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Slow sales for Tesla in Germany. Are more EV incentives on the way? (UPDATED)

Last month’s Frankfurt auto show was positively crackling with EV news, as Audi, BMW and Porsche presented concept EVs, Mitsubishi showed its 2016 Outlander PHEV, and several suppliers touted tech advances. However, the comparatively low-key presence of electric trendsetter Tesla – which was showing red, white and blue Model S but no Model X –… Read more »

New ads for next-gen Chevrolet Volt attack Nissan LEAF, Toyota Prius

The 2016 Chevrolet Volt is a tour de force of engineering, a substantial step forward over its predecessor (see our cover story in the current issue of Charged). However, some EV industry observers fear that unless GM follows up on the technical improvements with some meaningful marketing, an area in which EV-makers have fallen short… Read more »

Another Chinese-backed startup announces plans for an electric supercar

New EV companies are cropping up like dendrites on a lithium metal anode. The latest startup to emerge from stealth mode is called NextEV. Like many of the current crop (see Faraday Future, Atieva, Fisker, Leshi), NextEV is backed by Chinese investors, and is not affiliated with a traditional automaker, although it has recruited execs… Read more »

Mercedes confirms plans for high-end EV

Daimler is accelerating into the electric future. Last year the company spent about half of its 5-billion-euro R&D budget on electrification and other emission-reducing technologies, and announced that it would introduce 10 new plug-ins by 2017. The Mercedes S550 Plug-In Hybrid, the group’s third model with a cord, went on sale in the US in… Read more »

Russian Prime Minister orders all gas stations to install EV charging stations

Well, that’s one way to get a charging network rolled out in a hurry. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has decreed that all gas stations must be equipped with public EV chargers by November 2016, the Moscow Times reported. Critics immediately pointed out the incongruity of such a sweeping measure in a country that is… Read more »

August plug-in sales slow as LEAF, Volt and Model S jockey for the lead

There’s little good news for EV-lovers this month. August US plug-in sales of 8,972 were essentially unchanged from July, and were even further behind August 2014’s figure of 12,172. There were no major position changes – most of the leading models posted minor declines or increases. The bright spots at the moment are outside the… Read more »

Sales of plug-ins plateau as Model S maintains a lean lead

It’s official: US plug-in sales are in the doldrums. July sales of 8,951 were substantially down from June (10,364), and from July 2014 (11,242). While we’re waiting for the 2016 LEAF and next generation Volt to get things moving again in the fall, we’ll console ourselves with the news that even as US sales have stalled, worldwide… Read more »

New independent EV builder makes the scene

The difficulty of starting up a car company, and the unlikelihood of anyone duplicating Tesla’s success, are so well known as to require no repetition here. Suffice it to say that Faraday Future’s recent colorfully-worded announcement that it intends to bring a new EV to the market has been greeted with predictable skepticism. However, the… Read more »

Gaining traction at last: Efacec instals over 600 DC fast chargers worldwide

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: EVs and charging infrastructure present a chicken-and-egg problem. This thesis has been the topic of countless EV industry conference panels over the past decade. In recent years, many experts have attempted to declare the issue settled. Back in January 2013, European Union Climate Commissioner… Read more »