The smart electric fortwo

MONTVALE, NJ – Mercedes-Benz USA has started rolling out the Smart Electric fortwo, the most affordable electric vehicle in the U.S. market (based on Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price), to smart dealers across the country.

The smart electric drive has the smallest footprint of any car on U.S. roads and its cabriolet sibling is the only convertible electric available here. Further setting the fortwo apart from other vehicles on the market is its unique patented tridion safety cell (which functions like a race car’s roll cage), its infinitely customizable exterior (more than 6,000 possible combinations) and its green credentials which start at one of the most eco-friendly automotive production facilities in the world – the smartville factory in Hambach, France. The electric fortwo has a mile per gallon equivalent (MPGe) of 122 miles in the city on a full charge.

In response to consumer uncertainty about battery performance and longevity, the fortwo will offer customers an innovative…

Continue reading Smart Electric Fortwo Starts Arriving At Dealerships With Batteries For Rent

The Nissan LEAF EV has attracted 25,000 customers in the United States in three years’ time, and Nissan says it sees Americans’ interest in EVs accelerating. (Photo courtesy Nissan North America.)

The Nissan LEAF electric vehicle (EV), now on the market for three years, recently hit 25,000 total sales in the United States, according to the automaker.

The official Nissan press release said the LEAF has sold more than 62,000 units worldwide and is “the world’s best-selling electric vehicle.”

Nissan Director of EV Marketing and Sales Strategy Erik Gottfried said, “From the beginning our goal with LEAF has been to bring affordable, zero-emission transportation to the mass market in a practical, fun-to-drive package. With more than 25,000 LEAFs in the U.S. and 62,000 around the world, we’re seeing the adoption curve for EVs accelerate, and there is tremendous interest not only on the West Coast but in a number of new strongholds like Atlanta,…

Continue reading Nissan LEAF Hits 25,000 Total Sales in U.S.

ANSI Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP)

NEW YORK – The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has announced the publication of the Standardization Roadmap for Electric Vehicles – Version 2.0, developed by the Institute’s Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP).

Available as a free download, the document tracks progress to implement recommendations made in the roadmap version 1.0, released in April 2012, and identifies additional areas where there is a perceived need for standardization work to help facilitate the safe, mass deployment of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in the United States.

Developed by representatives from more than 100 private- and public-sector organizations, the Standardization Roadmap aspires to maximize coordination among those developing standards for electric vehicles – primarily plug-in electric vehicles (both battery-powered all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids) – and the charging infrastructure needed to support them.

The…

Continue reading ANSI Electric Vehicles Standards Panel Publishes New Recommendations for EVs and Charging Infrastructure

EMAX72DS Electric Motorcycle by Electric Moto 4

CONGERS, NY – Electric Moto Corporation, Inc. has announced it has received official notification from the U.S. Patent Office that a second application “has been examined and is allowed for issuance as a patent.”

Brian Belton , Director of R&D for EMOT, explained that this is the second of the innovations that United States Alternative Energy, LLC. licensed exclusively to EMOT.

According to Belton, “The patent…

Continue reading Electric Moto Announces U.S. Government Approval Of Second Patent

Ford says its Fiesta subcompact is seeing better than half of all its European buyers take SYNC with Emergency Assistance and roughly 25% choosing the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine that is headed our way this fall.
According to the official Ford press release, European customers purchased a new Fiesta every two minutes in the month of March, moving a total of more than 41,600 off dealer lots for the month. So far in 2013, the release said more than 77,800 Fiestas have been sold in Europe. Of…

Continue reading Ford Seeing Strong Take Rate on 1.0 EcoBoost, SYNC in Euro Fiesta

Subaru put a brand-spankin’ new, 300-mile Forester XT in our hands for a week and told us to have fun. Boy, did we take them up on that order.

The Forester is a lot of wagon/crossover/SUV for the money in base form, with an MSRP just shy of $22,000. Our test XT rang the cash register at $28,820 after destination fees and taxes, but came with a lot of stuff th base Forester doesn’t have– chiefly, the 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer four-cylinder engine. Lesser Foresters make do with a 2.5-liter non-turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine. While I don’t doubt that engine’s practicality– it is rated at 32 MPG highway compared to the 28 MPG highway rating of the turbo engine, after all– it surely can’t compare to the fun that little spool provides.

For what basically amounts to a tall-greenhoused wagon with full-time  all-wheel drive, the Forester felt lighter on its feet than it had any right to feel. Throttle response was snappy in the car’s regular drive mode, though if I wanted to get downright hardcore about it, the car’s SI-DRIVE select buttons on the steering wheel offered the option to dial in S or S# modes to ratchet up that throttle response even more. Steering was light, but not devoid of…

Continue reading Fun with Forester: We Find Out the Subaru Forester Is More Nimble Than Its Size Suggests

Nissan teased that its new “S” trim would bring LEAF pricing to a new low thanks to adjusted trim appointments and U.S. manufacture. At the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), Nissan delivered on that promise by announcing the LEAF S would sticker for $28,800– less than $19,000 with applicable tax incentives in some states. (Photo courtesy Nissan North America.)

NASHVILLE, TN – Nissan and Car Charging Group, Inc. , a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging services, have announced a joint initiative to make EV charging more readily available and to expand consumer awareness of the electric car market.

CarCharging and Nissan will work together to determine the placement of the chargers, which is expected to be in key markets throughout the United States by the…

Continue reading Nissan and CarCharging to Expand Electric Vehicle Quick Charger Network

General Motors is the first automaker among 40 major U.S. companies to sign a “Climate Declaration,” collectively asserting that responding to climate changes is good business. The campaign is organized by sustainable business advocacy group Ceres and its Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy, or BICEP, coalition. (Ceres Image courtesy General Motors.)

General Motors says it is the first automaker to sign a so-called “Climate Declaration” that, in so many words, basically says responding to climate change is a good idea.

The climate declaration was organized by Ceres, a sustainable business advocacy group, along with…

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Volvo has started building what it says is the first variants of a new, high-efficiency four-cylinder engine family that will move the automaker toward implementing its strategy of using four-cylinder gas engines and driveline electrification.

According to the official Volvo press release, development and production of the new engine family takes place in-house at Volvo Car Group. With total control over development and production of engines and drivelines and by reducing the number of engine variants, the result is increased flexibility and greater ability to influence quality, the release said.

Volvo Vice President of Engineering Derek Crabb said, “This marks a milestone in Volvo Cars’ istory….

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