All-electric helicopter makes record flight

Guinness record-setting electric helicopter by Tier 1 EngineeringElectric transportation is about more than cars. Trucks and buses are also moving toward electric propulsion. Planes, with their long ranges and high power demands seem to be harder. Where electric power does seem to be making progress in the skies is in helicopters. An independent engineering company in California this month set the Guinness...

Future Tesla Autopilot chips may come from Samsung self-driving push

2017 Tesla Model S testing at Consumer ReportsThe race to build self-driving cars is heating up, with Google (Waymo), Tesla, Uber, Lyft, Ford, GM (Cruise), and others all vying to build the first reliable self-driving system. Now add Korean electronics giant Samsung to that list—with a twist. Its first client could be one of the major competitors in the business, Tesla. Tesla once had a...

A million electric cars sold in the U.S., led by California

EVgo charging station in Union City, California with resused BMW i3 battery backupDrivers are buying electric cars, and advocates are keeping track. Last month, Veloz, an electric car advocacy organization consisting of regulators, automakers, charging manufacturers and networks, utilities and others, announced that the U.S. had surpassed 1 million electric car sales. That's still less than 1 percent of the approximately 270...

Honda presents new battery chemistry that could succeed lithium-ion

Honda Clarity Electric at Honda R&D Center, Tochigi, Japan, June 2017Researchers from around the world are looking for the successor to the lithium-ion battery for electric cars, power tools, and electronics—one that will store more energy with less size and weight, charge more quickly, and have improved safety. All battery chemistries come with tradeoffs. The challenge for researchers is to figure out how to...

VW releases video of electric I.D. hatchback testing in South Africa

2020 Volkswagen ID Neo spy shotsVolkswagen has heard the naysayers. After being caught cheating on emissions tests with its diesels and being forced to promote electric cars through various legal settlements around the world, the company clearly realizes it has a steep climb to convince consumers it is serious about selling a wide range of electric cars it has planned. DON'T...

Tesla Model S catches fire–twice–after flat tire in California

2018 Tesla Model SA day after Tesla claimed it found a bullet hole, shot from inside the car, in the battery of a Tesla that caught fire in 2014, another brand new Tesla Model S caught fire in California. The owner told local news crews that he was driving on Highway 17, which runs from San Jose to Santa Cruz, California when the low tire pressure warning suddenly...

California approves next Electrify America fast-charge rollout

Electrify America DC fast chargers at San Francisco Premium Outlets, Livermore, CaliforniaElectrify America's second round of electric-car charging installations has won approval from the California Air Resources Board. The company announced plans for its second round of public charging stations in October, including adding more California cities, helping rural residents install home chargers, filling in gaps in highway networks, and...

Will climate talks bring real progress? Take our Twitter poll

Smokestacks pollution air qualityLast weekend, climate talks in Poland wrapped up by scraping a length of thorns off the Paris-agreement rose stem. Global leaders de-thorned issues as sharp as how nations will measure progress toward reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, whether planting more forests should count, for example, how countries will report on progress, and how those...

Electric cars “not going to work,” Trump says of GM’s plan

Donald TrumpIn an interview with Fox News last week, President Trump revealed his inner thoughts about electric cars—not that many had any doubts. "All-electric is not going to work," he said, referring to General Motors' stated goal to transition to "a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion." The company announced last year that...

EVgo launches first public 350-kw fast charger

EVgo 350-kw DC fast-charge station, Baker, Calif. The desert is full of apparitions. The latest is a high-powered DC fast charger for electric cars that don’t yet exist. This apparition is an EVgo charging station in Baker, California, the “Gateway to Death Valley” on Interstate 40, halfway between L.A. and Las Vegas, installed last week. DON’T MISS: Porsche already has a prototype that will…

Nio ES6 makes appearance in China, on sale June

2019 Nio ES6Chinese electric automaker Nio introduced its second, most mainstream, model at an event in China on Saturday. The Nio ES6 is a small-to-midsize crossover vehicle, which, according to Nio's optimistic specs, could deliver 258 miles range from its standard 70-kilowatt-hour battery, or 289 miles from a bigger 84-kwh battery, on the most-optimistic...

Infiniti readies electric SUV concept for Detroit auto show

Teaser for Infiniti electric crossover SUV concept debuting at 2019 Detroit auto showTesla has rocked the luxury car market in the U.S. to its core with the Model S and Model X, and is now doing the same to the aspirational lower end of the car market and even the mainstream market with its Model 3. That's the place where automakers like Acura, Audi, BMW, Infiniti, and Lexus have thrived for decades. In response, Infiniti is...