While several companies are building electric city transit buses, China-based BYD has unveiled what it calls the world’s first electric over-the-road coach bus. The BYD C9 is a two-axle, 40-foot two-axle coach with a seating capacity of 47, top speed of 62.5 mph and range of over 190 miles. “The transportation industry is still just… Read more »
Atlanta has become an unexpected EV hotspot – it’s now the #2 market in the US for plug-in vehicles, and the #1 market for the Nissan LEAF. The local electric utility, Georgia Power, sees this as a growth opportunity, and has launched a $12-million program called Get Current to drive more EV sales. The utility… Read more »
Repurposing used EV batteries as stationary storage is an elegant solution to several problems. Once a Li-ion battery has served for several years in a vehicle, it may not retain its youthful strength, but it still has plenty of storage capacity for applications such as stabilizing the power grid and/or storing the intermittent power from… Read more »
Despite the best efforts of EV journalists to keep the peace, the battery and hydrogen teams are squaring off for a smackdown. In one corner, Tesla’s Elon Musk, who continues to deride the efficiency and practicality drawbacks of what he calls “fool cells.” In the other corner, Toyota, whose Lexus subsidiary runs ads ridiculing battery-electric… Read more »
Mitsubishi’s Outlander Plug-In Hybrid has sold well since going on sale in Europe and Japan two years ago, and there’s reason to believe that it could be a huge hit here as well. However, US buyers will have to wait for a plug-in crossover – the US launch has been delayed once again. Mitsubishi recently… Read more »
Battery-maker Energy Power Systems plans to establish a high-volume manufacturing facility in Pontiac, Michigan. The new 150,000-square-foot facility will produce batteries for use in start/stop and micro-hybrid vehicles; utility-scale distributed energy storage; renewable energy integration; and fast-charging infrastructure for EVs. Full-scale production is expected to begin in early 2016. Initial annual capacity will be 500… Read more »
Noting that its customer base increased 20-fold in the last year, NRG eVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) has announced plans to expand its network of DC fast chargers from 10 national markets to more than 25 over the next two years. eVgo has agreements with Nissan and BMW to provide EV buyers… Read more »
Porsche has dropped plans to sell gasoline and diesel versions of its long-planned Pajun sedan, the German magazine auto motor und sport reported (via Automotive News Europe). Unnamed sources have indicated that Porsche execs think the sport sedan segment is too crowded for a new model with a legacy powertrain, so the Pajun will go on sale… Read more »
Driven by the triple trends of vehicle electrification, automation and connectivity, the automotive semiconductor market had a splendid 2014, and is on track for more growth, according to a new report from research firm IHS (NYSE: IHS). Automakers built more cars and used more semiconductors in 2014, bringing the market to $29 billion, a 10… Read more »
Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) has announced plans to install and operate more than 1,000 EV charging stations in the Kansas City region, which the company says will be the largest charging station installation by an electric utility in the US. KCP&L’s Clean Charge Network will be part of the ChargePoint network, and will… Read more »
