Archive for February 5th, 2010

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, North America

British Columbia, especially the area around Vancouver, has been heavy into fuel cells thanks to local companies like Ballard (see: those Olympic fuel cell buses). Plug-in electric vehicles are getting noticed there, though, thanks to a push to bring in the Nissan Leaf and to mandate the installation of electrical vehicle (EV) charging ports in new parking garages. Now, Greenscape (through its wholly owned subsidiary Green.Switch Capital) and Garage Juice Bar have announced they will bring a province-wide EV charging station network to British Columbia. The network is ambitious, with the idea being to “fully link” the entire province with EV charging stations in, get this, one year. The first stations will be up and running in 30 days and the entire thing will be privately financed.

What does it mean to fully link the area? Greenscape Capital says it:

will link all of British Columbia through the installation of EV charging stations on properties owned or operated by existing Greenscape energy retrofit clients and on other third-party locations. … Greenscape and The Juice Bar will be implementing single stall EV plug-in kiosks, installable at parking garages and other strategic locations. … EV plug-in kiosks create significant marketing advantages and brand-building opportunities for the current Greenscape partners installing them on location. Kiosk installations are targeted to become part of all future Greenscape energy retrofits in the parking industry.

This all sounds good, but there’s a chance that Greenscape Capital is going to be disappointed a little ways down the road. Their press release says that “Some estimates suggest that up to 60% of all vehicles purchased by 2025 will be plug-in hybrid electric or electric vehicles.” Um, that’s a little high, even for George Pataki.
Thanks to David for the tip!

[Source: Greenscape Capital]

Continue reading British Columbia getting ambitious plug-in vehicle recharging network

British Columbia getting ambitious plug-in vehicle recharging network originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Audi

Audi has gone the typical swirly exterior applique route with its upcoming new Mini-fighting A1 hatchback, but our intrepid spy photographers still managed to snap off a series of shots that show the premium little city car out and about undergoing shake-down testing.

Judging from these photos, it’s clear that Audi’s smallest vehicle will retain the German automaker’s trademark headlights and their bottom row of LED highlights, along with its customary gaping grille and fascia. We’re also a wee bit intrigued to see why Audi was so careful in concealing the area behind the side windows.

We’ll see the rest of the A1 in all its minicar glory early next month at the Geneva Motor Show, but until then, these are the best spy shots of the car that we’re likely to see. Check ‘em out for yourself in our high-res image gallery below.

[Images: KGP Photography]

Spy Shots: Audi A1 about as naked as its gonna get originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hummer, Toyota

Those of you who are still following our ongoing coverage of the Toyota recall saga already know that the Japanese automaker has taken a direct blow to the chin when it comes to consumer perception. But just how low has Toyota sunk? Naturally, that depends on who you ask and on how much weight that person choose to put behind these massive recalls, but at least some of you seem to think the automaker has descended all the way to rock bottom.

According to YouGov BrandIndex – which we were admittedly not familiar with until running across this interesting little nugget – Toyota’s -17.1 rating on February 3rd put the automaker below more traditional bottom-feeders like Hummer, which scored a -10.7 on the very same day. Just two weeks ago, the very same poll had Toyota up near the top with a positive perception rating of 28. It may not be the most meaningful statistic you’ll run across today, but it’s an interesting sidebar nonetheless.

Tired of Toyota recall news? Try out the recall-free version of Autoblog.

[Source: PRWeek US]

Has Toyota’s brand perception eroded below that of Hummer? At least one survey thinks so originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Next up, a cruise control glitch?

Over the last few days I’ve come across a few references to some problems that Steve Wozniak, Apple Co-Founder, has had with his latest Toyota Prius. This morning I finally read a story thanks to an e-mail from reader Steve.

Wozniak claims he can easily repeat a situation in cruise control when he can make the the Prius unintentionally accelerate. Fortunately, the situation can be controlled with braking, assuming the report is true. Ultimately, in Wozniak’s professional opinion, the Prius cruise control software needs an upgrade.

Despite his claims of repeatability, Wozniak was not able to convince either Toyota or the NHTSA that there is a problem. Moreover, Toyota claims it investigated Wozniak’s claim – an assumption I’m making as Toyota responded that they investigate all complaints – but was not able to find any evidence of such a problem.

I don’t get it. If Wozniak can repeat the issue at will, how can neither Toyota nor the NHTSA find a problem? Is Wozniak tricking the system in a way that only one of the world’s most infamous software engineers would attempt? Anybody have any more details on how Wozniak can force the Prius to accelerate unintentionally while in cruise control?

The 2010 LOMA- Performance Chevrolet Corvette C6 BlackforceOne is indeed something to watch out for. This $282,570 sports car has a V8 engine and twin turbochargers. Maximum acceleration can easily be reached at approximately 3.4 seconds and runs at a maximum of 783 horsepower.

By its name, it is quite apparent that the C6.BlackforceOne is inspired [...]