MA updates signs to allow electric-vehicle parking: reader success story

Massachusetts updates green-car parking signs at Logan Airport [CREDIT: JOHN BRIGGS]Bureaucracies have some funny ways of saying they were wrong and you were right. Even if they can't tell you they made a mistake, it's nice to see them fix a problem they created. The latest bureaucracy to demonstrate this is Massport, which operates the parking garages at Boston's Logan International Airport. Their mistake was issuing me a...

Tesla removes Full Self Driving option from website for all models

2018 Tesla Model 3Friday marked exactly two years since Tesla announced that every one of its cars was being produced with the hardware needed for Full Self-Driving. Friday was also the first full day that Tesla removed the option from its configurator—at the same time that it introduced a new $45k Model 3 Mid Range, effectively splitting the difference...

BMW sets up end-to-end battery recycling in Europe

Prototype production of battery modules for BMW Group’s fifth-generation electric powertrainTeaming with a new Norwegian battery supplier and a Belgian recycling company, BMW is aiming to build a fully sustainable future battery supply chain. The company announced on Monday that it formed a partnership with Northvolt, which is building Europe's largest battery factory for electric cars in Sweden. At the same time BMW is working with...

Porsche adds wagon to upcoming Taycan electric lineup

Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo conceptPorsche announced Friday that it will expand its high-powered upcoming electric-car lineup from one model to two, with a new stretched-roof crossover hatchback joining the standard Taycan liftback. The Taycan electric sedan is a Tesla Model S competitor scheduled to go into production in 2019. It started out as the Mission E concept. The new...

Audi to pay $927 million fine over diesel scandal in Germany

2013 Audi TDI rangeAudi agreed on Tuesday to pay a $928 million fine to put the diesel emissions-cheating scandal behind it in its home country, Germany. The 800 million Euro fine to German authorities, consists of $923 million (795 million Euros) in profits the company made selling diesels that didn't comply with emissions standards plus the maximum fine of $5.8...

2019 Jaguar I-Pace gets official range, MPGe ratings

2019 Jaguar I-Pace, photographed outside Tesla Store, Mount Kisco, NYNow that it has finally delivered the first retail example of its I-Pace, Jaguar has released official range and MPGe estimates for this new luxurious electric crossover. As we reported on Monday, the I-Pace is rated at 234 miles of range, a little short of the 240 that Jaguar indicated it was aiming for in earlier press drives. For comparison...

Tesla secures site for Chinese factory

2014 Tesla Model S in ChinaIn the midst of escalating trade wars, Tesla is moving ahead with its plans to build a factory in China. The company announced on Wednesday that it signed a "land transfer" agreement with the Shanghai government for a 212-acre plot to build its proposed Chinese factory. The land transfer agreement opens the way for Tesla to start construction on...

Google Maps adds electric-car charging locations

Electrify America 350 kw chargers at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.In a banner day for electric-car drivers, Google announced on Wednesday that it will add electric-car charging stations to Google Maps. The app will now show Tesla Supercharging stations as well as ChargePoint, EVgo, Blink, and SemaConnect networks in the U.S. as well as networks in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. It will not include...

BMW i4 will resemble 4-Series Grand Coupe–with big battery

BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor ShowBMW plans to launch perhaps its most mainstream electric car, the i4, in 2021, about a year after the iX3 electric crossover utility goes on sale. BMW chairman Harald Krüger told British auto magazine Auto Express that the long-awaited i4 will be treated as a variant of the company's 4-series Gran Coupe, a mid-size 4-door hatchback similar in...

Documents: 60-kwh Nissan Leaf pricing aligned with Chevy Bolt EV

2018 Nissan Leaf SLEven before the second-generation Leaf was introduced last year, it was an open secret that Nissan planned an extended-range, 60-kwh version of the Leaf. Now our friends CarsDirect have found some documents—U.S. order guides that dealerships plan their orders and marketing around—suggesting that this longer-range Nissan Leaf is just a...

ChargePoint users can now access networks in Canada, Europe

2014 BMW i3 REx fast-charging at Chargepoint site, June 2016  [photo: Tom Moloughney]Plugging in an electric car should be as easy as making a call on a cell phone—only it isn't always. Now a series of new agreements—similar to cell-phone roaming agreements that let users make calls on other networks—are beginning to make that easier. The latest, announced Tuesday morning, is an agreement between ChargePoint...

Teslas to get new self-driving, Autopilot chip in spring 2019

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk took to Twitter Tuesday to announce that owners will get a new Autopilot chip in about six months that will be much more powerful and enable the company's long-awaited Full-Self Driving Mode. In a series of tweets, Musk said that owners who have prepaid for the Full Self-Driving Mode feature in their...