The Wall Street Journal reports that three key executives from the BMW i EV team have left the Bavarian automaker to join Future Mobility Corp, a Chinese startup backed by Tencent Holdings. Carsten Breitfeld, a 20-year BMW veteran who developed the i8 plug-in sports car, left BMW last month to become CEO of Future Mobility…. Read more »
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Ford has no plans for a 200-mile EV
At a Ford conference about a year ago, Charged asked CEO Mark Fields (and every other exec we could buttonhole) if the company had any plans for an answer to the 200-mile Bolt that GM had just announced. His coy answer of “nothing we can talk about” led willing minds to believe that there was… Read more »
Tesla joins Charging Interface Initiative – what does it mean?
Tesla has joined the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), an organization formed a few months ago by several automakers and EVSE manufacturers with the mission of promoting technical standards for the Combined Charging System (CCS), and working to increase its capabilities. Observers of the charging scene differ as to the significance of the move. In the… Read more »
Wrightspeed to provide its turbine-based PHEV powertrain to New Zealand bus operator
Ian Wright was a co-founder of Tesla, but he soon left to start his own company, partly because he felt that large commercial vehicles represented a better target for electrification than passenger cars (read more about Wright’s electrifying adventures in the April 2014 issue of Charged, and in the book Tesla Motors). Since then, Wrightspeed’s… Read more »
Volkswagen reopens Transparent Factory as showcase for electric mobility
Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory, which allows customers to watch their new vehicles being assembled, has been redesigned as a showcase for electromobility and digitalization. The site now features some 50 interactive exhibits, including a glass frame model of the e-Golf. Several of VW’s electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are available for test drives. The exhibition is… Read more »
Cummins wins DOE grant to develop Class 6 PHEV trucks
Heavy vehicle manufacturer Cummins (NYSE: CMI) has been awarded a $4.5-million grant from the DOE to develop a Class 6 commercial PHEV. Class 6 vehicles weigh between 19,000 and 26,000 pounds fully loaded – examples include school buses and single-axle work trucks. The goal of the project is to reduce fuel consumption by at least… Read more »
eMotorWerks’ new networked portable charging cord and 75-amp home charger
eMotorWerks specializes in intelligent smart-grid-enabled charging solutions. Its JuicePlug is a universal EVSE adapter that can convert an existing “dumb EVSE” into a smart one, with app- and web-based control. The latest additions to eMotorWerks’ product line are designed to allow portable EVSE to connect to the cloud, and to accommodate ever-higher charging levels. JuiceCord… Read more »
Will Tesla’s Model 3 finally inspire major automakers to get charged?
Tesla’s mission has always been to get more people driving EVs, even if it’s not the one selling them. Elon Musk has said many times that he welcomes competition from the major automakers. Musk and his crusading carmakers have had some success in this regard. Former GM exec Bob Lutz has acknowledged that Tesla was… Read more »
German automaker Borgward launches PHEV in China, plans to sell EVs in Europe
Borgward Group AG, the reincarnation of a German automaker that ceased operations in 1961, has formed partnerships with SAP, LG Electronics and Robert Bosch to support its plan to launch a line of EVs and PHEVs in Europe. LG Electronics will work with Borgward to develop batteries and other EV components such as electric air-conditioning… Read more »
Does Manhattan really have more Tesla charging stations than gas stations?
Here’s a fun fact courtesy of the tabloid New York Post (and corroborated by more – shall we say – widely-quoted news outlets, including the Times and WNYC): Manhattan now has more public EV charging stations than gas stations. A lot more – in fact, fossil fuel pumps are outnumbered by Tesla-branded chargers alone. Tesla… Read more »