The California Energy Commission has approved a $1.4-million grant to the consulting firm National Strategies (NSI) for an electric school bus demonstration program. Together with a previously awarded grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the total of $2.2 million will finance the development of six electric school buses that will be deployed… Read more »
There’s a battle brewing, and EV drivers are clearly going to be the winners, as BMW becomes the third automaker to regale its customers with free and convenient public fast charging. The ChargeNow DC Fast program, a cooperative effort with NRG eVgo, offers BMW i3 drivers in California unlimited no-cost 30-minute DC fast charging through… Read more »
BMW of North America has launched its own DC fast charger. A joint development between BMW and Bosch, the BMW i DC Fast Charger can charge an i3 to 80 percent in 30 minutes. It’s about half the size of most DC chargers (31x19x12 inches), weighs around 100 pounds, and can be mounted on a… Read more »
Nissan recently became the first EV-maker to announce a firm price for a replacement battery pack for its LEAF. That price – $5,500 plus installation cost – sounds like a bargain, considering that the high cost of batteries is one of the main factors that makes today’s EVs more expensive than legacy vehicles. A few… Read more »
Swiss power and automation group ABB has announced a partnership with Volvo Buses to co-develop and commercialize electric and hybrid buses with open standards-based DC fast charging systems. The partners will develop a standardized system that can charge electric and hybrid buses quickly through an automatic roof-top connection system at bus stops, or through cabled… Read more »
Nissan will add Los Angeles to its No Charge to Charge promotion, a program that offers two years of free public charging with the purchase or lease of a new LEAF. The program will launch at Nissan LEAF dealers in the Los Angeles market on August 15, and LEAF owners who purchased or leased their… Read more »
OpEneR, a European consortium of OEMs, parts suppliers and research institutes, has developed a system that combines driving strategies and driver assistance systems to vastly improve the efficiency and range of EVs by optimizing energy management. Engineers worked to improve the electrical powertrain, regenerative braking system, navigation system and surround sensors, and tested the system… Read more »
The Washington DC Circulator bus service will soon be replacing its fleet of 49 diesel buses, which dates from 2003, and local transit authorities are organizing one-day showcases so that decision-makers and riders can check out new bus models that will be vying for the contract. South Carolina-based Proterra brought its 40-foot, 77-passenger electric bus… Read more »
Tesla has halted production at its Fremont, California assembly plant as it prepares to begin cranking out the Model X, and accelerate production of the Model S. A $100-million upgrade will add 25 robots and boost production by 25 percent. “This represents the single biggest investment in the plant since we really started operations and… Read more »
The US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), a collaboration among the Big Three US automakers, has awarded a $7.7-million battery technology development contract to Envia Systems of Newark, California. The competitively bid contract, which is co-funded by the DOE and includes a 50 percent Envia Systems cost-share, is for a 36-month program that will focus on… Read more »
