BMW can’t seem to make up its mind about electrification (the same could be said about most of the legacy automakers). In 2013 it released the i3, which was a giant stride forward at the time. The once-revolutionary city car continues to sell in respectable numbers in some European markets, but BMW never followed up… Read more »
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Letter from Amsterdam: EVs of all shapes and sizes
The streets of Amsterdam are a chaotic carnival of transportation options: the famous flotilla of bicycles (which have dedicated lanes on all major streets) shares the cobblestones with skateboards, scooters (gas, electric and pedal), Segways, buses (diesel and electric) and street trams. There are also canal boats, an underground Metro system, and of course automobiles… Read more »
Letter from Italy: Tiny EVs rule, cops get charged
Tourists love Europe for its endless variety: just cross a border and you’ll encounter a different language, different architecture, different food – and a different mix of electric vehicles. On this summer’s trip, I visited Amsterdam, which has a huge variety of electrified transportation options; Switzerland, a car-loving country where Teslas are slowly but surely… Read more »
VW to install 140 fast chargers at Berlin supermarkets
Volkswagen has partnered with the Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains, which are owned by the Schwarz Group, to install 140 public charging stations at 60 Lidl and 10 Kaufland locations around Berlin. VW says these 140 chargers will expand the public charging infrastructure in the city by almost 20%. VW is launching an electric car… Read more »
Despite weak EV sales, total battery capacity increased 69% YOY in April 2019
Despite weak EV sales growth in April 2019 compared to the same month the year prior, total battery capacity deployed in newly-sold EVs increased markedly over the same period, according to Adamas Intelligence’s EV Battery Capacity Monthly. While total EV sales increased just 19.6% over the previous April, the industry deployed over 6.7 GWh of… Read more »
Fraunhofer’s dry coating process for electrodes could make cell production in Europe economical
Researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS have developed a new battery cell production process that coats electrodes with a dry film instead of liquid chemicals. This simplified process saves energy and eliminates toxic solvents. The Fraunhofer researchers, with colleagues from Samsung, describe their findings in a new paper, “Overcoming binder… Read more »
The auto industry is finally advertising its EVs
Over the past few years, we in the EV media have been highly critical of automakers for failing to advertise their EVs (and then claiming that there’s no consumer demand for them). So it’s only fair that we praise them now that they’re starting to release some pro-EV ad spots. Several TV campaigns have referred… Read more »
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric: A viable EV competitor for the average car buyer
As a company, Hyundai often sets goals that slightly exceed those set by competing automakers. The engineers who designed the Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-In hatchbacks were told that the new vehicles had to beat the fuel-efficiency ratings of the Prius hybrid and Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. So it is with the Hyundai Kona Electric. We… Read more »
The Wallbox Copper proves EV chargers can be beautiful too
The Spanish charging station company Wallbox is growing quickly and winning awards. The Red Dot Product Design award is given every year to consumer products with exceptional design, from luxury watches to elegant furniture to stunning sports cars. You might not expect an EV charger to share that stage, but among the 2019 Red Dot… Read more »
High-capacity EVs push global battery capacity up 94% from last year
In March 2019, 9.76 GWh of passenger EV battery capacity was deployed globally, an increase of 94% year-over-year, according to Adamas Intelligence’s monthly report “EV Battery Capacity Monthly.” Adamas says this increase in battery capacity is especially remarkable considering that global EV sales increased by a mere 25% over the same period, showing that a… Read more »