My Green Wheels - The Electric Car Blog

Can New York win its quest to be #1 US city in EVs?

Christine Gupta — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:32:03 +0000

Guest writer Ash Gupta

New York’s Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, wants NYC to be the US’s leading city for EV usage. He said he would work with the NY City Council to amend the building code and require up to 20 percent of all new public parking spaces be set up for electric vehicle charging, which could lead to “10,000 parking spots for electric vehicles over the next seven years.”

Sounds like a good plan, but for the moment New York is not well equipped to recharge electric vehicles. Right now it has a measly 100 public recharging points with another 50 in the plan during 2013. So far, so slow.

Better Place fades as the Sun sets in The West

Christine Gupta — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:01:32 +0000

Persuading auto makers to agree on a standard recharge plug never mind a battery format has taken until 2012, so I could see right from the start that PBP was going to be a hard concept to sell in.

Secret EV or Chelsea FC's latest signing?

Christine Gupta — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:56:51 +0000

I can feel a competition coming on ... who can make the best guess as to what this secret EV will actually resemble? With a name like Rimac Automobili it sounds like an eastern European footballer, but the truth is even stranger.

Global Auto OEMs take sides in an emerging HFC battle for EV motive power

Christine Gupta — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:52:21 +0000

So far Li-on batteries have been the kings of the new road, but that’s now facing a real challenge.
Now we have BMW + Toyota facing off to Ford + Nissan/Renault + Daimler/Mercedes, each looking to take the high ground for their own solution to carbon free motoring via hydrogen.

And they are not alone as you will see

Cambodia's electric car and its bonkers development team

Christine Gupta — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:44:33 +0000

'Made in Cambodia' - not something you see on a car every day. And calling its new EV after its sacred city long buried in jungle suggests that Cambodia has history-making ambitions for the Angkor electric car.

The two-seater's totally bonkers scissor doors are what initially caught my eye

Ford, Nissan/ Renault and Mercedes/Daimler Sign 3 way Strategic Co-operation on Hydrogen Fuel Cell EVs

Christine Gupta — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:17:33 +0000

This move is driven by the logic of standardisation and spreading development costs between these 3 volume automotive OEMs.

So what does this mean for battery suppliers?

EV Good News items from Detroit on Jan 25 - Burns Day

Christine Gupta — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:41:45 +0000

Guest article by Ash Gupta

Check this link to Tom Warobec’s TV Auto News item from “Automotive News”. Apart from some sensible tips and range facts for driving EVs under extreme cold conditions, there’s positive news from BMW and Toyota on co-operation to develop Lithium Air Batteries to replace Li-ion batteries in EVs.

The problems of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner will cast an awkward shadow over the EV world

Christine Gupta — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:53:33 +0000

Guest article by Ash Gupta

2012 did not turn out to be a good year for sales of EVs for a mix of reasons. Price was one, a real problem given the backdrop of a global economic decline, but not doing what it says it will do on the tin is as big a crime as far as the early adopters go. I am not going to finger any particular model. I am going to look in at the EV market as a detached observer might do.

What I see, and as a lifelong evangelist for electric cars, this hurts me, is that current EV’s do not live up to expectations overall.

Why I've just about had it with EVs and what's next

Christine Gupta — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:32:32 +0000

I've reached the tipping point and I'm about ready to jump ship from this blog. I was getting a bit teed off with the slow progress of electric car technology and sort of lost my enthusiasm for it over recent months. This story from the days of Hurricane Sandy had a lot to do with it.

The BMW fan view of electric cars

Christine Gupta — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:25:31 +0000

A green-friendly idea from the automotive engineering specialists at BMW, the new BMW i3 Concept car takes the notion of sustainability one step further with zero emissions and avant-garde styling that sets it apart on the road.