Electric Vehicles

For politicians betting on electric vehicles to drive job growth, the view from inside Think City's plant here is their worst nightmare: 100 unfinished vehicles lined up with no word on whether they will be completed. Only two years ago, the tiny Think cars (two can fit in a regular parking space) were expected to bring more than 400 jobs to this ailing city and a lifeline to suppliers who once made parts for gas-guzzling recreational vehicles. "We've said we're out to make Indiana the electric vehicle state.

The growing number of electric vehicle drivers in Los Angeles are behaving differently from the national norm. Not only are EV drivers in L.A. traveling farther than those in other cities, but they charge their vehicles more often at public locations and are more likely to charge at night to obtain less expensive electricity rates, according to Ecotality in San Francisco. Ecotality oversees the EV Project, a $230-million deployment of electric-vehicle charging infrastructure funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy to aid the rollout of electric vehicles and conduct research.

The first all-electric Coda sedan rolled off the assembly line in Benicia, Calif., on Monday, marking a big day for the privately held Los Angeles company. Coda Automotive Inc. manufactures most of the vehicle's battery system and body in China. The parts are then shipped to the San Francisco Bay Area port city of Benicia for final assembly. "Coda started five years ago in an airport hangar in Southern California," said Mac Heller, the company's executive chairman. "We shared a conviction that with technology and science, we could create cars that do not spoil the Earth, drain the treasury or hurt the health of our children.

Dear Liz: Last year I bought an electric vehicle, motivated in part by the $7,500 federal tax credit. I consulted with my tax preparer, a CPA, to ensure I would generate enough income to fully use the one-time, use-it-or-lose-it credit. In December 2011, I informed her of the exact type of that year's income (earned income, capital gains, dividends, interest and so on) and detailed all my deductions. She assured me that based on those numbers my tax burden was $8,600, more than sufficient to use the credit.

Federal safety regulators have given the Chevrolet Volt an all-clear. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that it did not identify a safety defect, concluding that the car does not pose any unusual risk of fire. In closing the book on its investigation into Volts catching on fire, NHTSA also issued new guidelines for how emergency personnel and tow truck operators should deal with electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids that have been damaged in severe accidents.

Who could resent the attention being showered on electric cars? Stylish and clean, they're the darling of the renewable-energy crowd, which is hailing the scheduled rollout of several e-powered models next year as a major blow against global warming. Well, Eduardo Leao, for one. He's executive director of the Brazil's largest sugar industry association, called UNICA, and he insists that cane-based ethanol produced in massive quantities by his members is a better alternative fuel for the environment than electricity.

"Ride up steep hills without huffing and puffing!" "Hammer at 20 mph without breaking a sweat!" At the recent Interbike trade show in Las Vegas, an explosion of companies touted the Lance Armstrong-like powers of the electric bike -- a pedal-powered bike with an electric motor for extra speed when you need it. Although E-bikes haven't caught on in the United States as they have in Europe and Japan, makers say high gas prices, the obesity crisis, better...

In a big boost to current and prospective electric car owners, most of a $120-million settlement with an energy company will be used to build a vast network of charging stations in California. The money will be used to construct at least 200 public fast-charging stations and install wiring for 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations across the state, Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday. He also announced that he had signed an executive order laying out the foundation for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles to be on California's roads by 2025.

Tesla Motors Inc. has yet to deliver the much-touted Model S — the electric sedan it is making at its auto factory in Fremont, Calif. — but that didn't stop the automaker from taking reservations for a sport utility vehicle it doesn't expect to begin selling until 2014. The Palo Alto, Calif., maker of electric vehicles unveiled the Model X, an electric-powered SUV, and said interested buyers could put down a $5,000 deposit to reserve one, though the vehicle's price hasn't been set yet. The Model X looks more like a crossover than a traditional utility and features unusual gull-wing doors that lift up and out. Tesla plans to start manufacturing the vehicle at the end of 2013, with sales to begin the following year.

When the Zero X wheeled onto the dirt track at Lake Elsinore, the Colgate-white motocross bike looked positively virginal next to the belching, candy-colored models that leaped from mound to mound around it. Not surprisingly, the Zero X drew a lot of attention. Two-stroke? Four-stroke? That wasn't the question riders were asking after watching the electric dirt bike roll around the track a few times and do everything a traditional, gas-powered motocrosser could do, minus the noise and pollution.

Whether an electric car such as the Nissan Leaf protects the atmosphere from greenhouse gases depends on where it's charged, according to a new study. Electric vehicles are no better than a standard gasoline-powered subcompact such as a Hyundai Elantra in cities such as Denver and Wichita, Kan., but far exceed even the best hybrids in Southern California. That's the finding of a study of electricity generation, greenhouse gas emissions and electric vehicles by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

California added more than 99,000 licensed drivers in 2011 but the state still saw a decline in gasoline consumption compared to the year before. California's gasoline consumption dropped during all four calendar quarters in 2011, including a 1.4% drop during the fourth quarter to 3.63 million gallons. Also in 2011, the state added 99,466 licensed drivers, bringing the total to 23,799,513, the Department of Motor Vehicles said. The consumption figures come from the state's Board of Equalization, which tracks the amount of gasoline sold in the state.

In a big boost to current and prospective electric car owners, most of a $120-million settlement with an energy company will be used to build a vast network of charging stations in California. The money will be used to construct at least 200 public fast-charging stations and install wiring for 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations across the state, Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday. He also announced that he had signed an executive order laying out the foundation for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles to be on California's roads by 2025.

Will higher gas prices help lift sales of electric vehicles? Lacey Plache, the chief economist for Edmunds.com, says the hurdles are still too high for widespread adoption of electric vehicles. In an analysis for automotive research firm R.L. Polk & Co., Plache says one problem is that there still isn't a lot of choice when it comes to electrics and plug-in hybrids. Although at least nine electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are expected to become available in 2012, only the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are widely available.

Will higher gas prices help lift sales of electric vehicles? Lacey Plache, the chief economist for Edmunds.com, says the hurdles are still too high for widespread adoption of electric vehicles. In an analysis for automotive research firm R.L. Polk & Co., Plache notes that one problem is that there still isn't a lot of choice when it comes to electrics and plug-in hybrids. While at least nine electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles  are expected to become available in 2012, only the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are widely available.

The first all-electric Coda sedan rolled off the assembly line in Benicia, Calif., on Monday, marking a big day for the privately held Los Angeles company. Coda Automotive Inc. manufactures most of the vehicle's battery system and body in China. The parts are then shipped to the San Francisco Bay Area port city of Benicia for final assembly. "Coda started five years ago in an airport hangar in Southern California," said Mac Heller, the company's executive chairman. "We shared a conviction that with technology and science, we could create cars that do not spoil the Earth, drain the treasury or hurt the health of our children.

A 2006 documentary about General Motors Co.'s ill-fated EV1 famously asked, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Silicon Valley is helping to bring it back to life. Tuesday's scheduled stock market debut for Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors Inc., the first by a U.S. automaker since Ford Motor Co.'s in 1956, is the highest-profile sign of the region's role as a vibrant hub of the growing electric-vehicle industry. But Silicon Valley is also home to some of the top companies working on the infrastructure needed to keep the cars charged up and on the road, including Better Place of Palo Alto and Coulomb Technologies in Campbell, Calif.

Chrysler says it no longer will seek a U.S. Department of Energy loan to fund the development of gas-electric hybrids and electric vehicles. "The Department of Energy's proposed terms were very restrictive and compliance would have negatively affected our operational flexibility," Chrysler said in a statement. Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said last April that the company needed the loan to be competitive. Chrysler initially applied for more than $7 billion in 2008 under the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, but later reduced the request to less than $3.5 billion.

Tesla Motors won't sell the first Model S - the electric sedan it is making at its auto factory in Fremont - until later this year, but the company has already announced plans to expand production by offering  the Model X, a sport-utility vehicle. The Palo Alto-based maker of electric vehicles unveiled the SUV, which looks more like a crossover than a traditional utility, at its Los Angeles design studios Thursday. Tesla plans to start manufacturing the vehicle at the end of 2013 with sales to begin the following year.