Eric Loveday, Author
Articles
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Starting a car was always a simple task. You slid the key into the slot, turned the key, and the engine roared to life. It may be a little more complex than that, several start-up events took...
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Michigan Congressman Sander Levin Pushes for Bill to Double Incentives on Heavy Duty Hybrid VehiclesMichigan Congressman Sander Levin is calling on the House of Representatives to pass a bill he sponsored that will double tax credits for those purchasing heavy-duty vehicles with hybrid powertrains. According to Levin, the bill which is in the Houses Ways and Means Committee, must be voted on and...
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Toyota Hybrids Blocked From U.S. Due to Patent Issues?With sales of Toyota hybrids booming in its home country and elsewhere across the globe, Toyota leads the competition in the hybrid market. Seemingly every hybrid model developed by the company fares well including the newly released Lexus HS 250h. So what could hold Toyota back in this hybrid...
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Hyundai To Debut i10 Electric and ix-Metro Hybrid Vehicles at Frankfurt Motor ShowHyundai is set to present the world debut of two green vehicles at the Frankfurt Motor Show. One, the ix-Metro will be present in concept form, the other the i10 Electric will be presented in production form. The ix-Metro, a hybrid electric CUV concept, is aimed at the European sub-B segment and...
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Should EVs Come With Batteries Included or Sold Separately?According to a recent study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, 64% of upcoming EV sales will include the vehicle and the battery as stand alone products that are in a sense purchased separately. The study suggests that there is a direct correlation between immediate adoption of EV...
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Mazda Confirms Company Has No Plans For An EVWith recent announcements confirming that even Honda has entered into the EV bandwagon, it comes as a surprise that Mazda is still saying no to EVs. According to Robert Davis, Senior Vice President of Research and Development for Mazda, "Until battery technology can get there to meet a mass...
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Daimler has announced that sales of its Orion VII diesel electric hybrid bus has now exceeded 3,000 units. Of the 3,000 orders in, there are over 2,200 units already in use and some 850 additional...
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Nissan CEO Claims EVs Will Make Up Only 10% of Global Market 10 Years From NowRecent announcements stating that both Honda and Toyota will soon enter the EV race has many thinking that since nearly every automaker plans an EV for the near future, EV may indeed dominate our roads in a short time. That could not be further from the truth according to Carlos Ghosn, CEO of...
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Charge Anxiety Yet Another Hurdle For EVs to OvercomeCharging anxiety may at first drive buyers away from the adoption of EV technology, but within a short amount of time, anxiety is expected to subside and the buyers will come. According to General Motors Tony Posawatz who is the vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt, "When consumers plug in...
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Nissan To Directly Finance All LEAFs Until Residual Values Can Be DeterminedSetting the residual value for any new vehicle is not an easy task. The residual value factors in many thing including depreciation, desirability, reliability, brand name and the list goes on and on. However, a residual value is important for determining lease rates and for banks to decide...
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Lithium Titanate Batteries Offer Exceptional Fast Charging CapabilitiesIn order to counter the initial affects of range anxiety, several different things must be taken into consideration. From charging stations located at convenient mileage intervals, to marketing departments assuring would be buyers that there range numbers are indeed accurate, everything must be...
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Aerovironment Discusses Challenges for Roadside Charging Stations, Releases User Friendly Charging Cord DesignRange anxiety is constantly on the top of the list of problems associated with a worldwide launch of electric vehicles. How do you convince consumers that a vehicle will meet the stated range without any issues? How can you convince buyers that they will not be stranded on the roadside? This...
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Land Rover, a name synonymous with fully capable off-road vehicles, is scheduled to release its first hybrid vehicle in 2011.
The hybrid, based on the LRX concept shown at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show,...
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Ford Discusses Marketing Strategy For Upcoming EVsMarketing a vehicle is never an easy thing to do with success. It takes advertising, campaigns, press releases and so on to successfully market any product, vehicles included. Though marketing a new vehicle may be difficult, Ford has discovered that marketing an electric vehicle is a daunting...
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Mercedes Launches B-Class f-cell, World's First Series Production Hydrogen Fuel Cell VehicleMercedes can now lay claim to the world's first fuel cell in series production, the B-Class f-cell. The initial run of 200 models will be produced at the end of the year and will go into the hands of the lucky few who have leased it in the U.S. and Europe sometime in the first part of 2010. The...
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Report: Toyota is Working on Sporty Prius CoupeAccording to the Best Car magazine of Japan, Toyota is currently working on a dedicated sporty hybrid model that aims to compete with the upcoming CR-Z hybrid from Honda. The report states that Toyota is considering employing a famous Italian design company such as Pininfarina or Guigiaro...
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Magna Begins Shipments of Lithium-Ion Phosphate Batteries for Volvo Hybrid TrucksMagna International's offshoot battery supplier division called Magna Steyr is ready to begin shipments of its lithium-ion phosphate battery packs to large truck maker Volvo. Volvo intends to utilize the packs in several of its large trucks including city buses, refuse trucks, and heavy duty...
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Nissan's VP of Product Planning Discusses LEAF BatteryOne of the highly discussed aspects of EVs of course surrounds the battery that powers the vehicle. Nissan, with their upcoming LEAF is considering many different options in regards to battery purchasing, battery after life, and battery longevity. Right now, Nissan is still undecided about whether...
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Perhaps it's the gas mileage rating of 35 mpg city, 34 mpg highway. Perhaps it's the tax breaks offered in Japan for hybrid vehicles, or perhaps it's because it's Lexus' only dedicated hybrid...
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New Energy's Motion Power Electricity Harvesting Device Undergoes Successful Prototype Test On Heavy TrucksA while back we brought you a story of a new technology that was designed to harvest power from the motion of vehicles on the roadways. The system works by using energy created by vehicles travelling over a series of plates that move up and down creating energy. Read more about the system here...
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Scientists at Argonne Discover New Battery Chemical That Could Increase Durability and Decrease Cost of Li-Ion TechnologyLithium-ion batteries are critical for both EVs and advanced hybrids. Li-ion offers a low weight, a long battery life, and a decent power to price ratio. Until now, lithium-ion battery packs had to have some sort of advanced electronic controller to limit overcharging which would greatly...
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Start Up Battery Company Developing Li-ion Batteries With Twice the Energy Density at Same CostsThe next generation lithium-ion batteries from a small start up called Sakti3 could offer twice as much energy density at the same price per kWh as current li-ion battery on the market. Sakti3 is a small spin-off start up created from the partnership of the University of Michigan and General...
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Interesting Study Shows Range Anxiety Does Not Involve Rational ThinkingThe range indicator on your dashboard display of your new electric vehicle displays a remaining range of 93 miles. You can feasibily cover 93 miles before requiring a recharge. How far are you willing to drive before calling it quits in fear of running out of juice? Surprisinly, many drivers in...
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Honda to Unveil First EV This Fall, Set For Production in 2015Honda, one of the last EV holdouts, plans to develop an electric car that will hit U.S. markets by 2015. Honda has repeatedly stated that they intend to stick with hybrids and fuel cell technology while ignoring the current crop of EVs coming our way. But that didn't last for long as the Nikkei...
Eric Loveday