Tesla Model 3 teardown underscores missed opportunities

Tesla Motors production line for Tesla Model S, Fremont, CaliforniaLast year employee parking lots overflowed at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant. By comparing the headcount of Tesla's factory at present versus historically, it’s easy to grasp why the facility has seemed so crowded. At its heyday, Toyota and GM needed 4,400 people at Fremont. Tesla has an on-site workforce estimated to be...

Mercedes invests in pilot program to keep fuel cells alive

Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell, 2017 Frankfurt Motor ShowMercedes-Benz is launching a new trial for fuel-cell cars in Germany, with aims to study real-world use patterns. Mercedes will begin leasing its GLC F-Cell fuel-cell SUVs to fleet customers in Germany for $917 a month, according to a report in Automotive News Europe (Subscription required.) No information was available about how many GLC F-Cells...

New fast charger is more efficient, smaller, and half the cost

North Carolina State University fast charger is much smaller, half the costResearchers at North Carolina State University have developed a 50-kw fast charger that they say costs half as much as conventional DC fast chargers, is more efficient, and only 1/16th the size. Instead of being mounted on concrete slabs, sometimes in two locations, with a transformer behind a fence and a charge station box by a parking space, the...

Report: Battery production could offset emissions gains from electric cars

Nissan prototype 60-kWh battery pack  -  Nissan Technical Center, October 2015A new report shows that emissions from producing large battery packs for electric cars could cancel out improvements from their low emissions for years. The report comes from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which is usually optimistic about electric cars. In May, the analytic arm of the finance publishing house predicted that electric cars will make...

BMW says 85 percent of cars will still have engines in 2030

BMW iX3 Concept front 3/4Once a leader in electric cars, BMW now says it expects 85 percent of its cars still to have internal combustion engines by 2030. Speaking to Australian reporters for GoAuto at the Paris auto show earlier in October, BMW board member for development Klaus Froehlich said, “A very optimistic scenario says 30 per cent of BMWs will be pure...

Deadline for comments on EPA fuel-economy rollback is Tuesday

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew WheelerReaders who want to make their voices heard in objection to (or support of) the EPA proposal to freeze fuel economy standards have until tomorrow to get their comments in. The EPA proposed in early August to undo Obama-era rules requiring cars to reach increasingly stringent fuel-economy targets through 2025. Called the Safer Affordable...