Charged with Electric Vehicle News and Views
Battery swapping might come to U.S. electric taxis soon. Land Rover is working on a hydrogen fuel-cell version of its Defender SUV. Ford still sees Rivian and VW an important part of its EV strategy. And Lordstown Motors’ CEO is out, as it grapples with tight funds and a report about misleading order numbers. This and more, here at Green Car... 
Last month, as Ford outlined its Ford+ strategy, focused around two new fully electric platforms to debut by 2025, it provided some useful updates on why it still sees partnerships with Volkswagen and Rivian important. How do global rival VW and U.S. EV startup Rivian fit in? Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations... 
Startup Ample is ramping up its battery-swapping plans, with an emphasis on fleet vehicles. Ample announced last week that it's partnering with Sally—a firm that organizes vehicle rentals for taxi, ride-sharing, and last-mile delivery services—to design and build battery-swapping stations in major cities like San Francisco, Los... 
Jaguar Land Rover has announced a hydrogen fuel-cell prototype based on the Land Rover Defender SUV. Although no specifications or further details about the vehicle were released—other than some photos and some fundamentals on how a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle works—the Defender fuel-cell prototype will start testing towards the end of... 
The Ohio-based electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors announced Monday morning that both CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez are stepping down from their posts. The timing corresponds to the release of a special committee investigation that was created by a report released in March by an activist short-seller, Hindenburg Research. The... 
Lexus rolled out a 36-mile plug-in hybrid that’s a luxurious cousin of the Toyota RAV4 Prime. The Tesla Model S arrived with an aircraft-style yoke, even though safety officials continue to send mixed signals. Maserati’s first EV will be a performance coupe. California isn’t planning enough chargers. And VW is working on a future... 
California is working to end sales of new gasoline cars, but to do that it will need nearly 1.2 million EV charging stations by 2030, according to a new report from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The report, released last week, was part of California Assembly Bill (AB) 2127, which looks at charging needs to support Governor Gavin Newsom's... 
The next-generation Maserati GranTurismo sports coupe will be all-electric, giving the Italian automaker its first EV—and a potential Tesla rival. Maserati didn't provide any other information, only releasing photos of a camouflaged prototype and a short press release Friday. But Maserati finally joining the ranks of EV makers is still...