SK Innovation, South Korea’s largest oil refiner and chemical supplier, says it is having talks with several companies about jointly establishing an EV battery factory in China. “An investment announcement will likely be made in the near future,” said Chief Executive Chung Chul-khil, adding that the joint venture in China may be with a battery… Read more »
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New Mercedes E-Class will include a PHEV version
Electric technology continues to creep into new cars, especially at the upper end of the market. Mercedes-Benz’s tenth generation E-Class sedan, introduced at the Detroit auto show in January, will feature the company’s ECO start/stop function on all engine types. Daimler has also announced that the new E-Class will be offered in a plug-in hybrid… Read more »
SK Innovation to supply Li-ion battery cells for Mercedes EVs
Korea-based SK Innovation has been selected as a Lithium-ion battery cell supplier for Mercedes-Benz EV projects. SK Innovation released no details of the arrangement, saying only that its battery cells “will be deployed in multiple electric vehicle models in diverse segments.” SK Innovation says it has recently doubled capacity at its plant in Seosan, Korea,… 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 »
Fuso Canter E-Cell electric delivery truck wraps up Portugal pilot
Mercedes recently completed a yearlong pilot of an electric delivery truck in Portugal. The Fuso Canter E-Cell. The eight vehicles logged 51,500 kilometers in day-to-day usage with two municipal governments, a delivery service and the national postal service. The Fuso Canter E-Cell, which is based on the chassis of the conventional Canter, features a 110… Read more »
Tesla’s goal: drive units that never wear out
Consumer Reports’ recent finding that the Model S’s reliability is only mediocre was a black eye for Tesla, but Elon Musk says that, while early drive units had a range of problems, most of these have now been fixed. During a recent conference call, Musk assured stock analysts that the powertrains now rolling off the… 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 »
Lux Research: LG Chem threatens Panasonic’s position as world’s top EV battery supplier
Japanese giant Panasonic is by far the largest automotive batter supplier at the moment, with a 39% market share. According to a new report from Lux Research, it will probably hang onto that position, increasing its share to 51% as EV batteries grow to a $30-billion market by 2020. However, there’s a real possibility that… Read more »
German state to test carpool/low-emission lanes
The German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (which includes Daimler headquarters Stuttgart) plans to conduct a feasibility study of carpool lanes (Umweltstreifen), which can also be used by vehicles with low emissions. As reported by the Stuttgarter Zeitung (via Green Car Reports), the special lanes will be open to EVs, PHEVs, and other vehicles that meet the… Read more »
Tesla to adapt to Chinese charging standards – as soon as they exist
Tesla has announced that it will fully support China’s charging standards, modifying its vehicles to ensure that they are compatible. This is surely a wise and necessary policy, as concerns about charging infrastructure are widely considered to be the main reason that EV sales in the world’s largest auto market have been slow to take… Read more »