to take smart energy management to move the EV rollout forward, and a public-private Bay Area Group and Green Charge Networks think they've got the answers.
The global vehicle-to-grid market should grow at an astonishing pace, hitting $2.25 billion in 2012 and $40.4 billion in 2020, according to a new report. But Jesse Berst is advising caution and spells out why.
The just-released Fleet Electrification Roadmap provides plenty to chew on in its business case analysis for EV and PHEV adoption in U.S. government and business fleets. The study addresses both challenges and opportunities and makes some ambitious policy recommendations.
Not only is UK-based Ecotricity developing an electric sports car that get its power from wind turbines, but it's also touting its plans to use it to break the British land speed record of 139 mph next year.
A new wireless charger and a software solution that helps prevent concentrations of EVs from overloading the grid were announced this week as Detroit prepares to roll out the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt.
With mass market release of electric vehicles just around the corner, a new report from J.D. Power suggests auto manufacturers may be overly bullish about consumer demand for EVs, PHEVs and the like.
A study on the impact of EVs on the electricity transmission and distribution system finds it is likely to be minimal over the next 10 years, but that high concentrations of EVs in a localized area could cause transmission overloads.
Security expert Andy Bochman says there'll be trouble (that's trouble with an "s" as in security) when cars and the grid eventually get together. But he's optimistic that we can figure out those security issues and that cars will be as safe (or safer?) than they are today.
More than 2.7 million plug-in electric vehicles will be on the road and plugging into the global grid by 2015, and utilities had better be ready for them, according to new reports from IDC Insights. Are they ready? Vote in our Quick Poll.
Andy Bochman just spent a week in Texas where he picked up interesting updates on what major players (as in EPRI, GM, IBM, Oncor and others) are doing to prep for EVs and V2G. Plus he got some drive time in a Chevy Volt. Don’t miss his report.
ABB and GM will work together on an R&D project to wring a little more life from EV batteries after their life cycle in vehicles is over. The companies will investigate the possibilities of using the batteries for smart grid energy storage.
A new report says the hybrid electric vehicle market for commercial and government fleets will grow at a strong clip for the next five years, particularly in the U.S.
While Toyota may not be a big fan of some segments of the EV market, it's planning to introduce six new traditional gasoline-electric hybrids and two plug-in EVs within two years.
A new report on EVs casts a long, dark shadow over the entire enterprise. It says EV deployment will be held up because of a shortage of charging stations, and that many stations will be powered by coal or natural gas— not renewable energy.
Canadian electric vehicle fleet systems integrator Rapid Electric Vehicles is building fully electric Ancillary Power Vehicles for the U.S. Army to use in a multi-faceted microgrid research and development program. The vehicles are designed to reduce the high economic and environmental costs of fossil fuels and to provide fast backup power in emergencies.
No surprise that slow to medium speed EV charging rates won’t do for everyone in our hurry-up world. So we’re hearing more and more about fast vehicle charging technologies. But Pike Research analyst John Gartner paints a muddy picture of what that really means and why we need some clarity ― fast.
A joint effort by Ford, Xtreme Power and Detroit Edison to build a solar energy system will provide a window into industrial applications for renewable energy, Smart Grid technologies and energy storage.
The early days of electric vehicle (EV) brainstorming saw at least three approaches to smart charging. One has emerged as a clear leader. It offers many advantages – but it also poses long-term dangers to utilities. Jesse Berst thinks there’s a solution, but it requires us to think ahead.
A year after winning a $39 million stimulus grant, commercial truck giant Navistar's new all-electric medium-duty truck is getting noticed — and sold.
It's been a busy week in the EV charging arena: Coulomb Technologies will greatly expand its ChargePoint Network as a result of partnership agreements with Siemens, Leviton and Aker Wade. And Silver Spring Networks and partner ClipperCreek will join an innovative EV pilot program sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric and the Electric Power Research Institute.
An overwhelming 95% of people surveyed in southern California would rather charge their EVs at home, according to a new Electric Power Research Institute report. The finding was one of many in the survey on consumer perceptions of EV ownership.
Alternative energy company Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies has won a contract to engineer and implement production tooling for a solar photovoltaic roof module for the Fisker Karma, a high performance plug-in hybrid luxury sedan.
The Energy Department's Recovery Act stimulus investments have benefitted the domestic EV industry in a variety of ways: jobs and manufacturing plants and product lines, not to mention charging stations.
We're getting mixed signals about the vitality of the smart grid market. On the one hand, the recent DistribuTECH conference was one of the most successful ever. On the other, a well-known Wall Street analyst recently told his clients that the smart metering sector is "facing several headwinds," including weak regulatory support in the U.S. and delays in European adoption. Taking the pulse of the smart grid industry is this week's Tuesday Topic.
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