And The Grand Prize Winner IS...

Congratulations to Dave Davidson, you are the Grand Prize Winner of the Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your Kindle Fire HD.

Earth Day Challenge...Let's Go!

In honor of EARTH DAY 2014, SemaConnect's grand prize challenge will be for you to take an EARTH DAY selfie.
1) "Like" our facebook page if you haven't already.
2) Take a photo of yourself celebrating Earth Day and participating in an Earth Day inspired activity and post it to any SemaConnect social media pages.

As usual, the winner will be chosen at random to receive a Kindle Fire HD!

We will leave the contest open until 12:30pm on 4/23 so that you all have time to participate in your Earth Day events and submit your photos.

We are excited to see what our fans are doing to protect the environment today! Happy Earth Day, SemaConnect fans!

And the winner's for Day 10 and 11 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is...

Congratulations to Chas Mar, you are the winner of Sunday's Earth Day Giveaway! Congratulations to Barry Cobill, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you each your eco prizes.

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

What EV do these headlights belong to?

Day 10 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

Name a few developments that led to the revival of Electric Vehicles in the early 90's.

Since it is the Easter holiday, we will keep this question open until 12:30pm on 4/21. The winner's for Sunday and Monday will both be announced at 4pm.


Happy Easter!!!!

And the winner of Day 9 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is...

Congratulations to Much Ski, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your prize.

Day 9 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

What does the acronym LEAF as in the Nissan LEAF stand for?

And the winner of Day 8 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is...

Congratulations to Caitilin Walsh, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your prize.

Day 8 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

What high-end sports car started out as an electric vehicle?

And the winner of Day 7 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is...

Congratulations to Caitilin Walsh, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your prize.

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

I have been called an electric car pioneer and I was the first man to break the 100 km barrier. Who am I?

And the winner of Day 6 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is...

Congratulations to Erik Petersen, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your prize.

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

What prevents you from starting your car and pulling away when your car is plugged into the EVSE equipment?

And the winner of Day 5 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is....

Congratulations to Kelly Carmichael, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your prize.

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Trivia Contest

Why does a Ford Focus Electric charge faster than a Nissan Leaf?

GM Invests in an EV Future: $449 Million to go Towards Electric Vehicles

Image CC by: MotorBlog.com

Are electric vehicles the future of personal transportation?

GM seems to think so with its latest round of investments into the EV market. While the company has seen only tepid sales for its Chevy Volt, GM will be hunkering down and making some major investments in electric vehicles over the coming years. It seems one of the world’s largest automakers does not want to be left behind when it comes to EVs.

At the Automotive Press Association the other day, GM announced an investment of $449 million into advanced technology. $384 million will be going to GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck facility, the plant which makes the Chevy Volt, while the remaining $65 million will go to the Brownstone Battery Assembly facility, where all the company’s lithium-ion batteries are made.

The investments come just ahead of the release of the next generation Chevy Volt, which has an anticipated release date of 2015 or 2016. Although the company is remaining quiet about the forthcoming Volt, some speculate it could feature an all-electric range of 50 miles and a much smaller range-extending engine.

Don’t forget GM is also planning to release the first affordable 200 mile range all-electric vehicle. One of the sticking points is creating an affordable battery with that range, but the company is confident it can be accomplished in the near future. Such a vehicle would be a direct competitor with Tesla’s upcoming Model E, which will be geared more towards the average American.

GM has invested nearly $1 billion in EV technology, suggesting the company takes its electric vehicles seriously. It has just released the Cadillac ELR, to compete on the luxury EV stage and is now looking for new opportunities in the growing EV market. It will be interesting to see how GMs EV investments will pay off down the road.

Joseph Tohill is a freelance writer and online communications specialist for organizations in the sustainability sector. He has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia and spent most of his academic career studying sustainable urban development; namely the interdisciplinary relationship between built form and natural environment.

And the winner of Day 4 of the 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways Winner Is....

Congratulations to Bill Vogel! You are the winner of the today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your address to  marketing@semaconnect.com to get your prize.

Day 4 of 12 Question

Day 4 of 12 Question:

To install a typical Level II electric vehicle charging station, what type of circuit breaker would be needed?

Day 3 of 12 Question

Day 3 of 12 Question:

What is the kWh capacity of a Nissan Leaf?

Day 2 Winner Announcement!

Congratulations to Steve Kuo, the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Email your address to marketing@semaconnect.com to get your prize.

Day 2 of 12 Question

Day 2 of 12 for 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways!

How much does an Electric Vehicle(EV) driver save on average per year by not pumping gas?  

Day 1 Winner Announcement!

Congratulations to Brant Walsh, you are the winner of today's Earth Day Giveaway! Please email your shipping address to marketing@semaconnect.com and we will send you your prize.

12 Days of Earth Day Giveaway! Day 1 of 12...

Earth day is just around the corner, but we're celebrating a bit early this year by kicking off our 12 Days of Earth Day Giveaways!  How can you get involved and win awesome eco prizes?

It's simple, here are the rules:

• Check our Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or the SemaConnect blog for the trivia question of the day.  
• Like us on any of the social media sites, and submit your answer to the day's question in the comments section.  The question goes out at 12:30pm each day.
• At 4:00pm of each day, we will randomly draw the winner and you could win the prize of the day.
• If you are selected as the winner, we will notify you to send us your mailing information to receive the prize!
• Don't forget to have fun!  :)

Each day the questions get harder, but the prizes also get bigger!  Don't miss out, and join us for some (early) Earth Day fun!  Game on!

Day 1 of 12

Question:

Name one reason for choosing to drive an electric vehicle.

Post your answers on any of our social media sites to be part of the fun!

Evs by The Numbers: A Closer Look At Electric Vehicle Growth Since 2011

Image CC by: Travis Sweet

If one were to look at the EV market as a proportion of the total global automobile market, one would be looking at a very small number indeed. Of the estimated billion cars on the road, only 400,000 would be classified as an electric vehicle. 

However, EVs have only really been on the mainstream market since 2011, so their numbers are expected to be small. Where EVs really shine is in their growth over the past few years.

According to the Center for Solar and Hydrogen Energy Research in Germany, the number of EVs on the road in 2012 was 100,000. In 2013 the number of EVs totalled 200,000, and in 2014 the number has reached 400,000. This is a clear doubling trend since 2012 and leaves a lot to be optimistic about in the coming years.

In fact, for a sector that is still only a few years old, EVs have been performing exceptionally well. For example, EVs are being adopted much faster than when hybrids were released. In only 3 years, EVs have achieved the same number of sales that hybrids took 6 years to achieve.

The top three markets for EVs include the US (174,000 vehicles), Japan (68,000 vehicles), and China (45,000 vehicles).

A closer look at particular car manufacturers reveals growing competition to capitalize on rising interest in EVs. Interestingly, car manufacturers have realized that specialization is key when it comes to attracting customers. For years Tesla has been the “go-to” luxury EV, with its Model S boasting over 200 miles of range and high consumer ratings (it was voted the best overall car in 2014). However BMW and Cadillac have now decided to cater to the luxury EV market with the release of the i3 and ELR respectively.  

For cars more within the price range of the average American, the logical choices include the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. While the Volt has sold roughly 58,200 units in the US to date, the Leaf is rapidly catching up with 47,300 units sold. If March’s numbers are any indication, Leaf sales could outpace Volt sales by the end of the year.

It’s an exciting time to be a part of the growing EV market. Even retailers and commercial real estate developers are noticing numerous benefits by tapping into the EV economy. With all the EVs hitting the road over the next few years, more and more drivers will be seeking out EV charging stations. 

This provides a unique opportunity to provide a valuable EV amenity for the growing EV market, while improving a company’s corporate image and generating some additional revenue.

Joseph Tohill is a freelance writer and online communications specialist for organizations in the sustainability sector. He has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia and spent most of his academic career studying sustainable urban development; namely the interdisciplinary relationship between built form and natural environment.