Archive for the ‘Electric Cars’ Category

High Occupancy Vehicle lanes help reduce traffic congestion by encouraging carpools. In states like California and Virginia, they're also used as incentives for green car buyers, since drivers of approved hybrid and electric vehicles can cruise the HOV lanes even when traveling solo. Now comes news that Ontario is trying out a similar policy with its new "green vehicle" license plates. At first we were concerned that the tags might cause some backlash against hybrids (hey, it's happened elsewhere), but we hear that Canadians can be really polite about such things. [Gas2.org]

In any normal vehicle, a slight drain on the battery is no big deal. But if you have a hybrid—or, for that matter, if you have a finicky old British roadster in the garage that needs to be hooked up to a trickle charger all the time—you want to minimize what's tapping into your power. That's why LoJack has announced a new self-powered stolen-vehicle recovery system, aimed at hybrid vehicles, collector vehicles, and future electric models.

Though it's not yet clear what the energy source will be for the "self-powered" system, LoJack says that this next-generation system—set to become available late next year—will allow more flexibility in...

The 2009 Tokyo Motor Show has released its secrets, and the High Gear Media crew has covered all the latest from the Japanese capital. Apart from a Lexus supercar, a few EVs and new sports cars from Toyota and Honda, there was not much else to shout about it. [2009 Tokyo Motor Show]

Of more concern is the fact that virtually every major foreign automaker chose to shun this year’s Tokyo event, citing economic concerns and the importance of other events on the global automotive calendar. [MSNBC]

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed today the automaker is working on a new all-electric car for its upmarket Infiniti brand. He also noted that...