When we discussed our home solar panel project in mid-2011 with friends, one of the first questions everyone asked was, “What’s the payback period before you break-even?” The second question was unsurprisingly, “How much is it costing you?” but the focus always ended up on the payback. After all, if you’re going to invest in Continue reading →
February 2013 was to a rebound month of sorts, as January was generally considered to be a let down from the previous month’s results, despite some strong year-over-year gains. The story previously in January was supply and demand. Either there was no supply (Nissan LEAF, Chevrolet Volt, Ford Energi products, Tesla Model S), or there was no Continue reading →
When Dr. Arthur J. Boujoukos commutes from Franklin Park to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Oakland, the health care system is paying to power his plug-in hybrid vehicle while he works. Boujoukos, medical director of the cardiothoracic intensive care unit, connects his gas- and electric-powered Chevrolet Volt to an electric vehicle charging station Continue reading →
The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV, introduced ahead of the Los Angeles International Auto Show, packs smart performance and connectivity technologies into an affordable five-door urban mini car designed to make the trip as electrifying as the destination. With the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet accounts for more than 50 percent of all plug-in electric vehicle sales in Continue reading →
“This is one of the few places where you can see a Chevrolet Volt traffic jam,” laughs Scott Hinson, the lab director for Pecan Street Inc., an alternative energy project in Austin, Texas. More precisely, Pecan Street is a one-square-mile neighborhood in Austin, Texas, that has become the heart of an ambitious project aimed at Continue reading →
The climbing price placards being hung at the neighborhood gas station aren’t making too many people happy. Now, drivers of some Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicles are getting their own version of those signs, and it’s likely they’re actually happy about it, by comparison. General Motors’ OnStar is testing a navigation app that will record Continue reading →
Since February, participants in Pecan Street Inc.’s real-world demonstration project have been putting the Chevrolet Volt to the sustainable test. Pecan Street Inc. is a research and development organization, headquartered at the University of Texas at Austin, which is focused on advanced energy management systems. A few years ago Pecan Street started a real-world demonstration Continue reading →
General Motors and its subsidiary OnStar say they are partnering with Pecan Street Inc. in order to gain access to real-world driving and charging patterns in a community of concentrated Chevrolet Volt owners who also live in managed-energy “smart homes.” Chevrolet made 100 Volts available for purchase on a priority basis last September to residents Continue reading →
Maybe it should be renamed “Chevrolet Volt-ville.” The largest concentration of Chevrolet Volts in the country will play a key role in helping Texas residents in a 700-acre planned community as they test the impact of “smart homes” and other green technology, like electronic vehicles. GM calls it the greatest concentration of Chevrolet Volts in Continue reading →
Owners of the popular Chevrolet Volt electric car may soon have the option to recharge their cars using renewable energy, thanks to a new solution from OnStar. According to OnStar, “the technology is enabled as OnStar receives a signal from PJM Interconnection that shows the percentage of available renewable energy on the grid. Data from this forecast Continue reading →
