Electric car completes 313-mile trip

Who says electric cars don't have the range necessary to replace that traditional gas motor vehicle that you and your family rely on? An Australian businessman made his own argument for the viability of electric cars by completing a 313-mile trip in his Tesla Roadster.

The man completed the trip during the Global Green Challenge, an Australian solar car race that has been held since 1987. The Global Green Challenge includes a division for production cars, which is what the Tesla was competing in.

The trip smashes the previous record of 241 miles, which was also held by a Tesla Roadaster. For more info on the historic trip as well as the Global Green Challenge, check out this story from The Daily Green.

Electric cars showcased at Tokyo car show

Electric vehicles are the talk of the show at the Tokyo motor show, which is taking place this week.

All of the leading Asian automakers are jostling for position in the expanding electric car market, as each looks for the new big thing to ignite a spark in an industry-wide slump in sales. Both Nissan and Toyota announced at the show that they plan to have all-electric cars ready to ship in the United States by 2012. Toyota officials also said they company remains on track to deliver a plug-in version of the popular Prius to consumers by the end of this year.

For more info on the electric cars being displayed at the show, check out this story from Business Green.

Volvo goes green

Volvo has crafted an ambitious environmental agenda, making the company the latest automaker to work towards a greener future.

The automaker announced a new vision that will attempt to produce cars that produce no harmful exhaust emissions or environmentally-impacting carbon dioxide. Yes, they said no emissions. And, the company is putting its money where its mouth is by investing $2 billion in the project through 2014.

Volvo and other automakers are working towards the 35.5 mpg federal standard that will be in place as of 2015. The standard was part of the federal legislation passed by Washington last year that legislators, unions, and automakers all agreed on as part of a compromise.

For more information on how automakers are going green, check out this story from The Daily Green.

The next-generation of car technology

This sounds like something out of those futuristic, sci-fi movies and almost too good to be true, but Korean researchers are working on technology that would allow electric cars to "hook" into induction strips and inverters buried in roadways to charge the electric battery in the car.

This would alleviate one of the major drawbacks of electric cars—something often referred to as "range anxiety." Currently, electric cars only have a range of about 100 miles before they need to be charged. This can cause a feeling of anxiety in drivers who are used to going 300 miles or more in between trips to the fuel station.

For more info on this as well as the latest on automated driving technology (Who wouldn't love a car that drives itself?), check out this story from The Daily Green.