Automotive

Oslo-based electric vehicle maker THINK has started production of the THINK City EV at its new plant in Elkhart, Indiana. The company hasn’t wasted anytime getting up to speed either, with the first 15 vehicles delivered to the State of Indiana for use in its government fleet this week. THINK aims to build 300 THINK City EVs at the facility by the end of the year, with plans to scale up production to build 2,500 vehicles for the American market in 2011. Read More

It’s been a big week in the world of mass-produced electric vehicles. Hot on the heels of Nissan delivering the first of its LEAF all-electric vehicles to a customer in California last Saturday, a retired airline pilot by the name of Jeffrey Kaffee has become the first customer in the U.S. to take delivery of a Chevrolet Volt. Although the Volt he received wasn’t actually the first available for sale, with that particular vehicle going to the winner of an online charity auction, which closed on Tuesday with a winning bid of US$225,000. Read More

Since its first attempt in 1999, Audi has won the Le Mans 24 hour race nine times with the R8, R10 TDI and R15 TDI, equaling Ferrari’s all-time win record. Last Friday it unveiled the new R18, a closed carbon fiber monocoque coupe specifically developed for Le Mans with a 3.7-liter V6 TDI engine and another first for endurance racing – all-LED headlights. Read More

Ford Australia has released the first image of its new-look Territory SUV, set for release in 2011 along with what Ford promises will be an "unprecedented new-model onslaught." The SUV design is based on Ford's kinetic design language, and is expected to be a strong indication of the Ford Escape concept due to be shown in January at NAIAS. Read More

Presenters from all over the world were in attendance at last week's Future of Electric Vehicles USA 2010 conference, sharing the latest developments in electric transportation of all types. With all those EV experts together in one place, it was a great opportunity to ask the question: "What still needs to happen before electric vehicles can become the dominant form of transportation?" Read More

The European SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project, which is developing technology to automate slipstreaming of multiple vehicles on highways, is now a year into its three-year program. The first year has been spent ironing out the concept and investigating the requirements of a prototype system, as well as how people will react to using it. Now the program is set to enter the implementation phase, starting with the testing of a single lead and following vehicle. Read More

San Francisco Bay Area resident Olivier Chalouhi has become the first person in the world to take delivery of a Nissan LEAF all-electric vehicle. At a special presentation on Saturday at North Bay Nissan of Petaluma in California, Chalouhi, a 31-year-old Silicon Valley entrepreneur who was the first person in the U.S. to place a LEAF order, took possession of a black LEAF SL in what Nissan described as an historic event representing “the first delivery of an affordable, mass-market, all-electric car since the first days of the automotive era.” Read More

This week saw the Future of Electric Vehicles USA 2010 conference take place in San Jose, California. Billed as “the world's only event that covers all forms of electric vehicles – land, water, and air,” it included a series of presentations on new technologies, an exhibit hall, and master classes that featured trips to nearby Silicon Valley tech development firms. Gizmag was one of the main sponsors of the event, and we were there to learn more about what’s happening in the world of EVs. Here’s a quick look at some of what we took in. Read More

The world's most watched sporting series, Formula One, is set to announce a new greener formula later this week, which will take effect in 2013. The rule changes are expected to see the introduction of 1.6 liter turbo engines with more powerful energy recovery systems, reduced maximum rpm (from 18,000 rpm to 10,000 rpm) and fuel (flow and capacity) restrictions, and can be expected to further the sport's objective of encouraging R&D relevant to road cars. While the targeted 30% initial improvement in gas mileage will only improve the current obscenely wasteful 3 mpg to 4 mpg (approx 70 liters/100 km) in 2013, it will enroll the brightest automotive technicians on the planet in a quest for greater efficiency from our automobiles and that's a wonderful outcome. Read More