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This has been a somewhat tumultuous week for nascent electric vehicle manufacturer Aptera. The Vista, California, based purveyor-to-be of the three-wheeled Aptera 2e announced some significant changes, not the least was that supplemental funding issues had caused the scheduled rollout of its first production vehicles to be pushed back from the end of this year to sometime in 2010. Accompanying that news was word that Aptera's co-founders Chris Anthony and Steve Fambro would be "stepping aside from day-to-day activities" for a while, although both remain on the board of directors. Expanding demands of other business involvements leave Anthony's future role unclear (he also heads up Epic Boats and Flux Power), but Fambro, Aptera's chief technical...
Although Nissan execs say the official corporate position regarding ownership of the advanced lithium-ion manganese battery modules that will power the upcoming LEAF EV remains in work in process, Chairman Carlos Ghosn has apparently made up his own mind. We spoke with him about clarifying that issue at a gathering here in Los Angeles being held to kick off the three-month cross-country preview tour for Nissan's advanced EV that ultimately will visit 22 cities in 11 states, the District of Columbia and Vancouver, Canada. Asked point blank, the man in charge responded: "The lease is a done deal. I would not accept selling the battery. Period." Those sentiments add even stronger emphasis to comments he expressed earlier in the day at a formal press...
Encouraged by the success of the inaugural "zero carbon, clean emission" race for electric motorcycles held earlier this year on Britain's famed 37.7-mile Isle of Man open-road circuit, Time Trial Extreme Grand Prix (TTxP) and Infineon Raceway have teamed to bring a similar competition to the U.S. next spring. To be held May 14-16, 2010 as part of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Motorcycle Sonoma Showdown weekend, the first TTxGP U.S. Championships is set to run as a support showcase for the AMA's Superbike, Daytona Sportbike and Supermoto events. TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain is enthusiastic in pursuing his goal of building both a competitor and a fan base for these zero-emissions two-wheelers here in America. "With the success of...
Although the accompanying press release was palpably light on specifics, Nissan has released this concept sketch of a future all-electric variation of its new conventionally-powered NV200 commercial van that just went on sale in various world markets and will be heading to the U.S. next year. Unlike its baseline counterpart, the NV200 EV is destined to get its own unique styling that's heavily influenced by Nissan's LEAF EV, which will also arrive at dealers here sometime in late 2010. While the automaker didn't confirm any powertrain details, it's expected the NV200 EV's motivation will come from some variation of the basic battery-electric package used in the LEAF, an 80kW (108 hp) electric motor powered by an advanced compact Lithium-ion battery...
Adding both visual presence and environmental edge to its highest-mileage U.S. offering, Toyota publicly unveiled a pair of new Prius one-offs at SEMA aimed at furthering the cause of long-term sustainability. The prime example is the Prius Aerius (Latin for "belonging to the air"). It wears a four piece body kit from Five Axis Design that's made from polyurethane and partially recycled materials and was evaluated using racing-derived computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs to ensure it maintained the standard car's exemplary 0.25 drag coefficient. The wheel/tire fitment builds on that base, wrapping Yokohama Super E-Spec low rolling resistance tires made from 80 percent non-petroleum materials and featuring a distinctive "leaf-graphic" tread...
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