Electric cars take off in Norway

They speed past gas guzzlers in traffic, ignore congestion charges and get city centre parking for free. In a country whose wealth is fuelled by oil, Oslo has become the world capital of the electric car.

"There are more electric cars per capita here than in any other capital of the world," said Rune Haaland, the head of the electric car users association Norstart, standing in a city centre car park forbidden to other car users.

Almost 4,000 of the small, clean and silent vehicles are on the roads of Norway, although they are found mainly in the cities, and the number is climbing as new models come onto the market.

From the tiny, locally-made Buddy, to the sporty Tesla, which can accelerate from zero to 100 kilometres (62 miles) in less than four seconds, all sorts of electric cars have taken to the roads of the Norwegian capital.

Norway may be one of the world's top fossil fuel exporters, but it has set ambitious climate policy objectives, aiming to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

"The electric car is a very important tool for that, knowing that 40 percent of our emissions come from the transport sector and 60 percent of those come from road transport," Transport Minister Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa told AFP.

According to some estimates, the country's 3,891 electric cars allow it to save over 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

To persuade drivers to switch to electric cars, Norway has introduced a string of incentive measures.

Electric cars can use bus lanes and thus bypass traffic jams, they don't have to shell out congestion charges and can park for free on municipal car parks.

New father Christian Blakseth traded his bicycle for an electric car.

"It's very advantageous to be able to park for free downtown and to escape traffic jams," the young train conductor said.

"And you don't get drowned in day-to-day spending: it's a car that is expensive to buy but cheap to use," he said.

Charging an electric car's batteries at home costs about two euros ($2.90). Norwegian petrol prices are among the highest in Europe.

With growing demand, carmakers are rushing to put out new models.

And consumers are responding with just as much enthusiasm: in the first quarter this year, an electric car, Mitsubishi's i-MiEV, topped small model car sales in Norway, ahead of all time favorites.

"We were planning to sell 400 units (cars) in Norway this year, and we are already at 700. We think we will ultimately reach 1,000," the head of Mitsubishi Norway Bernt Jessen said.

Norway has decided to put in place a national network of charging stands across the country allowing drivers to "fill up" their cars in about 20 minutes, just long enough to enjoy a roadside cup of coffee, compared to the seven or eight hours normally needed.

The mountain cottage, sacrosanct for Norwegians, could soon be only a few kilowatts away.

Volkswagen to introduce plug-in hybrids by 2013

Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn has finally confirmed the company will introduce plug-in hybrid models by 2013. As far as hybrid technology goes, Volkswagen has been a bit behind the mark, but now it’s time for catch-up.

At the recent International Vienna Motor Symposium, Mr Winterkorn revealed the company’s future hybrid plans. He said there would be a “range of important models with plug-in hybrid technology starting in 2013/14″.

Although definite models were not mentioned, reports suggest plug-in hybrids of the next-generation Mk7 Golf and, similarly, the new Audi A3 which will use the same platform, are likely candidates. Both cars will be developed on Volkswagen’s upcoming MQB front-wheel drive platform.

Mr Winterkorn said Volkswagen was very excited about the prospect of the plug-in hybrid, expressing that the technology combines the best of both worlds.

“The plug-in hybrid offers precisely what many customers expect: unlimited internal combustion engine performance combined with attractive electric mobility ranges in everyday driving.”

Volkswagen is not interested in producing a full-electric version of its models however. It believes the large battery pack required for a plug-in provides ample electric vehicle efficiency, as electric-only ranges are within most city driving limits of around 32km anyway.

At the same time, if long trips are needed the petrol motor can come in to provide long ranges, and the tank can also be refilled with ease, compared with an EV that takes several hours to recharge.

Overall consumption of the plug-in Golf is expected to dip below the 2.5L/100km mark.

Vettel, Webber Praise Red Bull for KERS Fix

Red Bull can now tackle the rest of the season in Formula 1 without worrying whether their Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) will be working or not.

Following the 3-week break in the series,a time during which the mechanics at Milton Keynes have worked hard to resolve the KERS glitches of the Red Bull-developed unit, the technology worked almost trouble-less in Turkey.

While Sebastian Vettel started perfectly from pole position and went on to win another comfortable race this season, Mark Webber experienced only minor problems with his KERS late in the race. That didn't keep him from easily overtaking Ferrari's Fernando Alonso though, and scoring his second consecutive podium finish this year.

“I think big compliments for the team,” said Vettel after the race, as the German did not encounter any problem whatsoever with the KERS technology throughout the weekend in Istanbul.

“For us, the drivers, maybe three weeks is some time off, but for the team, they are working hard. (In Turkey) I had no problems from start to finish,” he added.

“KERS was very good today,” Webber echoed his teammate's comments. “The guys have done a great job.”

Red Bull had struggled with KERS use throughout the first 3 races of the new season, following some problems encountered with the unit in Australia. In fact, the Austrian outfit didn't even use KERS at Melbourne, while in Malaysia and Shanghai, the unit suffered slight reliability problems during the race.

Toyota to make plug-ins standard for Prius from 2014

Toyota is set to make plug-in technology standard in its popular Prius hybrid car from 2014, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.

The plug-in Prius, which will be launched in 2012, can be recharged from an ordinary household electricity outlet.

The 2012 Prius model will be priced at about the same level as the current model, and will feature high-performance lithium ion batteries, enabling it to travel more than 60 km per litre of gasoline, compared with 38 km for the current version, the paper said.

Toyota said in October last year cumulative sales of the Prius had reached two million units worldwide. The company is aiming for overall hybrid vehicle sales of a million units a year by 2015, compared with 700,000 units in 2010, the Nikkei said.

Although Toyota is also developing electric vehicles, these will require networks of recharging stations, which are not yet in place. Toyota is therefore looking to plug-in hybrids as the most promising next-generation technology, the Nikkei said.

New York Could See Electric Taxis by 2017

A fully electric version of the Nissan NV200 minivan, recently selected to be New York City’s new yellow cab from 2013, could be in use from 2017.

Before rolling out electric taxis, Nissan must prove them able to cope with the high-mileage demands of existing NYC taxis, which can cover up to 100,000 miles each year. There are also concerns over the effect that harsh New York winters will have on electric vehicle range.

To prove the value of electric cars for this market, six Nissan LEAFs will be hitting the streets of the Big Apple as part of a pilot scheme.

But Nissan must be feeling very confident about the speed of battery development to even consider this project as many of NYC’s iconic yellow cabs run 24 hours (and cover 250-plus miles) a day with shift drivers swapping over – how many fast charges will batteries be able to handle?

Nissan Leaf NISMO Electric Race Car ON TRACK [video]

Short video of the Nissan Leaf EV race car during on track testing at the Tsukuba Circuit in Japan.

Toyota consumer’s first choice for hybrid and electric vehicles

When it comes to thinking about who to turn to when buying a hybrid or electric vehicle, Toyota is the top choice.

That’s one of the key findings of an independent European consumer study into how ready and willing motorists are to change to hybrid.

The joint survey by Automotive Business Intelligence company EurotaxGlass’s and UK-based marketing and research institute Harris Interactive found that Toyota is the company most widely recognised by consumers as a manufacturer of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Thirty per cent of those questioned professed an interest in electric or hybrid vehicles, with Toyota standing out in all the European markets represented as the company with the highest brand awareness. When asked to name an electric or hybrid brand, some 15 per cent of respondents cited Toyota, with only six per cent naming the closest rival hybrid manufacturer.

Moreover, Toyota’s environmental flagship proves to be the single best-known electric or hybrid model, with 16 per cent of those questioned being aware of the award-winning Prius, and only six per cent naming the closest rival vehicle.

The study confirms Toyota’s belief in the strong potential of the hybrid market. It concludes: “The openness of the consumer towards alternative powertrains is much higher than the current market shares of these powertrain types. And this is true across all the major European markets.”

With more than three million hybrid vehicles already sold worldwide, Toyota continues to roll out full hybrid technology across its main European model range.

Following the successful introduction of the British-built Auris Hybrid in 2010, Toyota revealed its Yaris HSD concept at this year’s Geneva motor show, signalling its intention to bring Hybrid Synergy Drive to the B-segment, the largest sector of the European new car market. Prius+, Europe’s first full hybrid seven-seater, made its debut at the same occasion and will be launched in Europe in 2012.

Last year, Toyota set a new milestone for sustainable mobility with the introduction of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid through a global limited lease programme, including 20 cars delivered to London-based fleets. During 2012, Toyota will also introduce this model to the market.

With electric vehicle sales still handicapped by vehicle price, driving range and the lack of charging infrastructures, Toyota sees plug-in hybrid technology as the most feasible short to mid-term technological solution to the electrification of powertrains.

A full hybrid vehicle, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid represents a significant expansion of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system’s capabilities, offering drivers the best of both worlds: an extended, fully electric EV mode is used for shorter journeys, while the hybrid powertrain’s petrol engine gives the vehicle a true long range capability.