Jeep Grand Commander EV leads FCA electrification push

2018 Chrysler Pacifica HybridAn all-electric Jeep may clamber to life as soon as 2021—at least in China. The Jeep Grand Commander will arrive in 2021 with an all-electric powertrain, according to a sweeping presentation by Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne in Italy Friday. The company didn't reveal any more details about the electric Grand Commander or specify whether...

Crowdfunded Estonian Nobe electric has a plan to revive bubble cars

Estonian Nobe conceptWant to get in on the ground floor of a new electric-car startup? Crowdfunding seems to be the latest rage for automotive startups in Europe. The latest is an Estonian startup called Nobe, which hopes to raise funding to build a small, electric three-wheeler. The company officially launched the vehicle Wednesday along with a crowdfunding drive...

California utilities commission passes record incentives for chargers

Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-bussThe California Public Utilities commission on Thursday approved the largest public electric vehicle charging package in U.S. history, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. NRDC senior attorney Max Baumhefner, who lobbied for the program, says it is designed to set electricity up as a direct competitor to gasoline as a transportation...

Battery tech may be getting a big solid-state boost soon

Tesla Motors - Model S lithium-ion battery packA Woburn, Massachusetts, company may be attracting big name attention for its solid-state technology that it says can withstand higher temperatures and offer higher capacity. For battery makers, producing a stable solid to withstand the rigors of charging and discharging has proved elusive. Ionic Materials said in February that it had secured $65...

Camera mirrors could add range to Audi e-tron electric SUV

2019 Audi e-tron prototypeAudi is pulling out all the efficiency stops on its upcoming electric e-tron SUV. It's currently slated to be the first production car to offer cameras in place of exterior rearview mirrors. Exterior mirrors have always been a bane to automotive engineers trying to improve efficiency (not to mention reduce wind noise.) In an electric SUV, that's...