To: future-fuels-and-vehicles
Sent: Tue, Jan 18, 2011 10:14 pm
Subject: [future-fuels-and-vehicles] Wikipedia Purging EV Articles
Hello All,
One of Wikipedia’s greatest strengths is its open format. Anyone can edit. Unfortunately, this strength can become a weakness in the hands of unscrupulous editors. I remember that my ex-wife, a publicist, used to try to “pitch” her clients on Wikipedia by posting praise of these clients in there own Wikipedia articles and in other articles as well. Of course, she was well paid for her efforts by her clients.
I don’t know if the anti-EV forces on Wikipedia are being paid, or if they are just people who don’t like electric cars. Whatever their motivations might be, a small but determined group of Wikipedia editors is trying to eliminate nearly all articles on electric vehicles in Wikipedia. There most frequent tactic in doing this is to take an article on an EV and merge it with another article. Once merged, they dismantle the section on the EV, saying that it makes the other article too long or that the subject matter is unimportant.
This tactic recently reached its most absurd point when editors suggested that the article on the BYD 56DM EV be merged with an article on the BYD 56 gas vehicle, EVEN THOUGH NO ARTICLE ON THE GAS VEHICLE EXISTS AS OF THIS POINT!
We need to fight back to make sure EVs are represented in Wikipedia. If you’ve never edited Wikipedia, here is your chance to start. There are a number of discussions underway in which the editors mentioned above are trying to eliminate EV articles. We need to get as many people as we possibly can to contribute to these discussions to make sure EV articles are not “Blacklisted” on the world’s most frequently visited encyclopedia.
Here are links to some of the discussions currently underway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Automobiles#Mitsubishi_i-MiEV
Read more…
From an email I received from the Rocky Mountain Institute :
Some cities in America have prepared for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) for years, but the PEV transition will soon affect much of the U.S. With the first wave of vehicles shortly upon us, initial PEV fleets will hit specific areas where, for a number of reasons, readiness and appetite is highest.
The path of the subsequent nationwide rollout of PEVs will be driven by a “chicken-and-egg” dilemma of city readiness and charging infrastructure.
Luckily, pioneering cities are helping make the roadmap to PEV readiness much clearer and shorter for those who are less prepared. It is not too late for newcomers to the game to join the next wave of PEVs by learning from the leaders how to more rapidly “get ready.”
In the report, “Electric Vehicles in America,” Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Rocky Mountain Institute’s Project Get Ready identify which of America’s 50 largest metro areas are currently most prepared for PEVs.
Report findings were shared last week by RMI’s Matt Mattila at The Business of Plugging In conference in Detroit.
Learn how your city measures up.
China To Subsidize Electric & Hybrid Car Purchases.
Summary:
- Pilot subsidy program to run in five cities
- Electric car buyers to save 60,000 yuan ($8,800) each
- Buyers of plug-in hybrids to save 50,000 yuan each
- Government to invest in electric car infrastructure
- Also offers 3,000-yuan subsidy for fuel-efficient cars
China to subsidize electric, hybrid car purchases in five cities
English.news.cn 2010-06-01
BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) — China Tuesday released details of its green-car subsidy program designed to boost the nation’s auto industry and cut vehicle emissions.
Through the program, subsidies of up to 60,000 yuan (8,784 U.S. dollars) will be given to buyers of pure electric vehicles in the five cities chosen for the pilot program, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its website.
Buyers of plug-in hybrid cars will receive up to 50,000 yuan in subsidies.
Read more…
Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment
Charging Stations, Grid Interconnection Issues, EV Charging Business Models,
and Vehicle-to-Grid Technology: Market Analysis and Forecasts
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Electric vehicles will begin shipping in small volumes starting in 2010. These vehicles will require the rollout of a new infrastructure for charging access at home, at work, and around town. By 2015, access to vehicle charging will be available at nearly one million charge points in the United States. Vehicles in the U.S. will be primarily charged at home as early adopters will prefer the convenience, while in the rest of the world, public charging will play a more central role due to reduced access to convenient home charging. The Asia Pacific region will lead global EV charging equipment sales due to strong government incentives and directives. Bi-directional smart vehicle-to-grid charging will be slow to take off and will be limited to fleet applications through 2015.
Read full article here
More electric vehicle charging stations projected.
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A total of 4.7 million electric vehicle charging stations will be installed worldwide over the next five years to support the transition to plug-in vehicles, says Pike’s “Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment” report. The United States alone is likely to be home to almost 1 million charging points by 2015.
Pike Research forecasts that annual revenue from EV charging equipment will reach $1.8 billion (US) in 2015.
That need will be fueled by the more than 3.1 million electric vehicles (EVs), including both hybrids and all-electric cars, expected to be sold worldwide during the next five years,
Read the full article here
BP cut corners, made decisions to save money and compromised safety resulting in this disaster.
Article: BP Knew Of Deepwater Horizon Safety Risks Almost A Year Ago – By Jack Loftus on May 31, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Top kill has failed. As BP moves on to whatever it is they plan to do next, we’re learning executives knew there were “serious problems and safety concerns” with the rig as early as 11 months ago and did nothing.
… totally knew, because the Army Corps of Engineers told them exactly that! … BP senior drilling engineer Mark Hafle:
Though his report indicates that the company was aware of certain risks and that it made the exception, Mr. Hafle, testifying before a panel on Friday in Louisiana about the cause of the rig disaster, rejected the notion that the company had taken risks. “Nobody believed there was going to be a safety issue,” Mr. Hafle told a six-member panel of Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service officials.
Emphasis mine, because everyone at BP apparently knew there were issues with this rig, and yet they continued to cut corners, some as recently as June 22.
What happened on June 22? Why, that’s when Hafle, the same engineer testifying Friday, and other BP engineers wrote in an internal BP document that the metal casings used at Deepwater Horizon might collapse under high pressure. “This would certainly be a worst-case scenario,” Hafle wrote. “However, I have seen it happen so know it can occur.”
Sources: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/05/bp-knew-of-deepwater-horizon-safety-risks-almost-a-year-ago/
Read more…
Originally posted on May 27, 2010
Toyota Motor Corp said it would take a $50 million stake in U.S. electric car maker “Tesla Motors”. The two companies said they would cooperate on the development of electric vehicles, parts and production system.
Toyota and former joint-venture partner General Motors had shut down the massive New United Motor Manufacturing Inc (NUMMI) plant in the San Francisco suburb of Fremont, Calif. Tesla will take over this plant to build its upcoming all-electric Model S sedan starting in the year 2012.
While stressing that it still considered gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles the most promising and effective alternative to reducing emissions and fuel use, Toyota said Tesla’s cars, capable of long range highway driving, made it rethink the real potential of all-electric vehicles.
With the Toyota backing in hand, Tesla expects to hire an estimated 1,000 workers to team on building electric cars.
Tesla, which now makes a $100,000 electric sports car, will use its alliance with Toyota to support its “S” model sedan aimed at the upper end of the passenger car market. Toyota has been planning to offer an urban commuter electric car in the U.S. in 2012 as well as a plug-in version of its popular Prius hybrid car.
Sources:
Read more…
Categories: General Motors, Nikola Tesla, People, Tesla Motors, Toyota Tags: Ev1, GM, Model S, News, Nikola Tesla, Tesla Motors, Totyoa
A recent news article on www.marketwatch.com titled “Nissan Charges Up for Leaf Electric Car” showed a clip of Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn stating to Neal Boudette of the Wall Street Journal that demand for the company’s soon-to-be-released electric car, the Leaf, is outpacing production.
Quotes from Carlos Ghosn:
the demand is here because we have a lot of people showing interest
we had one hundred and thirty thousand hand raiser already in the united stats and these are .. individuals, .. not talking about companies or a fleet
we have a lot or pre-orders being taken
Other items mentioned:
- Nissan is working on a large ramp up in production
- Nissan is planning on producing a family of Nissan electric cars:
- The leaf will be a small 4-door sedan with a 100 mile range.
- Other vehicles will include a small delivery van, a luxury car under the infinity brand and a family vehicle.
- Carlos Ghosn also said that cities have to put up charging spots, public garages, at supermarkets etc..
With an attitude, the reporter here, Simon (last name??), pontificated the following opinions: Read more…
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