Audi to pay $927 million fine over diesel scandal in Germany

2013 Audi TDI rangeAudi agreed on Tuesday to pay a $928 million fine to put the diesel emissions-cheating scandal behind it in its home country, Germany. The 800 million Euro fine to German authorities, consists of $923 million (795 million Euros) in profits the company made selling diesels that didn't comply with emissions standards plus the maximum fine of $5.8...

2019 Jaguar I-Pace gets official range, MPGe ratings

2019 Jaguar I-Pace, photographed outside Tesla Store, Mount Kisco, NYNow that it has finally delivered the first retail example of its I-Pace, Jaguar has released official range and MPGe estimates for this new luxurious electric crossover. As we reported on Monday, the I-Pace is rated at 234 miles of range, a little short of the 240 that Jaguar indicated it was aiming for in earlier press drives. For comparison...

Tesla secures site for Chinese factory

2014 Tesla Model S in ChinaIn the midst of escalating trade wars, Tesla is moving ahead with its plans to build a factory in China. The company announced on Wednesday that it signed a "land transfer" agreement with the Shanghai government for a 212-acre plot to build its proposed Chinese factory. The land transfer agreement opens the way for Tesla to start construction on...

Google Maps adds electric-car charging locations

Electrify America 350 kw chargers at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.In a banner day for electric-car drivers, Google announced on Wednesday that it will add electric-car charging stations to Google Maps. The app will now show Tesla Supercharging stations as well as ChargePoint, EVgo, Blink, and SemaConnect networks in the U.S. as well as networks in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. It will not include...

BMW i4 will resemble 4-Series Grand Coupe–with big battery

BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor ShowBMW plans to launch perhaps its most mainstream electric car, the i4, in 2021, about a year after the iX3 electric crossover utility goes on sale. BMW chairman Harald Krüger told British auto magazine Auto Express that the long-awaited i4 will be treated as a variant of the company's 4-series Gran Coupe, a mid-size 4-door hatchback similar in...

ChargePoint users can now access networks in Canada, Europe

2014 BMW i3 REx fast-charging at Chargepoint site, June 2016  [photo: Tom Moloughney]Plugging in an electric car should be as easy as making a call on a cell phone—only it isn't always. Now a series of new agreements—similar to cell-phone roaming agreements that let users make calls on other networks—are beginning to make that easier. The latest, announced Tuesday morning, is an agreement between ChargePoint...

Teslas to get new self-driving, Autopilot chip in spring 2019

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk took to Twitter Tuesday to announce that owners will get a new Autopilot chip in about six months that will be much more powerful and enable the company's long-awaited Full-Self Driving Mode. In a series of tweets, Musk said that owners who have prepaid for the Full Self-Driving Mode feature in their...

Judge approves Tesla SEC settlement

Elon Musk in his McLaren F1, 1999A federal judge in New York gave final approval Tuesday to the $40 million settlement between Tesla, its chief executive officer Elon Musk, and the SEC over Musk's tweets about plans to take the company private. The approval comes following Musk's tentative settlement on Sept. 29, in which he agreed to step down as chairman of Tesla's board of...

Britain cuts incentives for electrics, hybrids

Shell charging station in Britain (higher res)Britain will end purchase incentives for plug-in hybrids and reduce them for pure electric cars after November 9. In a move that looks like replacing carrots with sticks, the announcement comes two months after the country launched its "Road to Zero" plan to ban sales of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040, Britain's Department for Transport...

2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid to have 60 miles of electric range

2020 Mercedes-Benz GLEMercedes's new line of more capable plug-in hybrids will start with the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid that the company says has more than 60 miles of electric range. It will arrive late next year and will be based on a redesigned version of the mid-size GLE SUV arriving with gas power next spring. The company didn't release many other...

British company resurrects classic MGB and Jaguar XKSS as electrics

RBW electric MG RoadsterFirst, it was the Porsche 911, then the Jaguar E-Type. Now it's the MGB. Converting classic old cars into electrics has become the rage across Europe. The latest comes from RBW Classic Electric Cars in the UK, which isn't taking classic MGBs and modifying them, but recreating new classic MGBs with electric powertrains. READ MORE: Royal couple's...

BMW recalls chargers for 2018, 2019 plug-in models

2018 BMW i3sBMW issued a recall for the charge cords of virtually all the 2018 and 2019 plug-in vehicles it has built for sale in the U.S. According to the recall notice on the NHTSA's website, capacitors in the charge cords could fail, resulting in a shock hazard or a fire. DON'T MISS: Ford recalls Focus Electric, Fusion Energi, and C-Max Energi charge cords...

Tesla sets Monday deadline for full tax credit

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017Tesla has given buyers a deadline of Monday to order a car if they want the full $7,500 federal tax credit. That's 2-1/2 months before the credit officially expires, but since most Teslas are built to order, the company needs some lead time for orders. A notice on Tesla's website reads: "All orders placed by October 15, 2018 will be delivered by...