(Source: Autoblog; Picture: Autoblog)

 What can $50,000 can get you?

After a lot of hype and delivery of 250 Tesla Roadsters, the company’s Model S was unveiled today in Hawthorne, California.  It is expect that production will be ramped up to 20,000 units annually by the end of the first year of production; after the $7,500 tax break, the Model S will start at just under $50,000 – $49,900 to be exact; and 440-volt charging will be available. That base price is for the 160-mile range pack; a 230-mile range pack and a 300-mile range packwill also be available. The biggest hitch: the car doesn’t go into production until Q3 of 2011.

Transportgooru thinks this is a game changer and here is the “why”:

• According to Tesla’s numbers, buying a Tesla S will save you $10-$15K vs a comparably priced gas-powered sedan when gas is $4 per gallon. For an equivalent comparison, you’d have to lease a $35,000 gas-powered car. 
• The car fits seven people and their luggage: five adults and two children in rear-facing seats under the hatch inside, with luggage in the boot up front.
• If not people, it can fit a mountain bike with its wheels still on, a surfboard and a 50-inch television at the same time.
• On a 220V outlet, the car can be recharged in 4 hours.
• The quickness: the standard S will get to 60 in 5.5 to 6.0 seconds. A coming sport version will get to 60 in “well under five seconds,” the company’s folks say.

These facts are what one would come to expect from a conventiona, gasoline powered automobiles that rules the roads today.   As more charging stations pop-up around the country, these vehicles will make transportation seamless.  The few cons  that could be obviously recognized are the re-charging times and the lack of charging stations at public locations (Gas stations, parking lots, etc).  With the conventional gasoline cars, refuelling is quick and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes at the gas stations, which means you can continue travelling without enduring massing delays while traveling longer distances.   It can be expected that unveiling of such cars renders a wonderful opportunity for regional electric companies to enter a niche market to provide “electricity” through charging stations in the service areas along highways, just like a gas station.  Or even better if these charging stations are added to existing gas stations.   If charging times can be shortened with the advent of new technology (See the TransportGooru article about MIT’s breakthrough research on batteries, allowing for lightening quick charging times) 

Click here to read the entire post on Autoblog’s site anddon’t forget to check out the eye popping Tesla Gallery.  Here is Wall Street Journal’s interview with Tesla at the North American Int’l Auto Show (via YouTube):

(Source:  Tree Hugger) 

(Source: Autobloggreen; Scientific American)

It might seem a bit paradoxical to drive a HUMMER for 1,200 miles across the thin ice of the Northwest Passage with the goal of investigating climate change in the arctic circle, but that’s exactly what a crew from the Mars Institute is planning to do. The team will be charting the thickness of the ice as it moves at about 12 miles per hour over the surface, but the information gathered during the trek will really just be a bonus. The team’s first priority will be to see how the HUMMER-based rover fares in these harsh conditions. At some point, the Mars Institute hopes that this data will prove useful in helping NASA design human-toting vehicles that will be able to traverse the surface of Mars.

The Scientific American reports :  The trip using a modified armored Humvee vehicle will provide comprehensive data about the thickness of winter ice in the waterway through Canada’s high Arctic, said Pascal Lee, chairman of Mars Institute and leader of the expedition.  (Above Image on Right:  An ice-free Northwest Passage seen in this handout satellite photo from NASA taken in Sept. 2007. Photograph courtesy: Vancouver Sun via Terra Satellite/NASA, Reuters)

The scientists also hope to learn more about what happens to the microbes left behind by humans as they explore remote areas, amid concerns from some scientists about the detrimental impact of such journeys in space.

Click here to read the entire Autoblog article.

(Source: U.S. Department of Energy; Photo Courtesy: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty via Autoblog)

DOE Support for Advanced Battery Manufacturing and Electric Vehicle Deployment to Create Tens of Thousands of U.S. Jobs

On March 19th, President Barack Obama announced the availability of $2.4 billion in funding to put American ingenuity and America’s manufacturers to work producing next generation Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and the advanced battery components that will make these vehicles run. The initiative will create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs and help us end our addiction to foreign oil. Americans who decide to purchase these Plug-in Hybrid vehicles can claim a tax credit of up to $7,500.

“This investment will not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil, it will put Americans back to work,” President Obama said. “It positions American manufacturers on the cutting edge of innovation and solving our energy challenges.”

While visiting Southern California Edison’s Electric Vehicle Center, the President announced the following:

• The Department of Energy is offering up to $1.5 billion in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce these highly efficient batteries and their components.
• The Department of Energy is offering up to $500 million in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce other components needed for electric vehicles, such as electric motors and other components.
• The Department of Energy is offering up to $400 million to demonstrate and evaluate Plug-In Hybrids and other electric infrastructure concepts — like truck stop charging station, electric rail, and training for technicians to build and repair electric vehicles.

Click here to read the entire DOE press release. Or, Click here to read the President’s remarks.  Shown below is Part I of the video from the event, courstey of  You Tube (Part I & Part II).

(Source: Brookings Institute)

Brookings Senior Fellow Robert Puentes tells a House Appropriations panel this week that “how and where we build in the future carries far-reaching implications for the health of our environment, our energy security, and our economic recovery and will continue to impact our metropolitan areas’ success and our ability to compete globally.”

Unfortunately, the U.S. track record here is not good.  Puentes’ research shows that between 1980 and 2000, the growth of the largest 99 metro areas in the continental U.S. consumed 16 million acres of rural land, or about one acre for every new household.5Indicative of this outward sprawl is the fact that more than 70 percent of the 100 largest metros’ recent population growth over the same period of time occurred outside of principal cities—the largest and most established cities within each metro in terms of population and employment.

Click here to read or download Mr. Puentes’ testimony to the House Appropriations panel.  Shown below is the read-only version of the PDF document.

  (Source: New York Times, Greenwire via Autobloggreen) 

 (Source:  Autobloggreen)

Today, Ford celebrates a new milestone in the life of its hybrid SUV platform as the 100,000th vehicle rolls down the assembly line at the Blue Oval’s Assembly Plant in Kansas City. This production total includes all Ford Escape Hybrids, Mercury Mariner Hybrids and Mazda Tribute Hybrids produced since 2004, the year that Ford launched its first ever fuel-saving gas/electric model.

Perhaps now would be a good time to remind our readers that Ford hit the 60,000 hybrid mark in the 4th quarter of 2008, meaning that the automaker’s federal hybrid tax credit will be cut in half beginning in April of this year. Buyers wanting to capitalize on the full rebate will need to make their purchase before the end of this month.

Click here to read more and to view the awesome picture gallery of the Ford Escape Hybrid.

 (Source; Philstar via ITDP)

NEW DELHI (Xinhua) — Promoting bicycle as a green and healthy mode of transport, leaving their cars behind, New Delhi residents will for the fourth consecutive year, be all set on a Heritage Cycling Ride Sunday morning.

The event, sponsored by Delhi Cycling Club, was started in October 2006 by Institution for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a non-government organization, engaged in research and advocacy for green, sustainable, and equitable traffic and transportation policies and programs.

According to ITDP website, membership of the club is free and open to all the cycling enthusiasts concerned about road safety, environment, climate change, and health and fitness.

To spread the message, the Delhi Cycling Club has formed a google group, says Rajendra, event coordinator for Delhi Cycling Club.

During the 10-kilometer ride, cyclists will stop at several historic monuments. This will help people learn about the heritage and historical monuments of Delhi in an interesting, educative and enjoyable way, the google group information about the club says.

Click here to read the entire article. 

 (Source:  Autobloggreen)

Last month, Germany reported a shocking 21 percent improvement in auto sales, and the greatest driver in the uptick was a used vehicle scrapping plan that pays drivers 2,500 euros ($3,150) to remove their old car from the road. With new car sales in most other countries down by at least that much, it was widely speculated that other governments would look closely at Germany’s new system to see if it would be worth adopting in their areas.

An opinion piece at Automotive News (sub. req’d) suggests that it’s time for the United States to implement its own vehicle scrapping program. President Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan does contain provisions that are intended to help spur new vehicle sales, but has nothing as dramatic as what’s been enacted in Germany. 

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

California Air Resource Board chairwoman Mary Nichols told an EPA hearing last week that the state would consider withdrawing its request for a waiver allowing it to regulate carbon dioxide. Before that happens though a national standard needs to be put in place. If such a standard were established it would make automakers much happier. Currently, 13 other states have adopted the proposed California mandate. The problem is that the California rule establishes average CO₂ emissions requirements for an automaker’s entire fleet, much like CAFE does for fuel economy. 
With CAFE, the entire sales volume for an automaker is averaged across the country. If CO₂ is regulated at the state level, even though each state has the same standard, automakers have different sales mixes in different states. An average would have to be calculated for the sales in each state. In states more where a greater number of larger, heavier emitting vehicles are sold, automakers may have difficulty meeting the averages while sales in other states where more smaller cars are sold could not be used to offset those. 

Click here to read the entire article.  (Video: Mary Nichols, talking about fuuture of climate regulation)