The RAV4 Prime is on the Best Car To Buy 2021 shortlist. Geely teases its potential Tesla Model S rival, with Volvo engineering and already in prototype form. Hyundai is pitching fuel-cell tech for a wider range of uses with a new brand. And Toyota could make up on a lot of lost ground in the electric-car arena with some fast-moving solid-state... RAV4 Prime, Toyota solid-state battery tech, EV flagship for Volvo and Polestar: Today’s Car News
The RAV4 Prime is on the Best Car To Buy 2021 shortlist. Geely teases its potential Tesla Model S rival, with Volvo engineering and already in prototype form. Hyundai is pitching fuel-cell tech for a wider range of uses with a new brand. And Toyota could make up on a lot of lost ground in the electric-car arena with some fast-moving solid-state...
The timeline may have just been stepped up for a next-level, dedicated electric vehicle platform for Volvo, Polestar, Lynk & Co., and other Geely Auto Group brand vehicles. The Zero Concept, which marked the debut of a future dedicated electric vehicle for those brands, debuted less than three months ago. On Friday, Geely announced that this...
The Toyota RAV4 Prime is all sorts of things, all at once. It’s Toyota’s first plug-in SUV since the “powered by Tesla” RAV4 EV from earlier last decade. It’s the quickest-accelerating vehicle in Toyota’s lineup, excluding its sports cars. And it offers one of the longest all-electric driving ranges among...
After launching the Ioniq brand for battery-electric cars, Hyundai on Thursday announced a new brand dedicated to hydrogen fuel cells—HTWO. The new brand—which takes its name from "H2," the designation for the hydrogen molecule—will initially focus on the United States, Europe, and China, according to Hyundai. In addition...
Toyota hopes to be the first automaker to launch an electric car with solid-state batteries, aiming to unveil a prototype next year, ahead of a production launch relatively soon after that, Nikkei Asia reported Thursday. The automaker expects electric cars powered by solid-state batteries to have more than twice the range of vehicles using current...
Which battery startup hinted that its technology might be close to production-ready? Which automaker’s CEO suggested that a timeline for a gasoline-vehicle ban might be better than a credit system? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending December 11, 2020. This week we...
The Bollinger B1 and B2 electric trucks have a new look. The F-150 Hybrid leads in gas-truck gas mileage. Hundreds of “boost” chargers could provide fast-charging in hard-to-site places. And Lordstown Motors thrashes its skateboard platform and in-wheel motors. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. Lordstown Motors has teased the...
BP Pulse, the charging-infrastructure unit of oil giant BP, is working with FreeWireTechnologies to get more of the company's mobile fast-charging stations installed in the United Kingdom. Under a $50 million agreement, BP Pulse will use FreeWire Boost Charger stations as part of a network buildout that will include 700 or more public...
Bollinger Motors has unveiled "production intent" versions of its B1 electric SUV and B2 electric pickup truck—and they look altogether different from the prototypes unveiled last year. The company confirmed numerous design changes, including a raised belt line that left more space for packaging components under the "frunk." This in turn...
Ford has confirmed a 25-mpg combined EPA fuel economy rating for the most fuel-efficient version of the F-150 hybrid lineup, which carries the PowerBoost badge. Ford says that 4x2 versions of the F-150 hybrid come in at 25 mpg city, 26 highway, and 25 combined—with a range of 750 miles on a tank of gasoline. That gives them the highest gas...
Skateboard platforms are becoming a common go-to for startup electric vehicle makers, as they’re essentially self-contained—packaging most of the core mechanical and propulsion components together in a “rolling chassis.” That building block, with a little modification, can be tested on its own—which is what Lordstown...
Mercedes shows a new generation of electric vans. Toyota is pushing ahead with more fuel-cell semis. And Rivian ramps up to offer charging in some out-of-the-way places. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. Rivian plans to include a two-tier charging strategy that will include both DC fast-charging and AC charging, under a network that will...
Toyota has renewed its commitment to fuel-cell technology for powering big Class 8 electric trucks, and with some advances it’s hoping to expand their use to a lot more than the short-distance port duty they’ve been doing so far. As it's today delivering the first of a group of 10 trucks from a project announced nearly two years ago...
The next-generation Mercedes-Benz eSprinter electric van will be sold in the United States, but it's not expected to arrive for nearly three years. Mercedes doesn't offer the current eSprinter in the U.S., but the automaker confirmed Wednesday that a new version currently under development will be sold here. The current version shares a basic...
Rivian has begun work on its own charging network, with a "two-tier" strategy that will include DC fast charging and slower AC charging, CEO RJ Scaringe said in an interview with TechCrunch. Unlike previous charging-network projects, Rivian will locate stations near hiking trails, kayaking spots, and other recreational destinations, in order to...
Plug-in hybrids might be polluting a lot more than the emissions-test numbers suggest. Portland is re-upping on the Electric Avenue concept, but for big electric trucks this time. Daimler’s Smart plant sale will enable something that’s not small and not electric. And could solid-state battery tech arrive by the middle of the decade?...
Ineos Automotive confirmed on Tuesday that it’s acquired the Daimler AG facility in Hambach, France that builds Smart EQ Fortwo electric cars—for building throwback SUVs that are gasoline, diesel, and perhaps hydrogen fuel-cell powered. The plant, which has been nicknamed Smartville and has made future-leaning cars from the city-car...
Earlier this month, Portland General Electric and Daimler Trucks North America, which is headquartered in Portland, established a charging testbed for medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks. Like the original “Electric Avenue” for electric-car charging (I attended the dedication in 2011), Daimler and PGE say that the effort, nicknamed...
Real-world emissions of plug-in hybrids on European roads are significantly higher than automakers claim, according to a report released earlier this month by the environmental group Transport & Environment. While real-world emissions are always dependent on how often owners plug in, many plug-in hybrids "lack the necessary EV power, range...
Volkswagen-backed startup QuantumScape on Tuesday revealed new data showing the capabilities of its solid-state battery tech. Several companies are working to develop solid-state batteries, which use a solid electrolyte instead of the liquid or gel used in current lithium-ion battery cells. But QuantumScape claims to be ahead of competitors in...