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December 10, 2013
General
Survey: 78% of Respondents Don't Know What a Tesla Model S Is - 56% Have No Clue What a Chevy Volt Is
EV Awareness Chart From Navigant Research In a survey recently conducted by Navigant Research, only 31% of respondents were familiar (somewhat or extremely) with the US' top selling pure electric: the Nissan LEAF. Tesla Model S is Unknown to Most of the Respondents Even the Tesla Model S, a vehicle which has grabbed countless awards and h...
10 December 2013
General
Paul Scott and Nissan of Downtown LA Wins New Governor's Award For Promoting And Selling Zero Emission Vehicles
Nissan of Downtown LA Recognized Today, Paul Scott, a noted electric vehicle advocate, will accept a 2013 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) on behalf of Nissan of Downtown Los Angeles, where Scott sells the Nissan LEAF. This award is one of 13 announced, and is "California's highest and most prestigious environmental honor." A lifelo...
10 December 2013
General
Op-Ed: To SOC or not to SOC – The Future Is Here And It Is Called The BMW i3 Range Assistant
BMW i3 Outdoor Test Drives At LA Auto Show In November There has been much discussion on the boards recently about BMW not including a State Of Charge(SOC) indicator in the new i3 for the United States model. Many veteran electric vehicle(EV) drivers have expressed major disappointment, their EVs have always had SOCs, some owners going so far as to retrofit third party meters o...
10 December 2013
General
Top Gear Magazine "Innovation of the Year" Award Goes to Volkswagen XL1
Top Gear magazine annually selects one winner for its "Innovation of the Year" award and this year a truly remarkable automobile took home the prize. XL1 in Tokyo The visually stunning, fuel-sipping Volkswagen XL1 rightfully received BBC Top Gear magazine's "Innovation of the Year" award. Though some say the XL1 is too crude, too slow and just overall poo...
10 December 2013
General
Of Course It's Okay to Swap Your EV For ICE When Necessary
Have you ever tried swapping? You know how it is, a love affair, the two of you monogamously driving through life together for years. Once or twice a year you yearn for a slightly different ride, a longer ride. Try swapping. *Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Peder's BMW ActiveE blog. We encourage you to check it out by clicking here. Julie and I are six year vetera...
10 December 2013
Battery Tech
SolarCity Introduces Energy Storage With Tesla Battery Technology (w/video)
SolarCity storage systems will initially be available in few states Recently, SolarCity announced the launch of DemandLogic energy storage units with Tesla battery technology for new solar power business customers. Initially, the offer is available in areas of California serviced by Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, areas of Massachusetts serviced by NST...
10 December 2013
General
Tesla Opens Store and Attached Service Center in Toronto
Tesla's 2nd Store in Toronto Opened Last Friday Say what? Two Tesla stores in a single city? And it's a city in Canada? It seems odd to us, but Tesla Motors has officially opened its 2nd retail store in Toronto. This store becomes Tesla's fourth store in total north of the border. The latest store in Toronto is different in that a service center (4th service cen...
10 December 2013
General
Palo Alto Unanimously Approves Mandate to Require Pre-Wiring All New Homes for EV Chargers
It feels like forever ago when we first reported on the city of Palo Alto, California's plan to mandate pre-wiring for EV charger in all new-construction homes. Wired Up...Charger Installed...Ready to Go Thankfully, it's now a done deal as the Palo Alto city council voted unanimously on Monday night to approve an ordinance requiring that all new single-famil...
10 December 2013
General
Video: Normal, Illinois is Not Normal - It's EV Town USA
The town of Normal, Illinois is not normal. It's EV Town USA and for good reason, one of which is the city's 300-plus plug-in vehicles. Normal, Illinois (along with nearby Bloomington, Illinois) set out on a mission years ago to become the most EV-friendly place in the United States. The two cities offer all sorts of incentives for EV purchasers, including a sales tax rebate and charg...
10 December 2013
General
Tesla: Our Owner Base Drives in Excess of 700,000 Miles Per Day
Model S battery pack Tesla Motors recently Tweeted that: "Our owner base is now driving in excess of 700,000 miles per day in over 20 countries." The question is what can we extract from this information? Tesla to date delivered over 20,000 vehicles, but we believe it's still less than 25,000 even with Roadsters. This works out to ~30 miles a day and 900 miles a month ...
10 December 2013
The Case Of The 500+ Unsold, Missing New Fisker Karmas
There Is A Heck Of A Lot Of Unsold Fisker Karmas Out There Somewhere Over the past several years, while tracking the sales of the Fisker Karma, we have always noted the disconnect between VIN numbers and the amount of cumulative sales. And while this could have been chalked up to random allotment sequencing of cars yet to be built (as found with the the Tesla Model S), Fis...
10 December 2013
Video: Nissan LEAF Gas Station Takeover - Free Gas Giveaway
In celebration of National Plug In Day, Nissan offered free gas at 4 fueling stations in the US. The idea was to “provide local drivers with a taste of what it’s like to eliminate the cost of gas by offering free fill-up,” says Nissan. We rather liked the idea, but giving away free gas wasn't Nissan's way of convincing ICE owners to switch to EVs. Rather, Nissan encouraged those free...
10 December 2013
Charging
ClipperCreek Launches HCS-40 - 30 Amp 240 Volt Indoor/Outdoor Charger Priced at $590
ClipperCreek HCS-40 If ever there was a charging station maker who listened to us, it's ClipperCreek. Until now, ClipperCreek's residential 240 volt chargers have been of the 20 amp variety. But now, with the launch of ClipperCreek's latest unit, 30 amps is available. The ClipperCreeek HCS-40 is a 30 amp 240 volt Level 2 charging station designed for either indoor or ou...
10 December 2013
General
Here's Your First Look at the New Saab 9-3 - Electric Version to Launch in 2014
On Monday, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) restarted production of the Saab 9-3. New 9-3 NEVS is making this batch of 9-3s with the same 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine used before Saab collapsed in 2011. The purpose here is to get the production facility up to snuff in preparation for the electric 9-3 that is slated to launch in 2014. Rig...
10 December 2013
General
Lamborghini Dealer Says Tesla Model S Wasn't Bought With Bitcoins (w/video)
Model S That Wasn't Sold For Bitcoins Initially, we were hesitant on airing the story of the Tesla Model S buyer who allegedly paid for the used vehicle using bitcoins at the Lamborghini Newport Beach dealerships in Costa Mesa, California. As it turns out, our hesitation was justified. We thought the story seemed a bit iffy and sure enough it was. As CNBC reports, P...
10 December 2013