Car Chute

CHICAGO, Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Nissan Americas officials joined Gov. Pat Quinn and representatives from the City of Chicago to announce the Illinois rollout of the all-electric Nissan LEAF for this fall. Nissan has accelerated the launch of Nissan LEAF in Illinois in response to strong consumer demand and supported by plans that include an extensive electric car charging network in Chicago and surrounding suburbs in the coming year.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080506/NISSANWORDMARKLOGO )

“Governor Quinn, Mayor Emmanuel and other visionary Chicago-area leaders have paved the way for mass market adoption of electric cars in their community,” said Scott Becker, senior vice president, Administration and Finance, Nissan Americas. “Chicagoland consumers want a transportation solution that uses no gas and produces no emissions, and the introduction of the Nissan LEAF to Illinois makes that a reality.”
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Tuesday night is “Public Night” at the Plug-In 2011 Conference Exposition, the event at the Raleigh Convention Center for the EV — Electric Vehicles — industry. For $10, you can say you were there when your grandchildren ask, “Whatever happened to the gasoline-powered automobile?”

“Well, kids,” you’ll be able to say, “it was back in ’11 when General Electric came out with an EV charging station in a box, and it sold at Lowe’s for about $1,000.

“That’s right, kids, one thousand dollars — it was the same year that the Republicans defaulted on the national debt, which as you know crashed our currency and forced the U.S. to begin using the Chinese yuan.”

That’s a joke — I hope.

But seriously, electric cars (you read it here first — first around here, anyway) could solve some big problems for the U.S., not to mention the world. Petroleum imports? Wars in the Middle East? Kiss them good-bye if we can run our cars on electricity, and the electricity comes from wind, solar and other renewable sources … and we juice ‘em up at night when power demands on the grid are low.

Electricity at current rates is far below gasoline — about 75 cents for the equivalent of a gallon’s worth of power. Heck, put solar panels on your roof and a big battery in the garage and you’ll really be happy motoring.

So the electric cars are here — the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf, and many more — but what’s missing is the charging stations. Sure, in theory you can plug your EV into a wall socket, but that’s the power equivalent of filling your swimming pool with a garden hose. What you need is one of those Level-2 chargers, which will fire up your dead EV battery in about four hours.

And folks, that’s what GE’s “WattStation” is. (It’s the hanging unit on the left in the picture.)

The big announcement this afternoon was that GE is building the WattStation at its facility in Mebane, NC and will start selling them at Lowe’s stores next month.

Lowe’s stores in California, at first, then a national rollout.

Price: “About $1,000.” These WattStation chargers hang on the wall, attached to a 240-volt outlet (like your dryer) or else hard-wired into your control panel.

(They’re made in Mebane, and you’re selling them first in California? I asked. Come back Wednesday, said the gang in the GE booth in unison, and we’ll have an answer for you.)

Or, try my favorite product, the Plugless Power charger, a wireless Level-2 gizmo that shoots

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General Motors has ended their partnership with REVA, after Mahindra & Mahindra reportedly acquired a controlling interest of the REVA Electric Car Company.

This resulted in GM cutting their ties with REVA to develop electric cars in India. Reva and G.M. India were working jointly to produce an electric version of the new Chevrolet Spark.

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At midday on Wednesday 16th September 2009 Reva Electric Car Company (REVA) will be unveiling two new M1 classified electric cars at the 63rd Frankfurt International Motor Show.

The REVA NXR is a four-seat, three-door hatchback family car suitable for urban driving that can be ordered at the show, with production scheduled to commence at the beginning of 2010.

The showcar, REVA’s model for 2011, is the REVA NXG; a sporty two-seater with a targa roof that was designed by Dilip Chhabria of the internationally renowned automotive design company DC Design.

Another world-first for REVA at The IAA is the launch of REVive, a technology unique to REVA that addresses ‘range anxiety’ and acts like an invisible reserve fuel tank. The customer just has to telephone or SMS REVA for an instant remote recharge should they run out of charge. Both the REVA NXR and the REVA NXG will feature the REVive telematics technology. Further technology and pricing announcements will be made at the IAA.

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