As Volvo unveiled two concept cars built around the new Compact Modular Architecture, it announced that its new global small car range will include a pure battery electric vehicle, as well as Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrain variants. Volvo previously announced that it would produce a pure EV based on its larger Scalable Product Architecture… Read more »
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BMW sells 4,500 EVs and PHEVs worldwide in April
Plug-in vehicles are a rapidly growing segment for BMW. The BMW Group reports that it sold 4,504 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles around the world in April. This represents 2.5% of the company’s total vehicle sales. The top three markets for plug-ins were the US, Scandinavia and the UK. The i3 electric city car sold… Read more »
German firm opens first phase of Europe’s biggest battery factory
German battery systems provider BMZ has opened up the first two buildings at what it says will be Europe’s biggest lithium-ion battery factory, in Karlstein-Großwelzheim, Germany. When the facility is completed in 2020, it will cover some 55,000 square meters, including production, laboratory and office buildings. It will employ a staff of up to 1,500… Read more »
Plug-in sales continue to climb in April: New Volt, Fusion Energi on top
US plug-in sales continue their steady ascent. In April, about 10,557 plug-ins were sold, a 16% gain over last April, and the sixth consecutive monthly record. The Chevy Volt took first place for the month, as sales increased to 1,983 units. The new and improved 2017 Volt is now officially on sale nationwide, but Volts… Read more »
Ford may be working on a 200-mile EV after all
Are they or aren’t they? After months of refusing to comment on whether Ford is working on a 200-mile EV to challenge competitors GM, Tesla and Nissan, Kevin Layden, Ford’s Director of Electrification Programs and Engineering, seemed to dash our hopes when he said that the 2017 Focus Electric’s 100-mile range should be plenty for… Read more »
Electric torque vectoring: Q&A with GKN’s Advanced Engineering Director (Full Interview)
Torque vectoring technology is generally defined as a vehicle’s ability to vary the power to each wheel. Quickly controlling the torque applied to the wheels independently of one another allows the driving characteristics of a vehicle to be improved in significant ways – more stability, more responsiveness and more agility. A conventional differential distributes the… Read more »
Ford has no plans for a 200-mile EV
At a Ford conference about a year ago, Charged asked CEO Mark Fields (and every other exec we could buttonhole) if the company had any plans for an answer to the 200-mile Bolt that GM had just announced. His coy answer of “nothing we can talk about” led willing minds to believe that there was… Read more »
The new Chevrolet Bolt bares all in juicy powertrain pictures
GM has always been pretty good about showing us the details of its technology. Now it’s showing off the upcoming Bolt’s electric powertrain in a series of detailed photos. The Bolt represents the pinnacle of GM’s electric technology, and it’s particularly interesting to see how that has been steadily improving. We get an up-close look… Read more »
New report urges UK government to invest in EV skills or risk missing out
A new report commissioned by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) urges the UK government to make significant investments in building charging infrastructure and improving skills in the UK motor industry or risk missing out on the economic benefits of a fast-growing industry. The author of the report, Professor Jim Saker of Loughborough University,… Read more »
Will Tesla’s Model 3 finally inspire major automakers to get charged?
Tesla’s mission has always been to get more people driving EVs, even if it’s not the one selling them. Elon Musk has said many times that he welcomes competition from the major automakers. Musk and his crusading carmakers have had some success in this regard. Former GM exec Bob Lutz has acknowledged that Tesla was… Read more »