Hyundai will release an electric sedan in 2016, to be followed later by a sports car and an SUV, company officials told the Korea Times this week. This seems to represent a change in strategy from 2012, when Hyundai Motor Group announced that its Kia division would focus on pure EVs, while Hyundai would develop… Read more »
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German automakers (still) planning to challenge Tesla
Elon Musk hopes Tesla’s success will inspire other automakers to get serious about EVs. The latest buzz in the automotive press is that he may get his wish, as German luxury brands are rumored to be working on their own EVs to compete with the boys from Silicon Valley. Automobile magazine reported earlier this month… Read more »
Audi releases details of 2016 Q7 diesel PHEV
Audi has released some details of the 2016 Q7 crossover, which will be offered in a diesel plug-in hybrid version. The new Q7 is built on the Volkswagen Group’s MLB-Evo platform for large cars with longitudinal engines. Audi says high-tech materials have allowed it to reduce the vehicle’s weight by over 700 pounds compared to… Read more »
ACCIONA fields first electric car to compete in the Dakar Rally
A race team sponsored by the Spanish renewable energy firm ACCIONA will be the first to enter a pure EV in the Dakar Rally, which begins the 4th of January in Buenos Aires. Drivers Albert Bosch and Agustín Payá will drive a custom-built EV in the 9,000-kilometer rally raid. The Dakar Rally was first run… Read more »
Your EV may not be so green – but then again, it may.
Here we go again. A mainstream news source distills (some would say “distorts”) a complex scientific study into a sensational headline, and the online echo chamber spins the story into a narrative that’s almost the opposite of what the study actually found. The study, Life Cycle Air Quality Impacts of Conventional and Alternative Light-Duty Transportation… Read more »
Are multispeed transmissions the future of EVs?
One of the many ways in which current EVs differ from legacy vehicles is that they don’t shift gears. While modern ICE vehicles sport 8- and 9-speed automatics, 7-speed manuals and continuously variable transmissions, which help to improve fuel efficiency, most EVs get by with a simple single-speed gearbox. Conventional wisdom is that, because electric… Read more »
DOE offers funding for research into fuel cells, batteries, Schottky diodes
The DOE’s Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for fiscal year 2015, which spans the range of energy technologies, includes a few EV-related topics. Phase I grants of up to $225,000 will be made to small businesses to evaluate the feasibility of ideas that have commercial potential. Topics of interest include: Fuel Cell-Battery Electric Hybrid for Utility… Read more »
France to build nationwide EV charging network, phase out diesel cars
French industrial giant Bolloré plans to invest 150 million euros over the next four years to build a network of 16,000 public charging points across the country. Economy and Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron said that Bolloré may be granted tax relief for installing the charging stations on public highways. “Through a private initiative with public… Read more »
Hitachi supplies inverters and DC/DC converters for Mercedes PHEVs
Hitachi Automotive Systems has begun to supply Daimler with compact, high-output inverters and DC/DC converters for use in the Mercedes S500 and S550 plug-in hybrids, which recently went on sale in Germany. Hitachi developed a third-generation inverter that is 40% smaller and offers higher output than the previous version, and a high-output DC/DC converter with… Read more »
November plug-in sales: LEAF (still) leads, Ford falters, Toyota tanks, smart surges
The US auto industry had another banner month, and plug-ins were present at the party, though perhaps not first in line at the punchbowl. PEV sales were down a tick from October, but eked out a gain compared to November 2013. Year-to-date sales have now surpassed 2013’s total, and it appears that annual sales will… Read more »