Proterra, Tesla, McLaren, ContiTech, VL Automotive, Tokyo.
Light-weight e-bus: Proterra presented its new 40-foot all-electric transit bus at the American Public Transportation Association Bus and Paratransit Conference this week. The Proterra Solution weighs less than any other transit bus available today, says the company.
greencarcongress.com
Tesla Q1 results: Along with its report for the first quarter of 2014, Tesla Motors released some interesting details. It built 7,535 Model S and builds 700 vehicles a week. In June, the UK will get their first right-hand Model S, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. In 2014, we will see at least 200 new Superchargers, the first Model X prototypes and the groundbreaking of the Gigafactory.
greencarreports.com, files.shareholder.com (shareholder letter)
For the racetrack: Rumours say that McLaren considers building a limited number of a track-only version of its super hybrid, the McLaren P1. It would follow Ferrari’s LaFerrari XX, which is said to have lapped the Nürburgring in just 6:35 recently.
autoguide.com
— Text Ad —
Electromobility powered by Siemens: Siemens is presenting its drivetrain solutions for electric and hybrid cars on “Vehicle Show Electromobility” in Bad Neustadt a.d.S on May 10th and 11th. Find Siemens at the fairground of the demo city for electromobility and take a ride with an electric car.
www.siemens.com/electriccar
The chain is dead: ContiTech acquires electric bike specialist Benchmark Drives. Since 2012, both companies have been developing and selling the belt-driven Conti Drive Systems. ContiTech aims to boost sales and convince manufacturers “once and for all, to use the timing belt instead of the conventional chain.”
pressebox.com
Unlikely merger: VL Automotive, the company that plans to convert hybrid Fiskers into V8 sports cars, has merged with WM Greentech, a company originally founded to import low-speed electric vehicles from China. What will Bob Lutz, father of the Chevy Volt, chairman of Via Motors and co-owner of VL Automotive come up with next?
transportevolved.com, green.autoblog.com
Japanese FCV for Olympians: For the Olympic Games in 2020, Tokyo plans to use fuel-cell vehicles to shuttle the 15,000 athletes and exhibit the country’s advanced technologies. With Honda and Toyota bringing their first mass-produced H2 cars to the market by 2015, and having scheduled some 100 filling stations, this should be a no-brainer.
the-japan-news.com
Mercedes S500 Plug-In: In Detroit, Thomas Weber, Daimler’s chief of R&D, said that the luxury PHEV with its electric range of 30 kilometres will work well in urban areas. Sales start in Europe by the end of 2014, followed by the US in 2015. The future C-class plug-in (photo) will likely go “closer to 50 kilometres.”
