Kia may be the auto brand with the biggest disconnect between perception and reality in the US today. It makes stylish, modern vehicles – passenger cars plus a growing range of crossover utilities – packed with advanced features. It’s a legitimate competitor to Toyota, Honda, and others. But ask the average buyer if he or… Read more »
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The EV industry sees problems with California’s proposal to mandate credit card readers for public chargers
In California, there is a controversial plan to require credit card readers on all public charging stations, including retrofitting already installed units. California’s Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act (Senate Bill 454, which passed in 2013) mandates open access to public charging stations – that is, a driver doesn’t have to be a member… Read more »
PlugStar aims to break the EV dealership deadlock
As anyone who follows the EV scene has surely noticed, auto dealerships are widely considered to be a major bottleneck on the road to EV adoption. Sales staff tend to be poorly informed about plug-in vehicles, and many dealerships make little effort to present them to buyers as an option. In the worst cases, salespeople… Read more »
Is the Toyota Camry Hybrid the last sedan?
The sedan (or saloon, as our British friends call it), which has been the standard form factor for passenger cars for a century, now seems to be a dying breed, as SUVs and crossovers take over the market. Consumers love the extra space and increased ride height of an SUV, and automakers love the higher… Read more »
Rivian plans to use dealerships to service its electric trucks and SUVs
Following Tesla’s lead, EV startup Rivian, which turned heads at the LA Auto Show with its prototype electric pickup and SUV, doesn’t plan to use traditional dealerships to sell its vehicles in most areas. Buyers will order Rivians directly from the company – it’s already accepting pre-orders, secured by refundable $1,000 deposits. Unlike Tesla, however,… Read more »
New UCS report indicates automakers have lost interest in reducing emissions
The Union of Concerned Scientists has issued a new report that ranks the environmental performance of global automakers. It’s no surprise that Tesla topped the rankings by a wide margin. (Yes, the report considers the full lifecycle of vehicles, including emissions associated with manufacturing and the production of fuel.) However, EV fans may be surprised… Read more »
A look at Lucid Motors: Q&A with CTO Peter Rawlinson
The legacy automakers are slowly and methodically developing new EVs, with various levels of enthusiasm, but the most ambitious plans for new vehicles are coming from a handful of EV startups. Most of these pioneers of the new auto industry share a formula: deep-pocketed investors (many from China), former Tesla employees on staff, and plans… Read more »
Teardown of Chevy Bolt points to massive disruption ahead
It’s not unheard-of for financial analysts to tear down a vehicle to get an accurate estimate of what it costs to produce. Back in 2015, a consulting firm took apart and reverse-engineered a BMW i3. More recently, a team from UBS disassembled a Chevy Bolt and published a cost analysis of the new EV. However,… Read more »
Will Ford’s new CEO put more emphasis on EVs and AVs?
Ford has replaced CEO Mark Fields with Jim Hackett, the head of the company’s Smart Mobility division. The company also appointed a new executive in charge of “strategy and business model development for electrified vehicles and autonomous vehicles.” The buzz in the media is that the new regime will put more emphasis on electric and… Read more »
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV: The era of long-range, mid-priced EVs is here
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will surely be remembered as a milestone model in automotive history – and hopefully for more than just the hype that heralded it. For several years, the punditocracy has been saying that the “killer app” that would bring electromobility to a “tipping point” and build that all-important “critical mass” would… Read more »