Filed under: Hybrid , Toyota Last week, we told you about an incident in New York involving unintended acceleration in a 2005 Toyota Prius . This accident occurred just after the high-profile case involving Jim Sikes and his Prius in San Diego , but, unlike that incident, where the car eventually came to a complete stop, the Prius in New York crashed into a stone wall with the driver suffering minor, non-life threatening injuries. Now, after a full investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ruled that this accident was simply caused by driver error, rather than a faulty brake system. NHTSA delivered this message to reporters: Information retrieved from the vehicle's onboard computer systems indicated there was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open. Toyota spokesperson John Hanson says that the accident is being looked over by the Harrison, NY police department, and that the automaker will not comment until the investigation has completed. And, while Toyota did join in with the investigation of Sikes' Prius, it is not clear if the automaker will take a closer look at this second incident. [Source: USA Today ] Feds suggest driver error may have caused runaway Prius in NY originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Tesla Motors TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster Sport - Click above for high-res image gallery When Tesla and Tag-Heuer unveiled a special edition version of the electric Roadster at the Geneva Motor Show a couple of weeks ago, they promised a further announcement this week when the car appeared at the Baselworld watch show. As part of Tag-Heuer's 150th anniversary celebration and Tesla's efforts to promote the Roadster , the special car is going on 24,000-mile round-the-world road trip called the Odyssey of Pioneers that will last eight months. Leonardo DiCaprio, who was one of the early buyers of the Roadster, is driving the first stint in the two-tone sports car. The car will make stops in 150 towns and 15 major cities in Europe, Asia and North America along the way. The trip will tracked along the way with a special website http://odyssey.tagheuer.com/ although it doesn't appear to actually be live yet. Gallery: TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster [Source: Tesla] Continue reading Tesla and Tag-Heuer kick off round the world Roadster tour Tesla and Tag-Heuer kick off round the world Roadster tour originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Greenlings: What realistic electric vehicle recharge options are there for apartment dwellers? We found four, five if you count moving. Kuwaiti study: Conventional oil to peak in 2014 Who's worried? Report: BYD cutting back electric vehicle production plans Hmmm. Other news: Nissan to build Leaf electric vehicle at British factory from 2013 Toyota to send 400 more EDR readers for investigation of Prius incidents Video: Ferrari does the hybrid thing AutoblogGreen for 03.19.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Green Daily , Greenlings One of the challenges to making electric vehicles (EVs) "work" in the real world is figuring out how, where and when to recharge them. If you have a garage, then those questions kind of answer themsleves. You come home, take 15 seconds to plug the car into the wall and undo the plug in the morning with a full charge. One previous Greenlings looked at EV charging basics and another Greenlings explained some of the options for home recharging . We recommend reading through those pieces as a primer for the article that follows if you're unfamiliar with some of the underlying concepts for recharging electric cars. As more and more plug-in vehicles come to market, though, we'll need to be able to figure out answers for people who can't easily recharge in their own garage. So, today, we're going to answer a question from reader Kellan O., who wrote in to ask: I live in an apartment along with a lot of other urban residents of the world. How would I realistically recharge a plug-in hybrid or pure battery car (aside from a 200 ft. extension cord out of my window) ? A 200-foot extension cord would indeed be a problem. Continue reading after the jump for some answers. [Image: Jason Pratt - C.C

Filed under: Hybrid , Government/Legal , Recalls , Safety , Hatchback , Toyota In reality, the California Highway Patrol isn't taking sides with anyone regarding the recent speeding Prius of Jim Sikes . But the CHP doesn't see any reason to doubt Sikes' version of events that led to his hybrid reaching speeds of around 90 miles per hour, apparently unable to bring the barreling vehicle to a stop. Also of note is the fact that a Border Patrol agent had also responded and was leading the Prius with its emergency lights on when the CHP officer arrived. The officer that responded to the scene states that he "could see the driver sat up off his seat indicating that he was possibly applying the brake pedal with his body weight... His back was arched and both hands were pulling at the steering wheel." A short time later, the officer positioned his patrol car in front of Sikes' Prius when he "noticed that the Prius' speed had dropped dramatically" before coming to a complete stop on the highway. According to Sikes, this happened after he applied both the standard and parking brakes. Paramedics arrived on the scene and found that "Sikes' blood pressure and pulse rate were very high." Another interesting tidbit is the the officer encouraged Sikes to speak with the media, despite the fact that the driver indicated he preferred not to. Later at the station, the officer took a statement from Sikes, who described his Prius as 'feeling funny' under braking, saying that the "whole car was shaking and vibrating" when the brakes were applied. Sikes also claims to have manually pulled up on the gas pedal three separate times with no effect, and he was afraid that shutting the car off would cause the steering to lock up. The officer reports seeing the car's brake lights on and off intermittently, smelling the scent of worn brakes and seeing that the pads were worn completely down after the event. CHP spokesman Brian Pennings has said that it is the CHP's position that no evidence has emerged to doubt Sikes' version of events. See the CHP officer's complete report in our image gallery below. For a slightly different view, click here and here to see what Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found after inspecting Sikes' Prius

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Nissan , Renault Renault-Nissan Alliance EV in Lombardy - Click above for high-res image "E-Moving." That's the name of a pilot project from Renault - Nissan and the utility A2A that starts this June in Lombardy, Italy, including the cities of Milan and Brescia. With a name like that and the connection to Renault-Nissan, is it a surprise that this partnership involves electric vehicles (EVs)? We didn't think so. There have been some attempts to get electric vehicles into Italy , but Renault says E-Moving is, "the first electric vehicle experimentation in Italy." At the very least, this is the biggest: 60 all-electric vehicles - the Kangoo Express Z.E. and the Renault Fluence Z.E. - will make up the fleet. Both models will be available to rent by the month. The one-year program will look at all the usual data points: impact of EVs on the grid, management of the vehicle batteries, ways to sell or rent EVs, etc. The project will install 270 charge points, setting the stage for more EVs in the future. [Source: Renault] Continue reading Renault-Nissan e-moves into Lombardy, Italy Renault-Nissan e-moves into Lombardy, Italy originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: MPG , Ford 2011 Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Click above for high-res image gallery The EcoBoost 3.5-liter V6 found in the Ford Flex and Taurus SHO has quickly become one of our favorite mills on the market. But what we've really been hankering for from FoMoCo is its smaller displacement offerings, specifically the 1.6- and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines slated to arrive next year. Along with the Fusion , the all-new Fiesta is set to get a boosted mill sometime in 2011, and these newest spy shots reveal that a high-performance version of Ford's diminutive hatch is in the works. Tucked behind a modified version of the Euro-market Fiesta's Titanium Trim front fascia is a slim intercooler matched with blacked-out trim, a subtle body kit and a prototype rear diffuser modified to fit the European-spec rear bumper and dual exhausts. A set of 17-inch anthracite Speedline wheels complete the package, which poses two questions. One, is this a prototype of a production vehicle or something that's planned for this November's SEMA Show? Either way, Ford's got big plans for its new three-door and showing off its aftermarket potential is sure to be high on the priority list. Two, which EcoBoosted engine is powering the mule? The smart money's on Ford's new 1.6-liter inline four, which should be good for around 170 horsepower and a similar amount of torque in turbo'd form. The less-than-plausible, yet far more compelling, option is the Fusion's forthcoming turbocharged 2.0-liter four-pot, which is good for between 230 and 250 hp and 240 pound-feet of twist. Obviously, we're hoping for the latter, but we'd be just as content with the 1.6-liter option and the possibility of future models turning up the wick even further. Spy Shots: 2011 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Manufacturing/Plants , Nissan , UK Nissan Leaf - Click above for high-res image gallery Nissan announced today that it will add production of its new Leaf electric car to its plant at Sunderland in the UK starting in 2013. Nissan will initially install capacity for 50,000 cars a year at the UK factory. Last fall, the automaker announced plans to build a lithium ion battery plant adjacent to the car assembly plant. Construction of that facility will start next month. Production of batteries will start in 2012 with packs being used by both Nissan and partner Renault. Between Nissan and subsidies from the UK government, €468 million is being invested in the battery and assembly plants and 2,250 jobs will be retained. The British Leaf production capacity will be in addition to Oppama, Japan where Leaf production starts this year and Smyrna, TN, which will ramp up in 2012. The press release is after the jump. Thanks to everyone who sent this in . [Source: Nissan] Continue reading Nissan to build Leaf electric vehicle at British factory from 2013 Nissan to build Leaf electric vehicle at British factory from 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:03:00 EST.

Filed under: Etc. , USA Some new voices pronouncing predictions of peak oil have distinctly Arabic accents. Researchers from the University of Kuwait with the Kuwait Oil Company have published a new study titled Forecasting World Crude Oil Production Using Multicyclic Hubbert Model ( abstract here ) that names 2014 as the fateful year when conventional crude oil production will peak. That's pretty close to the 2015 date chosen by Sir Branson and his taskforce pals . The Kuwaitis arrive at their conclusion via an updated version of the Hubbert model that uses additional production cycles that consider political situations, new finds, technical innovation and other factors. Their world model is derived from an amalgamation of the individual models of 47 producer countries. While there are surely those who would disagree with their findings, it is a possibility that should not be ignored. If demand continues on its upward trend, those more optimistic forecasts for future electric vehicle sales may prove accurate. [Source: Miss Electric / MSNBC ] Kuwaiti study: Conventional oil to peak in 2014 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Filed under: Hybrid , Toyota 2010 Toyota Prius - Click above for high-res image gallery In lieu of all of the current issues surrounding the Toyota Prius , the company has responded by preparing to send electronic data recovery (EDR) readers to the U.S. to determine actual data readings from vehicles claimed to be involved with either unintentional acceleration or braking problems . By the end of April, Toyota will have 100 to 150 EDR readers here for use in determining vehicle problems. The company plans to send 400 additional units as soon as they become available. The EDR reader can be connected to the vehicle's on-board diagnostic equipment and record useful data for Toyota to analyze. The data record includes accelerator pedal activity, brake pedal position, speed and countless other factors present during a claimed vehicle fault. The company currently has only one prototype EDR reader in use within the entire U.S., making assessment of problematic vehicles both time consuming and difficult. With the additional readers coming, the company will be equipped to quickly deal with and hopefully resolve any problems. The vehicle's on-board EDR, commonly termed black boxes, records real-time driving parameters in a method similar to flight data recorders. NHTSA has required that, beginning in 2013, EDR information be available to consumers through reader devices on vehicles equipped with EDRs. Currently, this data is only available to automakers and investigators or consumers by court order. Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius - First Drive Photos Copyright (C)2008 Brad Wood / Weblogs, Inc. [Source: Wards Auto - sub.