The Infiniti EMERG-E will feature a 1.2 liter internal combustion range-extender together which battery and an electric motor.

By mounting the engine in the middle of the car, Infiniti says the EMERG-E will enjoy a superior weight distribution thanks to its layout.

“The INFINITI EMERG-E will be the first car from the brand to have not only a range-extender drivetrain offering vivid performance with zero emissions capability but also one mounted in a mid-ship package for optimal handling,” Infiniti said in a statement.”

Infiniti EMERG-E will make its worldwide debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March.

Look for reviews and live photos with ElectricCarsReport’s Geneva Motor Show coverage and become our fan on Facebook.

The current phase is all about new findings in operations under everyday conditions. SKODA has begun operating one of the Octavia Green E Line cars at Prague airport.

Everyday operating data will be especially important for fine-tuning the electric cars. These are to be delivered to selected partners in late March 2012 as a next step.

The ten Octavia Green E Lines making up the test fleet are to provide SKODA with important customer-relevant insight regarding future development of electric traction all the way to series production readiness. This might involve solutions for usage or designing new functions, positioning the charging socket or the issue of how electric cars, being quiet by design, might make themselves heard in traffic.

Testing involves three phases: the first and the second, which is currently ongoing, mainly comprises internal testing at SKODA Auto such as trials of the online diagnosis communications system or supporting customer operation, which is a complex matter. In the third phase, set to begin in late March 2012, e-vehicles will be made available to external partners such as utilities, educational institutions or government agencies.

Green E Line electric cars are based on the SKODA Octavia Combi, which is ideally suited to be fitted with the batteries, electronic controllers and the electric motor thanks to its modular design.

‘Green E Liner’ engines put out a maximum power of 85 kW with the benefit of their maximum torque of 270 Nm being available immediately, that is to say from standstill. Accelerating an Octavia Green E Line from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph), will take only 12 seconds, the speed in these electric cars is 135 km/h (about 84 miles). A range of 150 kilometers (93 miles) means SKODA’s test fleet can meet the needs of most European commuters.

Since most commercial and government fleets spend a significant portion of their operational costs on fuel alone, there has been a dramatic surge in the demand for electrified alternatives.

These fleet operators are increasingly seen as the logical starting point for electric vehicles due to typical drive cycles that include travel on predictable, short-range, routes with frequent stop and go driving that generally return to a central location at the end of a drive cycle making for efficient and convenient recharging over night.

Azure Dynamics has agreements with over 160 Ford commercial truck dealerships in key markets across North America, 90 of which support sales and service activities for Transit Connect Electric and in six countries throughout Europe representing 13 dealerships with 57 store locations.

The Transit Connect Electric utilizes an advanced lithium-ion battery from Johnson Controls to achieve a range of 50 to 80 miles depending on auxiliary usage and drive cycle and is rechargeable using either a 240-volt or standard 120-volt outlet.  Commercial vans generally return to a central location at the end of each driving cycle making for easy overnight recharging.  Use of the vehicles will also reduce fuel and maintenance costs, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

But before long — perhaps surprisingly — it’s a purchase that should pay for itself.

That’s the conclusion of a new MIT study showing that electric vehicles are not just environmentally friendly, but also have the potential to improve the bottom line for many kinds of businesses.

The study, conducted by researchers at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL), finds that electric vehicles can cost 9 to 12 percent less to operate than trucks powered by diesel engines, when used to make deliveries on an everyday basis in big cities.

“There has to be a good business case if there is going to be more adoption of electric vehicles,” says Jarrod Goentzel, director of the Renewable Energy Delivery Project at CTL and one of four co-authors of the new study. “We think it’s already a viable economic model, and as battery costs continue to drop, the case will only get better.”

The CTL study was conducted using data collected by the international office supplier Staples, as well as ISO New England, the nonprofit firm that runs New England’s electric power grid. Using that data, the researchers modeled the costs for a fleet of 250 delivery trucks, and examined alternate scenarios in which the whole fleet used one of three kinds of motors: purely electric engines, hybrid gas-electric engines and conventional diesel engines.

Based on the Staples data, the researchers modeled what would happen if the trucks in the fleet were driven 70 miles a day for 253 work days per year, with diesel gasoline costing $4 per gallon. Trucks with internal-combustion engines averaged 10.14 miles per gallon, compared to 11.56 miles per gallon for hybrid trucks, while the electric-only trucks averaged 0.8 kilowatt-hours per mile. Staples currently has 53 electric trucks, manufactured by Missouri-based Smith Electric Vehicles, in use in several American cities.

The study added one new component to the projections often made by industry fleet managers: The researchers looked at what would happen if the fleets of trucks were part of a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system in which their batteries could be plugged into the electricity grid for 12 hours overnight, as an additional resource for providing reliable electricity to consumers. In such a setup, truck owners would be paid by utility firms for the power services they provide. V2G systems are currently being tested by multiple utility companies.

After running the numbers for various scenarios in which trucks are parked at slightly different times overnight, the MIT team found that businesses could earn roughly $900 to $1,400 per truck per year in V2G revenues in current energy markets, representing a reduction of 7 to 11 percent in vehicle operating costs. Firms would also save money on fuel, and on maintenance, because electric trucks induce less wear and tear on brakes.

All told, the operational cost per mile — the basic metric all fleet managers use — would drop from 75 cents per mile to 68 cents per mile when V2G-enabled electric trucks are substituted for internal-combustion trucks. Moreover, as Goentzel notes, “almost all these costs scale down to the individual vehicle.” Firms do not need fleets as big as 250 trucks to realize savings.

Michael Payette, director of fleet equipment at Staples, suggests that the MIT analysis corresponds with his firm’s results so far — although “it is still early in our post-deployment analysis,” he notes. In reviewing the performance of electric trucks, Payette adds, there have been “no real surprises from a reliability perspective, but I was surprised by the drivers’ acceptance, to the point where they do not ever want to drive a diesel [truck] again.”

As Goentzel acknowledges, one limitation of the concept is that it only applies to urban truck fleets; electric vehicles do not have the range to make many kinds of rural or interstate deliveries. On the other hand, he notes, opportunities abound to use midsize electric trucks in cities.

“If you’re in an urban environment, almost any truck you see is a candidate,” Goentzel says. “If there’s a commercial truck in a city, it’s likely to be part of a fleet, whether it’s a service vehicle for a cable company, an electric utility truck, a mail package-delivery truck or part of a government fleet.”

And if the V2G concept is brought to market, commercial fleets would likely be among the first vehicles to be used, partly for logistical reasons: They would provide power resources that could be connected to the grid at regular times in the same locations.

“The initial opportunities for V2G are likely to be for fleets, because they can be managed and controlled,” Goentzel says. Knowing that, say, Staples would have 250 trucks plugged into the grid at certain overnight hours would help utilities smooth out the flow of electricity to consumers. That delivery would be harder to manage, he notes, if it depended on individual consumers plugging their autos into the grid at more random times. “There is some work to be done before the average person is able to plug in their car and get paid by the grid,” Goentzel acknowledges.

Last week, GM North America President Mark Reuss said sales of the Chevrolet Volt have been hurt by bad publicity.

“Bad publicity from the government’s investigation into fire risks of post-crash Volts is definitely a component” of the decline in sales, “Reuss said.

On Jan. 20, NHTSA closed its investigation into potential fire risk in the Volt’s battery pack, concluding that it doesn’t appear to outweigh the risk of fire in gasoline-powered cars.

Deliveries of the all-electric Nissan LEAF totaled 676 in January, less than the 954 LEAFs sold in December.

GM sold about 7,700 Chevrolet Volts in 2011, below GM’s target of 10,000, while Nissan sold 10,369 LEAFs since the December 2010 launch.

GreenCharge app is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices for $9.99 – the average cost of charging an electric car for a week.

GreenCharge is a must-have utility for electric car owners and those considering one.

The app provides real time charging information by syncing directly with a compatible electric vehicle such as a Nissan LEAF or Chevrolet Volt. In addition, GreenCharge is the first and only app to connect driving data with local energy pricing to give personalized data about the cost of operating an electric car.

Electric car owners can also see the environmental impact of driving in terms of carbon offset. By providing this information, GreenCharge empowers EV owners and enthusiasts alike to better understand and communicate the advantages of electric vehicles.

With the GreenCharge app, users can:

- Seamlessly sync data from their Nissan LEAF or Chevrolet Volt
- Test out a demonstration vehicle to simulate driving and cost information if considering purchasing an electric car
- Get real time charging, battery, and range information for their electric cars
- See their daily, weekly, and monthly driving broken down by mileage and price
- Share their daily, weekly, and monthly driving information on Twitter and Facebook, or via email
- See how many pounds of CO2 emissions they have offset by driving an electric vehicle instead of a gasoline vehicle
- Compare savings from their electric vehicle to a traditional gasoline vehicle

For more information visit greenchargeapp.com.

The maker of the first mass-marketed, 100% electric vehicle — the Nissan LEAF — now employs an eco vessel nicknamed “Roro” — for roll-on and roll-off pick-ups and deliveries.

At one-and-a-half football fields in length, the carrier took four years to complete and began its maiden voyage January 27.

The red-white-and-blue Nichioh Maru’s green secret is its energy-saving, electronically -controlled diesel engine, with 281 solar panels fitted to the carrier’s deck.

It employs LED lighting in the ship’s hold and living quarters, and its hull is painted with the latest low friction coating, among other energy-efficient features onboard.

“As Nissan went to the effort to launch the Nissan LEAF at that time, in terms of the logistical flow, we thought there would be a way for us to contribute using state-of-the-art technologies,” said Tomohiko Uchiyama, president of Nitto Kaiun Corporation, Roro’s operator.

Compared to an existing car carrier of the same type, this ship can achieve a fuel reduction of up to nearly 1,400 tons annually, which converts to an annual reduction of 4,200 tons of CO2 emissions.

The Nichioh Maru follows in the sustainability wake of the City of St. Petersburg eco-carrier, which Nissan began using in 2010 for international routes in Europe.

The Nissan Green Program 2016 aims to use more renewable energy and have an industry-leading, small carbon footprint.

Each roundtrip uses roughly 13 tons fewer fuel, for a reduction in CO2 emissions of 18% compared with a standard vessel.

The technology is enabled as OnStar receives a signal from PJM Interconnection that shows the percentage of available renewable energy on the grid. Data from this forecast is downloaded to the OnStar cloud, or Advanced Telematics Operating Management System (ATOMS).

OnStar uses this signal to simultaneously manage the charging of many Volts and to match the renewable energy availability. A mobile app could also be used to alert customers when renewable energy is available.

OnStar and Google are working together to demonstrate the technology on the 17 Chevrolet Volts in Google’s “Gfleet” based at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

The demonstrations are taking place this week at the 2012 DistribuTECH Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio. DistribuTECH attendees can see live demos at Booth 1543. OnStar will also be demonstrating the company’s Demand Response and Time-of-Use Rate solutions.

PJM data shows that peak time for renewable energy generation from wind is generally between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. With this in mind, it would be possible for customers to use OnStar’s Smart Grid solutions to further reduce their carbon footprint and save money by charging during these off-peak times.

If the renewable energy service goes into production, customers interested in using it would simply need to sign up. OnStar would then regulate their charging using the renewable energy signal.

The renewable energy technology is the latest addition to OnStar’s suite of Smart Grid solutions. OnStar has also developed intelligent energy management technology solutions including:

- Demand response – This solution connects utilities to companies that have intelligent energy management products. These companies can use OnStar to manage energy use for Volt customers who opt in for the service. This future service allows the customer to save money on energy costs while enabling more efficient use of the electric grid.

- Time-of-Use (TOU) rates – OnStar can receive dynamic TOU pricing from utilities and notify Volt owners of the rate plan offers via email. Owners will be able to use OnStar to load the rate plans directly into their vehicle and access them to schedule charging during lower-rate periods.

- Charging data – OnStar also sends and receives EV data that helps utility providers without having to interface with the vehicle’s electric vehicle supply equipment. This includes location-based EV data that identifies charging locations and determines potential load scenarios.

The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV electric racing car features Drayson’s brand new 4X2-640 electric drivetrain, inductive charging, composite battery power, moveable aerodynamics and electrical regenerative damping.

The car will be powered completely by electricity stored in a new generation of highly advanced Lithium Nanophosphate battery cells made exclusively by A123 Systems and used for the first time on the Lola-Drayson electric racing car. These cells are housed in a battery pack manufactured by Mavizen and these drive the four axial flux Oxford YASA motors via inverters supplied by Rhinehart.

Its four electric motors will deliver a whopping 850 horsepower and a top speed of around 200 mph.

The B12/69EV electric racing car is claimed to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, and from 0 to 100 mph in 5.1 seconds.

The weight of the car will be approximately 1000 kg, slightly in excess of the regular 900kgs in LMP1 presently. The overall control system for the car will be supplied by Drayson Racing Technologies working in partnership with Cosworth who supplied the original system for the 2010 LMP1 car.

In addition to the completely new electric drivetrain, the car will benefit from new aerodynamic features being developed by Lola in conjunction with BAE Systems and a new recycled carbon fiber technology developed in house by Lola.

Lola and Drayson Racing Technologies teamed up in 2009 and had a successful partnership in the 2009 and 2010 American Le Mans Series and 2010 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup racing the Lola B10/60 LMP1 prototype car. Drayson finished third in last year’s series with the Lola B10/60 LMP car fitted with a unique flex fuel Judd V10 engine with Paul Drayson and Jonny Cocker driving. The partnership achieved a notable first overall win for a second generation bio-­‐ethanol fuelled race-­‐car at the Road America ALMS race in August last year.

[source: Drayson Racing Technologies]

The Advanced Clean Cars program combines the control of smog-causing pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions into a single coordinated package of requirements for model years 2017 through 2025.

The rules adopted on Friday by the California Air Resources Board mean manufacturers will have to produce about 1.4 million advanced vehicles for sale in that state alone by 2025, more than 40 times the number put on the road from 1996 through 2010, according to a state analysis.

Apart from electric cars, the new proposal also affects vehicles that run on gasoline and diesel, requiring a 75 percent reduction in smog-forming emissions from new cars, SUVs, pickups and minivans. And they require a roughly 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. That will force carmakers to build significantly more fuel-efficient gasoline and diesel models.

The package will also ensure adequate fueling infrastructure is available for the increasing numbers of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles planned for deployment in California.

The regulations have implications for the broader automotive market because 10 other states, including New York and New Jersey, plan to adopt the standards. Earlier rulings by the California board led to the addition of catalytic converters and exhaust-treatment systems as standard equipment on all cars sold in the U.S.

[source: California Air Resources Board]