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The Japanese car manufacturer Nissan aims to mass produce electric cars by 2012 with an emphasis on affordability.
It will be releasing its first electric car in Japen later this summer, and in the USA in 2010. The target date for global mass production is 2012.
Nissan is Japan's third biggest car maker. Their EV prototype is discussed in more detail here.
The race is clearly on to produce fully electric cars for the mass market, with Tesla, Toyota and China's Dongfeng Motor Corp all pushing ahead with plans.
In light of President Obama's call for US development of the world's fastest trains, Slate discusses the degeneration of US rail travel since the early 20th Century.
From old train timetables, an indication of the current state of the industry:
"[The] Montreal Limited, for example, circa 1942, would pull out of New York's Grand Central Station at 11:15 p.m., arriving at Montreal's (now defunct) Windsor Station at 8:25 a.m., a little more than nine hours later. To make that journey today, from New York's Penn Station on the Adirondack, requires a nearly 12-hour ride. The trip from Chicago to Minneapolis via the Olympian Hiawatha in the 1950s took about four and a half hours; today, via Amtrak's Empire Builder, the journey is more than eight hours. Going from Brattleboro, Vt., to New York City on the Boston and Maine Railroad's Washingtonian took less than five hours in 1938; today, Amtrak's Vermonter (the only option) takes six hours—if it's on time, which it isn't, nearly 75 percent of the time."
It will be interesting to see whether there is political and popular will to recreate America's railways as a viable alternative to cars. Of course, for vast stretches of the US, automobiles will probably always be the best transportation option, but for densely populated areas, there's no reason that trains couldn't compete with cars--and planes--as a speedier, greener (if done right), less-hasselsome option, both for commuting and longer distances. And, of course, it would provide a new lease on life for train geeks around the country, who are currently largely reduced to, say, poring over old schedules and fantasizing over how cool a high-speed network would be...
Joel Makower says it's time to rethink the hallowed place of the car in American and other societies. I couldn't agree more. His recent post on this topic had me jumping up and down at my desk, saying "yes, yes, yes."
"Consider: It's become dogma in the United States and other developed and developing countries that "Cars give us freedom." Entire generations of Americans have been reared on that assumption. Detroit was built on it.
But cars are a burden: You have to purchase them, maintain them, fuel them, park them, and insure them. If you live in a city and lack a garage, the challenges and costs multiply. They're expensive and a hassle, and they sit idle 95 percent of the time. When you actually use them, there's the challenge of getting around on ever-congested streets and highways. Not exactly "freedom."
What gives us freedom isn't cars, but mobility, the ability to go where and when you want in the way that's most appropriate and affordable for your needs and style. That's true at every point on the economic spectrum. Indeed, in emerging economies, mobility is a prerequisite to sustainability. When people can move freely from hither to yon, they're better able to have a job, trade goods, seek an education, obtain health care, perhaps even explore other places to broaden their horizons."
I gave up my Jeep Cherokee when I moved to Manhattan several years ago. I hadn't planned to get rid of it before the move, but quickly found it was more of a burden than a boon once I'd settled in. That was in 2001. I haven't had a car since and haven't missed it one bit.
For vast portions of the US, cars will probably remain the only viable mode of transport, possibly forever. In the mind-boggling expanses of the West, where population density is very low, public forms of transit have a kind of bridge-to-nowhere quality. But in--and in between-- the nation's cities, towns, suburbs and exurbs, cars aren't necessarily the most logical transportation choice.
Tesla Motors has finally unveiled the much awaited Model S: a luxury saloon capable of travelling 300 miles in one charge. Tesla hopes that this will help to 'wean' America off of foreign oil. Although it costs considerably more than other saloons in the States ($57,000 compared to the Chrysler 2009 300 which costs $23,339) it hopes to reel buyers in by the tax incentives produced by the new Obama government, relatively inexpensive maintenance compared to other cars of its calibre and the lack of fueling costs for obvious reasons (however how much will our electricity bills go up by?)
Estimates put this car on the road in about 27 months time. The question is: will it be worth the extra money, will it drive as well as petrol fueled car, and can the added money to the electricity bill be justified? And of course will the power plants have to churn out more gases into our atmosphere to fuel this car?
Phil Bridge of Sheffield University has invented a £15 bicycle that is made out of industrial-grade cardboard.
However, surely the point of sustainable transit is to buy one thing that will last a long time rather than something that you have to buy again and again every sixth month, which isn't that sustainable anyway? All of the energy that is used to recycle and remake these bikes, can be used to make a bike that will last twenty years or longer, and this could save much more energy (remember that reuse is better than recycling and reduce is better than reuse). A longer-lasting bike will reduce and reuse.
Many of you familiar with this column know that I'm not exactly an enthusiastic fan of hybrids. I think too many of them are too gimmicky, not efficient enough to justify their generally higher purchase costs, and too laden with unanswered questions -- such as end-life battery disposal and assembly line-to-grave energy costs.
I still have my doubts. But after a week in the oh-so-smooth, technologically transparent Fusion Hybrid, I've not only become more of a believer in hybrids, but I've also moved closer than ever to buying a hybrid automobile.
The basics are all good. Exterior design, accented by an edgily sculpted, three-bar grille, is attractive. Overall fit and finish and interior ergonomics -- the way things are designed for ease of reach and sight -- are excellent. And the Fusion is an information lover's delight, much more so than any hybrid I've driven.
There is what Ford calls a "smart gauge" instrument cluster. It has color liquid-crystal display screens on either side of the car's speedometer. The driver can select from among four information packages, most of which monitor gas-electric power flows and exchanges, and one of which renders your green driving score via an on-screen, electronic growth of green leaves.
But the bottom line is that Ford's claim that the Fusion Hybrid offers the best fuel economy of any mid-size family sedan on the market has something of real-world truth, which can be a really good thing for city-suburban commuters, who waste much time and fuel idling in traffic jams."
If Detroit automakers are to stay in business, they need to be encouraged to pursue new technology, and, yes, praised when they seem to be getting something right.
One thing remains certain, though: "You must keep paying your car note no matter what. In the event of bankruptcy, a third party, possibly the government, would take over the company's debt and seek payment. You would still need to write the check; the name you'd write on it could change."
Now, Arnold, buddy, time to switch sides for good.
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- CEO pushes early Volt launch
- More cars scrapped than sold in US in 2009
- Hybrid Cars May Include Fake Vroom for Safety
- Frankfurt Motor Show: electric cars steal limelight
- British cars lag continent on CO2 emissions
- What lies ahead for US car owners
- "Detroit makes good cars:" Fusion Hybrid review
- Brakes put on US cash-for-clunkers scheme
- Zero emission cars at affordable prices by 2012
- High speed US trains: what's past is prologue?
- Time to rethink the car's supremacy
- "Detroit makes good cars:" Fusion Hybrid review
- Hybrid Cars May Include Fake Vroom for Safety
- "Detroit makes good cars:" Fusion Hybrid review
- "Detroit makes good cars:" Fusion Hybrid review
- Detroit Just Wants to Give You a Choice