NASHVILLE--Imagine selling cars in a country with no gas stations. That's the challenge facing Nissan Motor Co.'s electric-vehicle ambitions. No recharging stations, no Nissan electric-vehicle sales.
Enter Tracy Woodard.
"It's sort of a chicken-and-egg thing," she says. "You can't sell EVs until there's an infrastructure. These things have to be hard-wired, and communities have to plan for that."
Woodard, director of government affairs at Nissan North America, has been on the road almost nonstop since last year, appealing to cities and states around the country to stimulate the creation of local electric-vehicle infrastructures.
So far, Woodard has worked out partnerships with governments and utilities in eight cities, states, or regions, including San Diego, Phoenix, and Raleigh, N.C. Local authorities have pledged to begin moving forward on electric-vehicle recharging networks, making new power-grid plans, devising residential electrical permitting policies, and the like.
Nissan aims to be the industry leader in mass-marketing electric vehicles in the United States. In June, the company said it will spend $1.6 billion to construct an electric-vehicle assembly operation in Smyrna, Tenn., along with a factory to manufacture lithium ion batteries. It will train 1,300 employees for the task.
... Read moreWhile flipping through the channels on my TV this week, I saw an advertisement for the show "Jesse James is a Dead Man" on Spike TV. This particular week's episode was about Jesse's preparation to race in the Baja 500, an off road race that is often considered the most dangerous race in modern times. So with this enticement, I've decided to feature my log this week to the notorious Baja races.
For the uninitiated , The Baja 500 is an off road race that takes place in Ensenada, Mexico and encompasses motorcycles, ATVs, and trophy trucks. The race winds through cities, deserts, mountains and cliffs, and the race typically takes about 9 hours to complete. Its dangerous reputation comes not only from its off road atmosphere but also from potential set-ups such as booby traps, sand dunes, water and pits along the way. This race has been responsible for multiple deaths of both drivers and spectators, and is breath taking both in concept and execution.
This video here is a compilation of Baja 500 races past, and it features the variety of vehicles that participate in the race including motorcycles, ATVs and trophy trucks. It's a fun little promo for what Baja 500 is all about, but trust me it isn't all fun jumps and sand dust. This week we will get to see both the good, the bad, and the ugly of what Baja is all about.
Coming to shopping aisle near you: the Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle.
(Credit: Brammo)Would you like an electric bike to go with your new DVR?
Best Buy has started selling electric vehicles, including the Enertia electric motorcycle from Brammo, according to reports.
The company in May started offering electric bicycles, scooters, and Segway transporters at 21 of its West Coast stores, according to the Los Angeles Times. This month, the home products retailer will add the Enertia motorcycle to create an electric vehicle line with a range of speeds and range.
Although it may sound like a stretch to offer refrigerators and electric vehicles under the same roof, company representatives said that there is growing interest in electric transportation among its customers.
"Our business is already connecting in people's homes and lives with technology, appliances and computers," a Best Buy representative told the LA Times. "One of the things that's important for the future growth of [our company] is staying ahead of where technology is in people's lives."
From a product point of view, electric vehicles have a strong kinship to consumer electronics, according to Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher, who approached Best Buy about distributing the Enertia.
"What we're selling is a lot closer to consumer electronics than to transportation," Bramscher said at the Pacific Crest Clean Technology Conference in March. He said that the Enertia includes a built-in Web server, to run open-platform software applications with the potential for add-ons like onboard cameras that could download images to travel blogs.
The Enertia charges in about three hours from a regular wall outlet and can go up to about 50 miles per hour. It gets the equivalent of 373 miles per gallon and costs less than one cent per mile to run, according to Brammo.
With a retail cost of $11,995, the Enertia isn't likely to sell in high volumes like popular consumer electronics. But Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn said the move is part of the company's efforts to diversify its product mix to stay on top of new technologies.
"I'm not sure how it's going to do either," Dunn told The Wall Street Journal. "But I like the muscles we're exercising."
The Journal also reported that Best Buy is exploring selling home energy management systems that program air conditioning, lights, and appliances to cut energy use.
With the July 4 holiday upon us, the citizens of the United States will be celebrating American traditions such as freedom, family and barbecue. Well, I can think of a couple of other American traditions worth celebrating such as muscle cars and the thrill of a race. And in today's video we get both traditions as we celebrate racing with the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
This fun vid is almost like a mini-movie. First, we get an evolutionary slideshow of some the beautiful birds from the past, set to the theme from WWE's Undertaker (ooh, scary!). Then we hop aboard the Trans Am as we go for a ride, street racing against a Toyota Supra. Finally, we land at the drag strip, where a more modern Firebird smokes and peels out on the asphalt. Dig the wheelie as the front end launches off the ground at 4:45 mark. Killer.
Has the U.S. auto industry finally hit bottom? U.S. will get a new small SUV from BMW--and perhaps a new mini Miata. Plus, we take you for a ride in a really nice car that could be so much better.
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SHOW NOTES
The BMW X1 will come to the U.S., slotted beneath the X3 as a utility stablemate to the 1 Series.
(Credit: BMW of North America)• How Toyota's geared CVT works -- see an animation
• Fiat's 500 will come to the U.S., but not stablemates
• See BMW's new fuel, weather and stocks screen
BALOCCO, Italy--Chrysler will build and sell four versions of the tiny Fiat 500 in North America starting in 2011: a hatchback, convertible, station wagon, and sporty hatchback.
A fifth model--a small, four-wheel-drive SUV--also is possible.
They will wear the Fiat brand, and no longer-term plans exist for other Fiat-badged models here, the company said.
Roberto Giolito, designer of the 500 and head of styling for the Fiat brand, confirmed the plans here last week at the launch of the 500C convertible.
The sporty hatchback is the Abarth version of the 500 hatchback, the popular 2008 European Car of the Year that Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne calls "our iPod."
The 500, which debuted in Europe in 2007, is scheduled to go on sale in the United States in the first half of 2011, said Fiat brand CEO Lorenzo Sistino. Production in North America is expected to begin in early 2011 at a Chrysler plant either in the United States or in Toluca, Mexico.
At 139.6 inches, the 500 hatchback is 33 inches longer than the Smart ForTwo but seats four adults instead of the ForTwo's two. The 500 is about 10 inches shorter than Toyota's Yaris hatchback.
On the wagon version, the wheelbase is stretched 3.1 inches, to 93.7 inches.
(Source: Automotive News)
Which car is faster: the Porsche 911 GT2 or the Corvette ZR1? These two cars go head-to-head in a performance race to see which is quicker in a mile.
The Karma is a plug-in hybrid with four doors and a GT-style body.
(Credit: CNET)Among the different alternative-fuel strategies playing out, Henrik Fisker is betting big on plug-in hybrids. At a recent dinner speech, he said plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs, will be the dominant type of car for the next 10 to 15 years. And he has reason to hope that will be the case as his start-up company, Fisker Automotive, launches the Karma sedan, with its PHEV power train, in June of next year.
Fisker gained fame as an automotive designer for BMW, where he came up with the stunning Z8, and with Aston Martin, designing the DB9 and Vantage. This background explains the very nonsedan looks of the the Karma, which is styled like a GT.
Henrik Fisker speaks about his favorite topic, cars.
(Credit: CNET)But starting up a car company is no easy task, and Fisker says it wouldn't have been possible 10 years ago. And not only are the troubles of current major automakers creating an opening, but the pressing need to reduce our reliance on oil is allowing a new era of automotive innovation.
The big automakers have an infrastructure that would be very hard to build up without huge amounts of capital, so Fisker Automotive went about designing the Karma by looking for preexisting parts. Early on, the company partnered with Southern California-based Quantum Technologies, which had already built a series hybrid-drive concept for the military.
This hybrid system, called Q-Drive, uses two rear-drive motors, a lithium ion battery pack that runs longitudinally down the center of the car, and a gasoline engine as a range extender under the hood. The Q-Drive produces 400 horsepower and has already undergone significant testing by Quantum Technologies.
Fisker Automotive isn't building the engine, either, instead purchasing it from GM. It's a turbocharged four-cylinder currently being used in the Pontiac Solstice GXP. The battery pack will come from Enerdel, and the Karma will be built on a contract basis by the Finnish company, Valmet. Having another company actually build the cars might seem questionable, but Valmet already proved itself as a contract builder with the Porsche Boxster and Cayman.
The Karma is supposed to go 50 miles on electric power only, after which the engine will kick in to power the electric motor. The driver will be able to choose between stealth and sport modes, as Fisker calls them, with the latter relying on more electricity generated by the gas engine to go from 0 to 60 mph in under 6 seconds. Fisker pointed out that the power train is currently being tested around the company's Irvine, California headquarters in pick-up truck mules.
A solar roof will come standard in the vehicle, which, in a sunny climate, adds 7 to 8 miles per week of drive time. Cabin technology in the Karma is controlled with a 10.5-inch touch screen with haptic feedback.
The Karma will be offered in three trims, dubbed Eco Standard, Eco Sport, and Eco Chic, ranging from $80,400 to $98,900, after a $7,500 PHEV tax credit. The Eco Chic model does away with leather seats standard in the other models in favor of vegetarian-friendly materials and salvaged wood.
Fisker also said the company is working on a new model, with the idea that it would be an affordable mass-market car, but still using the Q-Drive PHEV system.
(Credit: BMW of North America)BMW's flagship 7 Series will be updated for the 2010 model year with two all-wheel drive variants on the 750i and long wheelbase 750Li. In line with BMW's naming scheme, the new models will be known as the 750i xDrive and the 750Li xDrive.
The 7 Series xDrive models' all-wheel drive-system will be tuned for an emphasis on performance. Specifically, the system will identify and limit understeer and maintain neutral handling with a combination of torque shifting (up to 80 percent to the rear axle), throttle control, and rear-corner braking.
According to BMW, the "enhancements to xDrive ensure that the 750i xDrive and 750Li xDrive will be two of the most nimble all-wheel drive sedans available in any vehicle segment." When you consider the size of the 7 Series, that's a pretty big boast.
The M Sport package adds a series of handling and aesthetic upgrades.
(Credit: BMW of North America)Additionally, the 7 Series will gain an optional M Sport package, which includes handling and aesthetic upgrades. Here's what you get:
"The M Sport Package includes an M steering wheel, lift-reducing aerodynamic kit, Active Roll Stabilization (RWD only), Shadowline trim, Anthracite headliner and 19" wheels with ultra-high performance tires. 20" wheels with ultra-high performance tires are available at additional cost. Carbon Black Metallic exterior paint is available with the new M Sport Package."
The 750i xDrive and 750Li xDrive, as well as the M Sport package upgrade for all 7 Series models, will be available in fall 2009 as 2010 models.
So far this week we've taken a look at some bad ass cars that have come from the good ol' US of A. So far we've seen some Chevys and some Fords, but I think it' due time for Dodge to represent. So here we go with video of a fine Dodge Charger to add a little spice to your system.
The '68 Dodge Charger should be up there with your classic Mustangs and Camaros for your top tier American muscle cars. Here in this video we get a prime example of classic American steel on wheels. We get views of the car's exterior and inside of the car's interior as we go for a ride around the neighborhood. This particular car is among my favorite Dodges ever made, and given that this performance car was later tapped as the main ride for The Dukes of Hazzard, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this car is an American dream of power and performance.
