Finding space for fixed EV chargers can be difficult, so one startup aims to make chargers mobile. EV Safe Charge recently previewed a mobile charging robot called Ziggy that drivers will be able to summon using a smartphone app or their car's infotainment system. The robot finds the car, plugs in, and then returns to a staging area to be... Charge-bot could turn any parking spot into an EV charging space
Finding space for fixed EV chargers can be difficult, so one startup aims to make chargers mobile. EV Safe Charge recently previewed a mobile charging robot called Ziggy that drivers will be able to summon using a smartphone app or their car's infotainment system. The robot finds the car, plugs in, and then returns to a staging area to be... 
Tesla and California electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) are launching a pilot program that will use Tesla Powerwall home energy storage battery packs as a "virtual power plant" to back up the grid. On June 22, Tesla invited approximately 25,000 Powerwall owners who are PG&E customers to participate in the program, according... 
Chinese automaker Nio on Wednesday announced completion of its 1,000th battery swapping station. The announcement was part of Nio's second annual Power Day presentation, where the automaker also announced an ambitious charging expansion plan. The latest station is also the first to be powered entirely by renewable energy, including solar and hydro... 
Rivian on Monday announced the first three DC fast-charging sites for its Adventure Network supporting the R1T electric pickup truck and forthcoming R1S electric SUV. The three sites open in California and Colorado this week, Rivian said in a press release. Each will have chargers providing over 200 kw of power, allowing R1T and R1S drivers to... 
Electrify America on Tuesday announced that it has raised $450 million, marking its first expansion beyond the charging network's original funding plan. The total includes a "low triple-digit" amount from German conglomerate Siemens, Electrify America said in a press release. The investment gives Siemens a seat on Electrify America's board... 
General Motors is adding Plug and Charge capability across its entire lineup of EVs, allowing drivers to start a charging session simply by plugging in. Plug and Charge is supported on multiple North American public charging networks, GM said in a press release. But drivers must still have an account with the EVgo network, as well as an active... 
Canada-based Hillcrest Energy Technologies aims to replace EV onboard chargers with a more streamlined system. The company earlier this month filed a patent application for a new bidirectional charging architecture based around a high-efficiency inverter, according to a press release from the company. This eliminates the need for an onboard... 
Stellantis, the parent company of Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, and Fiat, among many other brands, has revealed a Fiat 500 electric car that can travel at “typical highway speeds” without using energy from its battery pack—potentially greatly extending range. Or, to map it out a bit differently, at slower speeds, the test vehicle might... 
Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a mathematical model for optimal placement of EV charging stations, as well as how powerful stations can be without straining local power grids. "Ultimately, we feel the model can be used to inform the development of EV charging infrastructure at multiple levels," Leila Hajibabai... 
The federal government on Thursday further sketched out plans for a national EV charging network to be funded by the Biden administration's infrastructure law. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing minimum standards for the network, which aims to install 500,000 chargers by 2030. The... 
Anticipated price hikes for coal and natural gas could lead to increase use of renewable energy in electricity generation, making both the grid and EVs cleaner, according to new United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis. EVs get cleaner along with the grid, and the EIA expects the grid mix to lean more toward renewable sources... 
A University of California Berkeley study of EV fast-chargers points to serious reliability issues for charging infrastructure in the nation's biggest EV market. The study (via Automotive News) looked at 181 DC fast-charging sites in the greater Bay Area, covering 657 individual chargers. Of that total, 72.5% were found to be functional, which is... 
A California drought will increase the carbon footprint of electricity used to charge EVs, according to a new report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The drought has cut the state's hydropower generating capacity nearly in half compared to normal conditions, forcing California to rely on more carbon-intensive sources for a greater... 
Toyota on Thursday unveiled a home battery energy storage system similar in concept to Tesla's Powerwall. The automaker has started pre-orders for its O-Uchi Kyuden System in Japan, with sales expected to begin in August through home builders and general construction companies, a Toyota press release said. The system has a storage capacity of 8.7... 
Wireless charging firm WiTricity claims most EV shoppers want wireless charging as an option, and it has survey data to prove it. The company on Thursday released results of a company-commissioned survey of 1,053 Americans, nearly half of which already own an EV, and the others intending to purchase an EV within the next two years. Of those... 
Seattle is the latest city to experiment with curbside EV charging. A utility-run program will install chargers by request, giving drivers without off-street parking a way to charge. First spotted by Charged EVs, local utility Seattle City Light is offering to install the Level 2 curbside stations at no cost to residents or property owners. The... 
Electric vehicles have the potential to become mobile power banks for our houses and worksites. But as more scenarios become viable, would two ports be better than one? That appears to be something GM has either pondered, or saved for the future, with a recent patent filing showing a setup that might get the most out of GM’s double-layer... 
Electrify America announced Wednesday that it’s buying into enough solar to more than offset the energy the network delivers to EVs from its charging hardware. With a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) formed with Terra-Gen, Electrify America is enabling a new 75-MW Mojave Desert solar facility that will allow its annual energy output... 
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is expanding public testing of bidirectional EV charging with three new pilot programs encompassing up to 1,000 residential electricity customers and hundreds of commercial customers. Each program will offer incentives to customers for participation, with "additional benefits" for those in...