Volvo goes off the grid, invests in mobile-charging experts Freewire

Volvo invests in FreewireVolvo Cars has announced an investment in Freewire Technologies, a company that emphasizes mobile charging solutions. Freewire earlier this year attracted a $5 million investment from the petro-giant BP, which will result in Freewire’s fast-charging systems being installed at some BP stations in the UK and Europe—effectively helping...

Illegal parking in charging spots: The culprit? Electric cars

Electric vehicle parking by Flickr user aaron_anderer, used under Creative Commons licenseA whole Hatfields and McCoys culture has grown up around parking in electric-car charging spaces, with electric-car drivers who need juice facing off against conventional cars—and sometimes other electrics who park there and don't plug in or stay longer than they need to. Now a study conducted this summer of who gets parking tickets in...

ChargePoint invests in commercial charging for buses, delivery vans, taxis

2014 BMW i3 REx fast-charging at Chargepoint site, June 2016  [photo: Tom Moloughney]After opposing the settlement over diesel emissions cheating that led VW to spend $2 billion building out a nationwide network of fast chargers, and suing one of Electrify America's suppliers for patent infringement, ChargePoint, the last of the original charging-network providers for electric cars, is moving to focus on commercial charging...

Northeast states band together to direct charging infrastructure

Electrify America 350 kw chargers at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.It sometimes seems as if everyone who buys an electric car lives in California. That's especially true from the perspective of officials in the Northeast, who have signed on to California's emissions regulations and zero-emissions vehicle mandates, yet see few electric cars sold in their states. One problem has been that states in the Northeast...

2018 Nissan Leaf electric car: Is there a fast-charging problem?

2018 Nissan Leaf with EVgo fast charger at NJ Turnpike Molly Pitcher travel plaza, Feb 2018As Tesla has shown, not all fast charging is created equal. Now owners of the new 2018 Nissan Leaf are complaining that that the car's "fast" charging is not always as fast as advertised. Owners have found that the car's electronic management software dials back charging speeds with each successive fast charge on any given trip. Nissan says this...

Beverly Hills bans plug-in hybrids from public charging stations

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJWell, that's ... interesting. The city of Beverly Hills, California, has issued new regulations for parking and electric-car charging. As of Monday, April 2, only battery-electric cars will be allowed to park and plug in at any of the city's 35 public charging stations—plug-in hybrids will not. DON'T MISS: Charging etiquette for electric-car...