Driving Electric Vehicles Set To Become A More Widespread Practical Option In Netherlands

Lots of reasons exist for why more people still haven’t made the switch to electric vehicles, and most of them have to do with cost and convenience.

Photo courtesy of The Holland Sentinel .

Even for those willing to pay the higher cost for an electric vehicle, there has always been the issue of recharging infrastructure. Owners could recharge their vehicles at home, but then they could only go for short distances for fear of running out of power.

Over the last couple a years, a number of companies have been developing public infrastructures by creating networks of electric vehicle charging stations.

Some of the most notable have been Better Place partnering with government of Ontario, Canada in an effort to develop an electric car infrastructure in the province, and the company signing an agreement with Jerusalem to develop a charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the city.

In the United States, General Motors has partnered with a number of utilities to install over 500 Pacific Coast charging stations for public use.

Now also getting into the building game is a new electric vehicles infrastructure provider called The New Motion. It’s a fledgling company that’s only been around since 2009, but it’s already making its mark in the Netherlands.

Earlier this month, The New Motion opened its first “fast charging station” for electric vehicle at the Van der Valk Hotel Vianen (Netherlands). The station is the first of what is set to be a national network of 30 stations, with the target of having them all in place by the end of 2012.

Click to read more ...

GM Expanding Into In-House Design and Development of Electric Motors

Betting on a growing eco-conscious consumer market, General Motors is continuing to diversify its business operations with an increasing emphasis on greener technologies. In the latest move in this direction, the company plans to expand its in-house vehicle development capabilities to include the design and manufacture of electric motors.

GM two-mode hybrid technology for the 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe. Image courtesy of automobilemag.com.

GM was selected last August by the U.S. Department of Energy for a $105 million grant for the construction of U.S. manufacturing initiatives to produce electric motors and related drive components.

GM plans to invest approximately $246 million in electric motor and electric drive manufacturing, including the construction of a high volume electric drive production facility at its Baltimore Transmission plant.

“The expansion of the Baltimore plant will generate a significant influx of money and jobs into the greater Baltimore area,” said Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman of global product operations. The company projects that this new initiative will allow it to create approximately 200 new jobs.

Click to read more ...

New York on the Leading Edge of Hydrogen Fuel Station Infrastructure

Hydrogen fuel station at JFK Airport. Photo courtesy of Reuters.

For people in the New York City area that think about buying a hydrogen fuel vehicle, but don’t because of deterrents like limited places to refuel, here’s some news that might interest you.

Working on providing more fueling infrastructure for these vehicles, Shell Hydrogen in its continuing partnership with General Motors just opened up a hydrogen fuel station at the JFK Airport, and is planning to open up one more in the Bronx this month.

With the opening of another station in White Plans last year, Shell announced that this creates “the first metropolitan cluster of stations anywhere in the world to power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.” These three stations will be about 30 miles from each other.

Click to read more ...