Chery electric car venture with Israel Corp. speeds up, slims down
Less than two weeks after Chery unveiled its first electric car (above) comes news that the joint venture the Chinese car maker has with Israel Corporation Ltd. is set to speed up. The holding company belonging to the Ofer family, which has $100 million or so invested in Better Place , has said that, although it will pare down its investment, it will also speed things up. When we had reported about the deal a little over a year ago it was “only” worth $225 million but apparently it had grown to $900 million. The new figure bandied about is a more manageable $500 million with each party owning a 50 percent share of Chery Quantum Auto Co. The rearrangement doesn’t call for any new cash outlays for the next couple of years beyond the $200 million each has already thrown down. Other refinements to the plan include the postponement of new plant construction in favor of using Chery’s existing capacity and a reduction in the number of different models to be produced. Although Israel Corp said that “development would begin now,” it was unstated what type or how many models would be produced. We’ll keep an eye on the situation and let you know what develops. [Source: Jerusalem Post ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , China , Middle East Chery electric car venture with Israel Corp. speeds up, slims down originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Chery electric car venture with Israel Corp. speeds up, slims down
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Leave a commentNissan hopes to show off electric cars for London’s 2012 Olympic bid
Last year during the Olympic Games in Beijing, Chinese automakers (and Germany’s MINI ) took advantage of their brief opportunity on the world stage to show off some of their latest fuel efficient vehicles. Now that London has been awarded the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012, European automakers are probably considering how to put their best feet tires forward when the whole world starts watching. At least one automaker, the Renault/Nissan conglomerate, has already been in talks with Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, to showcase three new electric vehicles by filling up the streets of the European city with its wares. Included in the proposal is a new small electric city car about the size of the Clio, a larger sedan “that would make a good taxi,” and an electric version of the Kangoo MPV. French energy supplier EDF would provide a city’s worth of electric car chargers . [Source: Car Magazine Online ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Nissan , Renault , Green Daily , Europe/EU , UK Nissan hopes to show off electric cars for London’s 2012 Olympic bid originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Nissan hopes to show off electric cars for London’s 2012 Olympic bid
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | chinese, electric nissan, electricrenault, euro, europe, geneva-motor, geneva-preview, london, london2012, londonolympics, ratan tata | Leave a commentWill Israeli military be a Better Place?
Better Place may be getting a helpful boost as the Israel Defense Forces ( IDF ) are considering installing the company’s infrastructure to charge future electric jeeps and troop carriers, as well as civilian cars. Better Place has close ties with the Jewish state and the CEO of its Israeli chapter, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky, used to be the Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF. The electric infrastructure company could certainly use the support of the country’s military if it is to attain founder Shai Agassi’s ambitious goal of 100,000 electric cars in two years 10 months in the territory. At last count they were only up to 10. They also have at least 17 charging spots installed of an eventual 500,000, leaving lots of room for growth. The State has previously announced support of electric transportation and were considering greatly reducing or eliminating taxes on them. Although Better Place and its partner, Renault , do face possible competition from BYD , the entry of the Chinese carmaker may be delayed as a restraining order was being sought by Eastern Automobile Marketing Co (EAM) against Clal Industries of the IBD Group. They claim they had previously signed an agreement with BYD for distribution rights. [Source: Solve Climate / Haaretz ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Renault , Middle East , BYD Will Israeli military be a Better Place? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Will Israeli military be a Better Place?
Th!nk City nominated for Brit Insurance Designs of the Year
Click above for a gallery of the Th!nk City A nomination does not a win make, but the team over at Th!nk must be happy about anything positive these days . The town crier came in with news that the Th!nk City has been nominated for a Brit Insurance Designs of the Year award, hosted by the Design Museum in London. Like the iQ before it , the nomination means that the all-electric City vehicle will be on display in the museum until the middle of June. British designer Sebastian Conran nominated the city EV and said the City was, “Cute-but-purposeful, it exudes ‘form, follows function’ and fashion too.” Oh, and let’s not forget that it moves well . Other nominations of note for AutoblogGreen readers include the Greenbird vehicle , Better Place’s charging stations and Daimler’s Car2Go smart fortwo sharing service. See the full list of Transport nominees after the jump. Gallery: Think City in action [Source: Th!nk , Brit Insurance Designs of the Year ] Continue reading Th!nk City nominated for Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Th!nk (Think) Th!nk City nominated for Brit Insurance Designs of the Year originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Th!nk City nominated for Brit Insurance Designs of the Year
Posted in Auto Green | a-friend-via, a-win-make, chinese, design, entry, insurance, london-like, marketing, moshe-kaplinsky, nomination, year | Leave a commentAttention Wal-Mart shoppers: Electric cars marked down on aisle 6
Auto Blog: Miles EV , South/Latin America , USA , BYD Might your next (first?) electric vehicle purchase be transacted at Wal-Mart ? It’s not out of realm of possibility. Mexican company, GS Motors, is already selling 3 different models from China’s First Auto Works ( FAW ) at a so-called “big box” retail chain in Mexico and has plans to replicate the strategy north of their border. Company CEO Kathleen Ligocki says, “I think the product will be ready for the U.S. market within five years.” Starting next year, the Chinese designs are expected to be assembled at a factory in Michoacan, Mexico that will be capable of building 100,000 units per annum. FAW, if you’re keeping score, is the company the makes the NEV sold as the ZX40 by Miles Automotive . Now, we’re not suggesting that Miles is currently involved in any talks with GS Motors, only that the connection is there. FAW is not the only Chinese automaker looking for an American foothold either. Well known to our readers, BYD is another company with somewhat desirable electric cars and a commitment to compete in the U.S. Their retail sales strategy has yet to be revealed, but we can only imagine they would explore different options. As for the American big box stores, would they consider selling electric cars? Wal Mart said it would and Sam’s already has . [Source: Gasgoo / Automotive News sub req'd] Attention Wal-Mart shoppers: Electric cars marked down on aisle 6 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Attention Wal-Mart shoppers: Electric cars marked down on aisle 6
Posted in Auto Green | a-friend-via, america, attention-wal-, chinese, connection, electric scooter, entirely, fifth gear, gs motors, latin-america | Leave a commentWashington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO]
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Green Daily , Washington DC Auto Show Click above and scroll down to watch the video People are rightly skeptical about whether or not the Chrysler electric vehicles will ever make it to market. For now, all we can say for sure is that some of Chrysler’s EV prototypes can go for a spin around the Washington DC Convention Center. We were able to go for a ride in the Dodge EV and the Jeep ER-EV with Crysler’s Douglas Quigley, executive of product engineering for ENVI (the Chrysler electric vehicle “start up” ) when we were in town last week, and you can see our video of the rides (no drives yet, sadly) after the jump. Quigley said that it is not Chrysler’s intention to sell 100,000 of the Dodge EVs a year. You can roll your own joke about that, but his explanation was that the battery pack that is good for 150 miles will be expensive and therefore the target audience is someone who wants to cruise through the city or on the track for a few hours on the weekend. He’s got a lot more to say about these two vehicles in the video, including how they’re being used for testing in Arizona, what might make it into a possible production version and how fun it is to drive the Lotus Europa-based Dodge EV. Continue reading Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO] Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO]
Posted in Auto Green | chinese, chrysler, daily, dodge, dodgeev, electric dodge, entirely, envi, featured, fifth gear, jeep ev, jeep re-ev, jeepev, latin-america, lotus europa | Leave a commentFiat and Alfa Romeo to introduce new engine line in Geneva
Auto Blog: Diesel , Fiat , Geneva Motor Show , Frankfurt Motor Show , Alfa Romeo The biggest news of the year so far has been the proposed strategic global alliance between Chrysler and Fiat, two automakers that have drastically differing lines spCar Blog Greenacross drastically different markets. Certainly, that deal with the American automaker isn’t all that Fiat has going on, and the Italian automaker is set to unveil a new line of engines at the Geneva Motor Show next month. So far, all of the engines are expected to be introduced in four cylinder guise, running on both gas and diesel fuel. One of the more eagerly anticipated engines will displace 1.8 liters and will be offered in both Fiats and Alfa Romeos making between 170 and 230 horsepower. New technologies like direct injection and variable valve timing will be included. On the diesel front, Fiat is also expected to debut its latest 1.3 liter Multijet 2 powerplant in either Geneva or Frankfurt . These new engines will use Fiat’s Multiair electrohydraulic valve-actuation , which should both increase horsepower and efficiency. Will any of these small powerplants make it Stateside? Time will tell. [Source: Channel 4 ] Fiat and Alfa Romeo to introduce new engine line in Geneva originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Fiat and Alfa Romeo to introduce new engine line in Geneva
Posted in Auto Green | chinese, daily, dodgeev, electric dodge, entirely, fiat, fiatmultijet, geneva, geneva2009, genevamotorshow, jeep ev, jeepev, lotus europa | Leave a commentBYD may license Fe batteries to other automakers
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , European Union , Japan , China , USA , BYD Click above for high-res image gallery of BYD’s PHEVs BYD , the Chinese car and battery company who are now at the Detroit Auto Show with their “Dual mode” hybrids and e6 all-electric MPV (above) have made it known that they may be willing to license their inexpensive battery tech to other automakers. Indeed, they have already been fielding inquiries from Japanese, European and American firms. They say their “Fe battery,” thought to be a lithium iron phosphate ( LiFePO 4 ) formulation, costs less than half of what typical lithium ion batteries cost, and are safer and longer lasting. Their downside is that they can not hold as much energy and can add greatly to the weight of an electric vehicle. The BYD e6, for example, needs 1323 lbs of “Fe battery” to achieve its 249-mile range whereas the Tesla Roadster power pack weighs in at about 900 lbs. Despite that shortcoming we think this may be a decent solution for the right sort of vehicle and expect someone might take them up on it. Gallery: Detroit 2009: BYD F6DM and F3DM Gallery: Beijing 2008: BYD e6 [Source: Reuters UK ] BYD may license Fe batteries to other automakers originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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BYD may license Fe batteries to other automakers
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | a-friend-via, chinese, decent-solution, detroit, detroit2009, entry, fiskerautomotive, inexpensive, usa | Leave a commentDetroit Preview: BYD’s F3DM plug-in hybrid will be unveiled Monday
Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Detroit Auto Show , Green Daily , BYD BYD’s F3DM plug-in hybrid is already on sale in China , but that won’t stop the Chinese automaker from trying to make a big splash with the PHEV in Detroit on Monday. BYD will unveil the car to the North American audience just before 11 am that day on the main floor of Cobo Hall. At that time, we’re also being promised a look at the e6 electric CUV and more details on BYD’s Fe lithium-iron battery and plug-in hybrid system
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Detroit Preview: BYD’s F3DM plug-in hybrid will be unveiled Monday
Posted in Auto Green | a-big-splash, china, chinese, daily, detroit 2009, detroit-preview, detroit2009, entry, f3dm, look-at-these, naias, north, plug-in-hybrid, unveil-the-car | Leave a commentGet Approved!
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