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Ford and solar-panel maker SunPower have created a solar-powered electric-car package.

Buyers of Ford's electric vehicles will have an option to have SunPower's rooftop solar panels installed for about $10,000 after a federal tax rebate. The companies estimate that the 2.5-kilowatt array will generate enough juice, about 3,000 kilowatt-hours a year, to fuel a car for about 1,000 miles a month of driving.

The "Drive Green for Life" program means drivers can cut the cord on fossil fuels by generating power during the day and charging at night, according to the companies. … Read more

Rather than cranking up a generator during a blackout, Nissan Leaf drivers may be able to tap into the electric car's batteries.

Nissan earlier this week unveiled its Nissan Leaf to Home system, which it plans to commercialize in Japan within a year.

The system uses the Leaf charging station to draw from the car's lithium ion batteries and feed current into a home's electricity distribution panel. The 24 kilowatt-hours of energy storage in the Leaf is enough to power an average Japanese home, which uses about half the energy of an average U.S. household, for … Read more

Tesla's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and Model S Program Director Jerome Guillen announced on the company's blog that they've begun working on Beta versions of the Model S sedan.

Tesla is breaking up the vehicle's development into two stages: Alpha and Beta. Earlier this year Tesla revealed the Alpha version of the electric sedan. In a recent blog post on the company's Web site, von Holzhausen and Guillen said that they've begun assembling the Beta versions of the vehicle to help them prepare for the preproduction of the vehicle that is expected to … Read more

General Motor's venture arm said today it has invested $7.5 million in solar company Sunlogics and will purchase its solar arrays for GM facilities and dealerships.

Sunlogics will use the money to ramp up its operations, including solar panel production in Michigan and Ontario. The company, based in Rochester Hills, Mich., makes panels using thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells. It also installs and owns solar projects for corporations using its panels.

As part of the investment, GM will install solar canopies at its dealerships and business. It also signed a power purchase agreement in which it will buy … Read more

SolarCity said today that it will begin to offer installation services for solar-powered EV chargers compatible with any electric vehicle currently on the market.

To do so, the company is partnering with EV charger manufacturer ClipperCreek, which will supply chargers that use the standard SAE-J1772 charge cable.

Installation of a 240-volt Level II charger, which typically charges an EV battery to full capacity in about four hours, for a home or business will start at $1,500 including the price of the charger, according to SolarCity.

SolarCity said the offer is not just an add-on for customers who have the … Read more

Long-struggling electric car maker Think has been acquired by one of its investors, Russian businessman Boris Zingarevich, who plans to relaunch the company again.

Norway-based Think, which makes a small all-electric sedan, had filed for bankruptcy for the third time last month after failing to raise money to continue operating. According to a statement from Think today, a court-appointed trustee picked Zingarevich as the winning bidder for Think's assets. That includes Think North America and Think U.K., which are separate entities and had not filed for bankruptcy.

The move creates a new Norway-based company called Electric Mobility Solutions … Read more

Nissan Leaf owners may be happy to know that after their vehicle's battery is retired, in its second life it will be put to good use, still powering EVs.

Nissan and 4R Energy Corporation announced development of a new solar-powered charging station that uses old Leaf batteries to store solar energy. The test station was revealed last week at Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. Three 50kW fast chargers and four standard EV chargers draw energy from the equivalent of five 24kWh Leaf battery packs that get their energy not from the grid, but from photovoltaic cells mounted … Read more

Nissan today launched the 2012 model of the Leaf electric sedan, adding more features and a bigger price tag starting at $35,200.

The automaker said it will start taking new reservations on August 4 for the 2012 model year Leaf and make it available beyond its initial launch market to new states in the southeast and Illinois.

The upcoming all-electric Leaf will come in two trim levels and make popular options of the 2011 Leaf standard. The suggested retail price for the SV trim is $35,200, which is $2,420 more than this year's model, and the … Read more

AAA today announced roadside assistance for electric vehicles, addressing an industry-wide concern over the limited range of all-electric cars.

The motor club unveiled its AAA Roadside Assistance service for EVs at the Plug-In 2011 electric vehicle conference, saying that six metropolitan areas will each pilot-test a truck starting this summer. The intent is to give drivers a limited amount of drive time to get them out of a jam and to a charging station, according to AAA.

The mobile chargers will be Level 2 and Level 3 chargers, which means they operate faster than a normal household outlet. Ten to … Read more