Report: Ratan Tata pours $15M into project researching water as fuel

AutoBlog Green 03 January 2011

The lure of extracting hydrogen from water in a somewhat real-time fashion in sufficient quantities to power an automobile has so far been a complete dead-end pursuit. One of the biggest problems is that it takes more energy to release the hydrogen from its water-tight bonds than is actually returned by that hydrogen.

But those basic laws of physics haven't stopped scientists with well-funded checkbooks from trying. The latest endeavor comes from Daniel Nocera from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is being funded by Indian businessman Ratan Tata, who, among other things, heads the global automaker that bears his name, Tata Motors. At this time, the total grant comes in at $15 million.  read more.

Electric car names: Why an Ampera or a Leaf?

BBC News  26 December 2010

Would you drive a Nissan Leaf? Would a Vauxhall Ampera tempt you to part with your hard earned cash?

There is a perception on both sides of the Atlantic, and in Asia, that electric cars are at a watershed - that one big push is all it would take to build up the momentum to persuade the world's motorists to start switching away from petrol in significant numbers.

The argument behind electric cars is simple. Countries want to control carbon emissions and if they increase renewable energy generation, electric cars will become an increasingly ecological proposition.  Read more

Boulder firm plugs into Prius market

Pueblo Chieftan, 27 December 2010

BOULDER — When his Berkeley, Calif.-based electric vehicle conversion company had expansion in its sights, Paul Guzyk's eyes landed on Colorado.

 Noting the state's favorable alternative fuel tax credit for consumers and the northwest Denver area's affinity for the Toyota Prius, Guzyk determined Boulder would be ideal for a branch of 3Prong Power.  read more



We're Focusing on the Wrong Electric-Vehicle Market

The Motley Fool  24 November 2010

As General Electric and NRG Energy are grabbing headlines for buying electric cars and building electric-vehicle infrastructure, respectively, I can't help thinking we're focusing on the wrong type of electric vehicles in the media. We hear about General Motors' Chevy Volt, Nissan's Leaf, and, of course, the Tesla Motors Roadster, but we get no news on the practical applications that are driving the few profitable (or nearly profitable) companies in the industry.

Headlines are nice, but as an investor, I'm more concerned about where I may be able to profit from this trend. GM and Nissan both expect to sell their electrics at a loss (at first), and Tesla is burning money trying to get the Model S launched -- so where is the profit going to come from?  Read more.

Automakers testing both large- and small-format battery cells in today's electric cars

AutoBlog Green 15 December 2010

Toyota, Daimler and BMW have all turned to the laptop battery cell technology utilized by Tesla in the Roadster to power at least one of their electric car models. For Toyota, the laptop-style cells will find a home in the automaker's limited test fleet of battery-powered RAV4s. Daimler has chosen to power its Smart ForTwo Electric Drive and Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell with the small, cylinder-shaped cells while BMW outfitted its Mini E prototype with the Tesla Roadster-like power supply. Judging by these inclusions, it could be argued that the small-format cell pack is the way to go with electric vehicles.

But wait. BMW's upcoming Megacity and ActiveE electrics will forego the laptop-style cells in favor of large-format ones provided by SB LiMotive. Additionally, Toyota has not committed to a single battery type for its mass-produced electric vehicles and will try out large-format units on the upcoming plug-in Prius and iQ-based battery electric and even Daimler has enlisted the help of Evonik to develop large format cells for use in the company's future EVs.   Read more.