Plug-In

  While the traditional fossil fuel vehicle is pretty much a dead weight when it’s not in use, electric cars offer promise of increased utility. Automakers have been on a roll finding - and implementing - novel ways of integrating the electric car into our lives. Ford’s foray into sustainable energy partnership with SunPower is one just positive step forward. On August 2nd, Nissan took a similarly bold step forward in increasing the utility of electric cars in our lives with the introduction ...

One of the great hopes behind electrified vehicles is reduced dependence of not only foreign oil, but all polluting energy sources. In a step towards that greater goal, Ford announced that they have teamed up with solar energy panel manufacturer SunPower. While not the first domestic manufacturer to team up with a solar energy provider (GM recently announced a $7.5million investment in Sunlogics), they are the first to provide a customer-centric solution towards decreased grid-dependence. The fruit of the team up is a ...

The American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as H.R. 2354, was opened up for amendments and debate today in Congress.  The legislation is meant to introduce  measures that increase energy efficiency, deploy green technology, and transition the country away from fossil-fuel dependence. The Bill mandates utilities to begin development of plans that support electric vehicle infrastructure and standards for incorporating their integration with a smart power grid.   It also authorizes the Secretary of Energy to provide financial assistance for the ...

You might call them swapping stations, battery cell replacement stations, charging stations or any combination of the above. The important thing is, we will be talking about them soon: there's a $400 million startup company, and billions of dollars in capital set aside by its partners, who are all banking on it.   Their idea?   The future, as they see it, is one where drivers will be provided with ultra-cheap cars and then billed by the mile/kilometer as they move around. ...

- With an electric car plug standard about to be finalized, and charging stations beginning to pop up in the U.S. and Europe, an important question to ask is: How long will it take to fill up a car battery? And like most matters, the answer is, "It depends!" Automobile batteries, whether they are nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion, can be made up of many cells, with larger cell quantities capable of a larger storage capacity. The tradeoff, however, is that cars with more ...

Toyota has announced that it will be releasing about 100 plug-in hybrids in France in a serious effort to optimize its battery technology and learn more about the infrastructure requirements of a large-scale deployment.   EDF Energy, one of the UK's largest energy companies, will monitor all operational aspects of the charging process, taking into account safety, communication between the plug and the vehicle, vehicle identification as well as energy consumption. EDF, along with its subsidiary, Electricité de Strasbourg, will also be setting ...

It's not just the U.S. and multinational automobile CEOs, the advertising executives and car dealerships, the auto magazines and the eager consumers that are anticipating the shift from gas-powered engines to battery-powered electric vehicles, but nationwide, power companies see the upcoming change as a great opportunity, as well as a need for adjustments. The major boon that a surge of plug-ins bring to utilities is as follows:  Their "surplus" power, which is all those electrons that their power sources produce and send through ...