Jeremiads lamenting China’s takeover of the global auto industry are everywhere these days. Three recent accounts stand out from the pack. These articles cover three different aspects of the tragic tale, but all are authoritative, fact-filled pieces written by journalists with first-hand knowledge of what’s going on in the Middle Kingdom, and I recommend that… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "Clean Cars"
How HummingbirdEV uses modular platforms and micro-factories to lower the cost of commercial EVs
Q&A with HummingbirdEV CEO Rakesh Koneru. The commercial EV market is hot—a bit too hot for some. Over the past decade, we’ve seen dozens of startups come and go. Many of these built promising vehicles, but starved out while waiting for customers to place volume orders. California-based HummingbirdEV, which was founded in 2015, is taking… Read more »
Making EV charging part of the smart home
Q&A with Leviton’s Andrew Taddoni The “house of the future” is a perennial American theme—from the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition at the 1933 World’s Fair to The Jetsons, futurists have predicted a proliferation of labor-saving devices and home entertainment options. Nowadays, the focus is increasingly on the energy that these nifty gadgets require. The home… Read more »
Electrification gaining momentum in fleet vehicle industry
Sponsored by Parker Lord. The electrification of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and fleet vehicles, is gaining significant momentum globally. According to a report by Smart Energy Decisions, there were more than one million electric vehicles (EVs) in commercial and government fleets in the United States as of 2021, up from just over 300,000 in… Read more »
Study finds EVs are lowering electricity bills for all customers, not just EV owners
There’s a lot of speculation about the effects widespread EV adoption will have on the electrical grid, but until now, little hard data. A recent study has found that, so far, EVs are having a salutary effect on the grid, saving ratepayers billions of dollars on their electricity bills. The analysis, which was commissioned by… Read more »
Wallbox and Bidirectional Energy win $2.2-million CEC grant for V2X demo project
EV charging and energy management specialist Wallbox and startup Bidirectional Energy have secured $2.2 million in grant funding from the California Energy Commission for Phase 1 of their Bidirectional Residential V2X Demonstration Project. The companies will install and operate Wallbox’s Quasar 2 bidirectional charger at 120 residential locations across California. The chargers will be managed… Read more »
Volkswagen quits Australian auto industry lobby over emissions standards
As regular Charged readers know, when it comes to EVs, legacy automakers tend to follow two tracks—while preparing for the transition, and telling the media about how committed they are to electrification, they simultaneously participate in trade groups that actively lobby against emissions standards and other pro-EV regulations. Volkswagen Australia has broken with this trend—the… Read more »
EVs reach 90% market share in Norway as the overall auto market falters
The days of ICE vehicles in Norway are numbered. Some years ago, the government set a goal of 100% electric sales by 2025, and that goal is well within sight. In the month of February, plug-in vehicles took 92.1% of the market, up from 90.1% year-on-year. Battery EVs took a 90% share, as recent tax… Read more »
Beam Global receives first European order for its EV ARC solar EV charging systems
Beam Global has received a million-dollar order from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for ten EV ARC EV charging systems and one ARC Mobility trailer, to be deployed at British Sovereign Bases on Cyprus. “Beam Global’s patented solar-powered EV ARC will provide not only clean energy for British military electric vehicles in Cyprus, but… Read more »
BMW is building EVs and legacy gas-burners on the same production lines—and it seems to be working
Legacy automakers, keen to make an “orderly transition” to EVs, have embraced all kinds of half-measures, from PHEVs to awkward ICE-to-EV conversions to pick-your-powertrain production lines. Conventional wisdom among EV advocates is that this is a mistake—industry leader Tesla and other startups have generally taken a clean-sheet approach to designing both their cars and the… Read more »