Fisker Automotive is looking to share parts and technology with other car companies, which would help the electric carmaker save money, Fox News reports. The company is also preparing for a public offering of stock, CEO Tony Posawatz told the Automotive Press Association, adding that Fisker is watching the stock performance of Tesla Motors.
Nissan has opened its first fast-charge points at strategic locations on Ecotricity’s Electric Highway motorway charging network in the UK. The “green” electricity company says this means electric cars will be able to re-charge between London and Birmingham from empty to 80 percent full in about 30 minutes.
In other Nissan news, the prototype NSC-2015 electric vehicle, a modified Leaf with automated driving technology, is on display at CEATEC Japan 2012 this week. After the driver exits the NSC-2015, the car parks itself, following instructions given by smartphone. Also at the IT and electronics conference, Nissan is showing its Leaf to Home system, which can supply electricity from batteries onboard Leaf EVs to residential homes, and its Leaf to Community system, which can power streetlights in the event of an emergency or power failure.
Porsche says the new electric motor in its Panamera Sport Turismo concept car (pictured) produces about 70 kW, which is about twice as much as in existing Porsche hybrid drive, while the three-liter V6 supercharged engine still produces 245 kW. The concept car with its 416 hp (306 kW) of peak system power is designed to be driven in pure electric mode up to a speed of 80 mph and can cover distances of more than 18.6 miles.
Volvo Car Corporation has announced the first batch of the V60 diesel plug-in hybrid is sold out before the car has reached showrooms — and the order books for next year’s cars are already filling up. Fuel consumption is 131 mpg in hybrid mode. After this initial batch of 1,000 cars for model year 2013, production of the V60 plug-in hybrid will increase to 5,000 cars as of model year 2014.
Volkswagen says its Golf BlueMotion concept car, powered by a new 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine, consumes 3.2 l/100 km, which equates to CO2 emissions of only 85 g/km. The five-seater also has reduced fuel consumption by 15 percent compared to previous models.
ChargePoint has partnered with BMW for its EV car-sharing service program in San Francisco. The online global charging network connects the new charging stations throughout San Francisco, Burlingame, Palo Alto and Oakland. BMW’s DriveNow and ParkNow programs allow drivers to share all-electric ActiveE. The San Francisco car-sharing and parking space programs are the first of several locations that BMW says it anticipates activating across North America in the coming months.