Daimler has cranked up the voltage several notches with a series of EV-related announcements. The German auto giant plans to invest €7 billion ($7.9 billion) in green tech R&D over the next two years. Mercedes’ seventh and eighth PHEV models, the GLC Coupé 350 e 4MATIC and the E 350 e, are to arrive in… Read more »
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Kreisel Electric builds new battery factory in Austria
Battery manufacturer Kreisel Electric has started construction on a new factory in Rainbach, Austria, which it calls 3K One. When the 67,000-square-foot plant comes online in March 2017, it will have the capacity to produce 800,000 kWh worth of batteries per year. The new facility will feature a fully automated production line, and will also… Read more »
German government announces 1 billion euro EV and PHEV subsidy program
Several European nations, notably Norway and the Netherlands, offer generous incentive programs to support e-mobility. Germany, the continent’s largest auto market, has been a conspicuous exception until now. This week, the German government announced a new incentive scheme worth about 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion). The costs are to be shared equally between the government… Read more »
BMW’s X5 xDrive40e spearheads its plan to offer PHEVs in every market segment
BMW has taken a bold approach to electrification. It began test-marketing EVs in 2012 with the Active E and Mini E, and escalated to full-scale production in 2013 with the i3 EV and i8 plug-in super-sports car, which together passed the milestone of 50,000 worldwide sales in January. BMW deserves a lot of credit for… Read more »
More details about the Tesla Model 3
Last week’s historic unveiling of Tesla’s Model 3 left auto lovers with a host of questions. Since then, some answers have been trickling out, mostly from the thumbs of Elon Musk, who’s been tweeting like a tree full of birds over the past few days. Musk hopes to log 500,000 reservations before the “Part 2… Read more »
2016 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron delivers performance and practicality
The selection of plug-in vehicles available to US buyers continues to grow steadily – it now stands at 27 models, with several more expected this year. The latest entrant to the market is the 2016 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, the German luxury brand’s first plug-in model available in the US. Every time a new plug-in… Read more »
Daimler tells managers to drive EVs, invests 30 million euros in charging infrastructure
The makers of plug-in vehicles generally agree on the importance of charging infrastructure, and several have invested substantial sums in workplace charging. Daimler, the maker of the Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and S 500 Plug-in Hybrid, as well as the smart electric drive, has already built 556 employee charging points. The company recently announced an… Read more »
Tesla leads the pack as overall 2015 plug-in sales fall short
2015 was a year of retrenching and preparation for the future in the EV industry. US sales for the year were around 116,000, falling short of 2014’s figure of 123,000. The Tesla Model S grabbed and held the lead position, handily outselling all other plug-ins in the US with 25,700 deliveries. However, the big news… 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 »
