City CarShare's electric vehicle program grows, with glitches

San Francisco's City CarShare service, which is adding plug-in vehicles to its fleet as a way to boost demand, must contend with the occasional glitch involving drivers unfamiliar with the technology. For example, one driver recently ran out of juice while driving a Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicle from San Francisco to Sacramento, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The problem? He didn't realize the car was electric.

As Mike Harrigan, the head of City CarShare's plug-in vehicle operations, told the Chronicle, "There's two kinds of members. There are the ones who are totally into EVs and understand what to do, and there are people who are totally oblivious, don't even realize it's an electric car and drive off to Sacramento."

City CarShare, a nonprofit that serves about 15,000 subscribers, currently has seven plug-ins sprinkled among its fleet of 380 vehicles and is looking to have half its fleet be powered by either hybrid, plug-in or biofuel powertrains by 2015. Currently, about a quarter are Toyota Prius hybrids. Each EV costs City CarShare about $30 a month to charge. Additionally, the organization is planning to have 30 electric-vehicle charging stations installed around the Bay Area by year-end.

Even with some "oblivious" drivers, San Francisco is a pretty ideal place for such a service because of the combination of an environmentally conscious population and the city's relatively small area – San Francisco proper is just 49 square miles. In fact, City CarShare, which received the first-ever fleet delivery of a Mitsubishi i EV in December, in February said it would start an electric-bike sharing program that will be sponsored by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and would include 45 e-bikes by the end of the year.

As for absent-minded customers still looking to go green, City CarShare does have a solution for that: the organization's fleet does include Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in vehicles and Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrids. Get in, go nuts.



Source: Autoblog Green

Detroit-Hamtramck will resume Volt production a week early as sales rise

Chevrolet’s Volt could be considered a grandfather among a yet-small but growing segment of plug-in vehicles that rely on electric power as a source of propulsion.

We’ve heard all about how the Volt has been targeted by opponents to what it could all lead to – and can do now – to wean away from petroleum reliance, but the Volt has shaken off many of the malignant allegations, and enthusiasm for it is growing.

Following another record sales month in March, General Motors has said it will cut the time out it has given its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant from five weeks down to four.

GM North America President Mark Reuss told the Detroit News the company is heartened by 2,289 Volts sold in March, and expects the higher average momentum to continue, but he will not forecast actual numbers.

The company’s CEO, Dan Akerson, has been quoted as saying he’s looking for 2,000-3,000 per month, but GM’s official posture is it will manage inventory closely to match supply to demand.

The five-week closure now shortened by one week had been from Mar. 19-April 23, and had been just for this reason in light of negative press and nationwide inventory considered excessive.

Industry watchers also note the company is continuing with a favorable lease package, and wants and needs the positive press to continue.

In rather a unique category as a “plug-in car,” the Volt, launched December 2010 – as was the Nissan Leaf battery electric vehicle – has not been threatened to date by the Leaf’s month after month sales.

And while the tide is seemingly turning further for the politicized Volt, and some Republicans have been very conspicuously featured lately as endorsing the car, eyes also are on the Prius plug-in hybrid, which scored 911 units sold its first partial month in March.

For its first sales month, the Prius PHV made a sizable splash into what is a small but growing pond of plug-in electric cars tracked by the HybridCars.com Dashboard. Sales of all brands combined in February added up to 1,662 units, with a total market share or “take rate” of 0.15 percent , and in March this jumped to 4,161 total vehicles with a take rate of 0.30 percent.

There is a proverb that says people ought not to look down upon “small beginnings” and fact is, everyone has to start somewhere. This industry has many players posturing and preparing for growth, and the Dashboard’s plug-in numbers do not count Coda and Fisker which do not regularly report sales, or Tesla which when last we checked, said it has over 12,000 pre-orders for its Model S.

As for the Volt vs. Prius vs. Leaf question – three different kinds of technology with the common denominator of ability to plug into the electricity grid – a sense of rivalry will always be there, but the big picture is the market is growing with major commitment and sentiment expressed by respective plug-in automakers ranging from mildly bullish to fully optimistic.

Source: GM-Volt.com

Even Though Think is Bankrupt, Some Cars Remain for Sale

If you were smitten by the little electric Think City and thought the company's recent bankruptcy put the kibosh on your chances of ever owning one of the plastic-paneled car, then *ahem, think again. It seems there are still some of the city runabouts to be had if you look in the right place.

One such location is Green Wheels in Chicago, IL. The dealership, as the name suggests, specializes in all-electric and hybrid vehicles and has a couple post-rebated demos on hand they can sell for as low as $17,995. If you're willing to lay out $31,500 for a brand-new one – and remember, there are rebates still available in some states that can bring that initial sticker down below $20,000 – they have a couple of those as well and say that they have access to more. While that price is nicely down from the pre-bankruptcy $36,495 MSRP, it's a little uncomfortably close to that of the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i. Still, we liked the little coupe when we drove it and for some, this car just might be the bee's knees.

If you do happen to make the trip to Green Wheels, you might also get a chance to see the BYD e6 in person. The dealership will be offering the Chinese all-electric crossover later this year and already has one on the lot you can look over.



Source: Autoblog Green

Nissan Heads to 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon with 10 Models Including Skyline 55th Limited Edition

The 2012 edition of Japan's largest annual aftermarket event, the Tokyo Auto Salon, will see Nissan in cooperation with its in-house tuners Autech Japan and NISMO presenting 10 models, most of which we've already seen in previous shows such as the Juke NISMO Concept that was displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier this month.

Nissan will showcase two models, the GT-R Pure Edition equipped with the right-hand drive only Track Pack and the JDM Skyline (sold in the rest if the world as the Infiniti G37) 55th Limited Edition, which commemorates the series' 55th anniversary and features bespoke aeroparts and a sportier chassis setup.

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Nissan Heads to 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon with 10 Models Including Skyline 55th Limited Edition

The 2012 edition of Japan's largest annual aftermarket event, the Tokyo Auto Salon, will see Nissan in cooperation with its in-house tuners Autech Japan and NISMO presenting 10 models, most of which we've already seen in previous shows such as the Juke NISMO Concept that was displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier this month.

Nissan will showcase two models, the GT-R Pure Edition equipped with the right-hand drive only Track Pack and the JDM Skyline (sold in the rest if the world as the Infiniti G37) 55th Limited Edition, which commemorates the series' 55th anniversary and features bespoke aeroparts and a sportier chassis setup.

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Put a Socket on it: Nissan Celebrates Leaf's First Birthday with an Ad

It's been about 365 days or a year since Nissan launched its new pure-electric Leaf onto the market and to celebrate the event, the Japanese company released a commercial featuring household electric-sockets singing the traditional 'happy birthday song'.

Over the course of a year, Nissan says it has sold more than 19,000 Leaf hatchbacks worldwide. In the U.S., sales of the all-electric model have totaled 8,720 units through the end of November. Just this week, Nissan announced that it is going to expand the availability of the Leaf to seven more states starting from spring of 2012.

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Put a Socket on it: Nissan Celebrates Leaf's First Birthday with an Ad

It's been about 365 days or a year since Nissan launched its new pure-electric Leaf onto the market and to celebrate the event, the Japanese company released a commercial featuring household electric-sockets singing the traditional 'happy birthday song'.

Over the course of a year, Nissan says it has sold more than 19,000 Leaf hatchbacks worldwide. In the U.S., sales of the all-electric model have totaled 8,720 units through the end of November. Just this week, Nissan announced that it is going to expand the availability of the Leaf to seven more states starting from spring of 2012.

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Nissan Expands Availability of Leaf EV to 7 More States Across America

On the heels of the one-year anniversary of the first delivery of the Leaf on December 11, Nissan announced on Tuesday that it is expanding the availability of its dedicated electric model into new U.S. territories. .

Nissan Expands Availability of Leaf EV to 7 More States Across America

On the heels of the one-year anniversary of the first delivery of the Leaf on December 11, Nissan announced on Tuesday that it is expanding the availability of its dedicated electric model into new U.S. territories. .

Nissan Leaf Scores a Hat-Trick by Winning Japanese Car of the Year Award

The Leaf is proving to be not only a commercial hit for Nissan, having sold 20,000 units already this year, but a collector of automotive awards as well.

The latest trophy won by the Leaf is the "Car of the Year Japan 2011-2012", which was announced at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan’s all-electric model has also won the World and European Car of the Year awards this year.

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Nissan Leaf Scores a Hat-Trick by Winning Japanese Car of the Year Award

The Leaf is proving to be not only a commercial hit for Nissan, having sold 20,000 units already this year, but a collector of automotive awards as well.

The latest trophy won by the Leaf is the "Car of the Year Japan 2011-2012", which was announced at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan’s all-electric model has also won the World and European Car of the Year awards this year.

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Ghosn says the world will want 500,000 Renault-Nissan electric cars a year by 2020

The way Carlos Ghosn repeatedly touts the benefits of electric vehicles, you'd think he knows something the rest of the industry doesn't. For now, it appears he's right, since sales of the Nissan Leaf continue to be constrained by supply and not demand. What makes the Renault-Nissan CEO endlessly interesting is that he doesn't back off of his stance no matter what's happening in the world. The best response to the earthquake in Japan? EVs. A competitive automotive industry? EVs. Giving the customers what they want? You get the picture.

Speaking with Automotive News recently, Ghosn made it clear that his. Some interesting tidbits include that Ghosn doesn't expect U.S. production of the Leaf (in Smyrna, TN) will lower the price at all, it'll just help Nissan move toward what it wants, "which is a sustainable model without support from the government." He sees global demand for his companies' EVs to reach 500,000 a year globally by 2020. As he pushes forwards to that goal, he's also looking as hybrids (like the Altima hybrid) in the near term, saying Nissan will have "very significant" gas-electric market share by 2015, but one that "could be smaller than electric [market share]."



Source: Autoblog Green

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC First Pictures

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC This is the new Nissan Nismo Leaf RC, contested the concept of using EV drivetrain leaves are able to debut in the big apple 2011 Motor Show Nissan Leaf Nismo RC.