I’ve written so many articles about Switzerland being an EV laggard in Europe that it’s only fair to trumpet the news that the Swiss auto market has been “struck by Tesla lightning,” as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, one of the country’s top daily newspapers, put it. Tesla’s Model 3 was the best-selling car of any… Read more »
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GM lays off 15% of workforce, kills Volt, promises more EV investment
Seldom has the future of an industry turned sour so quickly. US automakers have enjoyed several years of record profits, but the wild ride is coming to a screeching halt as global trends point to a future of reduced demand, curtailed product lines and the need to invest large sums in new technologies. As part… Read more »
As EPA moves to water down fuel economy standards, GM tries to change the subject
The Trump administration is determined to roll back US fuel economy standards, but for now at least, it will have to go through a complex legally mandated process, including a period of public comments, a customary formality that ended last week. Also last week, GM issued a press release in which it made no comment… Read more »
Aluminum industry: Administration’s claim that lightweighting costs lives is false
Last week, the US DOT and EPA held public hearings on the Trump administration’s proposal to reverse existing federal fuel efficiency and emissions standards. The administration has attempted to justify the rollback of standards by claiming that higher fuel economy would lead to more highway fatalities because of the trend towards reducing the weight of… Read more »
Rollback of clean car standards slammed at public hearings
This week, the US DOT and EPA held three days of hearings to gather public comments on the Trump administration’s proposal to reverse existing federal fuel efficiency and emissions standards. At the hearings in Fresno, Dearborn, and Pittsburgh, hundreds of people, including physicians and health advocates, former EPA officials and technology entrepreneurs, environmental advocates and… Read more »
US administration proposes to weaken vehicle air pollution standards
As expected, the US administration released a proposal that would freeze rules requiring automakers to build cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars, and that would also challenge the right of states to set their own, more stringent pollution standards. The new proposal, jointly published by the EPA and the Transportation Department, would revoke the existing federal standard,… Read more »
Colorado moves to join 13 Advanced Clean Car states, automakers howl in protest
As the EPA proceeds to weaken federal emissions standards, Colorado has become the latest state to implement the LEV regulations included in California’s Advanced Clean Car Standards. Alphabet soup department: The California Air Resources Board (ARB [and sometimes CARB]) adopted the Advanced Clean Cars (ACC) program in 2012. The components of the ACC program are:… Read more »
ARPA-E to award $30 million to develop grid energy storage technologies
The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is wasting no time after its recent near-death experience (the president’s proposed budget would have eliminated the agency, but cooler heads in Congress prevailed): it has announced up to $30 million in funding for a new program called Duration Addition to electricitY Storage (DAYS), which has a goal… Read more »
As US DOE abandons EV technology reporting, NRDC fills the gap
As regular Charged readers know, the US Department of Energy (DOE) provides funding for a variety of basic research programs that benefit the EV and renewable energy industries. The current administration in Washington has made no secret of its desire to end government support for these industries – its recent proposed budget would have eliminated… Read more »
A redesigned Nissan LEAF arrives in 2018, joining the new generation of plug-ins
When some future author writes a book about the most influential cars in automotive history, the Nissan LEAF will be right up there with the Model T, the VW Beetle and the Tesla Model S. The LEAF was the first EV aimed at the mass market, and as of this writing, it remains the best-selling… Read more »