It’s official: US plug-in sales are in the doldrums. July sales of 8,951 were substantially down from June (10,364), and from July 2014 (11,242). While we’re waiting for the 2016 LEAF and next generation Volt to get things moving again in the fall, we’ll console ourselves with the news that even as US sales have stalled, worldwide… Read more »
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BYD sells 50 e6 EVs to San Diego ride-sharing fleet
San Diego-based ride-sharing service Opoli has agreed to buy 50 e6 EVs from China’s BYD Motors. The e6 electric crossover will join Opoli’s natural gas airport shuttles later this summer. Opoli, which launched its service in the San Diego area just a few weeks ago, is the first ride-share service permitted at the San Diego… Read more »
New paper: Cost of hybrid systems will be halved by 2025
For those of us who are puzzled and discouraged by the recent decline in sales of hybrid vehicles, a new paper from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) offers plenty of hope for the future. According to “Hybrid Vehicles: Technology Development and Cost Reduction,” the costs of full-function hybrid systems are likely to drop… Read more »
Fiat Chrysler CTO: Fuel cells are the distant future
Fiat Chrysler is the automaker that EVangelists love to hate. The brand has nary a hybrid in its lineup (although a plug-in powertrain for the Town & Country minivan is expected to appear in 2016), and, like some evil stepmother in a fairy tale, CEO Sergio Marchionne heaps derision on the feisty little Fiat 500e,… Read more »
The 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine PHEV enters the US market with great promise
These days when most Americans think of Swedish engineering, they probably remember a frustrating experience with an Allen wrench and one too few pieces of particle board. But we didn’t always buy our Swedish creations under the same roof as our Swedish meatballs. Any American old enough to drink remembers a friend whose parents drove… Read more »
NRG EVgo on the move: Its DC fast charging network passed major milestones (Full Interview)
Q&A with Arun Banskota and Brendan Jones. In the past year, the NRG EVgo network has quietly passed some major milestones in the EV charging industry. The company now has more public DC fast charging sites than anyone else – even more than Tesla’s vast Supercharger network. EVgo also has the highest number of CHAdeMO and… Read more »
Continental develops integrated powertrain for the Chinese market
Auto parts giant Continental has developed a new electric powertrain especially for the Chinese market. The basic design for the new drive was created at Continental’s locations in Berlin and Nuremberg, and the specific customer applications were developed at Continental’s plant in China, where the system is produced in cooperation with Chinese suppliers. The new… Read more »
CARB invests $373 million in advanced vehicle technologies
The California Air Resources Board has approved a $373-million funding plan for fiscal year 2015-16 for investments in a wide range of vehicle technologies, from zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses to rebates for low- and zero-emission passenger vehicles. The budget for the annual Funding Plan for Low Carbon Transportation Investments and the Air Quality Improvement… Read more »
Plug-in sales slow in June, but Tesla exceeds estimates
For the second month in a row, total plug-in sales fell short of last year’s figures. Overall US sales were 10,365 in June, 10% lower than May, and 16% lower than June 2014. The good news is that worldwide sales have shattered last year’s numbers every month so far this year. After a slow start,… Read more »
Researchers add compounds to electrolyte to prevent dendrite growth
Those doggone dendrites are the bane of battery boffins working on otherwise promising lithium metal anodes. Now a group of researchers from SLAC, Stanford and MIT have discovered that adding lithium polysulfide and lithium nitrate to an ether-based electrolyte can prevent dendrite growth and minimize electrolyte decomposition. Professor Yi Cui, Professor Yet-Min Chiang (a co-founder… Read more »