Electric vehicle operations in Arizona will get a charge from a new program that includes a major federal government grant to a Phoenix-based company.

David Gonzales is a familiar face in the neighborhoods he serves, whether he's sitting in his delivery truck or riding on a bicycle.

Mesa drivers now have access to eight electric vehicle charging stations in the city. The new Blink chargers were installed in October and are located at three city facilities including the Main Public Library, 64 E. 1st St.; Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St.; and Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center St.

Arizona State University now has six Level 2 Blink electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at its Tempe campus.

Whether you’re wiring a vehicle for a trailer, installing new audio or video equipment or are restoring an old favorite, electrical problems will be high on the to-avoid list.

Since Jim Stack bought his new Nissan six months ago, he’s come to enjoy watching fuel prices bounce around.

I was happy to see electric cars being talked about in the Tribune story "Charged up for electric cars." It stated that the Valley and Tucson will be installing about 900 residential charging stations and the forthcoming mass hook-up of 1,150 chargers in the spring. I am completely for becoming environmentally friendly, but I know at least three other families that can't afford the price tag of $25,280 after federal tax credits for a car that only takes you 100 miles and takes 2 1/2 hours to become fully charged. Electricity comes from coal-burning power plants that make up 54 percent of America's power, but it emits toxic chemicals into the air like mercury, arsenic, nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide and many more.

Concerned about the general maintenance of your car - the tires, lights and fluids?

A subsidiary of Scottsdale-based ECOtality Inc. signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy for a grant of $99.8 million to deploy what the company said is the largest charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in history.

It looked like a motorized bed and drove about as well, but the Lunar Rover’s exploits on the Moon’s surface more than 30 years ago made it one of the most celebrated modes of personal transportation ever to be built.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is setting tough gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines and electric cars.

The first hybrid-electric buses in the Valley will hit the streets of Tempe later this month, and they should be easy spot whether you’re a passenger or driving behind one.

LOS ANGELES - Ann Deren-Lewis thought it would be hard to give up her Jeep Cherokee — she saw SUVs everywhere she went. Then a new job 40 miles away got her thinking about guzzling gas.

The Scottsdale Police Department is steering its downtown patrol methods in a new direction - on three wheels and an electrical charge. For the last two weeks, officers patrolling the city's downtown have been testing a pair of three-wheeled electric vehicles that move swiftly in and around crowds and congested areas.

As the rollouts of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf approach, it is a stretch to say that the East Valley will soon be a mecca of electric car activity — but it does figure to be a hub.

The newest exhibition worth seeing at Arizona Science Center may be on the small side, but it brings home a great, big idea: the science and vision behind the Progressive Automotive Insurance X Prize, a $10 million contest to produce a “clean” vehicle that achieves a fuel economy of 100 miles per gallon, or its clean-energy equivalent.

WASHINGTON - General Motors Corp. said Friday it was recalling 944,000 vehicles because of a problem with a windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire.