WSJ: Hatching New Ideas
Five important technological advances that have the potential to transform the transport industry

Crystal ball gazing is always a tricky business, not least in the transport industry where so many competing agendas – politics, infrastructure, fuel security, technology and consumer demand – are at play. Each of the following technologies has the potential to address at least a couple of those concerns and maybe transform the way people and goods move around the world.


Edmunds.com/Green Car Advisor: California-Based EV-Charging Station Maker AeroVironment
California-Based EV-Charging Station Maker AeroVironment Is Going to Carolina

By Danny King, Contributor

South Carolina may not have been included in Coulomb Technologies' plans announced earlier this week to deploy 4,600 electric-vehicle charging stations across the U.S. over the next 18 months, but fear not, Palmetto State residents, you are covered.

AeroVironment Inc., the California-based company that earlier this year reached agreements with automakers Nissan and Think to deploy electric-vehicle charging stations, will work with the South Carolina state government and utilities at developing a network of EV-charging stations across the state.


Nissan USA Website: Nissan Leaf Home Charging Video



Popular Mechanics: 10 Cars That Will Define the Electric Market-By Being First
Here are the 10 all-electric cars (with no gas engine whatsoever) that will define the EV market-by simple virtue of being the first to market.

The electric-vehicle hype continues, but very soon, there will be no more smoke and mirrors, performance promises and untested infrastructure challenges (Where do apartment dwellers plug in again?). That's right, EVs you can drive-and buy-are coming. The following is a compilation of EVs that are now or will soon be available for sale or lease in the United States and Europe. According to manufacturer claims, each is capable of attaining highway speeds of at least 65 mph and can travel a minimum of 75 miles between recharges. Please note that many of the prices listed are still early estimates (some won't go on sale until 2012), although it is important to keep in mind that in most cases, the batteries are included.


Ward’s Auto Feature:  AeroVironment Takes on Home Charging for Nissan Leaf
California-based AeroVironment Inc., better known in military circles as a maker of unmanned aircraft systems, is partnering with Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. to make home-charging units for U.S. buyers of the upcoming Leaf electric vehicle. The charger also will be compatible with other EVs, including the upcoming Chevy Volt and Ford Focus electrified vehicles. “It’s a very good charger, (and) it will work for any car,” Kristen Hensel, vice president-EV Solutions for AeroVironment’s Efficient Energy Systems, tells Ward’s.



Nissan Delivers Affordable Solutions For Purchase, Lease Of All-Electric Nissan LEAF
As low as $25,280 ($32,780 MSRP minus up to $7,500 federal tax credit)

Lease world’s first mass-marketed EV for $349 per month

Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) today announced U.S. pricing for the 2011 Nissan LEAF electric vehicle, which becomes available for purchase or lease at Nissan dealers in select markets in December and nationwide in 2011. Nissan will begin taking consumer reservations for the Nissan LEAF April 20.


Study Says 1 Million Plug-in Electric Vehicles on the Roads by 2020
As automakers ramp up production of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), a group of U.S. and Canadian power grid operators who manage most of the North American bulk electric grid collectively studied the effect that PEVs would have on the electric power grid.