Electric Car Start-up Gets $200 Million
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnot...il.php?id=9217

Two Mode Hybrid Transmission Rolls Off GM Assembly Line
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnotes/daily_nns_detail.php?id=9218

Breakthrough International Carbon Action Partnership Launches
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnotes/daily_nns_detail.php?id=9216

Toyota to Build Hybrid Station Wagon, Five Door Sedan
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnotes/daily_nns_detail.php?id=9219

China rationing diesel amid shortages
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...ap4278032.html

Heres the text from the articles:

Today's News

2007-10-30 ::: Electric Car Start-up Gets $200 Million
Silicon Valley, CA, October 29, 2007 - Shai Agassi, former chief at SAP software, recently secured $200 million to launch Better Place, a start-up that aims to reinvent the electric automobile industry, reports Business Week. So-called "Smart Grid" technology is at the center of the plan to sell or lease electric cars that use company owned recharging stations to "refuel" their vehicles using software also developed by the company. The cars on the drawing board use existing technology and will have a range of 100 miles before recharge. In a video on the company's web site, Agassi acknowledges the missteps of other electric car ventures, and uses a telecommunications analogy to differentiate his plans from the failures of the past. "What most companies in the past have not realized is you don't start building the handset and start hoping somebody will build the network. You start by building the network and then the handsets can actually become practical," Agassi said. He claims that by focusing on the infrastructure at the onset, "we don't need to wait for the magical 400 mile battery." Watch the video "The Case for the Electric Car" here.



2007-10-30 ::: Two Mode Hybrid Transmission Rolls Off GM Assembly Line
White Marsh, MD, October 30, 2007 - Today marked the launch of General Motor's first two mode hybrid powertrain at an assembly plant near Baltimore, reports Automotive News. Automotive News says that 'GM's Two Mode hybrids can go as fast as 32 mph using just electricity. At higher speeds, they use either all gasoline power or a combination of gasoline and electric propulsion.' The company expects to use the two mode technology in other upcoming models including the Cadillac Escalade and the Dodge Durango. Fuel economy for both the Tahoe and Yukon is expected to be 21 mpg city and 22 mpg highway. The Two Mode hybrid transmission r esulted from part of a partnership between GM, BMW and the former DaimlerChrysler. Customers should be able to buy the SUVs in 2008. Pricing for the Yukon and Tahoe will be announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.



2007-10-30 ::: Breakthrough International Carbon Action Partnership Launches
Lisbon, Portugal, October 29, 2007 - A coalition of world governments launched International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) today, a cap-and-trade treaty to fight global warming, without the United States federal government on board, according to the Daily Grist. In the United States, some governors, including Jon Corzine (D-NY) of New Jersey and Eliot Spitzer (D-NY), signed on to the agreement, but representatives from the US federal government were not included in the negotiations. According to a release from ICAP, solutions proffered by the new group include: monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions and working to determine reliable sources appropriate for inclusion in a globally linked program; creating a clear price incentive to innovate, develop and use clean technologies; encouraging private investors to chose low-carbon projects and technologies, generating the flow of money needed to support a shift to a low-carbon future; and providing flexible compliance mechanisms that ensure reliable reductions at the fastest pace and lowest cost. New Jersey Governor, Eliot Spitzer, said, "Global warming is the most significant environmental problem of our generation, and by establishing an international partnership, we are taking the vital steps to address this growing concern. In the absence of federal leadership, New York is implementing a greenhouse gas emissions trading program that will ac hieve a 16 percent reduction in power plant emissions by 2019...". Watch ICAP's webcast launch event here. To see a list of members, click here.



2007-10-30 ::: Toyota to Build Hybrid Station Wagon, Five Door Sedan
Tokyo, Japan, October 29, 2007 - Toyota Motor Co. wants to build a hybrid station wagon and a five-door sedan for its next generation of Priuses, reports Automotive News Europe. This announcement on the heels of a decision to "unify the design" of the Prius models in order to overcome the brand confusion for the company's other products such as the hybrid Camry, according to Automotive News. In ad dition to adding a wagon and a five-door sedan to its line-up, future versions of the current Prius will be bigger. Toyota Europe's Thierry Dombreval said he expects that Prius sales in Europe will be 37,000 to 38,000 units this year. "We are on track to sell 100,000 hybrid models in Europe in 2010," Dombreval said. Overall, Prius sales are up 44 percent this year over last according to JATO Dynamics, which tracks and disseminates automotive intelligence.

Why are not more Americans buying Hybrid cars? Maybe this news will help drive more buyers.

Just a suggestion but usually it works best if you start a thread with a narrow topic. When there are too many elements being touched, my eyes glaze over and I tend to look for a more focused discussion. Sure, the subsequent discussions may wander far afield and that is good, we are communicating. But shotgunning topics . . . doesn't work for me.

These are fine topics that starting as individual threads would make a lot of sense. But the first bite of so many . . . well it is a bit like the old joke question, "Define the universe and give three examples."

Bob Wilson

After April 3, use e-mail to contact me:

Well I did provide links to the articles and they were stated first. I figured I was doing everyone a favor by not posting just the links. Which is why below the links I posted the body of the articles.

Ive had complaints in the past about not posting what the article.

I guess its a no win situation, if I post links, people want body text of the articles, if I post articles, people tell me its too much to read.

I do understand where you are coming from though.

Although with that said, I didn't want to bomb the forum with 10 topics all at once, driving down everyone elses topics to the next page.

Not so much a 'bomb' but a menu of topics. Often I'll pass over something that I don't really have an interest in or something to contribute. This lets folks who have a special interest in one item open up without having to worry about multiplexing different subjects into on thread. Of course that could just be me.

I really think you have some interesting topics and if you'll follow the guidelines over in the "Journalism" forum you'll be in good stead. In fact, there already is a two-mode thread and that has been insightful. The other topics to a greater or lessor extent, as single threads are likely to draw comments and interest. But bunched together, it could lead to something as confusing as:

The Toyota hybrid station wagon would have a hard time moving a GM two-mode transmission unless it was pushed by an electric research vehicle that met the carbon offset.

I'm just trying to offer a little guidance of what works, not flail at non-existent problems. Just sharing what might be a more productive technique.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

After April 3, use e-mail to contact me:

Bob- that's a great quote. Who's is it? I'd like to use that!

I don't know who but it has been around for a long time. I was in college when I first heard it . . . back in the old days when engineers still used slide rules, computers used punched cards or paper tape or banks of switches, and of course, we had to walk to class, up-hill, against the blizzard, into the scorching sun, barefoot, both ways.

Bob Wilson

After April 3, use e-mail to contact me: