George Blankenship, Tesla Motors, Vice President, Sales & Ownership Experience, talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about the Tesla S. What countries is Tesla selling in now? How many stores does Tesla have in the United States? Blankenship says they have sold 2,500 Tesla Roadsters and are winding the Roadster down and gearing up [...]
Gregory D. Bernas, Chief Engineer – Product Development Office, Toyota Technical Center, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America, Inc. (TEMA) talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com about the 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV. In a recent article entitled 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV – The 845.5 pound elephant in the room, with Bill Fay. Gregory D. [...]
Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, was on KCRA, an NBC affiliate in Sacramento, CA talking about alternative energy sources and how much they cost per mile. When people shop for a car they shop for functionality, what they need in a car. Some families need space for seven, some need room to carry their animals. [...]
The Toyota RAV4-EV, the only all electric SUV Toyota stole the show at the 26th annual Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, CA when they unveiled the only all-electric SUV, the Toyota RAV4-EV. This is more like a major refresh, since Toyota sold RAV4-EVs from 1997-2003, the same time they were selling the Prius. Nine [...]
Orth Hedrick, Kia Motors of America, took some time to talk to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com. The Kia Optima is Kia’s first hybrid. Now, Kia has a 2-liter 4-cylinder engine. Where does Kia stand with direct injection and turbocharging? The new engine goes from 200 horsepower to 274, losing only 2 miles per gallon. [...]
Jim Federico is the Executive Director, Group Vehicle Line Executive/Vehicle Chief Engineer for Global Compact, Small, Mini and Electric Vehicles. Federico talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, drivingthenation.com at the 2012 Detroit auto show. Is General Motors looking into using the battery in the Volt to help power the electric grid? What are the products Chevy will [...]
Detroit, MI – In 2008 I interviewed Don Hillebrand from Argonne Laboratory. Hillebrand confirmed that Argonne is allowed to license chemistry produced by a federally funded American National Laboratory to foreign countries. That country is allowed to manufacture batteries in countries other than the United States and then sell the batteries back to American countries. [...]
Dr. Ralf Cramer is the President and Member of the Executive Board, Chassis & Safety Division, Continental AG. Dr. Cramer is responsible for integrating active and passive safety with driving dynamics. He oversees the Business Units Electronic Brake Systems, Hydraulic Brake Systems, Sensorics, Passive Safety & ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and Chassis Components. This [...]
I interviewed Evatran back in August of 2010. It sounded like a good idea then, so I’m glad to see it coming to fruition. Below is from their website Evatran, the developer of Plugless Power, is offering an incentive of up to 6 months of electric vehicle electricity to the first 500 customers to become [...]
WardsAuto U.S. Sales of Alternative Power Source Light Vehicles lists twenty-seven vehicles for sale as of November 2011. What are the cars and how is Volt faring compared to the other twenty-six vehicles? The twenty-seven, twenty-five if you don’t count the Mercury Milan and the Saturn Aura that are still listed, with the starting MSRP [...]
2013 Audi A4
2013 Subaru Outback
2013 Scion xD
2013 Mazda MX-5 roadster
2013 Volkswagen Jetta hybrid