Clean Transportation News Link Love

---

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

---

Here’s some more clean transportation news from around the interwebs from the past week or so:

Electric Vehicles

Toyota’s Scion iQ EV Joins Car-Sharing Craze: “A new electric vehicle from Toyota, the he 2013 Scion iQ EV, is going to be used for urban and campus car-sharing programs. This is a battery-electric car with 4 seats that is aimed at urban commuters. About 90 of the vehicles will go to car-sharing fleets, to start.”

Cadillac ELR, Based Off Chevy Volt, To Roll Out In 2013: “GM is developing a Cadillac version of the Chevy Volt, and word is that it will hit the market in late 2013.”

Nissan’s Supercharged Hybrid Drivetrain To Debut In 2014 Infiniti JX: “Once upon a time, hybrid cars were boring. But as we move deeper into the 21st century, automakers are realizing the potential hybrid vehicle drivetrains represent. As previously reported, Nissan is working on a hybrid drivetrain paired with a supercharged engine. Now comes word that this system will make its debut in the 2014 Infiniti JX crossover.”

First All-Electric Taxi Fleet Could Hit Roads In US: “A futuristic-looking fleet of all-electric cabs may soon be plugged in and driving on the streets of Arlington, Virginia, near the nation’s capital, a sign the environmentally-friendly vehicles are slowly catching on as a viable means of transportation in the US.”

Furtive eGT EV Hits 149 MPH in Germany: “The racing driver Sabine Schmitz has tested the battery-electric Furtive eGT sports car from Exagon Motors (earlier post) on the Nordschleife (north loop) of the Nürburgring, achieving a top speed of nearly 240 km/h (149 mph) on the 20 kilometer long Nordschleife. The Furtive eGT, introduced earlier this year at the Paris Motor Show, features motors from Siemens and batteries from Saft.”

Hertz Puts Customers In Charge With Electric Vehicle Campaign: “During the next month, The Hertz Corporation (NYSE: HTZ) is partnering with Mission Electric, an outreach campaign co-founded by the City of New York, to give New Yorkers a vote on which neighborhoods in their city should receive new Electric Vehicles (EVs) to rent through Hertz. Based on the results, the most popular locations will each receive a Hertz On Demand EV to rent by the hour or by the day.”

Germany Will Be Home to Europe’s Largest Battery Factory: “Europe’s largest battery cell factory is under construction in the German state of Saxony. The Federal Government is optimistic that the production of high performance lithium based batteries could revolutionize the automotive industry. Germany Trade & Invest will have experts at this year’s Batteries 2012 event in Nice from October 24 to 26, 2012 to inform visitors about the latest business opportunities in the industry.”

EIB loans Bollore 75 million euros to expand Autolib electric carsharing program: “It looks like Parisian electric-vehicle car-sharing service Autolib just got some more juice. The European Investment Bank (EIB) loaned France-based conglomerate Bollore 75 million euros ($98 million) to expand its Autolib service throughout the French capital. Last year, Bollore received a 130 million euro loan from the EIB for electricity-storage investments.”

Elon Musk Steps Up To Defend Tesla Dealership Program: “It recently came to light that Tesla Motors was coming under fire for opening several company-owned dealerships in areas like Boston and New York City. This has traditional franchise dealership associations up in arms, with lawsuits flying Tesla’s way. Elon Musk, chairman and CEO of the electric automaker, has taken to his blog to explain why Tesla Motors must sell cars differently. Tesla recently opened stores in both Boston and New York City. While 48 states have laws against automaker-owned dealerships, there is a loophole that Tesla can exploit because it is not competing with any other franchise-owned Tesla dealerships. The way the law is written, automakers can’t compete with existing dealerships… but if there are no dealerships to compete with, no problem, right?#8221;

Bicycling

Study Finds Bicycle Infrastructure Reduces Risk Of Cycling Injuries: “With Vancouver’s Bike to Work Week coming near, the University of British Columbia has just released a new study that cites bicycle infrastructure as playing an important role in decreasing cycling accidents. The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health.”

More Evidence on the Growth of the Bicycle Economy: “A number of reports over the last few years have illustrated the economic benefits of building bicycling infrastructure: from job creation to reductions in health care spending, investment in bike lanes and paths (as well as walking infrastructure) pays off. Now the League of American Bicyclists has updated its 2009 study The Economic Benefits of Bicycle Infrastructure Investments, and the news continues to impress. Bicycle manufacturing, infrastructure development, and bike-focused tourism are still strong bets in an economy still struggling to grow. Nearby bicycling facilities even improve home values.”

120,000 People, 0 Cars: “For a short time on Sunday, streets were liberated from automobiles in Los Angeles and Atlanta — and thousands of residents flooded into their reclaimed public space. With the roads closed to cars, more than 100,000 Angelenos and 20,000 Atlantans took advantage by biking, walking and celebrating community in a variety of creative and active ways. Both initiated in 2010, CicLAvia and Atlanta Streets Alive are just two of the growing number of open streets events nationwide. In fact, according to the Alliance for Biking & Walking’s Open Streets Project, the movement in North America has grown from only 11 initiatives in 2005 to more than 80 this year.” (Great LA Times picture at the link above.)

Other

Europe’s Vibrant New Low Car(bon) Communities: “ITDP has issued a new report that examines eight new developments across Europe and finds that the design and policy measures these developments have employed to limit car use are working. These developments have lower rates of car ownership and car mode share, and higher rates of bicycling, walking and transit use than comparable areas or their surrounding cities. This also means these developments have lower carbon footprints from transportation.”

Andrew Steer – Reflections On The 8th International Congress On Sustainable Transport: “Who said urban transport was boring? Certainly not the 1,100 people who recently gathered in Mexico City at the 8th annual International Congress on Sustainable Transport. The event, organized by colleagues at EMBARQ Mexico, brought together leading government officials, practitioners, academics, and other professionals to explore lessons and find new solutions to global transportation challenges. I was amazed by the energy and excitement that pervaded the event and by the ideas and innovations emerging in this field.”