Transparent solar cells to let Audi capture energy from glass roofs

Audi and Chinese firm Alta Devices team up to develop a glass solar roof panelSolar energy has long generated electricity both on building roofs and in huge "solar farms" for utility companies, but only a few cars have had solar panels on their bodies. Solar roofs aren't a new concept, but Audi and Alta Devices' solution would be the most transparent photovoltaic solar roof implementation yet—literally. The German...

Electric cars and public charging: hot dog and bun, not chicken or egg?

2015 Nissan Leaf at evGo fast charger at Livingston Mall, Livingston, NJ   [photo: John Briggs]It's an old cliche used to indicate an unsolvable problem: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Sometimes it's applied to the challenge of electric-car charging stations: which comes first, sales of the cars or installation of public charging to support them? Well, Jeff Allen isn't having any of it. He wants to talk about hot dogs, and buns...

Audi diesel: another shoe drops as top VW Group execs implicated

2017 Audi RS 7It has been nearly two years since Volkswagen came clean and admitted its "clean diesel" engines were actually quite dirty. In 2015, a VW engineer admitted the TDI diesel cars sold in the U.S. since 2009 were outfitted with "defeat device" software that let them pass emission tests, only to emit far more nitrogen oxides in real-world use. Two...

How Teslas charge in US and UK.: similarities and differences

Tesla charging port in the United KingdomIt's well-known that electrical outlets in the United States and elsewhere vary, but it also makes for somewhat different charging experiences with the Tesla Model S. In Europe, the standard voltage is higher than the United States, which means more power can be drawn from a standard wall outlet. However, higher-rated charging connectors, such as...

Here’s how to comment on EPA proposal to loosen emission limits on cars

Chrome exhaust pipeOn August 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would reopen the Comment Period for the vehicle-emission standards for model years 2022 through 2025 it had finalized in January. The auto industry and its lobbyists had complained that the agency had moved too quickly, despite its issuance last summer of a voluminous Technical...

VW engineer gets 40 months in jail, $200K fine, for diesel cheating role

2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI SEFormer Volkswagen employee James Liang was sentenced in Detroit yesterday to serve 40 months in prison and pay a $200,000 fine for his role in the global Volkswagen diesel-emission cheating scandal. It was a stiffer sentence than expected for an engineer who helped to create software that controlled exhaust emissions only when Volkswagen and...

UK Royal Mail electric vans now entering service

Arrival UK Royal Mail electric postal vanThe United Kingdom's Royal Postal Service has entered a new era as its first electric mail vans enter service. In total, nine electric postal vans from local company Arrival will enter the Royal Post's fleet, along with another 100 electric vans to be added in December from French brand Peugeot. The Arrival electric vans are capable of traveling...

Tesla semi reportedly has 200 to 300 miles of range

2012 Tesla Model STesla's first foray into the commercial vehicle sector—an all-electric semi truck—is expected to debut next month, but specifics surrounding the electric-car maker's latest project have been few and far between. An exclusive report may have revealed Tesla's range figure as it prepares to tackle a segment dominated by diesel-powered...

New LG Michigan plant could boost GM electric-car domestic content

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016The question of where consumer goods are made has become more prominent in our political discourse of late, cars among them. Every automobile sold in the U.S. carries a listing of content sources, specifying what percentage by value of its overall content comes from which countries or regions. Electric cars, it turns out, have some anomalies...

2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel (very brief) first drive

2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel, first drive, Teaneck, NJ, Aug 2017We spent a few days with a gasoline-powered 2018 Chevy Equinox back in May, but now we've driven a much rarer version. The 2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel will start to arrive at U.S. Chevy dealers within two weeks, the company says. On Wednesday, as part of a comprehensive presentation on the five diesel engines GM uses globally, we got some "seat...

Energy Dept disappoints US coal industry: no order keeping plants open

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]The Trump administration has reneged on one aspect of a promise widely discussed throughout the 2016 presidential campaign: reviving the coal industry. President Donald Trump declared the United States coal industry would thrive under his watch, but the Trump administration and the Energy Department have just delivered a blow to the...