General Motors apparently has plans to put the Cadillac Converj into production. The Converj was displayed as a concept at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and the upcoming extended range electric vehicle will be built on the same technology as the General’s much anticipated Chevrolet Volt.

Putting the electric Converj on the market will give GM the additional advantage of having an electric vehicle in the premium range, where the impact of the cost of lithium ion batteries may be minimized. The production Converj will most likely remain faithful to the concept version unveiled earlier, there will of course be changes, but a radical departure from the stunning concept seems unlikely.

Interested consumers will have to wait for quite some time though. The Chevrolet Volt itself will reach production by the end of next year, and will be followed by the very similar European model, the Opel Ampera in 2011. Any possibility for the Converj to appear in dealerships will likely be after these models have launched, and after the automaker has gauged the customer response.

Source: Ecofriend

Merrill Lynch has just said what has been the writing on the wall for some time now. A research carried out by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch says merely having a “green” tag isn’t going to sell many EVs/ PHEVs unless they get better looks. So while electric cars like the Tesla Roadster, Tesla Model S and Fisker Karma will likely sell well, other EVs that look as if they came from a different planet will have a tough time convincing buyers.

The analysts also reached the opinion that while having the eco-friendly tag will help sell EVs/ PHEVs, they are not likely to get extremely popular, at least until their associated costs come to the same level as conventional, or ICE vehicles.

All this does make good sense, cost and looks are factors that sway buyers. To make electric vehicles more attractive for buyers, companies may soon offer other features. As analyst Steven Milunovich says, cars may soon come with loads of customization like Wi-Fi, LED lights and the like.

Source: Autoblog Green

The effect of millions of electric vehicles connecting to the grid during peak hours has been feared and discussed since long. While charging vehicles during off-peak hours may be good for utilities, in an interesting turn it may even earn some money for the owners. More specifically, EV/PHEV owners in West Texas and Illinois are being paid to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours, and that’s clean wind energy we’re speaking of.

With the growth of wind energy in these states, there is an oversupply of energy during off-peak hours, and this has in turn pushed prices into the negative range. Since wind turbine owners get a tax credit to the tune of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour of energy generated, they prefer not to shut down the turbines during off hours and pass on a share of the subsidy to the end user.

Since there is no efficient energy storage system in place for off hours, the turbine owners are short of options. Smart Meters could prove to be useful for customers and utilities during such times, at least for the near future, until the demand increases or energy storage systems like Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) come into play.

Source: Reuters

While Aptera Motos is keeping its upcoming electric car under wraps, images of the production version Aptera 2e have found their way to the internet. The latest leaked image is purported to be a rendering of the production spec Aptera 2e and this one show’s the three-wheeled, futuristic-looking car’s front three-quarter.

It is well understood that the production version of the car will differ slightly from its concept version, and as the image shows, a hood and front bumper have found their way to the car. The rendering, which first appeared on ApteraForum also shows asymmetric front wheel pods, a new headlight cluster that integrates the turn signals, side mirrors, and windows with a lower sill.

The Aptera electric vehicle has been much talked about, mainly due to its unconventional shape and design, and also because of the fact that it happens to be a three wheeled car.

Source: Autoblog Green

The US President Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden are expected to make important announcements that will provide stimulus for a greener future. An Obama administration official has said that the President will make announcement regarding Smart Grids during his visit to Florida. Obama’s announcement of a Smart Grid will be the government’s largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy.

The Smart Grid will bolster the production of energy from clean domestic sources to consumers in 49 states. At the same time, this will also help create a more powerful, stable and robust grid with clean energy playing an important role.

In a separate visit to a closed General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, the US Vice Presiden Joe Biden will announce that the plant will be reopened for production of plug-in hybrid electric cars. However, it isn’t GM that is opening the plant, it is California based Fisker Automotive that will take control of the plant. Fisker is well known for its first plug-in electric vehicle, the Fisker Karma.

Source: Reuters

Another issue is that materials required for electric cars are tougher to produce. Environmental costs of producing electric cars can be nearly 20% higher than electric cars. In 2005, electric vehicles cost the environment 0.20 cents to 15 cents per vehicle mile traveled, while conventional vehicles fared better with 0.34 cents to 5.04 cents per vehicle mile traveled. Unless manufacturing efficiencies become much greater, the problem will continue to persist. The report found that gasoline-electric hybrids with systems like regenerative braking were better compared to all-electric vehicles, and conventional vehicles.

Source: Reuters

Toyota Prius Hybrid Plugged In For Electricity

As the number of electric vehicles, or plug-in hybrids increases, there is a good chance that they may put greater strain on the grid with a lot of vehicles going for a recharge simultaneously. Google is currently working on a solution to this problem, by integrating vehicles with the electric grid so as to minimize strain and help utilities charge better.

Google is currently working on creating a software that would help meet this end. The idea obviously is to avoid a large number of vehicles getting plugged in at the same time. The software would monitor usage, and find the perfect time to recharge the vehicle, thus avoiding charging during times of peak and high demand, and putting less strain on the grid.

Customers who choose such options may be allowed for credit from the utilities in return. A couple of years back, Google also explored the possibilities of having the plug-in hybrids feed their stored energy back to the grid, and create a potential back-up power source.

[via Yahoo!Tech]

The Abu Dhabi-based Aabar, the third largest oil exporter in the world, has bought a 4% share of Tesla Motors from Daimler AG.  In a press release, Aabar said that that the Tesla stake was one of several more the company is planning to spend in a big way in the field of non-oil energy.

It may be noted that Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates, has strived to establish itself as a leader in renewable and clean technologies, which includes its $22-billion project to build the solar-powered, carbon-neutral Masdar City for 50,000 residents in the desert.

In June 2009, the United Arab Emirates was named headquarters of the 135-nation International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

While Tesla Motors is one of the biggest companies in the growing electric-car sector, Aabar is considered the leading investor for the emirate of Abu Dhabi for diversification in the energy sector.

Image courtesy of Ioan Barbulescu