Lordstown Endurance electric pickup prototype: In-wheel motor goes off-road

Lordstown Endurance wheel hub motorLordstown Motors released a handful of updates on its efforts to get an electric pickup truck into production at a discarded General Motors factory, including a statement on the company's response to the global coronavirus pandemic. The company released the first of what it said will be a series of videos showing CEO Steve Burns testing a...

BYD and Toyota detail electric-vehicle joint venture for China

BYD Han EVToyota and BYD have released more details of an electric-vehicle joint venture for the Chinese market, which was announced in November 2019. The two automakers will invest 50-50 in a new company—BYD Toyota EV Technology Co. Ltd—with operations scheduled to start in May. Engineers from Toyota and BYD will work together under the same...

Karma boasts its extended-range EV platform is very, very flexible

Karma E-Flex extended-range EV platformKarma Automotive is touting its new platform for extended-range electric vehicles, which the California-based company claims can be used for a variety of different vehicle types. The E-Flex platform is flexible enough to underpin everything from autonomous delivery vans to "high-performance supercars," a Karma press release said. "There are up to...

Report: Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV still on schedule for fall arrival

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E First EditionDespite the global coronavirus pandemic, Ford is still aiming to launch its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV on schedule this fall, according to the Detroit News. Some development work remains to be done on the Mach-E, which was unveiled in November 2019 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. That's been complicated by social distancing measures put in place to...

Battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell? VW lays out why one is the winner

Volkswagen ID 3Most major automakers are actively working to reduce emissions, but they are not in agreement on how to do that. Some prefer battery-electric vehicles, while others champion hydrogen fuel cells as the superior zero-emission technology. Volkswagen has come down firmly on the side of batteries, and it explained why in a recent, well-illustrated...

BMW i Hydrogen Next fuel-cell SUV: With battery boost, more power than Mirai

BMW i Hydrogen Next development vehicle (fuel-cell X5)BMW has released the first technical details of the i Hydrogen Next, a fuel-cell vehicle based on the X5 SUV. First seen at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, the vehicle's hydrogen fuel-cell drive system benefit from joint development between BMW and Toyota, while its fuel-cell stack itself will be wholly the product of Toyota. This is part of a...

Coronavirus shutdowns could be bringing best air quality in decades

New York City skylineThe unprecedented social distancing measures put in place by many countries to slow the spread of coronavirus have already produced a measurable effect in one important area--emissions. The slowdown of human activity in many of the world's most populous, most heavily industrialized countries has led to the best air quality in decades. Satellite...

Mercedes-Benz teases all-weather potential of EQV electric van

Mercedes-Benz EQV testing in Arjeplog, SwedenAhead of a planned European market launch later this year, Mercedes-Benz decided to show off the cold-weather performance of its EQV electric van. Engineers spent several weeks testing the EQV in Arjeplog, Sweden, a town inside the Arctic Circle that is popular with automakers looking to conduct cold-weather tests. Testing programs like this are...

VW stokes electric Microbus buzz with e-Bulli conversion

1966 Volkswagen Samba Bus with EV conversion from eClassicsVolkswagen plans to launch a new electric vehicle inspired by the classic Microbus, but in the meantime the automaker has partnered with eClassics on an electric conversion of the original. The two companies previously teamed up on an electric Beetle conversion, which used powertrain components from the e-Up minicar sold in Europe. Conversions are...

UK project builds electric-car charging into a half-mile of lampposts

London lampposts equipped for electric-car chargingThe great thing about electric-car charging is that it can take advantage of existing grid infrastructure. A new project in the United Kingdom demonstrates the benefits of that. Siemens built charging stations into 24 lampposts on roughly a half-mile of Sutherland Avenue in London. The section of street was rechristened, appropriately enough...