The Volkswagen diesel settlement for 2.0-liter TDI models, approved at the end of October, includes a provision for $2 billion in funds to install charging or fueling infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles. There has been considerable debate over what those funds should be used for, and how they should be administered. The vast majority of the... Congress questions VW $2 billion in zero-emission infrastructure funding
The Volkswagen diesel settlement for 2.0-liter TDI models, approved at the end of October, includes a provision for $2 billion in funds to install charging or fueling infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles. There has been considerable debate over what those funds should be used for, and how they should be administered. The vast majority of the... 
With a slew of 200-mile electric cars planned for 2018 and later, the question of how their drivers will be able to make long-distance trips is coming to the fore in a big way. Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla Motors laid out the template with its Supercharger network, which now numbers 327 sites in the U.S. and more than 400 sites outside... ![The White House, Washington, D.C. [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/white-house_100170583_t.gif)
The White House today announced a range of actions intended to stimulate and speed up the deployment of zero-emission electric vehicles in the U.S. It took these actions, it said, as part of its efforts to "combat climate change, increase access to clean-energy technologies, and reduce our dependence on oil." Today's announcements are part of "a... 
In an age of cell phones, the public phone booth no longer has much utility as a tool for communication. But could pay phones at least provide a useful model for regulating electric-car charging infrastructure? The Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) believes it can apply the legal framework used to oversee phone booths to public electric-car... 
Wireless electric-car charging seems to offer a somewhat more convenient experience. Instead of plugging in a charge cord, drivers simply park their electric cars over a pad, usually on the floor of a garage. But what if they didn't even have to do that? DON'T MISS: Plugless charging for 80 percent of electric cars by end of 2017: Evatran Evatran... 
The future of electric cars for practical transportation relies to some degree on the future of DC fast charging, and how it develops over the next decade. As in other spheres of electrifying transport, Tesla Motors has pointed the way to one vision of the future with its expanding network of Supercharger fast-charging sites. But Tesla's network... 
Yesterday, federal judge Charles Breyer signed the final agreement committing Volkswagen to buy back or modify the 465,000 TDI 2.0-liter diesel vehicles that are the main focus of the VW diesel scandal. As part of that settlement, Volkswagen has also committed to providing $2 billion in funds to install charging or fueling infrastructure for... 
Not so long ago, gas stations and convenience stores seemed to be mutually exclusive businesses—you went to one, or you went to the other. Today, many convenience chains only open new locations that also sell gasoline. Many drivers don't know that gas stations work on the smallest of profit margins. DON'T MISS: Would you recharge your Tesla... ![2015 Nissan Leaf fast-charging at Royal Farms, North East, Maryland [photo John Briggs]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2015-nissan-leaf-fast-charging-at-royal-farms-north-east-maryland-photo-john-briggs_100558583_t.gif)
It's one of the questions for future electric-car charging infrastructure: what about putting them at gas stations? On the one hand, drivers are used to going to gas stations, which are often conveniently located on both local and long-distance routes. On the other hand, gas-station stops generally take 10 to 15 minutes at most, while even fast... ![2015 Nissan Leaf at evGo fast charger at Livingston Mall, Livingston, NJ [photo: John Briggs]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2015-nissan-leaf-at-evgo-fast-charger-at-livingston-mall-livingston-nj-photo-john-briggs_100558580_t.gif)
As electric-car adoption expands past early adopters into more general buyers, it may be difficult for public charging infrastructure to grow as fast as the number of electric vehicles on the road. Here in the U.S., every month roughly 10,000 new plug-in vehicles are sold or leased—and that number could rise dramatically once the highly... ![2014 BMW i3 REx fast-charging at Chargepoint site, June 2016 [photo: Tom Moloughney]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2014-bmw-i3-rex-fast-charging-at-chargepoint-site-june-2016-photo-tom-moloughney_100557788_t.gif)
Public charging infrastructure for electric cars is still fairly limited compared to gas stations. That leaves many electric car drivers in certain areas vying for relatively few stations—which can create friction. But network operator ChargePoint is rolling out a feature it believes will help streamline the process and increase station... 
BMW and Volkswagen have finally completed a network of network of public DC fast-charging sites that use the Combined Charging Standard (CCS). In January 2015, the two German carmakers announced a collaboration with network operator ChargePoint to build more stations compatible with CCS—which their electric cars use. Known as the Express... 
New Orleans has a hot-and-cold relationship with environmentally friendly technology. Last week, however, the two were definitely on good terms as the city council voted unanimously to make life easier for current and future electric car owners. Crescent City crises Given the New Orleans' tenuous location--sandwiched between Lake Pontchartrain and...