As you know, I’ve been going nuts in this blog lately over electric vehicles. EVs are futuristic, exciting, environmentally responsible, quiet–and just plain cool.

Electric vehicles also represent a new opportunity for us at Nationwide to help you, our customers. Why? They do not have a very long range–about 100 miles thus far for electric automobiles–so the only practical way to transport them a long distance is to ship them.

Hybrid vehicles are another matter. They use gasoline, so of course you can drive them across the country like any other car. (When you don’t feel like doing so or can’t do so or want to save wear and tear on your car or want to save the cost and time of travel, that’s when you contact Nationwide!)

The Chevy Volt is a plug-in hybrid that became available just this month. GM is calling it an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV). On the one hand, that’s a clever marketing term, but the name does have a point. Hybrid vehicles currently on the market cannot travel for any length of time in electric vehicle (EV)  mode–that is, travel totally on battery power without the gasoline engine.

But the Chevy Volt can. In fact, it can travel 40 miles in EV mode. A lot of people will be able to use this car as an EV commuter and barely use the gasoline engine.

Here is a cool test drive video of this fascinating car:

You don’t have to ship your Chevy Volt, but as with any car, the time will come when you can save time, money, and bother by doing so. If you currently have such a need, we will be happy to assist! Please talk to one of our Car Transport Specialists today!

Chip Shipt
The Nationwide Auto Transport Blog Team

Photo by Mariordo.

I’ve been talking a lot about electric vehicles (EVs) lately, and the main reason is that they’re cool and interesting. I talked about the Nissan Leaf the other day. Not to be outdone, in November at the LA Auto Show, Honda announced that it would launch a Fit electric vehicle and new mid-size plug-in hybrid in 2012.

Presumably, the Fit EV will compete directly against the Nissan Leaf, which is currently available. The Honda plug-in hybrid will compete against the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid, which is also scheduled for launch in 2012.

The latter comparison is not exact, however, since the Prius is a compact car and the new plug-in hybrid will be mid-size. In the US, Honda is currently running an experiment with an Accord plug-in hybrid, and, in Japan, Honda is running a similar series of experiments with an Inspire plug-in hybrid. The Honda car that currently competes head-to-head with the Prius is the Insight hybrid vehicle, but I have not yet heard anything about an Insight plug-in hybrid.

Not to load you down with information, but Honda launched the Fit Hybrid in Japan in October. It is unclear if and when they will launch this car in the US, although they say they plan to launch it in Europe.

The Fit EV fascinates me because I think the Fit is one of the best values on the market today. It’s a small car with a lot of room for people and stuff and it gets pretty awesome mileage, too. My guess is that it will compete very effectively against the Leaf, but both cars look awesome (can’t wait to test drive them!).

In any case, when eventually you get your Fit EV, you will probably need Nationwide Auto Transport at some point. The Fit EV will have a range of only about 100 miles tops, so you won’t be able to drive it across the country. But that’s OK, since Nationwide is your best car shipping choice–for any type of car! We can pick up your car wherever you are in the 48 contiguous states and transport it anywhere in the 48 contiguous states.

To receive immediate assistance for your EV shipping needs, please contact one of our Auto Transport Specialists today!

Chip Shipt
The Nationwide Auto Transport Blog Team

Photo by bigbend700.

Lately I’ve been on the topic of electric vehicles–which is a good one, for we’re looking at the future in the making right now!

I talked about the Nissan Leaf the other day, which is currently available in parts of the US. Today we’re going to take a peek at the Honda EV-neo electric scooter, which is currently available… in Japan! And, really, Honda is leasing–not selling–this bike to a limited number of business users, so you can’t even buy it.

But, if you could somehow buy one and bring it over to the States, it would be a really cool thing to have, as you can see from the picture. Apparently Honda is promoting this as the ultimate city delivery bike. You know, for pizza, soba, express mail, and whatnot. The business owner would keep it plugged in when it’s not in use–no need to fuel up!–and then, off the driver would go, on a scooter that’s fairly powerful, virtually silent, and producing zero emissions.

It’s too bad that it’s not available “over here” yet, but, who knows, maybe soon. If you get one in the future, that’s when you’ll need the best motorcycle transport service in the United States from Nationwide Auto Transport! Why? The EV-neo can travel only 20 miles or so on one charge. That’s pretty amazing for such a compact motorcycle, but we will be happy to help you get it across the United States!

To learn more about how we can help you transport any motorcycle quickly and perfectly, please contact one of our Motorcycle Transport Specialists!

Chip Shipt
The Nationwide Auto Transport Blog Team

Photo by Mj-bird.