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New Chinese electric bus boasts 186-mile range

While we have a pretty impressive electric bus here in America, an announcement that a Chinese joint venture will begin building buses with a 300 km (186 miles) range certainly got our attention. The FAW Bus and Coach Company has teamed up with battery maker Tongkun New Energy Technologies Co., Ltd and plan to have their people-carriers on the roads around two different cities in Jilin province by June. They already have 70 on the order book and if they can deliver the range performance promised, we expect they’ll sell more. The 24 passenger bus can not only go far on its lithium iron phosphate ( LiFePO 4 ) batteries but it can also re-charge them in as little as 20 minutes. With a useful life of 2,000 cycles, they could last 300,000 miles. Not bad for a bus with a 500,000 yuan ($73,145) price tag and low running costs. Hopefully the new design will also be a little easier on the eyes than the current baby bus built by FAW, pictured above. [Source: Xinhua ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Transportation Alternatives , China New Chinese electric bus boasts 186-mile range originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green

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New Chinese electric bus boasts 186-mile range

Detroit 2009: Top ten green cars of the show

Auto Blog: Diesel , EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Detroit Auto Show After three days of running around Cobo Hall snapping photos, asking questions and banging out posts, it’s time for a review of what we thought were the top green cars of the show. The financial meltdown of the last few months meant that a number of automakers took a pass on this year’s show. For those that did show up, efficiency was a big part of the story. The Dodge Circuit EV pictured above probably has the best chance of being Chrysler’s first production in EV if the company is still doing business as an independant automaker. Unfortunately it didn’t quite make the top ten list. to find out which cars did make the list, click here . Live Photos Copyright (C)2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc. Detroit 2009: Top ten green cars of the show originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green

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Detroit 2009: Top ten green cars of the show

Th!nk saved by outside investors Ener1

Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , European Union , Th!nk (Think) Click above for a gallery of the Th!nk City Th!nk’s not dead yet, though it might still officially be on life support. As expected , an outside group of investors has stepped up to the plate and bailed out the Norwegian electric car company with a bridge loan of 40 million crowns ($5.69 million). The largest bit of funding comes courtesy of Ener1 Group Inc. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because they’re the private equity firm that owns 57% of Ener1, which, in turn, is the maker of battery packs that are being used in the Th!nk City. This figure is short of the 100-200 million crowns that Th!nk’s administration said may be necessary for continued operation, but Th!nk’s Richard Canny says it gives them time to get final funding in place and to begin working back up to regular production. Ener1 Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer told AutoblogGreen that, “Ener1 Group has been very interested in furthering its investments in Electric Drive, so this fits within our investment paradigm. The financial distress in December took all of us by surprise, so this is just a short term solution. This will give us until March to complete the larger round. This funding round will allow Think to start ramping up production as early as February, with an eye to getting back into full volume production by April.” Thanks to everyone who tipped this ! Gallery: Th!nk City [Source: Reuters ] Th!nk saved by outside investors Ener1 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:07:00 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 saved by outside investors Ener1