All-electric BMW i4 to be production version of i Vision Dynamics concept

BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show    [photo: Tom Moloughney]Very few automakers these days build concept cars just for fun, and only occasionally are they pure styling concepts intended to showcase future design language. So when the BMW i Vision Dynamics Concept emerged onto the auto-show circuit last fall, it seemed obvious it previewed a future production model. Especially since, as many observers...

Via Motors to collaborate with Chinese maker Geely on electric trucks

Bob Lutz at Via Motors extended-range electric truck conversion launch, 2012 Detroit Auto ShowElectric trucks are getting more attention now than they did eight years ago, as the world prepared for the launch of the first modern electric cars to be sold in volume. The Tesla Semi tends to draw enormous amounts of attention, while less glamorous fleet buyers are ever more favorable toward plug-in electric trucks for known urban routes within...

Silicon anodes to boost lithium-ion battery capacity within a few years

Prototype production of battery modules for BMW Group’s fifth-generation electric powertrainThe main impediment to mass electric-car adoption is price, and the driving force behind that is the cost of lithium-ion battery cells. The performance of those cells improves at about 7 percent a year, give or take: Either the same cell costs 7 percent less after a year, or a carmaker gets 7 percent more energy capacity for the same price. Those...

Nissan electric crossover utility with AWD will be breakthrough: exec

Nissan IMx concept, 2017 Tokyo Motor ShowCould a specific vehicle give electric cars the breakthrough they need to reach the mass market? So far, neither the world's highest-selling battery-electric model—the Nissan Leaf—nor the Tesla Model S, starting at $75,000, has sold in mainstream U.S. volumes. You might ballpark that figure at, say, 100,000 units a year, since the most...

In what segments will electric cars do best by 2025? Twitter poll results

Mitsubishi e-Evolution concept, 2017 Tokyo Motor ShowAs U.S. car buyers increasingly opt for crossover utility vehicles of all sizes over passenger sedans and hatchbacks, that shift has come to pose a problem for electric cars. The bulk of battery-electric models on offer today are compact five-door hatchbacks without available all-wheel drive. Think BMW i3, Ford Focus Electric, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia...

2019 Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid gets 25 miles from revised battery

2019 Ford Fusion EnergiFord was the first U.S. carmaker to sell a hybrid-electric vehicle, as well as the second to offer a plug-in hybrid. But since 2013, the carmaker hasn't released a single new electrified vehicle—including battery-electric cars as well as the two types of hybrids. Now, Ford has released details of its slightly updated 2019 Ford Fusion...

Automakers, electric utilities want electric-car tax credit extended

2018 Chevrolet Bolt EVWith Tesla likely to hit 200,000 electric cars sold in the U.S. later this year, it will begin a phasedown process during which the income-tax credits available to its buyers start to dwindle on a set schedule. General Motors is likely to hit the same cap a couple of quarters after Tesla. Now those two companies are lobbying for an expansion of...

Porsche execs on 2020 Mission E, more electric cars to follow

Porsche Mission E concept, 2015 Frankfurt Auto ShowAuto journalists often relish interviews and roundtable sessions with German executives and engineers. They usually haven't been beaten into submission and forced to stick to scripted talking points, as have too many of their U.S. counterparts. Most German auto executives also speak excellent English, so fewer translators are involved, removing a...

CA attorney general: we will fight looser fuel-economy, emission rules

National Plug-In Day 2012: San Francisco, with 60 Nissan Leafs in front of the Golden Gate BridgeLast Tuesday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency does not intend to let California set the agenda for national emission limits on vehicles. He suggested to Bloomberg the EPA plans to cut emission rules aggressively to respond to carmakers' pleas for easing of the corporate average fuel economy rules for 2022 through 2025 that they had...

2018 Honda Accord Hybrid sedan to go on sale Friday, March 23

2018 Honda Accord HybridWhile mid-size sedans are losing the U.S. sales battle to crossover utility vehicles, they still sell hundreds of thousands of units each year. An entirely redesigned Honda Accord launched for 2018 just a few months after a redesigned version of its U.S. arch-rival the Toyota Camry, but the Accord won numerous awards for its design, features, and...

Ford’s future hybrid, electric-car lineup: 5 things to know

Ford's upcoming small off-road crossover SUVThe "Ford Uncovered Future Product Forum" held Thursday for journalists was a break in recent tradition for Detroit's second-largest automaker. The abrupt firing of CEO Mark Fields last May was an indication that Ford's board of directors wasn't happy with progress in preparing the company for a turbulent and uncertain automotive future. But the...