Motiv Power Systems, which makes electric powertrains for a wide variety of commercial vehicles, will partner with bus dealership Creative Bus Sales to build a new electric school bus. The Starcraft e-Quest XL will use the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain, a Ford F59 chassis and a Starcraft body. It has a passenger capacity of up to… Read more »
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FTC panel considers direct-to-consumer auto sales
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently assembled a panel of experts in auto manufacturing and marketing to consider the question of whether automakers should be allowed to sell cars directly to customers. For several years, Tesla has been waging a war with auto dealers’ associations over this issue – the company’s direct sales model is… Read more »
DOT announces major push to advance autonomous vehicles
DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx introduced a new federal strategy to help develop autonomous driving technology at the Detroit auto show, joined by execs from Tesla, Google, Ford, GM, Delphi and other automotive firms. “If the government doesn’t change its ways, drivers in the future will not be moving on the highways – they will be… Read more »
Apple EV chief leaving the company
While Apple still hasn’t publicly announced its automotive ambitions, the fact that the consumer electronics giant is working on a car is “an open secret,” in the words of fellow traveler Elon Musk. CEO Tim Cook has said that the triple trend of electrification, autonomy and connectivity will bring about “massive change in the industry.”… Read more »
Chevy designed the Bolt with performance in mind (not just range and price)
In the eyes of the EV media at least, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, scheduled to go on sale later this year, is a historic vehicle. It’s the first to deliver the range and price point that pundits have been saying represent a “tipping point” for EV sales. However, GM designed the Bolt with more than… Read more »
New material shuts down batteries at high temperatures and restarts when it cools
Stanford researchers have invented a new technology that could eliminate thermal runaway in high-energy-density batteries. Thermal runaway refers to a chain reaction in which an increase in temperature causes further increases in temperature and uncontrollable release of energy. In “Fast and reversible thermoresponsive polymer switching materials for safer batteries,” published in Nature Energy, Professor Zhenan Bao and… Read more »
Paraclete Energy says its low-cost silicon nanoparticles can at least double your current anode capacity
Silicon has a theoretical charge capacity ten times higher than typical graphite. That is why a mind-blowing number of researchers are working towards replacing more and more of the graphite used in today’s lithium-ion battery anodes with silicon. In the last issue of Charged, we discussed Tesla’s announcement that it had begun to use small… Read more »
EV marketing efforts continue to miss the mark, determining the reasons why is complicated
Most of us in the EV industry are probably tired of the mainstream media’s constant stream of “EVs aren’t selling” articles, which began around the time the Volt made its debut, and will probably continue until the day the last ICE vehicle rolls off the line. Well, for the near future, it’s only going to… Read more »
VW teases long-distance electric Microbus concept for 2016 CES debut
What is Volkswagen’s vision for the electric future? Attendees at CES in January in Las Vegas will get to hear VW Chairman of the Board Herbert Diess’s thoughts on the subject. Diess will deliver a keynote address in which he plans to announce a new electric concept. Rumor has it that the concept will be… Read more »
Renault installs 90 charging stations in Paris for climate change summit
Renault, in partnership with electric utility EDF and others, is installing 90 new EV charge spots in and around Paris for the upcoming COP21 global summit on climate change. The charging stations, several of which will be donated by Schneider Electric, will be used to charge 200 EVs serving as VIP shuttles for conference attendees…. Read more »