Electric Vehicles
Green Driving & Transportaton – News & Views
Meet the women behind the electric Chevrolet Volt
Powertrain
Pamela Fletcher is the chief engineer for Volt and Plug-In Hybrid Propulsion Systems. She is responsible for the integration of the propulsion system components, including the lithium-ion battery pack, electric motors, and onboard engine generator, to ensure the cars meet customer expectations and business requirements. For the Volt this means creating an electric car with extended-range capability. Pamela has three children, age 24 to 27 years; she grew up in Sarahsville, Ohio.
Marketing
Cristi Landy is the Volt product marketing manager. Cristi holds a degree in electrical engineering, and was part of the team that developed the Volt Concept in 2006. Currently, she acts as a liaison between Engineering and Marketing. As an example, Cristi helped identify the features and capabilities of the smart-phone application for Volt owners. This feature allows the driver to remotely heat/cool the cabin while the Volt is still plugged into the wall charger. This is much more efficient that using power from the battery for heat or air conditioning, extending the electric-only range of the Volt. Cristi has twin boys, age 10; growing up, she lived in Brookfield, Wis., and Jacksonville, Fla.
Manufacturing
Teri Quigley is the plant manager at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly. Teri is responsible for preparing the plant and executing the launch of the Chevrolet Volt on the same assembly line as the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne. This includes production changes to accommodate the installation of the Volt’s unique powertrain, including the training and safety protocols to install the Volt’s six-foot long, 400-pound lithium ion battery pack. Teri has four children, ranging in age from 14 to 26, and has two grandchildren; she grew up in Dexter, Mich.
From USA Today
San Francisco joins with ChargePoint charging stations for electric vehicles.
Coulomb Technologies announced it will deliver free home and public ChargePoint® Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles throughout the United States. The ChargePoint America program will provide nearly 5000 charging stations to program participants in nine regions in the United States: Austin, Texas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Fla., Sacramento, Calif., the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Redmond, Wash., and Washington DC and is a strategic partnership with three leading automobile brands including, Ford, Chevrolet and smart USA. Coulomb currently has the largest established base of networked charging stations worldwide with more than 700 units shipped to more than 130 customers in 2009. Installation of the ChargePoint charging stations for electric vehicles will begin immediately.
The $37 million ChargePoint America program is made possible by a $15M grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy. ChargePoint charging stations are available now for installation in all nine designated regional metropolitan areas of the US. More than 1000 new public charging stations will be installed by December 2010, adding to the existing ChargePoint Network. The remaining stations will be installed by September 2011.
In support of the ChargePoint America program, three automakers have committed to deliver electric vehicles in designated US regions. The Chevrolet Volt, the Ford Transit Connect Electric and Ford Focus Electric through the “Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program”, and the smart fortwo electric drive will be introduced along with this program.
“The Obama Administration has set significant and considerable goals for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles in the coming years,” said Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies. “This grant will bring thousands of networked charging stations to nine US regions that are slated to receive the first electric vehicles from our automobile partners. These charging stations will build upon our already growing and established network of infrastructure and will accelerate the deployment of public and private charging infrastructure which will in turn encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles. Our Department of Energy grant, also known as the stimulus bill, was funded to provide jobs for Americans. Our products are built and installed with American labor. Every time we ship a ChargePoint charging station, three Americans go to work for a day.”
ChargePoint America will offer both home and public charging stations to individuals and businesses. Businesses interested in receiving public charging stations should visit the ChargePoint America web site and sign up by completing the application form. Individuals interested in purchasing an EV can sign up at www.chargepointamerica.com to receive more information about qualifying to receive a home charging station. Additionally, the ChargePoint America web site provides a way to suggest public locations for charging stations.
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Who killed the electric car?
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Transbay Terminal to be a hub for High Speed Rail and Commerce
in San Francisco
San Francisco, Calif. (April 8, 2010) – The Transbay Transit Center Project cleared another hurdle as the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) Board adopted design variances to the Transbay Transit Center at First and Mission streets in downtown San Francisco to ensure it becomes the northern terminus for High Speed Rail in California.The CHSRA also presented its Alternatives Analysis Report for San Francisco to San Jose.The alternatives study will be used to help CHSRA identify alternatives that merit being carried forward for additional study. The analysis confirmed that the Transbay Transit Center is the preferred and only practical location and that the proposed Beale Street Alternative is infeasible.
“We are pleased that the CHSRA Board of Directors agreed with the voters of California that the Transbay Transit Center is the preferred location for High Speed Rail in San Francisco,” said Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, Executive Director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. “The Transbay Transit Center Project is one of the largest transit projects that will be built in the country in over 50 years and we look forward to building a new station to accommodate High Speed Rail travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles.”
The Transbay Transit Center Project will replace the current Transbay Terminal with a new, multi-modal transportation center and centralize the region’s transportation network by accommodating nine transportation systems under one roof. The project will make public transit a more convenient option in the Bay Area, much as it is in other world-class cities. The three components of the project – replacing the outdated Transbay Terminal with a modern transit hub, extending the Caltrain rail line 1.3 miles into the heart of the Financial District and redeveloping the area surrounding the Transbay Transit Center with 2,600 new homes (35% affordable), parks and a retail main street – will help to return San Francisco to a culture of mass transit, allowing people to travel and commute without the need for a car, thereby decreasing congestion and pollution.
The project broke ground on the Temporary Terminal in December 2008 and demolition of the current bus terminal is scheduled for summer 2010. For more information about the project, please visit www.transbaycenter.org
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Nissan, San Francisco Collaborate to Develop Bay Area EV Charging Network
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Nissan North America, Inc. has announced that Nissan and the City of San Francisco, on behalf of the Bay Area EV Corridor program, are working to advance zero-emission mobility by promoting the development of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the nine-county region. The cities of Oakland and San Jose, county governments in the Bay Area and other public and private stakeholders are participants in the regional EV Corridor program. As part of the collaboration, Nissan has committed to making the Nissan LEAF zero-emission, all-electric vehicle commercially available in the Bay Area upon its debut in December 2010. Nissan will work with San Francisco and the region to promote and develop a vehicle-charging infrastructure, including home charging, as well as streamlining the process for installing charging equipment. The Nissan LEAF will be the pilot vehicle for the implementation of this streamlined process.
“Nissan is committed to the San Francisco market and is looking forward to working with the city and others in the partnership to make zero emissions a reality throughout the Bay Area,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Nissan North America. “In one year, Nissan LEAF zero-emission vehicles will be driving on the streets of San Francisco.”"We are making every effort to have the infrastructure ready when the Nissan LEAF arrives and we are extremely pleased to have Nissan as a collaborative partner in making that happen,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. “This collaboration stems from Nissan’s recognition of the aggressive work we are doing to make the San Francisco Bay Area the nation’s EV capital.”
In November 2008, Newsom, San Jose Mayor Chuck Read and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums pledged to make the Bay Area the “EV Capital of the U.S.” Stemming from that pledge, the Bay Area EV Corridor program was formed as the organizational structure through which municipal governments in the nine-county region and private stakeholders coordinate efforts to make the region EV-ready. Nissan is a participant in the project, and the collaboration announced today is an extension of that work.
Nissan and the City of San Francisco announced the collaboration today at San Francisco City Hall, where the Nissan LEAF made a stop on its nationwide tour. The Nissan LEAF Zero Emission Tour is making stops in 22 cities, in 11 states across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Vancouver in Canada, offering the opportunity for interested drivers, media, civic partners, businesses and university students to learn more about the Nissan LEAF and the benefits of zero-emission driving. Nissan is the only automaker committed to making all-electric vehicles available to the mass market on a global scale. Nissan already has formed partnerships to develop electric-vehicle infrastructure in the State of Tennessee; the State of Oregon; Sonoma County and San Diego, Calif.; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Washington D.C.; Seattle; Raleigh, N.C., Houston, Texas, and Vancouver.
In North America, Nissan’s operations include automotive design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on the Nissan LEAF and zero emissions can be found at:
www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car.
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Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Chooses Michigan for 2010 Competition Events
$10 Million Competition for Super Fuel Efficient Vehicles Announces Partnership with Michigan Economic Development Corporation to Host Multi-Stage On-Track Challenges
Detroit, MI. (January 12, 2010) – The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE has chosen the state of Michigan to host an intense multi-stage competition that aims to pit some of the world’s most fuel efficient vehicles against one another in a quest to win their share of a $10 million prize purse. Fifty-one super efficient cars from 41 teams survived the rigorous design judging phase and now aim to ready their vehicles for the start of on-track performance events in the spring of 2010, thanks to a unique new partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan International Speedway (MIS), announced today at the North American International Auto Show.
The series of scored performance and evaluation events kicks off April 26, 2010 and continues through the end of August 2010. During this time, the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE will conduct several closed door competition stages aimed at evaluating the efficiency, safety and performance of each competition vehicle under real world conditions. While in Michigan, the competition will open its doors at select dates to allow the public and the automotive world an opportunity to witness the competition stages as they unfold. In addition, ongoing and interactive updates will be available online at www.progressiveautoxprize.org throughout the competition stages.
“As the birthplace of the American automotive industry, Michigan has the knowledge base, the talent, and the facilities to support the innovation central to achieving the goals of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE and the future of the automotive industry,” noted Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of The X PRIZE Foundation. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Michigan as we enter the most exciting phase of the competition and I’d especially like to thank Governor Granholm and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for helping us bring the competition to Michigan.”
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm also added, “Michigan, the state that put the world on wheels, is excited to host the test phase of the Automotive X PRIZE competition. There is no place in the world better suited to display these super fuel-efficient and green-powered vehicles. We are home to more collective automotive manufacturing and R&D talent in North America than the other 49 states, Canada and Mexico combined. Michigan is charged up and ready to showcase the cars and trucks of the future and the advanced power systems that will fuel them.”
$10 Million Competition for Super Fuel Efficient Vehicles Announces Partnership with Michigan Economic Development Corporation to Host Multi-Stage On-Track Challenges
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ZAP’ s Ginny Medeiros Interview with QuestPoint
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US electric vehicle pioneer ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP) and China auto manufacturer Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd. announced a commercial agreement to produce electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs), cars and other electric vehicles in China for domestic and global distribution.
ZAP and Jonway partnered on the production of the 5-door Jonway A380 SUV, integrating the latest AC propulsion and lithium battery system technologies to produce a high performance mid-range electric vehicle (EV) that ZAP intends to offer to the fleet market in China. Jonway currently manufactures several thousand units per month of its A380 compact SUV in 3- and 5-door models and is expanding its product line with new model sedans and other automobiles.
The agreement with Jonway is part of a multi-phase business plan ZAP is implementing to target the China electric vehicle market. ZAP chose the Jonway partnership in part because last year Jonway produced one of the first vehicles made in China to meet international standards of quality, including ISO 9000, China Compulsory Certification (CCC) and most recently passing certification for import to the European Union. The Taizhou-based automaker markets and sells vehicles in China through a network of over 600 auto dealerships. Jonway has the capacity to produce up to 50,000 vehicles per year currently at its facilities in Taizhou with capacity and support from the government to expand as the business scales.
ZAP and Jonway believe the partnership will leverage ZAP’s long-standing history in electric vehicles, experience in systems integration and worldwide sales for a broad range of EVs. Under the exclusive agreement, ZAP and Jonway take the electric drive systems designed by ZAP and integrate them into the reengineered EV SUV that will be produced by Jonway. ZAP will perform research and development of the core technology in Santa Rosa, California and license the technology for this partnership. ZAP and Jonway will jointly market and sell electric vehicles in China, North America and Europe to broaden market reach.
In 2009, China overtook the United States as the world’s largest automobile market with sales increasing 46 percent from 2008 to 13.6 million vehicles in 2009, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
ZAP hopes to leverage a stimulus from the government for plug-in forms of transportation. The Chinese State Council General Office announced that it intends to raise its annual production capacity to 500,000 all-electric cars, hybrids and buses by the end of 2011. To stimulate the growth, China’s Economic Construction Department has put in place a 60,000 RMB, approximately US$8,800, manufacturers subsidy per electric vehicle produced and sold in China.
About Jonway
Jonway is the trade name of Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co., Ltd., an automobile manufacturer based in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China that currently produces two SUV models, the A380 3-door and the A380 5-door configurations. Zhejiang Jonway Auto is a subsidiary of Jonway Group, which has been a leader in the manufacturing of motorcycles, ATVs and related products for more than 20 years. In 2009, the Company sold more than 120,000 vehicles internationally in the European Union and the United States and has a capacity to build up to 400,000 vehicles annually. The Company recently began producing electric motorcycles and related vehicles. Jonway Group and its subsidiaries also produce motor parts, light building materials, air-compressors and plastic components while managing a portfolio of real estate holdings. Jonway Group owns several manufacturing subsidiaries throughout China with a total manufacturing space of 57.3 hectares employing more than 1,000 personnel.
About ZAP
ZAP is one of the world’s oldest electric vehicle providers, having delivered over 117,000 of a broad range of vehicles to more than 75 countries since 1994. ZAP supplies electric trucks and vans to military, government and corporate fleets and is an innovator of electric motorcycles, scooters and ATVs. The Santa Rosa, California based company offers some of the only electric city-speed cars and trucks in production today and is leveraging its accrued technology know-how in developing a cost effective high-speed electric car called the ZAP Alias. For further information visit http://www.zapworld.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of ZAP’s products, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, ZAP’s dependence upon third-party suppliers, intellectual property rights and other risks detailed from time to time in the ZAP’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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SANTA ROSA, California and HANGZHOU, China (December 16, 2009) — Electric transportation pioneer ZAP (OTC BB: ZAAP) and Holley Group, the world’s largest volume producer of electric power meters according to the Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group, have established a joint venture company in China with backing from venture capital firm Better World International to target the electric vehicle market in China.
Named ZAP Hangzhou, the new company plans to design and manufacture electric vehicles and develop infrastructure technology for the Chinese market. ZAP, Holley Group and Better World have entered a joint venture agreement, and officials state that ZAP has funded its initial capital requirements under the agreement.
Holley Group is an established enterprise in China and is the parent of Holley Metering Limited. Over the past 30 years Holley Metering helped pioneer electric power meters in China. Last year, Holley Metering sold over 10 million units worldwide.
ZAP Hangzhou will combine ZAP’s intellectual property, electric vehicle technology and know-how with Holley’s experience in electric metering to develop electric vehicles and related technologies targeting the Chinese market. The companies plan to use their knowledge of the local Chinese market to target opportunities for electric vehicle growth within China’s vehicle fleets. As part of this relationship, ZAP Hangzhou plans to begin the installation of manufacturing operations at Holley’s Hangzhou facilities in the near future.
The relationship with Holley is the next step in ZAP’s plan to deliver quality, cost effective electric vehicles to the fleet vehicle market, plans which began earlier this year with the investment by Cathaya Funds through its Better World affiliate. Priscilla M. Lu, Ph.D., Founder and General Partner of Cathaya Funds and a veteran technology executive with extensive international experience, agreed to join ZAP’s Board of Directors as Chairman in connection with the investment. Dr. Lu led this China initiative and helped ZAP execute on its international strategy, in particular its relationship with Holley and its market strategy for China.
“It is important to note that the purpose for my investment in ZAP earlier this year was to bring these companies together for the electric vehicle market opportunity in China,” said Dr. Lu.
“We have had a long standing working relationship with Dr. Lu and have confidence that under her leadership and experience in the Chinese market, ZAP will be able to approach this market effectively and competitively with innovative EV product solutions,” said Holley Chairman and CEO Richard Wong.
LISTEN Here to QuestPoint N The Mix interview with Zap Driver and Consultant
Ginny Medeiros
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