U.S. DOE

  • Tough Tractor Trailer

    It's pretty rare when a group of drivers begs a government agency to regulate them. But when it could avert what they think would be even worse regulations from another agency, anything's fair in love and war. The drivers in this case are the nation's long-haul truckers or, more precisely, the American Truck Dealers (which represents 2,000 dealers) and the Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Associations, which says it represents 156,000 truckers. DoT yes, EPA no! Last month,  the groups wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, asking him to fight a proposal to transfer fuel-efficiency...

  • Fisker Karma at Laguna Seca
    Fisker Funds Keep Coming: Delaware Adds To DoE's $529 Million

    Last fall, Fisker Automotive was awarded $529 million in low-interest loans by the Department of Energy, and the company has continued to rake in cash since then. In January, for instance, Fisker raised an additional $115 million in private capital. Last week, the DoE and Fisker announced that the...

  • 2010 Chevrolet Silverado
    GM To Invest $890 Million In Making Its V-8 Engines Save Gas

    Going green on the road may involve smaller engines, electric cars, and clean diesels, but it also requires making all engines far more fuel efficient. To that end, General Motors will announce this morning that it will invest almost one billion dollars in five separate plants to build a new, far...

  • Teaser for Louisiana's new VVC plant
    Exclusive: VVC Reveals Its White Plastic V-Car, But No Photos

    Just a month after being turned down for low-interest loans by the U.S. Department of Energy, the reclusive V-Vehicle Co. has shown a drivable prototype of its affordable, green V-Car to Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and members of the press in Baton Rouge. While no photos were allowed, many more...

  • Teaser for Louisiana's new VVC plant
    DoE Says No, Denies Secretive Startup V-Vehicle Loan Request

    Looks like secretive startup V-Vehicle Co. won't be joining Ford, Nissan, Tesla, and Fisker in getting government guarantees for low-interest loans to invest in advanced vehicle technology. Yesterday the U.S. Department of Energy turned down a $321.1 million loan application by V-Vehicle (VVC)...

  • Aptera 2e development prototype at company offices in Vista, California
    Wait A Month For Details of 2e Electric Car, Aptera Says

    On Friday, Aptera held its first online Town Hall Meeting--a chat among eager followers and some of the Aptera marketing team. Their intent, according to the opening spiel,  was to "reduce some of the mystery around the company and open our supporters and depositors up to some of the great things...

  • Tesla Roadster with CA Clean Air Vehicle sticker  --  flickr user jurvetson

    Whenever we're asked whether electric-car startup Tesla Motors will make it, we respond with our own question: What's the last carmaker started from scratch in the U.S. by entrepreneurs that's still with us, and when did it launch? The answer is Chrysler, and the year was 1924. In other words, starting a car company is a tough, tough challenge. And it takes a whole lot of cash. No Roadsters after 2011 The question of Tesla's survival cropped up again on Friday, when the Wired Autopia blog revealed that the company doesn't plan to sell its Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to tooling changes at...

  • Denmark Crown Prince Frederik and Fisker Karma
    Fisker Gets $115 Million, New Battery Supplier, Stays on Schedule

    Last Friday, startup plug-in hybrid maker Fisker Automotive announced it had raised another $115 million in funds from private backers, including lithium-ion cell supplier A123 Systems and legendary venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Buried in the press release was a...

  • Aptera 2e development prototype at company offices in Vista, California
    It's Official: Aptera 2e And Other Three-Wheelers Are Cars Now

    By voting 80 to 17 to approve a compromise bill allocating $33.5 billion to fund energy and water projects, the U.S. Senate yesterday also redefined what qualifies as an "automobile". Once President Barack Obama signs the measure, a vehicle with only three wheels can--for the purpose of allocating...

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