Alternative fuels

Toyota plans to name $69,000 fuel-cell vehicle Mirai, report says

9:59 am U.S. ET | July 29, 2014

Toyota is planning to name its $69,000 fuel-cell car Mirai, the Japanese word for future, a person familiar with the decision told Bloomberg....
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Tesla, Panasonic reach agreement on U.S. battery plant, report says

3:42 pm U.S. ET | July 28, 2014

Panasonic has reached a basic agreement with Tesla Motors to initially supply the electric automaker's proposed lithium-ion battery plant in the United States with machinery to make battery cells, the Nikkei said....
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Japan readies fuel cell subsidies in bet on Toyota's next big thing

10:44 am U.S. ET | July 23, 2014

Japan is readying subsidies to help Toyota and key suppliers take the lead in hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles that could top $400 million over the next several years if the most bullish projections for the technology play out....
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Why Daimler will wait until '17 to debut fuel cell vehicle

12:01 am U.S. ET | July 21, 2014

Daimler's first series-production hydrogen vehicle could have been ready about now, but the company is putting off the vehicle's debut until 2017....
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BMW open to sharing battery technology with rivals

July 15, 2014 09:52 CET

BMW is open to sharing with rival automakers the EV battery cell technology it co-developed with Samsung SDI. Sharing the technology would reduce the cost of the battery cells -- the most expensive part of an electric vehicle....
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Toyota ponders awd for next-gen Prius

12:01 am U.S. ET | July 14, 2014

The next generation of the Toyota Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid, will offer a lithium ion battery and possibly an all-wheel-drive option....
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Linde first company to open hydrogen fueling station production line

12:59 pm U.S. ET | July 14, 2014

German industrial gases maker Linde AG opened what it said was the world's first production line for hydrogen fueling stations today, in a bid to boost support networks for eco-friendly cars....
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LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE

Why fuel economy faces law of diminishing returns

3:02 pm U.S. ET | July 11, 2014

In economics, it's known as the law of diminishing returns, the shrinking benefit you get when you pour ever-increasing resources toward achieving a singular goal. The DOE showed a good mathematical example of the principle today with a graphic it released about the consumer benefits of fuel economy....
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Driver of stolen Tesla that crashed, split in 2, dies

9:43 am U.S. ET | July 10, 2014

The driver of a stolen Model S sedan that crashed and split in two in west Los Angeles nearly a week ago has died. The L.A. County Department of Coroner said today that the driver, Joshua Michael Flot, 26, of Inglewood, Calif., died on Monday....
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Toyota seeks exemption from U.S. safety rule to sell fuel-cell car

5:49 am U.S. ET | June 30, 2014

Toyota asked the U.S. auto-safety regulator for a two-year exemption from a rule governing electric cars to clear the way for the company to sell its new fuel-cell vehicle....
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Toyota fuel cell car to cost $69,000 in Japan, debut in U.S., Europe in 2015

5:25 am U.S. ET | June 25, 2014

Toyota's highly-anticipated hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will debut in the Japan market by next April priced around 7 million yen ($69,348) and go on sale in the United States and Europe by the summer of 2015....
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Toyota will sell FCV fuel cell car in Europe starting next year

June 25, 2014 11:25 CET

Toyota said it will begin European sales of its FCV hydrogen fuel cell vehicle by next summer. The automaker is joining Honda and Hyundai in introducing retail-ready fuel cell vehicles....
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Hyundai delivers hydrogen Tucson to first U.S. customer

12:01 am U.S. ET | June 16, 2014

Hyundai has started retail leasing of its hydrogen-powered Tucson as the South Korean carmaker and competitors look to expand the market for alternative zero-emission electric vehicles....
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NEWS ANALYSIS

Tesla bets its patents on a vision of a battery-powered future

12:01 am U.S. ET | June 14, 2014

Tesla Motors says its decision to make hundreds of its electric-vehicle patents openly available to competitors will help accelerate the fight against climate change. How other automakers respond to the offer could determine the future of Tesla and the entire EV market....
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Hyundai delivers hydrogen Tucson to first U.S. customer

7:24 am U.S. ET | June 11, 2014

Hyundai has started retail leasing of its hydrogen-powered Tucson crossover as the South Korean carmaker and competitors look to expand the market for alternative zero-emission electric vehicles....
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Tesla won't select final gigafactory site until late 2014, Musk says

4:50 pm U.S. ET | June 3, 2014

Tesla Motors won't decide until year end where to build a battery “gigafactory” even as it readies multiple plant sites, CEO Elon Musk told investors on Tuesday....
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States vow to juice ZEV demand

12:01 am U.S. ET | June 2, 2014

Eight states, in a coalition including California and New York, have signaled that they're willing to meet automakers part way in an effort to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on their roads by 2025. The eight states represent about one-quarter of total U.S. vehicle sales and have adopted rules requiring that about 15 percent of new vehicles sold by 2025 be ZEVs....
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Toyota moving away from EVs in favor of hydrogen fuel cells

2:47 pm U.S. ET | May 20, 2014

Toyota is walking away from building longer-range battery-electric vehicles in favor of its effort in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, its top North American executive said....
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Regulator request delays Outlander plug-in launch

3:41 pm U.S. ET | May 15, 2014

Mitsubishi says a new kink is delaying the launch of its Outlander plug-in hybrid in the United States until late 2015 or early 2016, even as it aims to more than double sales elsewhere this year....
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Musk sees need for many 'gigafactories' for battery demand

1:43 pm U.S. ET | May 15, 2014

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said the need for lower-cost batteries for autos and power storage means there will need to be hundreds of “gigafactories” like the one the carmaker is planning to build....
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GM brings Spark EV batteries in-house to Mich. plant

3:30 pm U.S. ET | May 14, 2014

General Motors is moving production of the battery pack for its all-electric model of the Chevrolet Spark minicar in-house at the company’s battery assembly plant in suburban Detroit....
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Why not push CNG/LNG vehicles?

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12, 2014

As a retired automotive engineer who has worked with compressed natural gas/liquefied natural gas products, I notice there is one small detail that gets overlooked: the longevity of any production motor that is configured to run on CNG/LNG....
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