Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Drivers in the US and Canada love their cars. But attitudes about what powers those cars are beginning to shift, particularly in Canada.
According to the “Alternative Fuels” survey, fielded by Synovate, Americans had a somewhat stronger preference for internal combustion engines than Canadians.
Respondents from the two countries virtually tied in their preferences for hybrid engines.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A vehicle-to-grid (V2G) automobile is able to communicate with a smart electrical grid—and can even provide power back to the grid in times of high demand.
Rather than merely plugging in an electric vehicle (EV) to charge it, consumers will be able to sell power back to the grid—reducing the cost of car ownership and increasing the efficiency and reliability of the existing grid.
While the technology is still nascent—both the grid and the vehicles must be able to communicate with one another and support demand response services—in the “Smart Grid Insights: V2G” report, Zpryme projects that the market will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59% from 2015 to 2020 in worldwide V2G vehicle sales.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
In a survey conducted by Electric Power Research Institute (ERPI), in conjugation with Southern California Edison (SCE), 51% of Southern Californian consumers said they expect a full electric vehicle (EV) charge to take four to eight hours.
In addition, 95% of them said they would prefer to charge their EVs at home, and 83% claimed they also had 240-volt service in their homes, though they might need to move an outlet closer to their vehicle in order to charge it.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The “Guest Opinion: Electric Vehicles Help Spark The Drive To Go Green” report from J.D. Power and Associates forecasts worldwide electric vehicle (EV) sales will rise 28% from 2009 to 2010.
Power analysts estimate sales of all EVs (including hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles) will total 940,000 in 2010.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
During this five-year span, Pike Research estimates almost 300,000 hybrid trucks will be sold worldwide.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Based on a survey of 1,600 consumers, Deloitte Consulting estimates that electric vehicle (EV) penetration will be only 2% to 5% by 2020.
The “2010 Electric Car Survey” examines three scenarios—aggressive, probable and conservative. Under the aggressive scenario penetration will reach 5.6% by 2020, under the conservative scenario only 1.9% of cars sold will be electric by that time.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Boston Consulting Group reports that the “future of the automotive industry” is in the BRIC nations, Brazil, Russia, India and China, which will account for 30% of worldwide auto sales by 2014. China alone will have 15.3 million auto sales that year.
Research from the “China Electric Vehicle Market Report,” featured in Nielsenwire, found that although electric cars are not widely produced in the country, 68% of Chinese consumers are aware of the technology, and—if price were not a consideration—nearly 8 in 10 consumers might buy an electric vehicle (EV) .
Not surprising, consumers interested in purchasing an EV were most influenced by environmental friendliness and the ability to reduce fuel costs.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
According to the “Voice of Indian Automotive Customers 2009: Evaluation of Powertrain Technologies in Vehicles” report, from Frost & Sullivan a mere 7% of the vehicle owners in India are “very likely” to purchase an EV.
Indian consumers feel there are many drawback to vehicles not powered by gas—led by lack of access to charging stations. High price was cited by 47% of consumers as another reason not to buy.
Monday, March 22, 2010
A study from Consumer Reports found more than one-quarter of US consumers were considering a plug-in electric car for their next purchase.
However, a majority of respondents, 72%, said they were still unlikely to consider a plug-in vehicle.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Spanish government wants one million hybrid or electric cars on the road by 2014.
In 2009, according to TNS Global, 256,671 low-emissions vehicles (less than 120 grams of CO2 per km) were sold in Spain, up 42% from 2008.
The most popular green brand was Peugeot. Other high-selling brands were Ford, SEAT and Renault, which all sold over 30,000 cars each.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
According to a survey from Accenture, consumers in Germany, France and Italy don’t agree on the future direction of hybrid cars and electric vehicles (EVs).
Germans, influenced by the heavy car culture, are least receptive to the thought of driving hybrids or EVs. Only 21% think everyone should own one.
