UPS Goes Electric

UPS, the major delivery chain, has two all electric vehicles operating in New York City. You can spot the difference because there is no radiator grille on the front, and the side panel says "Zero Emission Electric Vehicle." When the truck's drivers was asked about the truck, he said it had a 15 mile range. AutoblogGreen has a few pictures of the truck, including the front and side panels. No more details are available right now as to if this program will be expanding.


Link: AutoblogGreen

Treehugger's 17 Electric Cars You Should Know About

Treehugger, one of my favorite green websites, published a story today called "17 Electric Cars You Must Know About," many of which we have covered here on Electric Cars Now!, including GM's EV1, Mitsubishi's iMiev, and BYD's E6. The story has pictures and a short description of most of the cars. Head on over to Treehugger with the link below to check out the full story.


Link: Treehugger

Chrysler Electric Car 3 To 5 Years Away

Dodge Zeo Concept

Chrysler might not have had the best first quarter this year, with sales plummeting 22%, but here is some good news. Nick Cappa, a Chrysler spokesperson, said in an e-mail to the Detroit Free Press that they are "...planning on product within three to five years," and that product being an electric car. This comes at a time when GM hopes to have their Chevy Volt on the road in 2 years, Toyota working on a plug-in version of their Prius hybrid, and a variety of small electric car makers such as Tesla and Miles are working on their own electric sedans.

Nick Cappa also said; "If you want to go ahead and make everything a full hybrid system, fine, but what if you can turn everything into a range-extended vehicle and take it beyond the 2020 campaign for 35 miles per gallon? The new technology ENVI is developing could do that." ENVI is Chrysler's unit working on developing electric drivetrain.


Link: AutoblogGreen

Mercedes To Go Petroleum Free By 2015 (Yes, You Read That Right)

Mercedes-Benz F700 Concept

This is something that I think is very amazing. By 2015 (only 7 years away!) Mercedes-Benz plans to have no cars that run on petroleum. Instead, they will use batteries, fuel cells, or biofuels.

Mercedes is currently testing cars that run on alone on batteries, and cars that run on fuel cells. They hope to launch both at the beginning of the decade.

This is great news, but the sad truth is that most cars will still use gas by the time 2015 rolls around.


Link: AutoblogGreen

Electric Car News From London!

We have some new electric car news fresh out of London!

1. The City of London has been doing a free parking for electric car parking program for some time now, but that program is coming to an end. The City of London is "...concerned that the free parking has encouraged car use instead of the use of public transport, walking and cycling and does not consider this to be desirable in the highly congested traffic conditions prevailing in the City." It's too bad that a terrific program like this has to end. Click here for link.
   
2. London's Metropolitan Police Service (known as the Met) is testing a new program involving all electric smart cars. The smart car, known for its small size, recently came to the U.S. in a gas powered version. The electric smart, pictured above, can go 70 miles per charge at a top speed off 60 m.p.h. The two test cars that will be deployed in Central London and Heathrow Airport, are said to get the equivalent of 300 m.p.g. Click here for link.
   

Everything Chevy Volt - News Roundup From The Past Month

You might have noticed that during the past month there were no posts, so we thought we would do a few summary posts, to inform you what you missed while we were away.

1. AutoblogGreen reports that the gas tank on the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt will be less than originally announced 18 months ago. The car originally had a 12 gallon gas tank with a total of 640 mile range, now it is expected to have an 8 gallon tank with a 300-360 mile range. Click here for link.
2. GM announced that the price of $30,000 originally expected for the Volt won't be a reality, unless there are major tax breaks. Click here for link.
   

Sorry for not posting the past month, but were back in business!

Thank You To The Newsbreak Times!

Our editor and publisher, Mitchell Handler, recently had the honor of posting an editorial for an article on The Newsbreak Times. The editorial was for the article "Bush Administration Refuses to Regulate Greenhouse Gases", which focuses on the Bush administration's lack of action when it comes to global warming.

The Newsbreak Times, which is run by Michael Cheung, has been an Electric Cars Now! affiliate since the beginning. The Newsbreak Times is updated regularly, and each post is viewed by hundreds. Find the article here.

Solar Panels Coming To A Prius Near You

*Please Note: The above picture is Car and Driver's rendered speculation of the next generation Prius and is NOT official from Toyota.*

Toyota has announced that the third generation Prius, to be unveiled next year at the Detroit Auto Show, will have a solar panel option. The solar cells won't significantly charge the battery, but they will be able to power accessories, like the air conditioning. This would also slightly increase mileage.


Link: AutoblogGreen

"Revenge Of The Electric Car" WIll Eventually Becoming To A Theatre Near You

Hopefully you have seen the movie "Who Killed The Electric Car?", if you haven't hopefully you have read our page about it. Well, Chris Paine, the director of that movie, is preparing his sequel, tentatively title "Revenge Of The Electric Car". The movie right now is scheduled for a 2009 release.

It is not clear what it will the movie will focus on. "Who Killed The Electric Car?" focused on the death of GM's EV1, so it is possible the new movie will focus on Chevy's Volt.


Link: AutoblogGreen

Everything Mitsubishi iMiev - News Roundup From The Past Month

You might have noticed that during the past month there were no posts, so we thought we would do a few summary posts, to inform you what you missed while we were away.

1. Mitsubishi's iMiev electric car (pictured above) sounds promising, at least in Japan. The company announced that the retail launch could be in 2010 with 2,000 units, and as many as 10,000 in two years. There was no word on availability here in the States. Click here for link.
2. Mitsubishi has launched a micro site for its iMiev, which can be found here. (Link found via AutoblogGreen)

Sorry for not posting the past month, but were back in business! Stay tuned for more of these summary posts coming soon!

Everything Tesla - News Roundup From The Past Month

You might have noticed that during the past month there were no posts, so we thought we would do a few summary posts, to inform you what you missed while we were away.

1. An orange Tesla Roadster (pictured above) was found in a Richmond, CA parking lot. While a few of the Roadsters have been delivered to owners, this one is most likely a prototype. Click here for link.
2. If you plan on getting an electric car with a long range, plan on getting a high capacity outlet. Tesla says their Roadster could take up to 30 hours to charge with a standard living room outlet. Click here for link.
3. While California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was paying a visit to Tesla, we learned that they will be receiving special tax breaks from the state of California. We also found out that the Tesla sedan, codenamed "Model S" will go on sale for about $60,000 with a 225 mile range. No availability was announced. Click here for link.

Sorry for not posting the past month, but were back in business! Stay tuned for more of these summary posts coming soon!