Now that Gigafactory 3 near Shanghai is almost ready to begin production, it’s time to start work on the next one. Speaking at a recent event in Germany, where he received a Golden Steering Wheel award from the German tabloid Bild, Elon Musk announced that Tesla has chosen the Berlin area as the location of… Read more »
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Trump backs down on fuel economy standards, proposes compromise figures
The War on Fuel Economy Standards took another twist, as the Trump administration backed down from its plan to freeze fuel economy standards. “People familiar with the process” told the Wall Street Journal that the administration is now considering calling for a 1.5% annual increase in corporate average fuel efficiency. This target would be a… Read more »
GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler side with Trump in fight to gut fuel economy standards
GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler have announced that they will side with the Trump administration in its war with California over fuel economy standards, in direct opposition to competitors Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW, which struck a compromise with the California Air Resources Board in July. CARB’s deal with the four automakers calls for fleet… Read more »
Dyson drops out of the EV race
The commercialization of new technologies often follows a trajectory that looks something like this: a startup brings the new tech to market, surprising everyone and catapulting the company to corporate stardom; industry incumbents realize they need to embrace the new tech, but find themselves unable to do so, thanks to the pesky Innovator’s Dilemma; other… 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 »
VW and Northvolt join to build battery facility in Germany
Volkswagen and Swedish battery maker Northvolt have created a 50/50 joint venture to build a factory for lithium-ion batteries. Construction of the production facility is scheduled to start in Salzgitter, Germany in 2020. The companies plan to start production by the end of 2023 and initially produce 16 GWh per year. VW has invested €900… Read more »
Unions fear electrification will vaporize their jobs
As the legacy automakers finally begin to get serious about electrification, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the accelerating transition will result in a major restructuring of the industry, which seems likely to include substantial job losses. As a recent Bloomberg article reports, fear of the electric future is an underlying reason for the United Auto… Read more »
VW ID.R sets first record on China’s Tianmen Mountain
Volkswagen has set the first speed record on China’s Tianmen Mountain with its ID.R electric motorsports vehicle. VW staged the record attempt to support its upcoming introduction of EVs to the Chinese market. The ID.R is the motorsport ambassador for Volkswagen’s ID. family, its new range of EVs. It currently holds records on Pikes Peak… Read more »
Michigan school districts to buy 17 electric buses
Seven Michigan school districts – Ann Arbor, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Oxford, Roseville, Three Rivers and Zeeland – will be the first in the state to purchase electric buses. The districts will receive $4.2 million from the state to cover up to 70 percent of the costs of buying 17 electric buses, along with Level 2 and… Read more »
Seat shows a concept for a high-performance electric SUV
We usually have little interest in “concept” vehicles, unless their makers indicate a clear path to the dealership and the street. However, the need for electric SUVs and crossovers is pressing, so let’s take a look at this new electric SUV concept from Seat, a Spanish automaker owned by the Volkswagen Group. Seat unveiled an… Read more »