Mobile fast-charging: A must-have for electric truck and bus fleets?

Lightning Mobile charging system in Ford van Fully electric delivery trucks, cargo vans, shuttle vehicles, and transit and school buses are all due to become increasingly common as fleets go green and diesels are retired. That’s where a recent surge of interest in mobile-charging solutions comes in. As a backup plan for the times when charge points and infrastructure won’t quite...

Leaf-based Nissan e-NV200 XL electric van is bigger, still not US-bound

Nissan e-NV200 XL VoltiaThe Nissan Leaf propulsion system in a compact-car van platform has proven an appealing combination for Europe. Nissan has produced 42,000 of the electric vans, and it sold 10,000 in Europe in 2019 alone. Now a new version, dubbed e-NV200 XL Voltia, is launching in Europe but, like the standard e-NV200, it's unlikely to reach the United States...

BMW re-ups electric-vehicle commitment—and hydrogen fuel-cell investment

BMW i Hydrogen Next development vehicle (fuel-cell X5)BMW remains committed to both electric cars and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The German automaker will continue a planned rollout of battery-electric models, as well as investing in fuel-cell research for passenger cars. By 2025, BMW plans to invest over 30 billion euros ($32 billion) in research and development, according to a press release...

Electric Volvo XC90 will likely offer optional fully autonomous highway driving

2020 Volvo XC90An upcoming electric version of the Volvo XC90 could get what the automaker calls "fully autonomous highway driving" thanks to new sensors. Volvo announced Monday that, beginning in 2022, vehicles built on its SPA2 platform will get roof-mounted lidar sensors from Luminar, a Silicon Valley firm the automaker has been funding since 2018. The lidar...

VW design chief: ID electric vehicles among first created all-digitally

Volkswagen ID Space Vizzion conceptComputer-aided design has been part of the toolkit for engineers creating cars and their components for decades. Yet the actual car design itself hasn’t completely made the digital transformation until very recently. Volkswagen is one automaker that’s taken at least some of its vehicle design all-digital. In a webconference...