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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, Nissan, UK

Nissan announced today that it will add production of its new Leaf electric car to its plant at Sunderland in the UK starting in 2013. Nissan will initially install capacity for 50,000 cars a year at the UK factory. Last fall, the automaker announced plans to build a lithium ion battery plant adjacent to the car assembly plant. Construction of that facility will start next month.

Production of batteries will start in 2012 with packs being used by both Nissan and partner Renault. Between Nissan and subsidies from the UK government, €468 million is being invested in the battery and assembly plants and 2,250 jobs will be retained.

The British Leaf production capacity will be in addition to Oppama, Japan where Leaf production starts this year and Smyrna, TN, which will ramp up in 2012. The press release is after the jump. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan to build Leaf electric vehicle at British factory from 2013

Nissan to build Leaf electric vehicle at British factory from 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Diesel, Mazda

Two years ago, Mazda introduced an advanced new 2.2-liter four cylinder diesel engine in the European market. Since then, we’ve asked Mazda officials on several occasions whether they would offer that engine in the U.S. market. The company has never ruled out bringing a diesel here, but it has also never said it would. Instead, Mazda has always said that it is watching the market and if it felt there was demand for diesel in the U.S., it would look at offering the efficient engines. Perhaps the success of Volkswagen’s diesel offerings in the U.S. has convinced Mazda to look more seriously at diesel.

Mazda also offers a higher revving, more powerful 2.3-liter diesel which would be better suited to U.S. tastes. Mazda already offers the CX-7 with an SCR after-treatment system that would go a long way to meeting American emissions standards. However, at last fall’s Tokyo Motor Show, the company also showed a next-generation diesel dubbed Sky-D, which is 20 percent more efficient. According to Road & Track, Mazda has acknowledged that the Sky-D diesel could be part of the lineup for the next generation CX-7 and CX-9.

[Source: Road & Track]

Mazda to be the next VW? Still considering diesel for the U.S. market originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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photo via flickr

In a surprising but welcome move, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers today sent a letter to House and Senate leadership stating its opposition to Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s efforts to take away the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA has the ability, known as the Endangerment Finding, to set strict emissions reduction stand…Read the full story on TreeHugger

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and Policy

Since Monday, the state of California has been offering tax rebates for eligible zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles under the $4.1 million Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP). The rebates are worth up to $20,000 for commercial vehicles and up to $5,000 for new light-duty vehicles. The list includes pure electrics like the Tesla Roadster and the Nissan Leaf, NEVs from GEM and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle: the Honda 2010 FCX Clarity. The all-electric Zero DS and S motorcycles are eligible for $1,500. See a full list of eligible vehicles here.

Electric drive advocates at Plug In America are in favor of the program. The group’s legislative director, Jay Friedland, said in a statement that, “Our mission has always been to help consumers adopt clean plug-in vehicles and hefty rebates are the best possible way to get these cars out of the showroom and onto the road.” PIA also says that the list of vehicles that qualify for the rebate is expected to grow when more plug-in vehicles become available later this year and in 2011. Of course, not everyone is happy with the program. There’s the impact the rebates will have on the state’s tremendous deficit, and Gas2.0 wishes the start date could have been pushed back a bit, until the Leaf, for example, becomes available. $5,000 means a lot more when the car costs $35,000 (or whatever) and not the $109,000 for a Tesla Roadster.

[Source: Plug In America, Gas2.0]

Continue reading Why California’s new electric vehicle rebates are good, and why they’re not so good

Why California’s new electric vehicle rebates are good, and why they’re not so good originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc., USA

Sad news for those of you waiting for a next-gen lead acid battery. It isn’t coming. At least not from Firefly Energy. Originally spun off from Caterpillar, the Illinois company had developed a carbon graphite foam lead-acid battery that was supposed to have a bright future in the military and trucking industry. Instead, the company has just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Co-founder and CEO Ed Williams puts the blame for the failure squarely on the downturn in the economy disclosing that they were unable the past 15 months to raise a needed $20 million in equity capital.

While there is no doubt they didn’t benefit from state of the economy, we can’t help but wonder whether this is a case of the lithium-ion video killing the lead-acid radio star. The Firefly group 31 Oasis battery had an energy density of 39 Wh/kg and was thought to be quite pricey while lithium batteries usually have double to quadruple that capability with prices that are cheaper than expected.

[Source: PJstar]

Firefly turns off the lights, files Chapter 7 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hydrogen, GM

Last summer we first saw one of General Motors new fifth-generation fuel cell stacks on display at a powertrain technology event. It was being shown next to the comparable hardware from one of the Project Driveway fuel cell Chevy Equinoxes and the difference in size was startling. The stack is part of what GM refers to as the second-generation system which includes all the elements necessary to implement it in a vehicle. The system consists of the stack, the fuel storage, electronics and all the ancillary components.

The new system is less than half the size of the Equinox system and uses only one-third as much platinum while producing more power. The new stacks are now being tested in GM’s fuel cell labs in Honeoye Falls, NY with the goal of selling production vehicles by 2015. Manufacturing engineers like Lucy Wilke are focused on developing the processes necessary to produce fuel cells in volume at an affordable price. Check out the video after the jump.

Photos Copyright (C)2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Video: General Motors continues to develop fuel cell toward 2015 production

Video: General Motors continues to develop fuel cell toward 2015 production originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM has announced plans to show off two new electric motorcycles at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show later this month. KTM had originally planned to have its first electric dirtbike on the market sometime this year, but the global economic downturn forced the company to put its plans on hold for a year.

Two versions of a single platform are planned from KTM, one a traditional enduro-style dirtbike and the other employing 17-inch wheels and tires to make an electric supermoto motorcycle. KTM’s initial electric concept featured lithium ion batteries and a motor that put out just under 30 pound-feet of torque, but we can’t be certain what the production versions will use.

At the moment, KTM is calling these two bikes “Near-series prototypes,” which we take to mean thinly veiled examples of what we should expect to hit the market in just about one year. Check back March 26th for more as KTM makes these two prototypes official.

[Source: KTM via Hell For Leather]

KTM to show off two electric machines at Tokyo Motorcycle Show originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota

It’s the topic du jour: non-stop Toyota humor. From the truly geeky (XKCD) to the world’s biggest entertainment stars (Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin at the Academy Awards) to the do-what-you-can folks over at Saturday Night Live, a lot of genuinely funny people at poking fun at cars that go too fast. Watching SNL last weekend, we realized there’s a huge problem with most of these jokes: they aren’t that good (don’t get us wrong, we usually loooove XKCD).

We admit we’re not comedy writers and don’t pretend we can write a better joke. We just wish someone would. Also, this is a potentially serious issue. Since it looks like the California Prius unintended acceleration case might not be all it appears, lying and cover-ups are a richer comedic vein than dangerous cars, no? Whatever. It just seems that, if you’re going to make funny over Toyota’s problems, bring your A game. Anybody got a good one?

Is it possible – or a good idea – to make good jokes about a speeding Prius? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Photo via the Telegraph

For most people, there’s something particularly sad and gory about seeing wildlife killed on the side of the road–but for one British clothing designer, such critter-carnage is fodder for fashion. In an upcoming fashion show, animals whose lives were cut-short on the roadway will be hitt…Read the full story on TreeHugger