Kia makes $25B shift toward more electric vehicles: 11 new EVs by 2025

2021 Kia Soul EV  Hyundai’s Kia Motors unit is in many respects a separate automaker from Hyundai, with its own design and manufacturing facilities. Now, Kia is getting specific about its goals for going electric. With an announcement Wednesday, coinciding with an investor day, Kia released a slew of details about the company’s future intent for...

Nissan EVs will share platform with Infiniti, Renault, Mitsubishi

Nissan IMx concept, 2017 Tokyo Motor ShowNissan hasn’t launched a completely new dedicated electric vehicle in nearly 10 years. That’s all set to change soon with the introduction of not just one or two new EVs, but an entire new family of them—and potentially, by the middle of the decade, more than a dozen models globally across Nissan, its Infiniti luxury brand, and...

Volkswagen diesel settlement funding electric school buses

Thomas Built Buses Jouley electric school busOf all the kinds of vehicles that can be made electric, school buses sure make a lot of sense. Electric school buses have fewer maintenance needs and no noise pollution. And they curb diesel emissions—including fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide—that can contribute to asthma and other health issues. Michigan...

Honda and Isuzu join forces to build fuel-cell commercial trucks

2017 Honda Clarity Fuel CellHonda and Isuzu Motors have signed an agreement to work together in developing commercial trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the companies announced Wednesday. This would be the first time that Honda has provided its fuel cells to another company or given them access to fuel-cell vehicle development. It might also be the first time Honda...

Nissan cleans up cabin design, just says no to more touchscreens

Nissan Ariya ConceptFrom the Sony Vision-S and its many screens to the Chrysler Airflow Vision concept and its additional touchscreen in front of the passenger, a theme inside vehicles shown at CES 2020 last week seemed to be the more screens the merrier. Or, if you consider the Byton M-Byte and its awesome pillar-to-pillar 48-incher, the more screen real estate, the...

Talking Teslas might warn pedestrians—and perhaps express a bit more

2018 Tesla Model 3Pedestrian warning sounds for electric cars are sometimes a fun extension of the vehicle; but they’re more often dissonant with the rest of the experience—a bit like a bongo drum at the opera, or a geeky science fiction reference thrown out in the middle of golf-course outing. In short, electric cars are silent, and so having them make...

Cost remains the biggest barrier against EV adoption, study finds

2020 Hyundai Ioniq ElectricA global study of consumers points to a continued disconnect between environmental awareness and electric vehicle sales—especially among Americans. Based on polling of 20,000 worldwide respondents, the study module released Monday finds three familiar foes: cost, range, and charging infrastructure. And, it points out, price ranks far above...