Prometheus Fuels is a California startup aiming to scale up a process that can sound remarkably simple that several have tried before: “We remove CO2 from the air and turn it into gasoline.” The process, which recently has been either a holy grail or a red herring for the oil and gas industry, isn't new. But it’s been waylaid... Gasoline from solar and wind power: Zero-carbon doesn’t assure clean or efficient
Prometheus Fuels is a California startup aiming to scale up a process that can sound remarkably simple that several have tried before: “We remove CO2 from the air and turn it into gasoline.” The process, which recently has been either a holy grail or a red herring for the oil and gas industry, isn't new. But it’s been waylaid...
Last week, Tesla introduced something bigger than its Powerpack energy-storage systems: the Megapack, for large utility-scale storage installations.. Tesla says the Megapack, which stores 3 megawatt-hours of electricity, has 60 percent more energy density than the Powerpack. For grid power installations, that means companies can install fewer than...
Audi is already introducing a new version of its E-tron quattro electric SUV in Europe with smaller batteries. The short-range model will have a 71-kilowatt-hour battery pack in place of the original's 95-kwh battery pack. Audi confirmed to Green Car Reports that the new model won't be sold in the U.S. In Europe, it will be rated at 186 miles on...
The 2020 Kia Optima Hybrid joins non-hybrid Optima models in making several important safety features standard. In 2019, automatic emergency braking and automatic lane control were optional on the Optima Hybrid EX and were not available on the Plug-in Hybrid. For 2020, the Optima Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid again come only in the EX trim level...
Vice President Mike Pence announced that Workhorse has received funding to buy GM's Lordstown, Ohio, factory to build plug-in hybrid trucks—maybe. A report shows lithium mining is ramping up to meet demand for batteries. Electrify America is working on a system to plug in self-driving electric cars automatically. And a study by J.D. Power...
On a visit to Ohio on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that Workhorse Group has secured financing to buy GM's factory in Lordstown, Ohio, to build electric trucks. After General Motors idled the small-car factory in March, Lordstown has become a hot-button issue for President Trump, who built much of his electoral strategy on bringing...
Automakers continue to express concerns over the supply of raw materials for electric-car batteries. A Bloomberg report suggests that might not be the reality at all. Enough new lithium supplies are coming online that mining companies are concerned about a price collapse. While automakers are preparing a raft of new electric models, they can't...
Within the next decade, companies and fleet operators face a serious logistics dilemma: If the future is autonomous and electric, as some major automakers now argue, the only way this works smoothly is if the charging is as well-automated as the driving itself. That’s what Electrify America plans to study together with the San Francisco...
Car shoppers know electric-cars are good for the environment, but relatively few would consider buying one, according to results released Tuesday by J.D. Power and Associates. In its first-ever Mobility Confidence Index, 61 percent of respondents told the automotive polling juggernaut that they agree that electric cars are better for the...
German police have rearrested former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler on diesel emissions-scandal charges. Parked in a garage, a Hyundai Kona Electric explodes. A new transportation infrastructure bill in Congress includes funding to support electric cars. And readers weigh in on their favorite ads for EVs in our latest Twitter poll. All this and more on...
Two days after a newspaper investigation in Germany revealed the depth of Audi's role in the vast diesel emissions-cheating scandal at Volkswagen, German prosecutors have arrested the division's former CEO, Rupert Stadler, in conjunction with the scandal. He has been charged with falsifying emissions and compliance certificates and illegal...
Last week, after another compelling ad for electric cars found its way onto America's screens, we finally found enough decent, ads for electric EVs to ask readers their favorites. The ad was from Porsche, associating electric cars, including its upcoming Taycan, with lots of clean, powerful electricity by showing a trio of plug-in Porsches racing...
The transportation infrastructure bill long promised by President Trump and Congress was finally introduced in the Senate on Monday—and it may include some money for electric cars. The bill, called America's Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019, proposes to spend $287 billion on transportation projects over the next five years, and up...
The explosion of a 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric in a Montreal, Canada, garage Saturday literally blew the doors off. The owner, Piero Cosantino, told the CBC the car was not even plugged in at the time of the explosion. The report was the first in North America, and possibly the first report in the world, of a Kona Electric explosion or fire. No one...
The 2020 Honda Insight hybrid gets a slight price increase. Tesla's next big software release will bring significant changes to Autopilot. A Canadian company already creates an electric F-150. And we step back and ask if EV conversions matter today. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Tesla plans to release a new version of its operating...
Tesla will release the next version of its self-driving software, Version 10, starting next month. CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter over the weekend that the new software will do a better job of recognizing stop signs and traffic lights in cities and offer better driving characteristics on the highway. Musk said in April that the company expects...
“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is one of the core concepts for greening your life—and with the right motivations along the way, reducing your carbon footprint. It’s part of what makes the idea of electric-car conversions so compelling. You take a tired, polluting old vehicle with a tailpipe, remove everything having to do with...
As choices among hybrid small sedans have expanded, Honda is standing pat with the 2020 Insight. The Insight was introduced in 2019 as a separate model based on the Civic sedan, but with unique sheetmetal, a nicer interior, and the Accord Hybrid's two-motor hybrid drive system. It gets no significant updates for its second model year, beyond...
The all-electric Ford F-150 teased for the first time last week is something to get excited about—especially as an electric version of the top-selling vehicle in America. The model isn’t likely to show up at dealerships for at least another couple years, though. And there are electric F-150 pickups already in use today. About a dozen...