Electric vehicles are set to experience a breakthrough in 2011 due to a £5,000 car grant introduced by the government today, experts predict.

Motorists will have a choice of just one subsidised car to buy outright as the project is launched – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV – but should have a choice of nine or 10 fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars by 2012. (more…)

Ford is atop a wave of auto manufacturers that will bring technology that eliminates idling to North America. Stop-start technology, which has long been a feature of hybrids, will appear in Ford vehicles starting in 2012.

Stop-start is relatively simple and inexpensive to implement. By adding an enhanced battery and upgraded starter, (more…)

VHS or Beta? Blu Ray or HD? The race for supremacy in technological innovation is often the stuff of legend and the question of whether electric vehicles will more likely be “refueled” by plugging in or by swapping discharged batteries for fresh ones is no different. Well, maybe a little different. In the case of EVs, it is quite possible the two technologies, although competing on some (more…)

Chinese company BYD will bring its electric and plug-in vehicles to North America in 2011 as one part of a threefold strategy for exporting technology. BYD’s first plug-in car, the F3DM, has arrived in California where it will be used in a pilot project by the Los Angeles Housing Authority. The F3DM has 40-60 miles of electric range and 300 miles of gasoline range, and in a unique (more…)

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Russia’s first ever electric vehicle hybrid another announcement came about the bolstering of Russia’s green transportation systems. According to the announcement that came from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the country is preparing to begin serious work towards a high speed rail system. Russia isn’t alone on this plan either. Many (more…)

The plastic booms used to absorb oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year will be recycled for use as parts in the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt. General Motors officials say the recycled oil extracted from the booms will be converted into 100,000 pounds of plastic resin pellets that will ultimately be mixed with recycled tires to create the parts that protect the Volt’s (more…)

The Russian automotive industry is not one that is totally familiar with the green changes towards electric vehicles and other models that have been sweeping other countries throughout Europe or the world. In fact, historically, there has never been much to say about the automotive industry as a whole. In past decades car models tended to be outdated while time was spent (more…)

Electric vehicles come in many different forms. They range from the microcars that are meant almost exclusively for city driving, to sedans that bear no outward differences to any normal car you would see driving down the road today, all the way to electric powered sports utility vehicles. While electric works its way across a variety of transportation mediums one of the most (more…)

I don’t envy the folks charged with determining where the public charging infrastructure should be installed to support the rollout of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The lucky owners of the first Volts and Leafs that are delivered during the next few weeks and months will primarily rely on home charging, but that will be complemented by public locations. (more…)

Report suggests current transportation policy in most U.S. states will likely worsen greenhouse gas emission trends.

With federal policy action on climate and energy appearing unlikely for at least the next couple years, public policy and financial analysts are increasingly turning to state-level analyses to inform (more…)