Category Archives: Auto

Rev Up Your Motors, Electric Cars Zip Into View

The earliest plug-in car buyers will contend with high price tags, limited charging infrastructure, uncertainty about long-term durability and resale values, and insecurity about hitting the road without being able to refuel at just any convenient gas station.

But automakers have devised different strategies for tackling these challenges and, they hope, for winning over thousands of customers in the years ahead. For an overview of the strengths, weaknesses and cool facts about 11 electric and plug-in hybrid models from car companies large and small, check out this photo-rich piece I wrote for National Geographic Daily News.

BMW Rolls Toward Zipcar’s Turf With Hourly Rentals

BMW's Mini Cooper is among the most frequently requested models in Zipcar's fleet.

A new pilot program from BMW will let customers rent any current BMW model by the hour from the company’s event center in Munich, Germany. In this piece for GigaOM’s Earth2Tech blog, I explore how “BMW on Demand” fits into much larger trends of innovation around providing mobility as a service — and growing competition for the current car sharing heavyweight, Zipcar. Continue reading

Light Is the Bright IDEA for Transport

Bright Automotive, which recently scored the first investment from General Motors’ new venture capital arm, aims to help steer commercial fleets toward more efficient options by decoupling size from efficiency. In other words, it lets customers have their cake (sip less fuel) and eat it too (carry more stuff). To accomplish this, Bright is developing a plug-in hybrid van called the IDEA with advanced materials that could shave thousands of pounds off the weight of conventional counterparts. I’ve written a profile of Bright for National Geographic News, covering the company’s accomplishments so far and challenges ahead as it pursues government funds on the road to commercialization.

The Two-Stroke Engine, Reconsidered

EcoMotors International, a startup backed by Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures, has a new approach to an old idea–the two-stroke engine–which it says is up to 50 percent more efficient than most vehicle engines and pollutes far less than a conventional two-stroke engine. Over on the Technology Review Energy blog, I’ve explained this Troy, Mich.-based company’s technology and how it fits into larger automotive trends.

A123 Spins Off Energy Storage Venture, Drops Chrysler Project

Lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems quietly cultivated a new energy storage venture and set it loose as an independent company. A123 executives revealed in a call with shareholders this week that the startup, dubbed 24M Technologies Inc., was recently spun out of A123 with venture capital financing and a plan to develop what CEO David Vieau called advanced non-traditional lithium-ion based storage technology. As I reported in this article over on Earth2Tech, the executives also revealed that A123 has dropped out of Chrysler’s scaled-back electric vehicle development program.

GM’s $100M Venture Fund on the Hunt for Car Sharing Play

When it comes to car sharing, General Motors’ new venture capital arm wants to get some skin in the game, GM Ventures President Jon Lauckner told me this week in San Jose, Calif. Asked to elaborate on what type of car sharing play might attract GM’s investment, he commented that Zipcar and GoLoco are two “interesting models.” You can read the full scoop in this piece I wrote for Earth2Tech.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Andrew Currie

Electric Vehicle 101: Know Your Warranty

When it comes to warranties, it’s helpful to think of plug-in vehicles in two general categories: all-electric models with zero tailpipe emissions (such as the Tesla Roadster and Nissan LEAF), and hybrid models that use electricity but also have an internal combustion engine (as in General Motors’ Chevy Volt and Fisker Automotive’s Karma).

For this Earth2Tech article, I’ve explained how California emissions regulations factor into green car makers’ warranty decisions, and reported the scoop that General Motors aims to get what’s called enhanced AT-PZEV designation for the 2013 model of the Volt. The first-generation model of the car won’t carry that status (which can open the door for certain purchase incentives), partly due to the battery warranty.

Tesla IPO: Will Tesla See a Powerhouse Public Offering?

Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley electric car startup gunning to raise $185 million next week through an IPO and sales of shares to Toyota, has won over members of the Silicon Valley, Capitol Hill and Hollywood elite. But will the company, which has never turned a profit, charge up Wall Street with a blockbuster IPO?

I dove into Tesla’s regulatory filings and interviewed several analysts to weigh the comany’s prospects for a blockbuster, lackluster or middle-of-the-road IPO. Written originally for Earth2Tech, this article also appeared on Salon.com and NYTimes.com, and was featured in the New York Times’ DealBook blog.

Toyota Deal Not a Silver Bullet for Tesla’s Mass Market Goals

After sorting through Tesla’s amended S-1 filing, I wrote this Earth2Tech piece answering some key questions about electric car maker Tesla Motors’ deal with Toyota. Despite Toyota’s agreement to invest $50 million in the startup, ties between the two companies remain very limited, and hurdles remain for Tesla to start cranking out the Model S in large numbers at the old NUMMI facility in Fremont.

Hacking the Car: Next-gen Vehicles at the Mercy of Cyber Attacks

The shift to an increasingly digital transportation system brings with it one of the banes of the Internet: hacking. Computer scientists at the University of Washington and University of California, San Diego, have shown what kind of havoc a sophisticated hacker could wreak on vehicles that rely heavily on in-car networks and connect to the web via wireless.

Over on Earth2Tech, I’ve explained some of the researchers’ findings and possible implications for electric cars that are linked to communication networks and the power grid. This post also appeared (through syndication) on CNNMoney.com.