Over the first 10 years of their existence, most modern battery-electric cars have been compact hatchbacks or Teslas. While a few are marketed as crossover utility vehicles, none have been the full-size pickup trucks that make up a huge and very profitable segment of US vehicle sales. That’s about to change. What follows is a… Read more »
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Colorado to allow direct sales model—good news for Tesla and Rivian
The tedious and complicated war between Tesla and the auto dealers continues to drag on. At present, the country is a patchwork—some states explicitly allow Tesla’s direct sales model, some explicitly prohibit it, and in others some sort of compromise has been reached. Tesla recently won an important battle in Michigan, and now it appears… Read more »
Porsche announces base version of Taycan EV
As anticipation builds for Porsche’s upcoming Taycan EV, the company has announced a third, entry-level version. The Taycan 4S will be available with two battery sizes: the Performance Battery, with total capacity of 79.2 kWh and power of up to 522 hp (390 kW); and the Performance Battery Plus, with 93.4 kWh and 563 hp… Read more »
2020 Chevy Bolt to offer 259 miles of range
Starting with model year 2020, the Chevy Bolt will offer an EPA-estimated range of 259 miles, a 21-mile increase over previous model years. Chevy says its battery engineering team improved the cell electrodes by making small changes to the cell chemistry, which allowed them to increase the vehicle range without needing to change the physical… Read more »
Colorado adopts California zero-emissions vehicle mandate
Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) voted 8-1 to approve the state’s adoption of the zero-emissions vehicle mandate. Colorado became the 10th state to join California’s ZEV program. According to the state’s Air Pollution Control Division (yes, this is a separate agency from the AQCC), automakers will be required to make ZEVs 4.9% of the… Read more »
EV outliers: Oslo, San Francisco…and St Petersburg?
Many readers are surprised to learn that Charged is headquartered not in California, but in St Petersburg, Florida. Once a sleepy retirement center nicknamed “God’s Waiting Room,” nowadays “The Burg” is a hipster hotspot, replete with art galleries, craft breweries and vegan eateries. Another distinction that places St Pete in the avant-garde: it’s an EV… Read more »
UK lags behind Europe on home EV charging speeds
When you think of roadblocks to EV adoption, vision-challenged automakers, uneducated dealerships and SUV-loving consumers make for convenient culprits. However, in many parts of the world, arcane technical and political issues also present major challenges. In the UK, a technical issue having to do with the electrical grid is emerging as a limitation on home… Read more »
The auto industry is finally advertising its EVs
Over the past few years, we in the EV media have been highly critical of automakers for failing to advertise their EVs (and then claiming that there’s no consumer demand for them). So it’s only fair that we praise them now that they’re starting to release some pro-EV ad spots. Several TV campaigns have referred… Read more »
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric: A viable EV competitor for the average car buyer
As a company, Hyundai often sets goals that slightly exceed those set by competing automakers. The engineers who designed the Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-In hatchbacks were told that the new vehicles had to beat the fuel-efficiency ratings of the Prius hybrid and Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. So it is with the Hyundai Kona Electric. We… Read more »
2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid review: Subaru’s first PHEV offers its loyal customers a taste of zero-emission miles
Any new plug-in vehicle from a maker that hasn’t previously offered one is cause for excitement, even if volumes are low at first. So I approached my six-day test of the new plug-in Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid with anticipation. Sure, its rated 17-mile electric range is below the curve, but at least it’s a start –… Read more »