Electric Cars For Sale

Daimler AG has announced that it will be providing its latest electric car – the Smart Forwo Electric to a thousand select customers across Europe and the US by 2011. The following year will see the company moving into producing a high volume of electric cars for sale to the public in 41 markets around the world. The thousand customers to whom the company will be supplying the initial Smart Forwo Electric cars would be chosen from those who are participating in different mobility projects in major European and US cities. The same car would be available to the masses from 2012.

Smart Forwo is Daimler AG’s second generation plug in electric car. It is a little over 2.5 meters in length, with a 30 kW motor at the rear that is powered by a high performance lithium-ion battery. The car takes only 6.5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 kilometers per hour. According to a company official a full charge costs around 2 Euros and can last for 115 kilometers, which is sufficient enough for traveling within the city. Thierry Petry, a government official at Moselle province of France said that Daimler AG had ambitious electric car plans and was planning to tap many more mare markets with its new smart electric car.

General Motors’ revolutionary electric car, Chevrolet Volt, is due to be launched in November 2010. There’s been a lot of hype and expectations surrounding this new plug in hybrid vehicle, and the initial verdict is out.

To begin with, Chevrolet Volt is propelled by a 160-horsepower electric motor that draws on energy stored in its on-board lithium-ion batteries. The all-electric range of the car is about 40 miles, which means that if drivers don’t exceed that limit in a day, they won’t need to use any gas at all. And even if the battery runs out, the traction motor’s electric supply is kept going by a 1.4-liter four-cylinder generator that automatically kicks in.

This 4-door sedan with a hatchback is practical, comfortable, and quite attractive to look at. It accelerates fast, brakes sharply, and even does neat turns. The only thing that might take away from its appeal could be the price. Unlike most other electric cars for sale, the Volt is speculated to have a price tag of about $40,000, way more than a Honda Insight hybrid, or Toyota Prius.

This high-tech plug in electric car has been touted as the new brand ambassador for General Motors. The company, haunted by plummeting sales in California, persistent reports of bankruptcy, and a reputation for being the Darth Vader of fuel economy, has gone all out to promote their new offering. And for a good reason too, it appears. With Chevrolet Volt, the electric car family finally has a perfect blend of the freedom of a gas-powered automobile, and the greenness of an EV.

Leading car companies have been displaying their electric car concepts at various automobile shows, as well as conducting trials of their electric cars every now and then, for quite some time. But all this did not lead to substantial results. However, as Mitsubishi and BMW begin their electric cars trial in the UK it seems that the day might not be far when these companies would roll out their electric cars for sale to the public. The British Government’s Technology Strategy Board has provided partial funding to both companies in this initiative. The board will be supporting tests of around 340 alternate fuel cars from a number of electric car companies.

BMW is working with local councils and organizations like the Oxford Brookes University to provide 40 Mini E electric cars that would be tested by the public through a six month period in the coming year. Mitsubishi on the other hand will be providing 25 MiEVs for a wider study being undertaken by the West Midlands consortium which includes local authorities, universities and automobile companies like Mercedes/Smart, Jaguar/Land Rover, LTI, Tata Motors and Microcab Industries. BMW Mini’s trial would be supplied power by Southern and Scottish Energy, while the West Midlands consortium of which Mitsubishi is a part would be supplied by the German power company E. ON.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn unveiled the Nissan LEAF electric car-set in Los Angeles last week. The company plans to put them in the market by the end of 2010. Ghosn said that the LEAF was a new paradigm car and represented a technology that would completely change the way people power-up and drive their cars. He was admittedly proud of the leading position that the Nissan-Renault Alliance had taken in the field of electric car and charging infrastructure development.

Ghosn said that Nissan had taken into account the growing environmental concern, tougher regulations and diminishing crude oil supply for its electric car plans. He also mentioned that their comprehensive approach which went beyond the manufacture of electric cars for sale had made the Nissan-Renault alliance unique in the industry. Their electric car plans included infrastructure support, development of lithium-ion battery and lifecycle management, and collaborative partnerships that would engage and educate the public.

Ghosn had also indicated recently that Nissan was going to skip the hybrid-only technology and go the whole hog in developing electric cars so that it could emerge as the dominant player. The company has already focused most of its resources on developing electric cars and the amount of money they have spent on marketing Nissan LEAF just goes on to reinforce their seriousness.

Renault’s electric car range Zero Emissions had been among the star attractions at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The company has recently confirmed its plans to manufacture two of these radically designed electric cars for sale and make them available to the public by 2011.

Among the two designs, the two-seater Twizy stands out as not only being unusual but also the most relevant keeping present-day’s congested urban roads in mind. Renault will be manufacturing this car from 2011 at the Valladolid plant in Spain. The same plant will also be the site for the production of a new internal combustion engine from 2012. The Zero Emissions Supermini which will probably be based on the Zoe Zero Emissions concept that was presented in the Frankfurt Motor Show will be produced at Flins factory outside Paris from 2012. Renault expects it to account for 2/3rds of its electric cars sale in Europe.

Renault has recently entered into an agreement with the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France’s Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) and Nissan to get into electric battery research and recycling. The company intends to use the Flins factory as a manufacturing and recycling center for electric car batteries. Hopefully now it’s just a matter of time before Renault unleashes its exciting and affordable range of electric cars to the world.

The government of Singapore is quite keen on expanding its population of electric cars and is dedicating various ministries and taskforces to that end. At present hybrid and CNG vehicles remain the preferred choices for eco-friendly cars in the country. The Singapore government has been offering a Green Vehicle Rebate scheme that gives buyers a 40% discount on the Open Market Value (OMV) of a vehicle when they buy an electric, CNG or hybrid vehicle. This has gone a long way in persuading many people to convert to eco-friendly vehicles.

However, in-spite of the rebates such cars make for less than 1% of the 900,727 vehicles plying on Singapore’s roads at present. Furthermore, in terms of adoption, electric cars come after hybrids and CNG vehicles. The technology for electric cars is still being researched for use here. At present the country has only one company, Zeco Systems that is commercially distributing the German produced E-Max electric scooters. However the government’s electric car plans do promise that global car manufacturers will be seriously considering bringing their electric cars for sale in Singapore. Renault-Nissan has already agreed to participate in the government’s program and has stated that it will provide electric vehicles locally, as well as share knowledge about the same.

Reva Electric Car Company from Bangalore, India has entered into a joint venture with a US based car maker Bannon Automotive for opening an assembly plant in a Syracuse suburb. The company plans to assemble its plug in electric car, a three-door hatchback called NXR and a sporty two-seater electric car called the NXG at this plant.

Bannon Automotive is a start-up electric car company based in Freeport, New York. Its CEO Paul Wimer announced at a news conference that the company selected Syracuse for the assembly plant because it was close to key markets and they had got the support of local Senators like David Valesky and Charles Schumer, and also from local, state and federal officials.

Bannon Automotive and Reva have bought a building in Clay, Syracuse which has an area of 150,000-square-foot. The companies will be renovating and converting the place into an assembly plant. They will be together investing $26.5 million. The Joint venture will also be funded by several federal agencies and the State of New York which will provide Empire State Development Corporation grants worth $3 million and tax incentives and breaks equaling $3.76 million. Bannon and Reva plan to establish and begin running the plant in the coming year and eventually manufacture 15-20 thousand electric cars for sale annually.

This week’s Tokyo motor show is going to be buzzing with talk of zero-emission cars as some major electric car companies are going to launch their concept electric cars. However it will take some time before these cars roll out for the mass market.

Toyota, which is one of the world’s leading car-makers, will be displaying its latest electric concept cars along with other Japanese car manufacturers. Toyota’s car will be a mini four-seater called FT-EV II powered by Lithium ion batteries. It is supposed to be able to travel for over 90 kilometers from a single charge. Honda on the other hand will be unveiling a compact car called EV-N which looks like a regular gas driven car but will be like Toyota’s FT-EV II driven by Lithium-ion batteries.

Toyota plans to introduce its electric cars for sale by 2012. But its plans are at present restricted to the US market. Honda on the other hand, is likely to introduce its electric car in both US and Japan but nothing stands finalized yet. Other major car manufacturers with global presence, including Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. would be launching their electric cars globally from next year onwards while Daimler AG would start large-scale production from 2012. None of the major car companies from the U.S. and Europe are going to be present in the show.

Tesla Motors Inc. is planning to seriously consider Ontario when the time comes for mass-manufacturing it’s under $30,000 electric cars for sale. However the eventual decision will also depend on the value of the Canadian dollar at that time. The company is considering Ontario because the top bosses believe that it’s a great place to work, with a relatively stronger environmental sensibility compared to the U.S. The country relies mostly upon renewable hydro and nuclear energy for its electricity requirements. Moreover, the auto plants at Canada are known to be some of the efficient ones in North America.

However this third-generation car is not going to be put up in the market for five years. Tesla has delivered over 700 Tesla Roadsters priced at $110,000, and already achieved profitability. Its present electric car plans include mass manufacturing the second-generation Model S Sedan which is expected to be ready for sale in 2011 for a retail price of $57,000. The Model S which is going to run 500 km per charge with the ability to get recharged in 45 minutes, is touted as being the electric car that would be able to silence the critics of electric cars, as well as prove to the more established car companies that electric transportation is not just about hype.

China is striving hard to acquire the position of the ‘leading producer of electric cars in the World’. The country has big plans to provide a major thrust to its economy and ranking in the world. A plug-in electric car called F3DM, produced by the nation is already being promoted in the domestic market with a price tag of $22,000. China plans to have its electric cars for sale in the United States and Europe by the year 2011.

The F3DM offers a great driving experience. AHN News report states that it can run for 62 miles on batteries, and has a small gasoline engine for backup. Chinese drivers won’t be bothered much by the short distance between charges as they use cars mainly for short commutes, and rarely for inter-city driving.

BYD Co., the manufacturer of F3DM, headquartered in the city of Shenzhen has lots of things going in its favor. Warren Buffett, the American billionaire has invested in a 10 percent stake in the company. The Chinese government has offered subsidies of up to $8,800 to taxi fleets and local government agencies on purchase of hybrid or all-electric vehicles. There are also plans to set up new electric car charging stations in Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin.

The grand manufacturing plans and solid marketing ideas send a strong signal that China is not too far from becoming the world’s leading producer of electric cars.