Garmin Aera 796 on 2040-parts.com

GM and PSA announce four joint vehicle programs

PSA Peugeot/Citroën and General Motors have confirmed they will develop four future vehicle projects as part of their ‘Global Strategic Alliance' as both parties grapple with dwindling sales and spiraling costs in the European market. The first is a joint program for a compact-class MPV for Opel/Vauxhall and a compact-class Crossover Utility Vehicle for the Peugeot brand. The second project has been confirmed as a joint MPV program for the small car segment for Opel/Vauxhall and the Citroën brand.

July 9: Keeping it topped off

As expected, when I walked back to my parking space at VSP parking across the street from Burbank Airport the i-MiEV was fully charged. No problem. It had more than 24 hours to get charged and it can't take more than 16 hours to do it, if you figure one hour per kWh at 120 volts.

Better Place Electric Car visitor centre opens

Better Place have opened a visitor centre in Israel to demonstrate their battery swap technology for electric cars Last October we wrote about a start-up company in Israel – Better Place – that had a new way forward for electric cars by taking the purchase of battery packs out of the equation, and was developing a system for ‘Battery Swap’ stations where electric car owners could drive in and swap their battery pack for a fully-charged one in a few minutes. That story first brought to our attention our favourite quote of last year – by Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – who said “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.” Which probably explained why Nissan – and its partner Renault – got involved with Better Place. Better Place aims to address the main concerns of electric car drivers by making the battery packs in electric cars ‘swappable’.