Honda expands on all fronts with Hybrids, Plug-in Hybrids, and Electric Car. In 2011 Honda will introduce a new Civic Hybrid using a new lithium-ion battery from Blue Energy, a joint venture company between GS Yuasa and Honda. The Honda Fit Hybrid will be introduced. New battery-electric car and plug-in starts U.S. trails this year with fleets such as Google and Stanford University.
In Spring 2012, the new Toyota RAV4 EV can be ordered from dealers. Pricing has not yet been set. Tesla, in partnership with Toyota, is bringing back the popular Toyota RAV 4EV. The SUV will have a new electric drive system and use a Tesla battery pack of 5,500 Panasonic lithium nickel cells. Tesla has produced over 30 of the new RAV4 EV prototypes for test drives and extensive evaluation.
Nissan appears to be debating between offering a 5 year / 60,000 mile warranty for the Nissan LEAF, or an 8 year /100,000 mile warranty that matches GM’s offer for the Chevy Volt. Because lithium batteries are expensive, warranty decisions can make the difference between an automaker making and losing money on early electric car sales. The stakes are higher for Nissan than for GM or Toyota. For the Nissan LEAF to deliver up to 100 mile range per charge, a 24 kWh of lithium battery pack is included, and up to 80 percent of the battery must be used in the charge-discharge range.
Pike Research forecasts 4.7 million charge points for electric cars will be installed worldwide from 2010 to 2015. Pike forecasts that by 2015, more than 3.1 million EVs, including plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles, will be sold worldwide. Pike Research’s indicates that competition from infrastructure providers will intensify by the end of 2011. Leading the first 20,000 U.S. charge point installations are AeroVironment, Better Place, Coulomb Technologies, and ECOtality. GE, Panasonic, Samsung, and Siemens are moving into the space with hardware and network services.
Fortunately, the new 2012 Mitsubishi i for the USA will have the steering wheel on the standard left side, because I am struggling with this test drive of the 2010 iMiEV Japanese version. Steering from the right-hand side is not so bad, but every time I use the “turn signal lever” the windshield wipers start flying. Mitsubishi is now taking orders for the 2012 U.S. version of the popular Mitsubishi electric city car starting at $29,125, over $5,000 less than the 2012 Nissan LEAF.
Coulomb Technologies Smart-Charging for Ford Family of Electric Vehicles accelerates plug-in charging in nine U.S. cities. Ford is promoting smart charging as it now takes orders for the Ford Transit Connect, next year for the 2011 Ford Focus EV, and in 2012 the Ford Plug-in Hybrid. Ford is partnering with Coulomb Technologies to provide nearly 5,000 free wall-mounted charging stations for some of the automaker’s first electric car and electric delivery van customers.
Tesla is the first to put 1,000 electric cars on the U.S. highways. Tesla skillfully partners with Toyota, Panasonic, and Daimler in lithium battery and drive system technology. The Roadster is battery-electric with a 240 mile range. The new Model S sedan will have up to a 300 mile range, far beyond the Nissan Leaf 100 mile range the Chevy Volt 40-mile electric range, and current ambitions of other electric car makers. Tesla will start delivering the Model S in 2012 from its new factory. Tesla Motors has purchased the former NUMMI factory in Fremont, California, that once employed over 4,000 workers in a Toyota-General Motors JV plant. Toyota agreed to purchase $50 million of Tesla’s common stock.
I enjoyed driving the new Ford Focus Electric. It felt just like driving a regular gasoline Focus 4-door sedan, except it was more quiet and accelerated faster due to the torque of the electric motor. The Ford Focus EV has a 23 kWh LG Chem Compact Power lithium-ion tri-metal battery with over 17 kWh available in the charge-discharge cycle. Ford is likely to match Nissan’s 100 range per electric charge. The Ford Focus Electric can now be ordered with a $39,200 starting price.
the Nissan Leaf continues to roll forward with a record month of May 2014 with more than 3,100 sales and a cumulative 50,000 in the U.S. It’s not what they had hoped, but the trend is moving in the right direction. Some of the early
Nissan announced U.S. pricing for the 2011 Nissan LEAF electric car, which becomes available for purchase or lease at Nissan dealers in select markets in December and nationwide in 2011. Nissan will begin taking consumer reservations for the Nissan LEAF April 20. Including the $7,500 federal tax credit, the consumer’s after-tax net value of the vehicle will be $25,280. Additionally, there is an array of state and local incentives that may further defray the costs and increase the benefits of owning and charging. Nissan will also offer a monthly lease payment beginning at $349.