US government sets a high bar for clean hydrogen handouts

Toyota Project Portal 2.0 fuel cell-powered semi-trailer truckThe Biden administration on Friday outlined requirements for a hydrogen-production tax credit—with tight restrictions aimed at ensuring the hydrogen produced really helps lower emissions. Known as the Clean Hydrogen Production Credit, the tax credit was created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help spur large-scale production...

Audi and Porsche have a safer mobile charging cable for EV, PHEV models

2024 Audi e-tron GTAudi and Porsche are conducting a recall of 240-volt Level 2 AC charging cables for EVs and plug-in hybrids. The recall covers 93,196 Audi vehicles in the U.S. from model years 2019 to 2024, including the E-Tron and E-Tron Sportback, Q4 E-Tron and Q4 E-Tron Sportback, and E-Tron GT EVs, as well as the Q5 plug-in hybrid. Porsche is recalling 41,345...

GM pauses Chevy Blazer EV sales over software woes

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RSGM has paused sales of the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV over “software quality issues,” the company announced late Friday. “We are aware that a limited number of Blazer EV owners have experienced some software quality issues,” said the company in an official response provided to Green Car Reports. “To ensure our customers...

Report: US considers hiking China EV tariff above 25%

2022 Xpeng G9The Biden administration is considering raising tariffs on Chinese EVs above 25%, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The administration has left in place Trump-era tariffs on roughly $300 billion of Chinese goods, but is now considering additional tariffs, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter...

2024 Lexus RZ 300e arrives with 266-mile range, lower price

2024 Lexus RZLexus is adding a less-expensive, longer-range version of its RZ electric crossover for the 2024 model year. Called the RZ 300e, the new variant gets a single-motor front-wheel drive powertrain and 72.8-kwh CATL battery pack, versus the dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain and 71.4-kwh pack from Prime Planet Energy (a joint venture of Panasonic...

Report: Many GM and Ford EVs will lose tax credits in 2024

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EVAccording to a report citing GM directly, the Chevy Bolt EV will be the only EV from the automaker qualifying for the full EV tax credit from Jan. 1. Yes, that’s a model now out of production and set to be increasingly difficult to find at dealerships in 2024. GM did say that the Chevrolet Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq are due to regain...

2025 Lexus UX 300h hybrid gets more power, higher mpg

2025 Lexus UX 300hThe Lexus UX hybrid crossover gets a boost in power and fuel economy for the 2025 model year, along with a change in badging from UX 250h to UX 300h. It's still fundamentally the same design that was introduced for the 2019 model year and refreshed for 2022, but now with some changes to the hybrid system. This is the same planetary system used in...

Toyota Crown PHEV aims for electric miles, home backup capability

Toyota Crown Sport PHEVThe Toyota Crown is getting an all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid variant in Japan. Known as the Toyota Crown Sport PHEV, the new model was unveiled Monday. It's based on the Japanese-market Crown Sport crossover SUV unveiled in October. It's one of multiple Crown body styles, including the high-riding Toyota Crown hybrid sedan that's available now in...

Review: 2024 BMW i5 electric sport sedan trounces gasoline sibling

2024 BMW i5Battery-electric 2024 BMW i5 models will make up roughly half the full range of the eighth-generation mid-size BMW 5-Series sport sedan that first debuted in 1972. As with its larger sibling, the BMW i7, the electric version—though all but identical on the outside—is clearly superior to its gasoline counterparts. Now, the higher-volume...

Nio ET7 goes 650 miles on 150 kwh with semi-solid-state battery

Nio ET7A Nio ET7 with the automaker's new 150-kwh battery pack traveled 650 miles on a single charge, the company claims. This was achieved by a group of drivers, including Nio founder and CEO William Li, on a 14-hour trip between the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Xiamen, according to a company press release. Nio claims the trip used 97% of the car's...

Biden and VW back Tesla EV charging connector, now a standard

VW, Audi, Porsche, and Scout commit to NACSTesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) DC fast charging connector is now living up to its name, becoming a true standard rather than just a hardware design. SAE International on Tuesday released the technical information for standardization of the NACS connector. Known as SAE J3400, the finalized standard comes just six months after the...