Automaker lobbyists fail to overturn EPA emission rules

U.S. Capitol BuildingA week ago, the EPA recommended that U.S. vehicle emission standards stay put for the years 2022 through 2025. According to the Technical Assessment Report the agency issued in July, automakers have so far quite successfully met standards in place since 2012 to cut emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide. And, the report concluded, they...

Plug-in electric car cales in Canada, Nov 2016: Bolts from the blue?

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EVCanada's first three Chevrolet Bolt EVs were registered in October, no doubt for media test-drives and dealership training ahead of the 238-mile electric car's Canadian launch. That even is expected to take place early next year, but with photos of truckloads of Bolt EVs headed for U.S. dealers, their counterparts north of the border will clearly...

German government worries carmakers vulnerable to electric-car onslaught

2017 BMW i3Many governments across the globe have enacted stricter emissions standards to curb air pollution and greenhouse gases; others plan to do so. Some have also drafted incentives and other policies to promote zero-emission vehicles, especially electric cars, to encourage the market and help achieve these emissions reductions. Germany's government...

GM debuts 9-speed automatic, offering 2-percent efficiency improvement

GM 9-speed automatic transmissionIn order to meet stricter emissions standards, automakers are scrambling for any efficiency gain they can get in internal-combustion engines and powertrains. One of the most popular options for increasing efficiency is transmissions with a greater number of gears. Where 6-speed transmissions were once considered more than adequate, now seven...

Why one Finnish city thinks it’s ideal for next Tesla Gigafactory

Rendering of Tesla battery gigafactory outside Reno, Nevada, Sep 2014The Tesla "gigafactory" near Reno, Nevada, is already billed as the largest lithium-ion battery cell plant in the world. But Tesla has discussed plans for at least one additional gigafactory, presumably to meet demand for battery cells related to large-scale electric-car production outside the U.S. One Finnish city is now making an official bid...

Modern electric cars at 20: from EV1 to Bolt EV, where are we now?

1996 General Motors EV1Twenty years ago today, the very first GM EV1 electric cars were delivered to 40 lessees in California in a blaze of publicity. Since then, plug-in electric vehicles have seen more than their share of ups and downs. That first EV1 was a high-tech two-seater created specifically to meet California's then-current zero-emission vehicle rules...