TN Labs Energy Talk

fficient midsize sedan on the market when it arrives this spring, clocking in at 41 miles per gallon, according to data given to Ford Motor by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Chrysler is pinning a huge part of its future on a plan to produce a full line of electric vehicles, at a reasonable cost to both the carmaker and the consumer.

Parasitic energy harvesting” might sound like it is part of a Sci-Fi plot where alien beings feed off of the energy emanating from human bodies, but it is actually a means of reclaiming wasted energy.

Since the late 1990s, I’ve been convinced that in the long run, the majority of cars would be some form of electric vehicle (EV), whether in the form of hybrids, with power generated onboard from engines or fuel cells, or battery EVs tapping external sources of power.

You don’t have to be Leo DiCaprio to own one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles available, although it certainly helps if you want someone hot to ride shotgun. The stodgy auto industry, spurred by high gas prices and consumer demand, is coming around with more hybrid vehicles, smaller models and alternative energy options. Still, “fuel efficiency” stateside is an oxymoron akin to “congressional ethics” and “doing nothing.”

As concerns over global warming, high gas prices, and dependence on foreign oil snowballed in the last few years, movers and shakers around the country decided to get in on the green car revolution.

The concept, called vehicle to grid (V2G), is based on the fact that your car is typically not being used 90 percent of the time. “What if it could work for you while it sits there?” said Jeff Stein from the University of Michigan.

BMW’s finally pulled the wraps off the 204-horsepower all-electric Mini it is bringing to America and says the car could be here as early as next year, although just 500 people will be lucky enough to get their hands on one

A US firm Thursday unveiled plans to build a massive one-billion-dollar (667 million US) charging network to power electric cars in Australia as it seeks cleaner and cheaper options to petrol.