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...

Judge approves Tesla SEC settlement

Elon Musk in his McLaren F1, 1999A federal judge in New York gave final approval Tuesday to the $40 million settlement between Tesla, its chief executive officer Elon Musk, and the SEC over Musk's tweets about plans to take the company private. The approval comes following Musk's tentative settlement on Sept. 29, in which he agreed to step down as chairman of Tesla's board of...

Jaguar delivers first I-Pace electric crossover in North America

First Jaguar I-Pace U.S. retail delivery  -  October, 2018Jaguar confirmed its first retail delivery of the I-Pace electric crossover Monday, a few weeks ahead of the company’s early November target for retail sales. The I-Pace isn’t late, but a vehicle like it has been a long time coming. It’s the first of what we can rightfully call a rival to the Tesla Model S fastback sedan and...

Britain cuts incentives for electrics, hybrids

Shell charging station in Britain (higher res)Britain will end purchase incentives for plug-in hybrids and reduce them for pure electric cars after November 9. In a move that looks like replacing carrots with sticks, the announcement comes two months after the country launched its "Road to Zero" plan to ban sales of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040, Britain's Department for Transport...

2019 Hyundai Nexo: first drive of 380-mile fuel-cell crossover utility

2019 Hyundai Nexo, Topanga Canyon, CA, Oct 2018Pretty much any story on a new vehicle these days notes that new-car buyers are snapping up utility vehicles, while traditional sedans languish on sales lots. That puts Hyundai right on trend with its latest hydrogen-powered entry, the Nexo, which it dubs a crossover utility vehicle. It succeeds the earlier Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell, also a...

2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid to have 60 miles of electric range

2020 Mercedes-Benz GLEMercedes's new line of more capable plug-in hybrids will start with the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid that the company says has more than 60 miles of electric range. It will arrive late next year and will be based on a redesigned version of the mid-size GLE SUV arriving with gas power next spring. The company didn't release many other...