Monthly Archives: December 2008

Toyota To Show EV Concept Car At Detroit Auto Show

December 24, 2008 – 4:33 pm

“Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. said today that it will show a small electric concept vehicle at the Detroit auto show next month.” – Toyota Division Communications
Considering the implication of those two short lines, they were barely whispered to the press.
Toyota is going to show a Battery EV at the North American International Auto [...]

By Paul Scott | Posted in Inside Track, Production News | Tagged | Comments (3)

U.S. Battery Makers Power Up

December 23, 2008 – 7:28 pm

I wrote a few months ago about the Japanese and European carmakers teaming up with Asian and Euro battery manufacturers with $200-$400 million deals to build large production facilities that will soon be cranking out high volumes of LiIon batteries for plug-in cars.  Since achieving cost parity with internal combustion requires batteries to cost less [...]

By Paul Scott | Posted in Inside Track | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Filming Tesla (2 of 2)

December 12, 2008 – 2:28 pm

Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla.
As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up – and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon.
We [...]

By Jessie Deeter | Posted in Production Diary | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

Filming Tesla (1 of 2)

December 10, 2008 – 4:20 pm

Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do [...]

By Jessie Deeter | Posted in Production Diary | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

AC Propulsion: Making Gas Cars Electric

December 8, 2008 – 5:11 pm

The talented Kristen Reeves produced this wonderful video segment on AC Propulsion and their world class electric vehicle drive technology.  For the past 3 years AC Propulsion has been converting gasoline Scion xBs to 100% electric drive with their phenomenal AC150gen2 electric drive system.  In her video, Kristen interviews AC Propulsion President & CEO Tom [...]

By Stefano Paris | Posted in Inside Track | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Director on CNN – Purchase Orders, Not Bailouts

December 8, 2008 – 1:28 am

From December 3, 2008 broadcast of “Issues With Jane Velez-Mitchell” on Headline News
Topic: Are Bailouts the Answer to Economic Woes?
Chris Paine (director of “Who Killed the Electric Car?”) – …what the government should be doing is writing purchase orders and saying, “Hey, we want something for our money. So we’ll write you a purchase order [...]

By Chris Paine | Posted in In the Media | Tagged | Comments (5)

Hawaii opts for EVs and renewable energy

December 3, 2008 – 10:58 pm

My wife, Zan, and I were recently on the Big Island, Hawaii, and while there we toured the state’s only geothermal plant. It’s located close to the town of Hilo on the island’s east side and on the flank of Kilauea, the world’s most active volcano.
This is the entire control room of the 30 megawatt facility. [...]

By Paul Scott | Posted in Inside Track | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Guest blogger: Andrew Grin – From Kansas to LA

December 1, 2008 – 1:29 pm

This week we welcome Andrew Grin, a 16 year old sophomore from Kansas City who spent the day with us filming during the LA Auto Show.  Andrew owns a converted pure EV Hyundai.
My first sighting of smog-filled Los Angeles brought a sad thought to my mind.   A few weeks back, I read a study [...]

By Andrew Grin | Posted in Inside Track | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)