Electric Vehicles Have Current! Part 3

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Welcome to part Three (the last part in this series). Here's links to part One and Two.

The EVS-26 show floor was larger than I expected it to be, suggesting that this is one area of alternative fuel that’s heating up. And the range of vehicles was quite expansive, ranging from personal transportation, like the Nia EV products pictured on the left, to electric shuttle buses (see below).

Volkswagen had a large display at the show. The brochures, however, were for the 2012 lineup and not about future vehicles. I was somewhat snubbed at this exhibit; no one approached me yet all the guys looking around received attention. I overheard the year 2013 in a discussion taking place close to one of the vehicle on display so we can assume that Volkswagen will be offering something soon. 

The Up, “A small car full of great ideas”, was originally introduced as a concept about five years ago. Articles do suggest that the vehicle will be available as an all-electric in 2013 however it's won't be coming stateside. Scratching my head on this one; why was it on display?  Sure, it’s a city vehicle, but if micro-cars like Smart can be sold here, why not this one that offers greater efficiency and cleanliness?

Among the currently available cars there was the Nissan Leaf in all its hatchback glory and immediately on the other side of the wall I found a more luxurious offering from that corporation:


This is the Infiniti LE concept, similar in size to the G37. The car is expected to, obviously, have lots of luxury features. 


There are hints that this car may be available in about two years, however do keep in mind that this is a concept. Perhaps the niftiest idea surrounding this vehicle was the wireless charging pad that could be parked over, made all the easier by a self-parking system that would position the vehicle into the correct “hovering over” spot for charging. 


The Infiniti LE is expected to have more power than the Leaf (which is 80-kW) and a driving range of about 100 miles.  Don’t keep us waiting too long for this one Nissan!


Ah, but it's not all about cars...


It’s about time to introduce a magazine for the industry, right? Charged is aimed strictly towards folks in the industry and is mostly technical. Best yet, it was free so I walked away with a copy. How long will it be before we see a consumer publication to raise awareness of current and upcoming products as well as explain the methodology behind electric power to consumers?


And two last interesting tidbits:


Even the parking lot at the convention center was exciting. The orange vehicle in the featured photo spot for this article is a Tesla that I had the pleasure to park close to.


And outside of the show, near where the test drives were, I found this vehicle:




And when will you plug in?