Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet
In January, Mark Lee, a Lansing, MI native, packed a suitcase and boarded a plane to New York to take delivery of his white 2011 Chevrolet Volt. While Lee's trek was lengthy, it pales in comparison to Moiss Paiewonsky's cross-country, Volt-buying journey.
Paiewonsky, a 29-year-old Tuscon, AZ resident, attempted to fly to New York to pick up his Volt, but the trip turned into a fiasco. A massive snowstrom pounded the East Coast, forcing the plane to divert to Pittsburgh. From there, Paiewonsky drove a rental car to New York, while his Volt was delayed in Boston.
Eventually, Paiewonsky arrived in New York, plunked down $50,000 for a marked-up silver Volt and began his 2,000-mile trek back to Tuscon. During the majority of the trip, Paiewonsky claims that the Volt averaged 50 miles per gallon, but noted that aggressive driving or use of the vehicle's HVAC system dropped the mileage down to nearly 40 mpg.
The trek home convinced Paiewonsky that the Volt's extended-range setup makes it long haul-capable. He researched the Nissan Leaf before buying the Volt, but admits that he was worried about being stranded, stating "The Leaf has better range [than the Volt] as an electric, but then once that's gone, you're dead in the water." When you travel as far as he does, that's not a situation you want to experience.
Photos copyright (C)2011 Chris Paukert / AOL
[Source: Arizona Daily Star]
Want it bad dept: AZ man treks 2,000 miles to buy Chevrolet Volt originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors
Back on November 11th, 2010, shares of Tesla Motors soared to $29.36, leading JPMorgan Chase analyst Himanshu Patel to say, "we are bullish on Tesla Motors as we believe it is at the vanguard of improving battery costs/durability." However, Motley Fool's Travis Hoium disagreed with Patel's assessment of Tesla, claiming that optimism pumped up TSLA's prices and predicted that a fall out was looming.
Apparently, Hoium is not alone in forecasting that an investment in Tesla could be risky. Seeking Alpha (SA) has tagged TSLA with a pass-hold, claiming that Tesla has two obstacles to address before deeming that an investment in the automaker will pay off. SA states that Tesla's "dangerous dependence on lithium" - a rare earth metal some (but not all) say is in limited supply - potentially positions the automaker to be driven out of the industry if lithium prices skyrocketing.
Furthermore, SA claims that the "cut throat competition" in the electric vehicle segment will have Tesla duking it out with the likes of Nissan, Ford, Toyota and other automakers for a chunk of the plug-in vehicle market. SA states that "going head on against auto companies is a high stakes game where it's a simple do or die scenario."
SA believes that it's best to pass on TSLA at this time, but concludes with this bit of advice:
And here, once again, is our obvious disclaimer: AutoblogGreen is an automotive site, not a financial one. The views and opinions expressed above are those of Seeking Alpha. You can express your own in the comments below.If the firm does manage to succeed in the electric car space we have little doubt the stock will likely skyrocket over the long term and allow for ample opportunity to get in down the line when it has proved itself as a financially viable firm.
[Source: Seeking Alpha]
Seeking Alpha says consider passing on Tesla stock originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan, Europe/EU, UK
Beginning March 1st, the price of the Nissan Leaf in the UK will rise by 6.9 percent, which equates to an increase of 2,000 ($3,238 U.S. at the current exchange rate), driving the Leaf's sticker price up to approximately $50,310 before incentives. According to Nissan, the price increase is mainly due to rising costs of raw materials, which somehow impacts the Leaf's sticker price more than the automaker's other models.
The disclosure on Nissan's official UK Leaf Facebook reads like this:
Additionally, the UK Nissan Leaf reservation site has been updated to reflect the price increase with this disclaimer notifying potential buyers:There are several key reasons why the cost of the Leaf has had to be increased. Firstly, an increase in the cost of Raw materials - there has been significant inflation in the cost of raw materials which has meant that most Nissan models will be included in this price increase (maximum of any other model is 1.8%). Also exchange rate fluctuations has played a part on the price increase.
So, UK Leaf intenders, the message seems to be to order now for the best priceReserve your Nissan Leaf now with a fully refundable deposit of just 257 ($416 U.S.). Price change effective March 1st. Existing orders will keep current price. Pre-orders placed before March 1st will attract current price. All orders placed after March 1st will be subject to price increase.
[Source: Nissan UK, Leaf Talk via All Cars Electric]
Ouch: Nissan raises Leaf MSRP in UK by 2,000 ($3,238 U.S.) originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Etc., Carbon Capture, UK
Recently, the UK's energy and climate change secretary, Chris Huhne, spoke of his country's ambitious low-carbon energy plans, telling conference-goers at the Royal Geographic Society that the billions invested in renewable energy will pay off economically. There's a caveat, though: this only happens if oil exceeds $100 a barrel. As Huhne predicts, consumers will see reduced utility bills from low-carbon energy investments when oil soars above what he calls "the break-even point" of $100 a barrel. Huhne worded it like this:If we relied on oil and gas, and the price stayed relatively low at $80 a barrel then consumers will pay more under our policies - about an extra 1% on their bills by 2020.
We know that accurately predicting future oil prices is next to impossible, but with price up to $95 right now, doesn't investing in alternative seem like the smart bet?At the oil price reached this month - $100 a barrel or more - consumers will pay less through the low carbon energy policies than they would pay for fossil fuel policies.
And if the U.S. administration is right, and the price is $108 a barrel in 2020, then our consumers are winning hands down.
[Source: Guardian.co.uk | Image: David Spender - C.C. License 2.0]
UK climate secretary: renewable energy pays off when oil exceeds $100 barrel originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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On Monday, dense smog blanketed the city of Beijing, China. It was so bad that the hazardous air pollution exceeded measurable levels, forcing Chinese officials to urge residents to stay indoors. Official measurements indicated that the smog was "beyond index," plunging below the worst rating on the city's pollution scale.
In an interview with the AFP, an official at the Beijing Environmental Bureau who refused to release her identity stated, "Obviously elderly people and children should not go outside." Yikes.
The Beijing weather bureau reported that particulate pollution, rising temperatures and a lack of wind caused the thick smog to settle in, cutting visibility down to 200 meters. Air quality in Beijing is expected to remain poor until winds pick up today and blow the dense smog north of the city. Beijing's 4.8 million registered vehicles bear the brunt of the blame for the city's rising air pollution.
[Source: Yahoo News | Image: mckaysavage - C.C. License 2.0]
Smog in Beijing exceeds measurable levels originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ZAP Gets Approved for UK Roads
ZAP Gets Approved for UK Roads
London is one of the best cities for adopting electric vehicles and soon Londoners will have the option to purchase a Xebra, the 3 wheel ZAP car that is currently being sold in the US. According to a post on Autoblog Green the Xebra has been approved for UK roads by the UK's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).ZAP describes the Xebra as a "city car". Like other electric vehicles the Xebra is not intended for motorways. But in a city like London the Xebra might be the perfect way to fight global warming and rising gas prices. According to ZAP the Xebra cost just 2 cents to operate per mile, which is about 1/5 of the cost of a gas car.
ZAP's biggest compeditor will be the Indian built Gwiz which is being sold in London by Goinggreen. The Gwiz has just been updated to a better model that increase the top speed to 50 MPH and improves the rang. The vehicle has also benifited from help from Lotus Enginering to improve the safety of the vehicle.
The New Big is Small and "Hypermilling"
The New Big is Small and "Hypermilling"
High price of oil and increading environmental awareness is leading to more consumers searching for smaller more fuel efficeint cars. The Toyota Prius is the most fuel effecient hybrid sold in the United States, acheiving an average fuel economy of 45 miles per gallon, although some Prius owners have been able to use a technique known as hypermilling to increase their fuel economy wellbeyondthe EPA rating. According to Wikipedia hypermilling is not a new thing and goes back to events such as the Mobil Gas Run in 1936. The term hypermilling was coined by WaignGerdes who uses his technique to achieve double the EPA fuel economy and notonly in hybrid vehicles. Some of the techniques he employs are selfexplanatorysuch as turn the engine off and not speeding into stop lights. Other techniques are moretechnicalsuch as using the lightest weight oil which Gerdes explains"allows for better kinematic viscosity, which means that it's easier to pump oil through the engine, and the engine moves against itself easier.". Other techniques are for more advanced drivers and should notnecessarilybe used because they can be dangerous if performed incorrectly.
In the past purchasing a Prius might not havenecessarilybeen the most economical decisions, but with gas prices near $5 per gallon in California the extra cost of buying a hybrid no longer seams like a barrier to buying a Prius. Still, the likes of Toyota, Honda, Nissan,Hyundaiand even Ford and GM are producing vehicles that get around 35 MPG highway or better that cost significantly less than a Prius. And nowVolkswagenis getting ready to sell the Jetta TDIdieselin the US, which will get even better fuel economy then most subcompact vehicles. Probably the most successful of these subcompacts is the Toyota Yaris, that starts at about $12,000 and sports an EPA of 40 miles per gallon highway. Honda and Nissan have also got on the subcompact banwagon and each have their own subcompact vehicle. Nissan is offering many features on their Versa that is not usually available on a car in its class. For example a CVT transmition, bluetooth, and an auxilary jack for an iPod or MP3 players, so you can listen to your tunes while you drive.
While I am still in favor of plug-in hybrids and electric cars, I am happy any time the major car companies do anything to improve fuel economy. Even GM, once the biggest car company in the world, they were recently surpassed by Toyota, is figuring out that fuel effecient cars sell. Evidence of this comes from GM's recent decision to bring the Pontiac's subcompact vehicle known as the Wave in Canada to the US market as the Pontiac G3. Although the G3 EPA fuel economy has not been posted it is likely to get a combined fuel economy of close to 30 MPG. Although this is not great by any stretch of the imagination this is still more fuelefficientthan many cars on the road today and since the G3 is an affordable car this could help to get a fuelefficientmodel in the hands of people who normally would have to buy a more gas demanding option.
If you have been reading Autoblog Green you probably have heard a lot about a car called the Chevy Volt that the company claims will be capable of going 40 miles per charge. Although the road to get the Volt from concept to production has been met with many challenges and a production Volt has yet to be produced, GM has stated that the Volt is not justmerrilya concept that will never see the light of day but a Vehicle that must get produced if GM ever hopes to get back on track.
Finally I would like to say that I am very excited about the new technoly that is being developed by many different companies that is helping to make transportation more fuel effecient. Another important point is that it will take about 20 years to replace 50% of cars on the road with alternative fuel vehicles, which means that we do not have time to wait. We need to start untilizing technology today such as electric cars and plug-hybrids, which I believe are the cars of the future. Another interesting concept that I have seen posted on autoblog green is a solar Prius that according to the company that has designed the prototype, can increase fuel economy up to 17%
Week 10
Week 10
Wow. It is hard to believe that my WLE is coming to a close. Working at ZAP has been a great experience for me. I have learned a lot and seen a lot. There are many lessons that I have taken away from my experience at ZAP. I have learned what it is like to work on the cutting edge. I have learned the challenges of selling a product in a small unique niche. I realize that when you are promoting a product that is different from the norm one of the best ways to make customers comfortable is to explain how the product is not different. For example a Xebra has turn signals, a steering wheel, brake, accelerator, windshield wipers, and even a radio. These features make the Xebra seam more like a car, and less like some strange electric vehicle with only 3 wheels. Brian also taught me about sizzle. For example the sizzle of an electric car is that it is an extremely green vehicle and you will be cool in a Xebra because it is quite, zero emissions, and burns no gas. When you are driving inside a Xebra you will get attention like you are a hollywood starlet.
ZAP has stretch my imagination about what can be done. A lot of people talk about global warming and how it is harming the planet, or go to peace rallies and demand that our troops be brought home, but few people actually do anything about it. ZAP on the other hand is promoting the solution instead of pointing negative fingers or complaining about the situation. Even though some people might think that a Xebra is a joke, ZAP is the only auto company that provides consumers with low priced all electric cars capable of keeping up with brisk city traffic. I think that it is very inspirational to work at a company that is being a leader in advance performance and fuel efficient technology.
I think that what I can take away from ZAP is that if you have an idea about how to make the world a better place than by all means pursue it. Even if people think that you are crazy, it is better to try then never try at all. I remember I saw an ad and it said "sometimes the biggest risk is not taking one" Where would the Unite States be if we did not take any risks? Sometimes in order to make big gains you have to take big risks. In our economics class we learned that the bigger the risk you take on a stock the higher you can lose or gain. Obviously taking big risks all the time is a bad idea, but never taken any risks at all can sometimes be even worse.
Week 8
Week 8
I have sceduled a date to give my pitch to Envision Schools. I talked to Bob Lenz and I will be doing my pressentation on Monday May 21, at 2 PM. I will be going with Brain, the fleet manager at ZAP. I think that it is very cool that I will be bring a Xebra to the pressentation, so Envision will be able to see the vehicle and if we have time take it for a test drive.I am very excited to deliver my pitch. MSAT has prepared me for public speeking by deliver pressentations for multiple projects. Now I get to put this experience into practive. I will be majoring in communications next year, and I think that this will be a preview for some of the skills that I will be studying.
Since I am deliver a pitch for my pressentation I will probably not talk about any conclusion from my WLE, so I will talk about those now. ZAP is an exciting company to work at because there is lots going on. If you do not like lots of havoc then you probably would not like ZAP, however if you like working on the cutting edge then this is a cool place. Selling electric cars is probably harder than selling a standard gas car because people have lots of conception about electric cars that you have to overcome. But, if you can convince people that electric cars are fun to drive, and that being green is hip, then people are more willing to accept electric cars.
Gas Prices Across the Country
Gas Prices Across the Country
Here is a cool map that shows you gas prices across the country at a glance. Areas are color coded by area, like a weather map. The link is below.http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx
Week 7
Week 7
I think that I am going to go through the steps to make a sale of a Xebra. Garry Starr suggested this idea to Mr. Wells and Mr. Wells thought that this was an excellent idea. I agree that this would be a great way for me to learn about the sales process and all the steps required to make it happen. I have experience selling iBook notebooks from my eBay business, so I know some of the things that are required to make a successful sale. Selling a Xebra is different than selling an iBook, but I think that there are some similarities. For example, you need to make a good pitch, regardless of what the product is. On eBay you make the pitch when you write your ad and format it, with a Xebra the pitch will probably be made orally, so there will be slightly different skills involved.I have not set a date yet for when I will do my presentation or a place where it will take place. I think that I could probably do my presentation at ZAP headquarters in Santa Rosa, in the small conference room. ZAP probably has a projector, but I would need to ask if I could borrow it and make sure it will work with the computer that I want to run my presentation from. My presentation will probably be about what I learned through going through the sales process and there is even a chance that I might do my presentation at MSAT and organize the school to plant a tree. I could deliver my Keynote at the same time.
WLE Week 6
WLE Week 6
At my WLE I have demonstrated my ability to communicate effectively. I have recently began writing an article about plug-in hybrids and electric cars. Since ZAP does not always have things for me to do many times I have to come up with what I want to accomplish while I am at ZAP. I have worked on making a video to tell people more about ZAP and the products that they produce. When you are at a company like ZAP you have to be resourceful. ZAP is a pioneering company and there is a lot of things going on, so I have to think of project to do on my own. You have to be proactive and tell them what you want to do. I did an interview with Garry Starr, who co-founded ZAP is 1994. Before I interview him I came up with questions. I had to think critically about what I wanted to ask him. I thought that the interview was very informative and helped me to better understand what ZAP is all about. Garry told me there are two things you can do to help the environment, drive an electric car and plants trees. ZAP sells electric cars but if you can not buy a car, ZAP has a program to plant tress. A $25 donation will plant 100 trees and ZAP wants to plant 1 million trees by 2010.
WLE Week 4
WLE Week 4
Years before reaching the classroom, the small child of our time is engaged in data-processing on a large scale. Our schools are still arranged on the assumption that serious information is not available until the student reaches the classroom. For the child who lives in an environment constituted by information, such educational assumptions are unrealistic. Today the child, swamped by information overload, desperately needs to be taught the means of pattern-recognition for the sake of intellectual survival. Pattern-recognition is the role of the researcher and the explorer. Thus today's young children could recover high motivation in the learning process only if permitted to tackle their environment on a discovery basis.-- Marshall McLuhan, 1970
I beleive that Marshal Mcluhan has correctly analyzed that culture, society, and era can be understood through the media in which they are communicated. This makes sense because it takes different skills to be able to understand messages that are pressented useing different forms of communications. For example reading a text book takes a different skill set then watching a movie.Â
WLE Week 3
WLE Week 3
I have worked for 24 hours, so far.During my day at my WLE I spent most of the time at ZAP's factory. I got to test drive one of the Xebras. I spent the rest of the time reading some literature about electric car conversions and also the binder that ZAP gives to prospective dealers. At the end of the day I got to see some of the work they do on the electric cars. Currently my mentor is Robin, however Keith overseees what happens at the factory, so he sort of acted as my mentor while I was there. At this point I think what is working well is that I am learning new things about ZAP. What is difficult is that sometimes there isn't a lot to do. I began working on a video, and I have gottten some footage and done a bit of editing on it. For lunch I am eating at the mall, which is literally just across the street from ZAP's head quanters. I am driving to my internship. It's a bet of a drive, but it is very senic, which makes it nice.
WLE Week 2
WLE Week 2
Wednesday, March 21, 2007, I have worked 16 hrs.Although few people have probably heard of ZAP, they are a larger company then most people probably would expect for a start up electric car company. Therefore ZAP occupies a three story building in down town Santa Rosa. As you move up the floors you also move up the hierarchy of the company. My mentor is on the first floor, so his boss works on the second floor. Right now things are pretty chaotic with ZAP. The company is expanding quickly and experiencing some growing pains. Unfortunately Mondays is the day ZAP catches up on work from the previous week, so there is not a lot of new work for me to do. I am hoping that I can work on my project for most of the time I am at ZAP. Philip Tarazi, my old mentor, showed me an 8 minute overview he made for dealers. I am hoping to make a similar video, however I also want to focus on the top reasons for buying an electric vehicle and show how electric cars can benefit certain types of businesses, and the advantage of ZAP's vehicles in certain applications compared to their gas counterparts.
WLE Week 1
WLE Week 1
Monday, March 12, 2007, I have worked 8 hrs.As I drove up to ZAP, on both sides of the highway, I saw lush green cow pastures and spectacular views of hills in the distance. When I got to ZAP I found out that Philip, the guy who I made telephone calls for when I did my shadow had put in the forms to resign in two weeks, so my new mentor is going to be Robin, who I first talked to when I called ZAP. Today Robin and I spend the whole day entering in orders that the accounting had deleted. It was very tidies work, because we had to look through all the orders and find the ones that were for repair parts covered under the warranty. Robin is in charge of the customer warranties at ZAP and he was pretty mad at the accounting for deleting all of his orders. Robin told me that ZAP is still a young company and is going through growing pains, but it is still a very cool company to work for. He said that he would show me their factory and he might even be able to let me test drive and work on a few cars. ZAP also has a video team and so I may be able to work with them on my video. At first when I arrived I didn't know how well this was going to go, but now I think that this is going to be pretty awesome WLE. There is also a possibility that I could get a summer job at ZAP, and I just had an idea for a ZAP related business, but if I share it with you my idea might get out.
Electric Cars Lighting Up Again
Electric Cars Lighting Up Again
"There's no question" that success is within reach, says Dick Messer, director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, which has chronicled the attempts at electric car production through the years....The company (Tesla Motors) says its sophisticated lithium-ion battery will allow a range of 250 miles on a single charge and a top speed of 130 mph (refering to the company's high performace $100,000 sports car).
...At the other end of the performance and price spectrum is Zap, specialized-auto importer, that last month started selling a three-wheel electric "city car" imported from China, called Xebra. The company says their Xebra is capable of a top speed of 40 mph, and will have a target price of just under $10,000.
Summary made with Apple's Safari Summarize. Full article here
Electric Drive Vehicles Benefits for the Environment
Electric Drive Vehicles Benefits for the Environment
Environmental Benefits
Though conventional gasoline vehicles are becoming cleaner and other alternative fuel vehicles can alleviate air pollution, electric drive vehicles hold the promise of the greatest air quality benefits of any available technology. EDVs are unique in that they produce no operating emissions; the only emissions associated with these EDVs come from the power plants that generate the electricity for battery charging and the plants that produce the hydrogen for consumption in fuel cell vehicles.
Even compared to today's gasoline vehicles EDVs or BEVs offer exceptional air quality benefits. In the company's service territory, driving an EDV instead of a gasoline powered vehicle would reduce emissions of reactive organic gases (ROG) and nitrogen oxides (NO) - the precursors to smog, a serious health hazard, would drop. Carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal gas associated with global warming.
Driving BEVs and HEVs would also decrease pollution to oceans, rivers, and ground water that is caused from petroleum, gasoline, and motor oil spills. Relief from urban noise pollution is another benefit, as electric motors are quiet as well as clean.
From: http://www.pge.com/about_us/environment/electric_vehicles/
Xebra Revives Electric Car
Xebra Revives Electric Car
"Xebras, which are made in China, come in lipstick red, ... black-and-white stripes, kiwi green and ocean blue. There's also a pickup truck version, the ZAP Truck Xebra PK, available in blue and white." The Energy BlogIf you have watched the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" do not be discouraged. The electric car is still alive as the Xebra, which is the result of three decades of work, according to ZAP. With high gas prices, above the $3 mark and continously rising, the Xebra is a nice refreshment. The Xebra is affordable, starting around $10,000 and cost just $.03 per mile to operate. A gas car in comparison cost about $.12 per mile, just including gas and oil cost.
The Xebra's advanced electric motor can accelarte you to speeds reaching 40 MPH, plenty of speed to keep up with brisk city trafic. Most neiborhood electric vehicles in its class are limited to just 25 MPH top speed. The Xebra is able to travel faster because it is liscened as a motorcycle and therefore does not have to meet the same safety requirements as a car. The Xebra is the safest motorcyle you can buy because it is fully enclosed. The Xebra uses sealed lead acid batteries, which are virtually maintenance free, and have a realible and proven track record. Operating a Xebra is as simple as pluging it in to any 110V outlet, and then when it is fully charged driving it like a normal vehicle. The Xebra fully charges in 8 hours, but can receive a 50% recharge in just 1 hour.
The Xebra seadan or pick up can be used for a variety of applications. Consumers can use the car to pick up groceries, run to appointments, or drop the kids off at school. The Xebra is fun to drive and is sure to draw attention everywhere you go. The Xebra truck can be used in goverment agencies, zoos, parks, and in the maitanence industry.
The best part of driving a Xebra is that it is a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV), which translates to having 98% fewer emissions then the average car. So not only will you be saving gas, you will also be saving the environment, reducing dependency on foreign oil, and prove that the electric car can suceed! The Xebra is sold through Zap dealerships for around $10,000. For more information visit Zap's website.
ZapWorld Web Site
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