Plug-In

The upcoming Chevy Volt is going to have the ability to communicate with you via an Iphone App.  The application will sync with the Volt's OnStar system, allowing its owner to monitor everything from the charging schedule to pre-set temperature settings inside the car (!).  A list of the functionalities can be seen below: * Display the car's charging status and schedule charging. There is also an immediate "charge now" override option * Display of the car' state of charge, as well as electric ...

Hitachi, Japan's largest industrial electronics manufacturer, is devoting significant resources to capture the global car battery market.   Already, they are able to boast of the 100,000 hybrid car order that GM has placed for its lithium-ion batteries.  But, of course, that is not enough.   The Tokyo-based corporation is ramping up its capacity in order to accommodate the needs of 700,000 electric vehicles a year, a gain of 600%. The Nikkei Business Daily has estimated the expansion costs at between $200 and ...

General Motors opened this week what's being called the largest battery factory in the U.S.  But before we start to analyze the numbers, let's first get them all listed: The new Global Battery Systems Lab is located at the Warren Technical Center campus on the outskirts of Detroit. According to information coming from the company, it cost GM $25 million to construct, takes up 33,000 square feet, and employs over 1,000 engineers. The facility will operate 42 thermal chambers and 160 test channels ...

Questions loom over the fate of the Chevy Volt as General Motors prepares to file for bankruptcy tomorrow, June 1st 2009.    Based on GM's worldwide assets of $91 billion and liabilities of $176 billion, the bankruptcy would be  the third largest in U.S. history, behind Lehman Brothers and Worldcom. There have been several prominent speculations over whether GM will abandon its plug-in program.   Keith Johnson, writing for the Wall Street Journal, has come out saying he believes the Volt will be ...

Called "The Business of Plugging In", the conference will be held from October 19-21 at the MotorCity Hotel and Conference Center.  It will bring together various interest groups to discuss the future of plug-in electric vehicles. "This conference will foster the dialogue among utilities, automakers, regulators, universities and other stakeholders to assess the environmental impacts of PEVs and to assist with the understanding of how widespread adoption of electric vehicles will impact the electric system," said Al Fields of DTE, an energy company. An ...

In an interview with Prabhakar Patil, the Chief Executive of Compact Power, the battery maker claims that his company is on track to providing lithium-ion batteries to power GM's upcoming Volt plug-in vehicle. Despite the financial troubles of the U.S. automaker, Patil says that he has not noticed any loss of commitment, claiming that "From GM's side, it's their highest priority program."  Compact Power is a subsidiary of  LG Chem, Ltd., a South Korean battery supplier. This statement, coming from a close supplier with ...

Standing for P.ersonal U.rban M.obility and A.ccessibility, a prototype was released Tuesday, April 7th in New York for a public demonstration.  This unlikely off-spring of the two disparate companies is either a visionary solution for the crowded streets of urban areas around the globe (claims made by the earlier Segway owner), or a hail-mary project that the executives of GM hope can attract some positive coverage and help their current dismal situation. General Motors is currently preparing for bankruptcy,  as a ...