By Tom Saxton, Chief Science Officer, Plug In America With over 160,000 170,000 plug-in vehicles on the road in the US, an increasing number of drivers are depending on public charging to extend the useful range of their vehicles, both for extended trips in large metro areas and for even longer road trips. At the same time, there is… Read more »
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Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV selling smartly in Europe
Mitsubishi seems to be in no hurry to bring its Outlander PHEV to the US, but the new plug-in SUV has gotten off to a splendid start in Europe. MMC launched the new model in the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland last October, and has already booked over 12,000 orders. It had delivered over 8,000 units by… Read more »
2014 Cadillac ELR: Technology trickling up
Nowadays, when the in-crowd thinks of the planet’s coolest car, a Model S or one of the European brands might come to mind, but there was a time when the unchallenged monarch of automotive luxury was the Cadillac. Surely no other car has been mentioned in as many classic movies and blues songs. And a… Read more »
Fuel cells vs batteries for vehicle powertrains
Jeffrey Wishart, a Senior Project Engineer at Intertek, conducts research and development on products and services in the areas of energy, the environment, and advanced transportation. In addition to his supervisory position at Intertek, Dr. Wishart worked for several years at ETEC LABS (the research and consulting division of ECOtality) and at a utility company… Read more »
NHTSA: EVs pose different safety risks than ICEs, not more
Some of the more colorful conservative media would have us believe that EVs are exploding death traps, while Tesla and other EV makers insist that they are actually far safer than ICE vehicles. The truth, according to the top US auto-safety regulator, lies somewhere in between. “We believe they don’t pose any greater risks than… Read more »
Audi shows off an e-tron quattro in Detroit
Audi’s all-road shooting brake show car, which is on display at this week’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, highlights what the company calls “a new form of quattro drive – the e-tron quattro.” The compact crossover has a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that delivers 300 kW (408 hp) of system power and system… Read more »
VIA’s electrified trucks to include Recargo’s charging station data
VIA Motors and Recargo have announced an agreement to include Recargo’s PlugShare charging infrastructure information in VIA’s Pad in-Dash EV control system, which it plans to unveil in the 2014 production vehicles. PlugShare claims to be the world’s most comprehensive listing of public charging stations, with over 28,000 plugs in North America, and 55,000 globally,… Read more »
Bentley to go hybrid with new Falcon SUV
“Don’t forget to plug the Bentley in, Jeeves. Petrol is ever so dear these days.” The 93-year-old British luxury brand is not the first carmaker that comes to mind in connection with cutting-edge electric vehicles. However, like every other auto manufacturer, Bentley has been researching electrification for some time, and now it plans, ever so… Read more »
Tesla upgrades wall charger connectors to address overheating incidents
Tesla will provide Model S owners with improved charger connectors, following a half-dozen incidents in which wall plugs melted or smoked while vehicles were recharging. The redesigned adapter includes a thermal fuse designed to shut off charging if overheating is detected. Overheating can stem from inadequate household wiring, said Elon Musk. Tesla has already sent… Read more »
Nissan predicts double US LEAF sales in 2014
The LEAF had a spectacular 2013, increasing sales by 130 percent over 2012 as Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee, plant ramped up production. This week, the company announced that the 2014 LEAF will see only a minuscule increase in MSRP, and CEO Carlos Ghosn said he is optimistic that the world’s #1 EV maker can soon double… Read more »