Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

With New Battery, Nissan Plans to Double EV Range by 2015

Posted: 01 Dec 2009 09:22 AM PST

In a breakthrough that might change a few minds about the battery-swap concept, Nissan says that they have succeeded in tests that would extend the range of the LEAF and other electric cars up to 186 miles on each charge, almost double today’s range with an improved battery.

Nissan has developed a new battery combination by adding small amounts of cobalt and nickel to the manganese in their current batteries. Now it’s a real mouthful: a lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide cathode battery, or NMC.

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Toyota May Bring Back MR2 Sports Car As a Hybrid

Posted: 01 Dec 2009 08:49 AM PST

I have many a fond memory of my friend’s old supercharged Toyota MR2. The peppy two-seater was a rarity for its day; an affordable, fun, mid-engine sports car from the generally conservative Toyota. We used to whip around parking lots, burning rubber, and raise a ruckus… until the car wound up on its roof due to, uh, mysterious circumstances.

So the news that Toyota might be considering bringing back the MR2, as a hybrid, fills me with mixed emotions, but mostly hope that the ‘yota might be making a comeback to old-fashioned fun [Ed. Note: Toyota could do for a good dose of that these days, what with all the recalls, lawsuits, and generally bad karma].

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