NIO aiming to innovate with battery cooling, patents suggest

Nio Eve concept, 2017 SXSWAs it works toward an entry in the U.S. and works on a next generation of vehicles that may be sold here, China's NIO is thinking a lot about batteries getting hot—more specifically, how to avoid the issue altogether. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published Thursday a number of new patent applications from NIO USA, Inc., the American...

Mercedes joins forces with BMW to build an electric ecosystem

Mini from BMW and Smart from Mercedes join in Reach Now car sharing programMaking electric cars accessible to more people requires developing an ecosystem that would help drivers charge, and occasionally get to destinations that might not yet be ideal for an electric car—like a long road trip. To bridge those gaps for buyers of its upcoming EQC and other electric cars to follow, Mercedes-Benz announced last week...

Senate confirms coal lobbyist Wheeler as EPA head

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew WheelerThe Senate on Thursday confirmed acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler to head the agency. Since Wheeler became the acting administrator last July, he has released plans to unwind rising emissions and attendant fuel economy standards enacted under President Obama, and to rescind California's half-century-old authority to set tighter emissions...