US automakers remain on track to meet the EPA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard, which will mandate average fuel economy of 35.5 mpg by 2016, and 54.5 mpg by 2025. However, average fuel efficiency is in danger of slipping, as WardsAuto reports, not because carmakers aren’t building gas-sipping vehicles, but because US consumers aren’t… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "Plug "
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 »
New report from Germany assesses over 500 EV models
A new study from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), in partnership with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, aims to present a comprehensive picture of current progress in electromobility, and to assess the position of German companies in the rapidly developing market. The DLR scientists developed a database of every known electric passenger… Read more »
MAHLE software combines GPS and topographic data to manage PHEV energy consumption
International automotive supplier MAHLE has been testing electrified powertrain technology using a range-extending combustion engine and a demonstrator vehicle that it developed in-house. The company’s Powertrain division has developed control software that can manage the consumption of battery energy for plug-in hybrids through a combination of GPS and topographical road data. MAHLE’s REEV demonstrator vehicle… Read more »
ClipperCreek’s HCS-50 EV charging station
ClipperCreek seems to have a charger for just about every application. The latest to join the product line is the HCS-50, a Level 2 charging station that uses a standard 240 V, 50 amp outlet to deliver 40 amps to the vehicle. EVs capable of high-power charging can add approximately 30 miles of range per… Read more »
Automakers push back against Michigan’s proposed EV fees
Faced with the fact that improved fuel efficiency is translating into lower gas tax receipts, several states have instituted, or are considering, special fees on electrified vehicles. A fee proposal currently making its way through the Michigan legislature has drawn opposition from an automakers’ trade group. In a recent letter to Michigan Senate Majority Leader… Read more »
Polestar acquired by Volvo, will apply PHEV tech to high-performance cars
Volvo has acquired Polestar, a Swedish company with which it has been working in motor sports since 1996. Polestar will now be used as the model name for special high-performance Volvos. In 2015, Volvo expects to sell 750 Polestar versions of the V60 wagon and S60 sedan, and hopes to increase that to between 1,000… Read more »
Gaining traction at last: Efacec instals over 600 DC fast chargers worldwide
If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: EVs and charging infrastructure present a chicken-and-egg problem. This thesis has been the topic of countless EV industry conference panels over the past decade. In recent years, many experts have attempted to declare the issue settled. Back in January 2013, European Union Climate Commissioner… 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 »