More EV News (LEAF #1 In Norway Again, LG Chem + Tesla, Mitsubishi eX Concept Unveiled…)

I know I just dropped a massive EV news roundup on you two days ago, but here’s more just from the past couple of days…

Nissan LEAF #1 In Norway Again

My trip to Florida for the EV Technology & Transportation Summit has delayed this report a bit, but I squeezed it in before the end of the month. The exciting bit of the story is that the Nissan LEAF pulled back in front of theVolkswagen e-Golf in September. For the year through September, though, the e-Golf still has a giant lead.

Mitsubishi eX EV Concept Unveiled At Tokyo Motor Show

Mitsubishi has revealed a new electric crossover concept vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show, according to recent reports. The new concept — the eX — features a 45 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack and two 70 kilowatt (kW) electric motors, one on both axles (140 kW) combined output. Total range for the concept is reportedly ~250 miles.

How Cell Phones Enabled The EV Revolution

As many of you know, I enjoy looking back at electric car history. Electric cars, technically, date back to the early 1800s. It is expected the first land vehicle steered using a wheel was an electric car (in 1890–1891). Regenerative braking was invented and implemented before 1900! In the first known auto race, an electric car won (in 1895). The first US car dealer only sold electric cars (again, in 1895). The first car with power steering was an electric car (built in 1897). Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s first car was an electric car (built in 1898 when he was 23 years old and Porsche definitely was not a household name). In 1900, 38% of US automobiles were electric.

Electric Car Sales Plunge After State Tax Credit Repealed

After Georgia repealed its $5,000 electric car tax credit, sales of the Nissan LEAF plunged nearly 90%. Are tax credits good social policy or a giveaway?

The Explosion of Lithium-Ion Batteries

With so many laptops, cell phones, tablets, and so on, it may seem like we’re surrounded by batteries these days. In fact, as Tesla Motors CTO JB Straubel pointed out in a recent presentation at the University of Nevada, it was these consumer electronics that brought lithium-ion battery technology up to a scale where the current EV revolution became possible. But we ain’t seen nothing yet.

China’s Upcoming 5-Year Plan To Call For Rapid EV Adoption?

Predicting what exactly will be included as part of China’s 5-year plans can be an enjoyable experience, even if sometimes a bit “easy.” On that note, as many could probably have guessed, it’s looking increasingly likely that the country will begin pushing harder for electric vehicle adoption.

Honda Unveiling PHEV At Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show begins tomorrow, bringing with it a lot of interesting vehicle reveals and general glitz. Interestingly, the show will apparently see a company not particularly well known for its interest in electric vehicles unveiling a plug-in hybrid — Honda, to be exact.

Survey Results: UK EV Demand Driven By Younger Generation

Electric vehicle demand in the UK seems to be driven mostly by the younger generations, well going by the results of a recent survey conducted by the auto industry and the government-funded Go Ultra Low campaign anyways.

EU Report: EVs Nearing Full-Scale Commercialization

A new report from the European Union’s Joint Research Center has found that the transition from testing + experimentation of electric vehicles in Europe to full-scale commercialization of the technology is now under way.

LG Chem & Tesla Sign Battery Supply Deal

LG Chem will be supplying lithium-ion batteries to Tesla for use in Roadster battery-pack upgrades as part of a new deal between the two companies, according to recent reports.

Tesla Offering Battery Pack Upgrades To Early Model Roadsters As Well Now

Going by a recent email to Roadster owners, Tesla will now be offering battery-pack upgrades to early model Roadsters, as well as to more recent models. Previously, Tesla’s battery-pack upgrade program for the electric sports car was limited to later model years only.

Who Will Actually Manufacture Apple’s & Google’s Autonomous Cars For Them?

While there is still certainly a bit of an open debate going on over whether or not Apple and Google are truly serious about releasing autonomous electric cars themselves, even if the two companies are serious who’s going to do the manufacturing? Foxconn isn’t very well going to build cars for Apple and ship them halfway across the world are they?

The Key to Cheap Electric Cars? Ditch the Steering Wheel

Mark Frohnmayer Loves to drive. But he’s never quite been able to square that passion with his environmental concerns. He just found the idea of using a gas-powered, two-ton contraption to carry a single person a few miles each day absurd. Eight years ago—before the Tesla Roadster hit the market—he decided what he needed was a small electric car that could reliably carry him around his hometown of Eugene, Oregon and was fun to drive. He couldn’t find one, so he decided to design his own.

Nissan Planning For Big Changes In The Coming Years

The Japanese automaker Nissan Motors is gearing up for what it expects to be big changes in the industry over the coming years. The company is expecting for electric vehicle sales to climb to the point that they comprise roughly 10% of the company’s total sales in the near future, based on comments made recently by an exec.

Electric Vehicle Charging Association — EV Charging Companies Form New Trade Association

A new trade association for companies in the electric vehicle charging technologies sector — by the name of the Electric Vehicle Charging Association (EVCA) — has been created by various American companies, according to recent reports.

5 Things We Know About the Apple Car (Which May Not Exist)

Everyone seems to be talking about the new car Apple is developing. Even The Onion did a satire piece on it (see photo, above), giving the car epic features like suggested speed limits, based on the user’s history, and a price of $199, when a 2-year Verizon contract is signed. The best part of it is that some news outlets are picking up bits from The Onion’s parody, and publishing them as if they were fact. There’s a lot of misinformation circulating about the so-called iCar, but what we do know to be fact, really comes down to just five things.

Breakdown of Some Common Tesla (TSLA) Bear Arguments

For some of these arguments, Bears need to pick their issues and stick with their thesis. I see too many complaints that aren’t self consistent. For instance I tune out when people complain that model S/X is an expensive toy for the rich and in the same breath say that we should all be worried about gross margins later due to competition. If TM has pricing power to command $135k pricetags then you cannot pitch gross margin concerns in the same thesis.

Tesla P90D Confuses A Dyno

We’ve posted videos on this sort of thing before, so we might as well continue. Here’s a video of a Tesla P90D confusing a Dyno machine. Enjoy. (Hat tip to “qwertzy” on the Tesla Motors Club forums for this.)

Google Calendar Integration with Model S

So I hop into my car to catch a movie today, and as I’m about to merge into traffic I’m stunned to see a notification on my display offering to navigate me to the theater.

Report: Cost Overruns and Deadline Constraints Plague California High-Speed Rail

At the heart of the financial and deadline challenges facing the $68 billion high-speed rail project are 36 miles of tunneling north of Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles Times analysis that includes interviews with experts on mega-projects.