GridPoint has just invested around $120 million in accumulated funds to purchase the V2Green electric car charging facilities and software. The company, GridPoint, specialises in the distribution of software that helps to power multiple generating units, in this case, electric car charging outlets. The software is used to control the distribution of electricity from port to car, and eliminates any risk to the car.

The reason for this purchase was to eliminate electricity grid ‘taxing’, which means that in peak times the number of electric cars that are plugged in to recharge would create a demand for too much electricity, so eventually more electric power plants would need to be built. The V2Green software is designed to assist the already present power grid to cope with all this extra energy that is needed.

It is thought that this kind of high demand on the power grid is not going to become much of an issue until late 2010 or early 2011, which is when most of the new electric cars go into wide distribution. The hype over the poor condition of the O-zone layer and other environmental concerns is thought to push electric car sales to an all time high, making the V2Green a necessity, mainly in the U.S. and China.

The current electric and hybrid car batteries, whilst they are fit for purpose, they do not last as long as they should. It is thought that a Lithium-Ion Battery would last twice as long. No figures have been released as of yet, but plans are being pursued to manufacture electronic chips that may serve to help these new batteries work for longer.

Linear’s LTC6802 is it’s name, and it will be able to accurately monitor the power output of up to 12 individual Lithium-Ion battery cells when installed in electric and hybrid cars. The production of the chips is going to be expensive, however work has already commenced, with prototypes nearing completion.

The system has already been purchased by Toyota, to use with it’s third generation hybrid cars which are going to run on Lithium-Ion batteries. More and more companies are placing bids each week, but no other information has been released as of yet. Lithium-Ion batteries are prone to ‘catastrophic failure’, as stated by the company that produces these new technologies. The new chips will eliminate over charging and over discharging damage, making the driving safer and keeping the car in good ‘health’ for longer.

Chrysler, whilst the company has recently revealed it’s electric car production plans, as previously stated in one of my other posts, the plans have been pushed forward! It is apparent that Chrysler is now going to exhibit a line of prototype electric cars as soon as next week.

The company is focusing more on their business strategies in their show to dealers of Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler. The exhibition will take place via videoconference across over 100 movie theaters all around the U.S.A. This will pull Chrysler to the front in the run up to 2010, when most of the new electric cars are released from all of the biggest companies, and some of the older ‘pioneers’ of the electric car.

This new line of electric cars has been hailed as the new generation of electric cars. As they are just some more plug-in hybrids, they are not the most environmentally friendly cars, although they are very technologically advanced…watch this space!!!

Everyone is hearing the buzz around the new Chevrolet Volt. Countless news articles have been written about it, it is mentioned in dozens of blogs etc, but how good is it? Nobody seems to want to make any comments on how good the fuel economy is.

Stepping back slightly, for those who don’t know, the Chevrolet Volt is the newest offering from the motoring industry giants, GM. The Volt is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery combined with an internal combustion engine. Whilst the car is a plug-in hybrid, the combustion engine does still charge the battery.

It is always good news when a motor company embarks on an electric venture, but companies cannot seem to move out of the hybrid shadow. Each year companies reveal plans for new hybrids. Hybrids, hybrids hybrids, when are we going to hear the news of a fully electric powered Volt that can reach speeds of up to 150mph and only needs recharging every 100 miles. Well, for the time being, the technology has not yet been adapted.

Coming back to the Volt, set to arrive in 2010, the combustion engine does have a reasonable fuel economy, although the Toyota alternative, which has been available for some time now, has a better fuel economy. It just seems like GM are having some troubles trying to move away from their usual muscle cars, so they need a more powerful engine, with a less than amazing fuel economy rating.

 Daimler AG, the German car manufacturers and development section has released news that they have already begun creating lithium powered cars with the car giants Mercedes. This news was welcomed by German natives as well as the industry on a more international scale. The news was shortly followed by some even better news.

The company has joined up with it’s research and development section ‘RWE AG’ in the hope of developing and planting over five hundred electric car recharging points across Berlin. This means that anybody that owns a fully electric car could potentially recharge their car anywhere. The access points are going to be planted at private housing areas, public car parks, alongside gas stations and around heavy tourist areas.

This new initiative means that Berlin is going to be the first major city to follow in the footsteps of Tokyo, Japan, whos government has already kick-started plans to have the city filled with electric car charging ports by late 2009. In Berlin, the work is likely to be completely finished, and all ports will be fully operational by the year 2010, if everything goes to plan.

The financial side of things is looking good also, as the German government has stated that they will try to help in any way they can.

Everybody knows that electric cars, although they are reasonably inexpensive to run, they are not cheap to build on a mass scale. Chrysler has shocked the motor industry (in a good way), by pitching the idea to the government that they should offer loans to electric car manufacturers. The estimated ’starting loan’ would have to be somewhere in the region of $25 billion! This would be split up and shared between several different car companies, which would be monitored to see how they are spending the money.

The request came shortly after the American government said they would actively encourage manufacturers that wish to move into the electric car market. It seems like the reason these loans have been refused in the past was because they were simply asking for too much. The initial request from detroit electric car manufacturers was $50 billion. Chrysler have halved the amount, and results look promising, as some high ranking politicians are already backing the idea.

Chrysler is somewhat lagging behind in the electric car race, although some press sources have said that Chrysler plan to manufacture and release an electric car within three to five years. This new loan request could be seen as a ‘jealousy’ bid to try to beat Chevrolet, before they release the ‘Volt’ in 2010. Who knows, however, it does seem like an excellent idea, on paper.

The car manufacturing company ‘Tata’, based in New Delhi, India is planning to release an electric version of their Indica hatchback, as soon as next year. In 2010 the car is going to be released on general sale in Norway first, then in India, following to the U.S. hopefully within just one more year.

The car was showcased at Wednesday’s industry show in Europe, where it received as much praise and publicity as their previous model of gas powered car, the Nano, which is also the world’s cheapest brand new car. Other manufacturers such as GM, owners of Cadillac, are now begginning to ‘pull up their pants’, and start serious work on their electric vehicles, to try and ensure that they do not lose the race to release the first plug-in car.

It is not just GM that are begginning to pick up the pace on the release of their electric vehicles. Nissan and Mitsubishi are also trying their absolute hardest to release their vehicles sooner rather than later, although the technology, whilst it is relatively well known and advertised, is still in early stages. 

It looks like India will be the clear winners in this battle to beat the competitors to the market.

The planning team at Chevrolet do not seem to think it is a good idea for their brand new and slightly experimental electric car to be placed in public view as of yet. However, there is always some ’sneaky devil’, who manages to snap a shot of these things. The new car looks tastefully designed, but unfortunately that is just about all we know at the moment.

GM, owners of Chevy, are still trying to be the first American manufacturer to market a plug in hybrid electric car. This seems to be the closest step so far. The Volt seems to be just an updated version of their original hybrid of the same name, but with massive changes to the exterior design. The car is thought to feature in the latest blockbuster ‘Transformers 2, Revenge of the Fallen’. This is looking to be more fact than fiction as the car was ’snapped’ leaving the studio parking lot.

Sorry the title sounds bad, but whoa! After plans were revealed recently for Japan to design and build a plug-in electric car charger, the EV world was rejoicing! Now Japan is planning to insert recharging stations all over the country, begginning with Tokyo, and then moving to the other cities and islands across Japan.

The news came as quite a shock to the so called ‘greener-nations’ like the U.K. and the U.S. They have been fighting so hard to beat each other to the punch, in the sense of designing and building the perfect car. As Japan has already built it, marketed, and made a tidy profit on the selling of these electric cars, the recharging stations are the logical next step. These will mean that drivers around Japan could potentially drive anywhere on the islands without fear of their cars running low on battery power. They want stations to be close together, enough to make it easy for any drivers to recharge, anytime. It is hoped that, within the next few decades, these recharging stations will completely replace the current gas filling stations.

It has long been known that the three giants in the motoring have been going through battles to win the electric car race. These manufacturers include General Motors, the company behind Cadillac, Chrysler and Ford.

Given this fact, it was Peterborough-based Lightning car company that built the petrol powered super-car that has recently been redesigned as an electric car. The car costs an astonishing $120,000!

This is thought to be the best electric car ever made, and has already hit the American market, so it is abailable to buy now, if you have the wallet for it. The Lightning GTS has definitely beaten the big three to the punch, but how are they going to react? I can see that it is not going to come as good news that they have lost the race to a small company.

The plans currently underway at General Motors looks to be geared slightly toward a STS type Sedan that will be powered by a heavier battery that may last longer without recharging than some of it’s competitors.

The battery power on the Lightning GTS lasts for approximately 125 miles of normal city driving up to around 60mph. This is one of the longest lasting battery lives of any other electric car. GM, Ford and Chrysler are still poised, waiting for their perfect moment to unleash an electric super car that is cheaper, faster and has a more powerful battery. It does look like GM will be the next runner-up in the electric car race.