Volkswagen is by far the most charged of the legacy automakers. In November, the company announced that it would increase its planned investment in electrification. Now the German giant says it will revamp its motorsport programs to focus on electric mobility. From now on, the emphasis will be on fully electric racing cars, and ICE… Read more »
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Volkswagen begins EV pre-production at Chinese plant
Volkswagen has begun pre-production in its plant in Anting, Shanghai, which will be singularly focused on manufacturing the automaker’s all-electric Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB) models for the Chinese market. The first vehicle produced will be the China-specific Volkswagen ID. model. Full-scale production at the Anting plant is scheduled for October 2020, at which point… Read more »
Honda accelerates electrification plans for Europe, passes over US
The good news: global automakers are getting more serious about electrification, announcing numerous new models and planning massive investments. The bad news: the trend is increasingly bypassing the North American market, as many of the new EVs, including models from US automakers, are to be sold only in China or Europe. Honda recently underlined this… Read more »
Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen talks EV design on Ride the Lightning podcast
It’s rare for any current Tesla exec whose name isn’t Musk to speak to the press, so Ryan McCaffrey pulled off a coup when he scored an interview with Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen for his Ride the Lightning podcast. Holzhausen, the designer of Models S, X, 3, Y and the Tesla Semi, discusses… Read more »
The acceleration of the connected vehicle market
Sponsored by TTI By Mike Gardner, Director of the Advanced Technology Market Development at Molex. What the future of connected vehicles means for suppliers, and how Molex is navigating the transition. Take a look at the headlines and it’s clear: connected vehicle technology—which allows a vehicle to gather data and communicate with its surroundings—is about… Read more »
GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler side with Trump in fight to gut fuel economy standards
GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler have announced that they will side with the Trump administration in its war with California over fuel economy standards, in direct opposition to competitors Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW, which struck a compromise with the California Air Resources Board in July. CARB’s deal with the four automakers calls for fleet… Read more »
Volkswagen CEO: electrification won’t hurt profit margins
Volkswagen, which has unveiled the most ambitious electrification plans of any of the legacy automakers, does not believe the transition to EVs will hurt its profit margins, CEO Herbert Diess said in an interview with la Repubblica (via Reuters). “We do not expect a deterioration in margins. Our advantage is that all our brands have… Read more »
Read past issues of Charged – Electric Vehicles Magazine
< Newer Issues Issue 28 – November/December 20169 Featuring: Seaworthy EVs: Leclanché designs and manufactures Li-ion cells and systems Chroma Systems Solutions invests in the next generation of EV testing products 2017 Prius Prime: Toyota launches an all new PHEV that some call “the best Prius ever” Turnkey drivetrains: UQM, Eaton and Pi Innovo collaborate… Read more »
Unions fear electrification will vaporize their jobs
As the legacy automakers finally begin to get serious about electrification, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the accelerating transition will result in a major restructuring of the industry, which seems likely to include substantial job losses. As a recent Bloomberg article reports, fear of the electric future is an underlying reason for the United Auto… Read more »
Kia and Hyundai invest in IONITY, plan to bump up EV systems to 800 volts
Kia and Hyundai have announced investments in IONITY, the European charging network established by BMW, Ford, Daimler, and VW. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes both Kia and Hyundai, will obtain equal shares in IONITY as those of founding partners. Starting in 2021, Kia and Hyundai will equip EVs with 800-volt charging systems to accommodate IONITY’s… Read more »



