Electric car battery research pact seeks to keep German auto prowess

VW Battery PacksFor the past 50 years, the German auto industry has enjoyed quite the roll of growth and success in the U.S., built largely on its expertise with one specific technology: the internal combustion engine. But now the importance of that advantage is fading, with electric cars on the rise and the highest-value component within them the battery pack...

Tesla Autopilot ranks next-to-last in study of self-driving systems

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Tesla, its owners and fans, and its CEO Elon Musk crow a lot about the capabilities of its Autopilot self-driving system. In independent comparisons, though, other autonomous driving systems keep coming out ahead. The latest is from Navigant Research, an automotive consulting firm, and the results aren't rosy for Tesla's Autopilot. It rated second...

2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric car range: Why the short circuit?

2019 Jaguar I-Pace  -  Portland, November 2018It’s not unusual for fuel gauges on gasoline cars to be inaccurate. Often they can hug "Full" so long you might suspect it’s malfunctioning—only to then swing rapidly toward the halfway mark and below. Usually these idiosyncrasies are no big deal. When the low-fuel light and chime prompt you, you’re almost always within...

Fisker solid-state batteries won’t arrive until at least 2022

Teaser for Fisker electric SUVAs part of its latest revelation of a new, mainstream electric SUV for 2021, startup automaker Fisker (the eponymous founder's second under his own name), implicitly made a somewhat startling admission: The solid-state batteries the company has been working on may not be ready any time soon. Founded by Henrik Fisker, the former BMW designer who...

Ford plans to revamp Michigan plant for 2023 electric car production

2020 Ford electric SUV teaserFord Motor Company yesterday announced a plan to build future electric vehicles at a Michigan plant that currently makes the Ford Mustang. Ironically, the plant won’t be where Ford will ramp up production next year of its Mustang-influenced all-electric performance SUV; but the move represents an important shift for Ford. Previously the...

BMW plans 12 all-electric models by 2025

Prototype for BMW iNext electric SUV due in 2021At its annual shareholders meeting in Munich on Wednesday, BMW laid out plans to bring 12 new all-electric cars to market by 2025, including five in the next two years. Along with the company's existing i3, the first five will include the Mini Electric, due on sale later this year, the iX3 SUV next year, and the i4 sedan and iNext SUV in 2021...