ElectricCar
Nissan books 8,000 Leaf orders in nine days, gets turned on with that electric feel
Who says people aren’t willing to pay upwards of $30k for a car that can only go 100 miles before needing to be tethered to a wall outlet? Evidently Nissan has struck a chord with the US populace, as the automaker just announced that 8,000 orders for the all-electric Leaf were booked in a mere nine days after orders went live.
Geely IG is covered in solar cells, two years away from marketability
Chinese carmaker Geely is no stranger to building derivative designs , and its latest PHEV effort takes so much inspiration from Volkswagen’s Beetle that even the press release begins with a metaphor about caterpillars flourishing into butterflies. That’s also a little nod to the car’s development, which has seen its initial design overhauled into the four-seater, photovoltaic cell-laden transporter you see above.
Panasonic’s 3.1Ah batteries to be used in the Tesla Model S, have highest energy density yet
Encouraging news for all you EV enthusiasts out there: Tesla’s Model S appears to still be on track for its planned 2012 launch and will be using battery technology offering the highest energy density “in the world.” Built in Panasonic’s new fab in Suminoe, Japan, these 3.1Ah cells (you can just about see one of them being held by the two corporate types above) will be manufactured at a rate of more than 300 million per year.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: hypermiling, electric FedEx, and frog foam
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat , recapping the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. This week Inhabitat explored the high-tech side of green building, showcasing Shigeru Ban’s new design for the Pomidou-Metz art museum , and announcing the near-completion of the greenest skyscraper in the world .
Think to start selling City electric vehicle in New York, other locales this year
Talk about a revival story. Recently saved from the brink of disaster , Think Electric is back in a big way
Engadget test drives the Chevy Volt (video)
For a car that’s been as eagerly anticipated and hyped as the Chevrolet Volt , seeing it in person is not exactly an awe-inspiring experience. In fact if you don’t look twice it’s very easy to mistake it for Chevy’s Cruze, an eco-friendly (though decidedly traditionally powered) small car.
