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Shenzhen Limits Car Registrations Even as China Extends Electric-Car Incentives
The uncontrolled air pollution in China forces its national government and municipal authorities to put a stop on gasoline car registrations for now. China is aggressively enacting measures that will encourage the adoption of green cars by its citizens.
Zero Electric Motorcycles Aggressively Increases 2015 Production

It has never been this busy at the manufacturing facility of Zero Motorcycles in Scotts-Valley. This electric motorcycle manufacturer is currently increasing its production big time.

The company is hiring more workers and has been sprucing up its manufacturing processes in the last couple of months – all in anticipation of increase in demand from its dealers and customers.

With the upcoming release of its 2015 models, Zero Motorcycles is readying itself for the expected rise in demand. These current Zero electric motorcycles are being completed coinciding with the recent plant refurbishments that the company has undertaken.

“A call to Hollywood Electrics, its top US dealership, confirms that this year’s pre-orders are up and, indeed, that it recently announced a deal with the Burbank Police Department to supply that agency with some new patrol models from Zero,” explains a blog entry in Autoblog Green.

“Of course, the company has an international reach and it also [...]

Air Force Conducts First Ever Tests On EV Fleet
The LA Air Force Base has begun testing an EV fleet with a two-way power flow during late 2014.

This has marked a first concerning a federal facility replacing their entire fleet with plug-in electric vehicles, where most have bidirectional capacities which allow them to take part within the energy markets of California.

The fleet consists of 42 vehicles (including both electric and plug-in hybrid varieties), such as sedans and even a twelve-passenger van. 36 of the 42 have the ability to conduct a power exchange between itself and the grid, as such they will offer a demand response as well as ancillary services, this will afford the base a chance to generate some revenue in order to offset certain expenses regarding the project.

The aim of the program is to meet the Defence Departments goal of leading a cleaner and greener existence in the form of reducing reliance on fossil fuels, reducing fleet costs [...]

Average Lifetime Costs of EV’s Are Within 10% Of Gas Run Vehicles

The hefty price tag (electric car cost) when first purchasing an electric vehicle are one of the reasons such cars lose their glossiness and attractiveness within the market.

Such reasons have been proved otherwise by a releases study (by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) which has compared the prices of the Nissan Leaf (NASDAQ: NSANY) as well as the Chevy Volt (2013 model) against comparable gas run vehicles in the market at that time.

The results are great for those wishing to live greener, as the two plug-ins were within 10% of gas run vehicles, both gas and hybrids. Because the gasoline prices are not stable, it’s one of the factors that could alter and effect this balance, though state and federal incentives as well as capital costs of the cars are even more imperative to take into account. Driving and maintenance also played a role in the findings.

In order to take into account [...]

Homes Need To Be Prewired Electric Vehicle Adoption

The adoption of electric cars within U.S has been slow to increase in popularity due to the cost of such vehicles as well as the lack of infrastructure needed to maintain them. The city of Palo Alto, located in California has adopted a plan of action with regards to having homes prewired for their convenience of charging all electric vehicles.

The city envisions that such regulations will save on costs for homeowners (as well as speed up the development of lacking infrastructure) by requiring each newly private residence construction to be prewired for the ease of EV charging stations.

For America to achieve its dream of one-of-a kind eco-friendly communities and cities, those taking part in green and clean construction must think out of the box in order to get started. Visions of what type of future they want must focus on providing the correct infrastructure that will aid in living a greener lifestyle concerning [...]

New Leaf purchasers may join the program and receive two years free EV charging
Driving a Nissan Leaf already saves the drivers on gas costs (which lets admit can be very unstable at the best of times), but now said drivers will also benefit and save from Nissan’s “No Charge to Charge” project.

This will allow consumers of such electric vehicles to not worry about paying for the electrons that power up their Leaf while on the road. The project is being expanded from close to ten U.S Markets to more than 25 by June 2015. The possibility to expand further us always there too.

New Leaf purchasers may join the program and receive two years free EV charging at any participating station, which many also offer quicker DC charging options.

“The popularity of ‘No Charge to Charge’ since our April 2014 announcement shows that public charging spurs range confidence and additional LEAF sales,” Brendan Jones, director of Nissan electric vehicle sales and infrastructure, said in a statement.

The [...]

Orlando’s tourists will actually be able to experience the thrill of driving an EV

We have all heard about the functioning and amazing mechanics regarding electric cars, though for most people these cars still seem too futuristic for everyday use when compared to normal gasoline run vehicles. This lack of cognizance concerning electric cars, coupled with the hefty price tag, are two of the most important reasons as to why adoption of EV’s are slow to gain momentum.

Electric cars drive as normal cars do, the only (and major) difference is the fact that they are powered by electrons. These cars are immensely pleasant to drive around in, but such experiences are not experienced by the vast majority of people.

Orlando (for the reasons stated above) has decided to bring together more than thirty hotels, car rental companies, its convention centre, travel agencies and three of the major theme parks found in the city, namely, Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Studios, in order to build the infrastructure needed so [...]

Texas Law Doesn’t Allow Tesla to Directly Sell EVs to Consumers

Law makers have failed to vote in a two-month effort bills which will allow Tesla Motors to sell electric vehicles directly to their clients.

The current law actually prevents factory-owned companies from selling directly to the public, these bills would have made an exemption to it. These two Tesla driven bills didn’t even make it to the floor, indicating that the company had a very long wait before they can bring it before the Texas Legislators again during this year. The first attempt was made in 2013.

Tesla has a way of bending such rules in Texas by having retail outlets where potential buyers may learn about the company, though the staff employed are not allowed to engage in any direct sales of any sorts.

The company has taken up the matter within other states as well, where it has seen some success, such as in Massachusetts and New York. It’s also won at least [...]

New Small Players Threaten the Giants of the Car Industry

Before Henry Ford’s mass production of cars, only the rich were able to afford automobiles. But as soon as the Model T cars were introduced, they were brought closer to the masses. Immediately, cars made a great impact to the transport vehicle market, with horses that were made to pull carriages finally given their well-deserved rest.

These days, the digital tech creates a similar impact, having a major effect on the newspaper, music, and most other media aspects. Having a greater influence is the smartphone, which gives users the chance to use their preferred apps and become e-connected, for instance.

Many people consider the car as the bigger brother mobile version.  “Cars already contain so much more digital content, much of the value of the car and the cost of developing a car is related to the digital technology in some way or another. When it comes to lowering fuel consumption or new safety features [...]

Factory Workers in Belgium Beg for Tesla Takeover

Global car sales have never been higher these past years. However, in many countries in Europe, carmakers are experiencing overcapacity. When Ford shut down its auto plant in Genk, Belgium in October, 2012, a number of its workers tried to persuade Tesla to turn it into its new factory.

On the “Welkom Tesla” website, a former Ford engineer, LievenSmeyers, wrote an open letter to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors. As reported in the Tesla Mondo, Smeyers outlined his reasons why Musk may want to purchase the former Ford factory.

He boasted that the Genk plant was once the “crown jewel” of the European operations of Ford Motors.  Smeyers mentioned that the factory has been running for 50 years, and approximately 14 million cars rolled out from its assembly lines.

He also mentioned that the plant employed as many as 4,300 people full time, and another 5,000 contractual workers were supplied by local job placement [...]

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