Search Results Found For: "mercedes"

Next EV hotspot: Alabama?

You may not think of Alabama as a center of the auto industry, but in fact, Mercedes-Benz opened an assembly plant in Tuscaloosa County back in 1993, and today Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Mazda, as well as several Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, have operations in the Yellowhammer State. You may also think a… Read more »

Seven future electric pickup trucks. Maybe.

Over the first 10 years of their existence, most modern battery-electric cars have been compact hatchbacks or Teslas. While a few are marketed as crossover utility vehicles, none have been the full-size pickup trucks that make up a huge and very profitable segment of US vehicle sales. That’s about to change. What follows is a… Read more »

Daimler becomes the latest automaker to abandon hydrogen-powered passenger cars

Mercedes-Benz has ended its development of fuel cell-powered passenger cars, saying that they would be too expensive—around double the cost to produce of comparable battery-electric vehicles. The company has been working on fuel cell technology for over 30 years. Mercedes says it will wind down production of the GLC F-Cell, which was developed in a… Read more »

Trump’s effort to weaken auto emissions standards is foiled on two fronts

One of the Trump administration’s top priorities has been rolling back environmental regulations, and this is one area in which it has been ruthlessly efficient. The New York Times estimates that, to date, this administration has killed or watered down some 100 environmental protections. However, one big prize continues to elude the administration’s wrecking crew:… Read more »

Is IONITY’s prodigious price increase designed to steer customers to “mobility services?”

EV advocates cheered the advent of IONITY, a European charging network owned by a joint venture of BMW, Daimler, Ford, and the Volkswagen Group. The network currently includes 205 DC fast charging stations in 18 European countries, and aims to have 400 in service by the end of 2020. However, the applause has recently been… Read more »

IBM unveils heavy metal-free battery that performs better than Li-ion

IBM Research has unveiled new battery materials extracted from seawater that it says could help eliminate the need for dangerous heavy metals in battery production. Use of the three new proprietary materials create a battery chemistry that does not use heavy metals or other substances that suffer from concerns about sourcing. Beyond the environmental and… Read more »

Volkswagen motorsport goes electric

Volkswagen is by far the most charged of the legacy automakers. In November, the company announced that it would increase its planned investment in electrification. Now the German giant says it will revamp its motorsport programs to focus on electric mobility. From now on, the emphasis will be on fully electric racing cars, and ICE… Read more »

2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring: Review of the brand’s first plug-in hybrid

The PHEV adds more power, more torque and better performance – with little mention of a plug. It’s a brutal truth: in key coastal markets like California and the Northeast, the Lincoln brand has all but vanished from any discussion of luxury vehicles. In fact, Lincoln execs admit it outright. Like crosstown rival Cadillac, Lincoln… Read more »

AC Fast Charging: The right fit for medium-duty EVs

What’s the largest mass transit system in the United States? Is it the public transit network? Nope. Commercial airlines? Guess again. Passenger rail? Not even close. Here’s a hint: the vehicles are colored yellow. Give up? It’s school buses, and in terms of sheer numbers this fleet is 2.5 times larger than all other forms… Read more »