The dark cloud from Volkswagen’s diesel debacle is spreading around the world. India’s Heavy Industries Ministry ordered an independent investigation, which led to the recall of 323,000 VW vehicles in India (via The Times of India). The ministry says it plans to to start testing all on-road diesel vehicles in the country to see if they… Read more »
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Porsche workers agree to pay cut at EV production plant
Times are tough at the Volkswagen Group these days, and some rank-and-file workers are surely wondering about their job security, even in labor-friendly Germany. This may explain why workers at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant have agreed to concessions worth several hundred million euros in order to secure production of the company’s battery-electric Mission E. Earlier this… Read more »
Elon Musk et al to CARB: Make VW sell EVs instead of fixing dirty diesels
Volkswagen is sincerely sorry that it got caught designing its diesels to cheat on emissions tests, and it has proposed to recall some 482,000 vehicles and modify them to bring them into compliance. VW has not yet revealed exactly how it will do this, and some automotive experts have pointed out that a technical fix… Read more »
VW teases long-distance electric Microbus concept for 2016 CES debut
What is Volkswagen’s vision for the electric future? Attendees at CES in January in Las Vegas will get to hear VW Chairman of the Board Herbert Diess’s thoughts on the subject. Diess will deliver a keynote address in which he plans to announce a new electric concept. Rumor has it that the concept will be… Read more »
German carmakers to collaborate on development of DC fast charging up to 350 kW
If, as the media are firmly convinced, the German automakers’ EV strategies revolve around competing with Tesla, they will have to come up with an answer to the ascendant Supercharger network. The Europeans recently took a step in this direction with the formation of the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN). Audi, BMW, Daimler, Opel, Porsche and… Read more »
How much of a change is VW’s promised pivot to plug-ins?
Demoralized by its diesel deception, will Volkswagen now get serious about EVs? “Arguably, no major OEM is better positioned than VW to decisively accelerate the push towards plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles,” Lux Research recently noted, “[However], they will most likely carry on as usual after some apologies.” This week, VW’s board of directors released… Read more »
What does Elon Musk think of the Apple iCar?
There’s no longer any doubt that Apple is doing some electric vehicle R&D. Whether an actual iCar will eventually disrupt the dinosaurs of Detroit remains to be seen, but a Greek chorus of auto industry insiders is already warning the champions of Cupertino not to do battle with this dragon. A recent Fortune article ridiculed… Read more »
European researchers: Our new Li-sulfur battery is more energy-dense, cheaper and safer
EU-funded researchers in the LISSEN (Lithium Sulfur Superbattery Exploiting Nanotechnology) project have developed a new lithium-sulfur battery that uses lithiated silicon as the anode and a nanostructured sulfur-carbon composite as the cathode. The team says its battery offers an energy density at least three times higher than that of current lithium battery technology, as well… Read more »
Will a post-diesel VW turn to EVs?
The developing VW scandal has highlighted the lengths to which some automakers will go to find an alternative to electrification. Some industry gadflies have speculated that Volkswagen might opt to redeem itself by becoming a (sorely needed) leader in the electromobility field. “With hydrocarbon combustion we’ve hit the limits of physics,” Elon Musk told Auto… Read more »
What will VW’s emissions scandal mean for the EV industry?
The world’s second-largest automaker has admitted that it systematically broke the law in order to evade environmental regulations. “Our company was dishonest with the EPA, and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you,” said Volkswagen’s US chief Michael Horn. “We have totally screwed up.” Tipped off by the International Council for Clean Transportation, the… Read more »