Volkswagen plans $1.1 billion battery partnership in Germany

2019 Audi e-tron first drive  -  Abu Dhabi UAE, December 2018Volkswagen announced plans on Tuesday to build a large new battery factory—with an unspecified partner or partners—in its home state of Lower Saxony in Germany. Volkswagen has announced plans to build 22 million new electric cars by 2029, and has announced battery contracts for up to 50 million electric cars, without specifying a date...

Tesla Model Y production will strain battery supplies: Panasonic

Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada [CREDIT - YouTube user California Phantom]Tesla's main battery supplier, Panasonic, says the two companies won't have enough battery-building capacity to support production of the Model Y. In a conference announcing the company's annual earnings last Thursday, Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga told reporters that "batteries will run out if Tesla starts to sell the Model Y and expands its...

$1,000 Illinois fee? State fees, credits can make or break EV sales

National Drive Electric Week 2018, Boulder, Colorado [CREDIT: NDEW, Diego Lopez] Among states, incentives for electric cars vary wildly—from Colorado, which offers a $5,000 tax credit for EV buyers, to Illinois, where the legislature just proposed a $1,000 annual registration fee for electric cars. As states implement—or discontinue—various EV incentives, the effect on sales has been dramatic. For example...

Aston Martin Rapide E makes first public appearance at Monaco e-Grand Prix

2020 Aston Martin Rapide E at the 2018/2019 Formula E Monaco ePrixThe Aston Martin Rapide E just made its public debut sitting on a stand at the Shanghai auto show last month, but the company didn't wait long to show it off blasting around a track. The car appeared Saturday racing around the street circuit set up for the Formula E Monaco Grand Prix, which was run on Saturday on a shortened version of the Monaco...

EVgo fast-charge network commits to 100 percent renewable power

2019 Jaguar I-Pace at EVgo chargerIf electric cars are supposed to clean up the environment and reduce global warming—and they are—EV drivers would like to rely on 100 percent renewable energy to do charge. And charging networks are striving to provide it. Many, including Tesla with its Supercharger stations, are building new charging stations with solar canopies or...

Maserati joins ranks of EV holdouts among exotic automakers

Teaser for Maserati Alfieri sports carAlthough it announced the end of using Ferrari engines in its cars last week, Italian luxury-carmaker Maserati won't be going all-electric any time soon. "This is a brand that needs combustion engines,” Maserati's North American chief, Al Gardner, told Motor Trend in an interview earlier this month. “It needs that raw emotion," he...

Dyson patents show possible Tesla Model X competitor

Patent drawing for Dyson electric car due in 2021Dyson, the maker of snazzy, high-tech vacuum cleaners, has said for two years that it will build electric cars starting in 2020. Now the company has released patent drawings that give a hint of what at least the first one may look like. READ THIS: Dyson plans to build its electric car in Singapore The drawings show a long, low crossover...