The idea of battery swapping for EVs has been around for some time, but the reality has not been auspicious. Better Place bet on the concept and went bankrupt. Tesla successfully demonstrated a battery swap in 2013, but so far has not gotten around to opening any swap stations to the public. A team of… Read more »
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Kia announces pricing for Soul EV
Kia Motors America (KMA) has announced pricing for the Kia Soul EV, which will go on sale this fall in California, Oregon, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. The new EV will be offered in two trims: MSRP for the Base model is $33,700; the Plus model, which adds leather-trimmed heated and ventilated seats, fog… Read more »
New book excerpt: The early days of Tesla
This article is an excerpt from Tesla Motors: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Sparked the Next Tech Revolution by Charged Senior Editor Charles Morris. This 270-page book is a comprehensive history of Tesla, told by the entrepreneurs who made it happen, as well as an assessment of the company’s lasting influence… Read more »
Tesla confident that Gigafactory can hit the magic number: $100/kWh
Tesla’s Gigafactory will mark a milestone in American manufacturing – to put it in trendier language, it’s going to be a game-changer. This is already obvious to readers of the EV press, and it’s starting to sink in among the mainstream media. The investing pundits of the Motley Fool have parsed some of Tesla’s statements… Read more »
Tesla battery swapping: dead, or just delayed?
It was one year ago that Tesla introduced its battery swapping technology in a theatrical presentation, with lights flashing and music thumping. At the time, Elon Musk said that the company planned to make swapping available as soon as the end of 2013, and eventually install the capability at every Supercharger station. In early 2014… Read more »
Toyota makes it official: Battery EVs stink, fuel cells rule
A top Toyota executive has confirmed what was already apparent to EV industry insiders: the Japanese automaker is placing all its chips on hydrogen fuel cell technology, and abandoning efforts to develop battery-electric vehicles. In an interview with Automotive News at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference, Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, said that Toyota believes battery-electric vehicles are viable only… Read more »
Orange EV’s new electric terminal truck
Orange EV, a company based in Kansas City, has announced its new T-Series electric terminal truck. A terminal truck (we prefer the more colorful term “yard goat”) is a short-range tractor used in facilities such as container ports, rail yards and distribution centers to move trailers around as cargo is transferred from one mode of… Read more »
Arizona considers bill to legalize Tesla direct sales
Tesla’s war with the auto dealers is getting more interesting by the day. Barely a week after New Jersey outlawed the company’s contentious direct-to-consumers sales model, the Arizona legislature is considering a bill that would explicitly legalize it. According to the Associated Press, Arizona House Bill 2123, which was approved by a state Senate committee… Read more »
Smoggy Paris enforces alternate driving days (but not for EVs)
Nothing focuses the official mind on electric vehicles quite like a thick blanket of nasty grey smog. It’s no coincidence that the two places on Earth with the most aggressive pro-EV policies – California and China – are places with serious air pollution problems. Does this mean that the City of Lights will be the… Read more »
December plugin sales: LEAF has best month ever, but Volt wins top spot for 2013
It was a banner year for plug-in vehicles, as 2013 sales (94,019) almost doubled 2012’s figure (52,581), and several new models made strong debuts – US buyers now have a choice of 16 mainstream plug-in models, compared to 9 at the end of last year. Overall US auto sales are up 8% in 2013, according… Read more »