All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

Chrysler explores all-electric territory / Company has duty to make ‘environmentally friendly’ autos, CEO says.
By G. Chambers Williams III. San Antonio Express-News, October 25, 2008
Source: AJC.com
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/10/25/carchrysler.html

Chrysler upstaged General Motors and other automakers with its announcement recently it will introduce a group of electric vehicles for the consumer market beginning in 2010, including a version of its popular Town & Country minivan and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited four-door sport utility vehicle.  The third vehicle will be a high-performance Dodge sports car based on the architecture of the Lotus Elise sports car from England. That vehicle also is the basis for a new electric-powered sports car now being sold by the California-based Tesla Motors (www.teslamotors.com). (more…)

By Sangita Myska, BBC News
Source BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7691723.stm

Ministers are planning to announce a £100m scheme to test electric cars and vans in cities, with a view to expanding their use across the UK.  BBC One’s Politics Show has learned that manufacturers will be invited to bid to supply the vehicles. The UK is committed to cutting all greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050. But environmentalist George Monbiot said it was “crazy” that car manufacturers had to be “subsidised” to reduce emissions. (more…)

The cleaner motoring initiative aims to make the most of the low carbon economy
by Deborah Summers and agencies, October 27 2008
Source;: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/27/travelandtransport-carbonemissions

Car manufacturers are being encouraged to participate in a £10m scheme to make motoring greener and create thousands of jobs . Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary, has today invited car manufacturers to bid to take part in an initiative to run electric car and ultra-low carbon vehicle demonstration projects, overseen by the Technology Strategy Board.  The project will also see about 100 electric cars provided to various towns and cities to allow families and other motorists the opportunity to give feedback on the practical steps needed to make greener motoring an everyday reality. (more…)

Yonkers, N.Y. Consumer Reports, 23 Oct 2008
Also, some domestic models are comparable to top Japanese; luxury European automakers improve
Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire/ EarthTimes
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/consumer-reports-2008-annual-car,592775.shtml

Fuel-efficient vehicles are a very reliable segment overall, European cars are improving, and, on average, Ford continues to build the most reliable American cars. Those are some of the results of Consumer Reports’ 2008 Annual Car Reliability Survey announced today at an Automotive Press Association luncheon in Detroit.   More details, and a list of models with the best and worst predicted-reliability Ratings, will appear first on www.ConsumerReports.org. The reliability report will also appear in the December issue of Consumer Reports, on sale November 4 and in the latest Consumer Reports Cars publication, Best & Worst for ‘09, which also includes predicted-reliability ratings for more than 350 models.
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by Michael Cabanatuan, October 17, 2008
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/16/BAMR139TBC.DTL

Read the glossy magazine ads, watch the slick TV commercials, listen to Hollywood celebs rave about their choice of cars on talk shows, and you’ll get the idea that hybrid cars can save the planet.  Chrysler’s electric drive vehicles are only prototypes so…The Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle (shown here) is the b…The EV1 pioneered electric vehicle technology.  While some of them clearly curb pollution, hybrids aren’t the answer - at least not for everyone. Many folks can’t afford one, don’t like what’s available, or want to drive a car that doesn’t use gasoline and spew smog into the skies.
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by Jordan Lite , Oct 21, 2008
Source: Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?
id=hybrid-cars-which-is-most-fuel-effi-2008-10-21

If your wallet is taking a beating from high gas prices and all this talk of green energy has inspired you to shop around for a hybrid car, new fuel-efficiency ratings may help you.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ranked 10 hybrid vehicles. Topping the list: the Toyota Prius, which gets 48 miles (77 kilometers) per gallon on city streets and 45 mpg (72 km) on the highway. (more…)

By Amanda Lisk, Star-News Correspondent, October 25, 2008
Source: StarNewsOnline
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20081025/ARTICLES/810252925?
Title=There_are_ups__downs_to_owning_a_hybrid_vehicle

Does it cost less to operate a hybrid vehicle?  Here are some of the advantages: (more…)

by Tim Higgins, Free Press Business Editor, July 14, 2008
Source: FreePress.com
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080714/BUSINESS01/807140325/1014/Business01

Chrysler LLC’s answer to the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt could be three to five years away, the Free Press has learned. The Auburn Hills automaker launched a special division within the company last fall called ENVI — pronounced like “envy” — to bring electric-drive vehicles and related advanced-propulsion technologies to market. “ENVI is currently developing electric vehicles for the three Chrysler brands and is planning on product within three to five years,” Nick Cappa, a Chrysler spokesman, told the Free Press in an e-mail. (more…)

New Delhi, Jan 25, 2008
Source: AFP
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-uVfiynOIkSxc1PhM7CJCXOFefA

India’s Tata Motors, which recently unveiled the world’s cheapest car, may make its US debut with a tie-up to sell an electric version of its popular Ace mini-truck, an official said Thursday. “We’re looking at that opportunity to sell a vehicle on the Ace platform with an electric motor” in association with a US company, the senior official said, asking not to be named.  “It’s premature to give more details,” he added. (more…)

by Monica Perin, Reporter, Houston Business Journal, Jan 23, 2008
Source: Bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/01/21/daily36.html

ExxonMobil Chemical’s new battery film technology has enabled a Canadian firm to roll out a new generation of all-electric vehicles.  Toronto-based Electrovaya today launched its zero emission low speed vehicle, the Maya-300, which incorporates ExxonMobil’s battery separator films to enhance the power, safety and reliability of the vehicles’ lithium-ion batteries.

“ExxonMobil’s film technologies allow lithium-ion batteries to meet hybrid and electric vehicle requirements, helping to make vehicles like the Maya-300 pelighter and more efficient.” said Jim Harris, senior vice president of Houston-based ExxonMobil Chemical.  Much of the work on the battery technology was carried out at ExxonMobil’s Baytown Technology Center, said spokeswoman Susan Kattelus.
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