Everyone who watches the sketch comedy show Portlandia knows that the dream of the 90s is alive in Portland. Our dream of the 90s was vehicle electrification, and we hoped the GM EV-1 would kick-start the trend more than a decade before the Tesla Roadster actually did it. Well, the vehicle electrification dream is alive… Read more »
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Electrified supercars in Geneva
At the recent Geneva Auto Salon, a number of smaller automakers had electrified supercars on display. Few of these are likely to be seen on the world’s roads any time soon, but it’s interesting to see how designers are combining electric and legacy drives for maximum performance. The British firm Arash (via Green Car Reports) unveiled a… Read more »
Faraday Future awarded patent for FF Echelon Inverter
EV startup Faraday Future (FF) has applied for more than 100 patents over the last year. This week it announced that its first one has been granted, for a new assembly process called “FF Echelon Inverter.” The inverter is designed to be small and simple. FF claims it achieves 20-30% greater power density than competitors’… Read more »
Why don’t EV-makers offer battery upgrades?
If you buy an EV this year, chances are next year’s model will offer a slightly better battery for the same price. As a result, resale values for most EVs are terrible (or wonderful, if you’re looking to buy a used car). Three-year-old Nissan LEAFs are going for around a quarter of their original MSRPs…. Read more »
Aston Martin partners with Faraday Future backer, will bring electric RapidE to market in 2018
Aston Martin has formed a partnership with Letv, a Chinese tech company that has reportedly invested in several EV ventures, including Faraday Future and Atieva. The two companies plan to work together to develop and manufacture the RapidE, an electric version of Aston Martin’s Rapide four-door sports sedan that was unveiled as a concept last… Read more »
Lithium X acquires potential lithium lode in Nevada
The business of prospecting for lithium is still tiny compared to the worldwide oil exploration industry, but some companies are already buying up tracts of land that may contain motherlodes of the light white stuff. The lithium exploration and development company Lithium X Energy has announced its acquisition of the CVL Lithium Property in Nevada’s… Read more »
Koch Brothers turn their wrath (and their wealth) on EV subsidies
The good news: EV sales are growing steadily. The bad news: They’ve now grown enough to attract the attention of Big Oil, which is planning a multi-million-dollar counterattack. Citing “refining industry sources,” the Huffington Post reports that a consortium of fossil fuel interests is making plans to form a new advocacy group that hopes to… Read more »
EV sales in Canada up 32% in 2015
It’s still a bit of a mystery why we Americans fell behind in EV sales in 2015. While US plug-in sales fell short compared to 2014 (a trend that has happily now reversed), sales in Europe almost doubled. Up north in Canada, sales also grew, by 32% compared to 2014 (actually a slower rate of… Read more »
Musk: Model 3’s veil will be lifted only a modicum in March
As every auto journalist knows, an automaker’s official “unveiling” of a new model seldom offers much in the way of technical information. A photo op with an auto body, some flashy videos and some hors d’oeuvres are what one usually expects. Tesla, so iconoclastic in other matters, tends to follow this norm. At a recent… Read more »
While US EV sales shrank, Europe’s almost doubled
What a difference a year or two makes. Not so long ago, we EV pundits were trying to figure out why EV sales were so slow in Europe compared to the US, despite the continent’s green reputation and high gas prices. Now they must be wondering the same about us. Annual US plug-in sales actually… Read more »