Energy Dept to award $15 million for very fast electric-car charging

AeroVironment DC fast charger, part of West Coast Electric Highway  -  Centralia, WAThe United States Department of Energy has announced a new funding initiative to accelerate the development of what it calls "Extreme Fast Charging" (XFC) systems. In total, the DoE will award $15 million for the development of electric-car charging systems as well as batteries capable of very fast charging. Each area of interest has specific...

Toshiba claims 6-minute recharge for new electric-car battery cell

Toshiba SCiB battery cellElectric cars pale in comparison to gasoline or diesel-powered cars when it comes to the time presently required to add energy for more driving distance. Although automakers have begun to curb "range anxiety" with longer-distance electric cars, battery charging times on lengthy road trips remain a hurdle for many buyers. The fastest "quick...

Porsche prototype 350-kw electric car fast-charging station installed

Porsche solar pylon Porsche has big plans to expand the capability of the Combined Charging System (CCS) DC standard into much higher voltages to allow much faster electric-car charging. Now, it's completed a first step: at the brand's new branch office in Berlin-Adlershof, Porsche has installed a prototype 350-kilowatt, 800-volt charging station. The new technology...

Tesla Supercharger electric-car charging sites in CA surge (photos)

Expansion of Tesla Supercharger site in Rocklin, California    [photo: George Parrott]In January 2016, before the public introduction for pre-orders of the Model 3, Tesla had 585 Supercharger locations around the world. By the end of June 2016, that number had climbed to 655. Then the potential of 400,000-plus reservations for the more affordable Model 3 pushed Tesla to promise it would double those charging locations by the end of...

Chargeway: the best electric-car idea you’ve never heard of

Chargeway electric-car charging symbols for Chevrolet Volt, BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model SPretty much everyone knows how to put fuel into a conventional car. You pull up to the pump, open the vehicle's fuel door, put in a credit card, select diesel or one of three grades of gasoline, lift the hose, and pump. (In New Jersey and Oregon, someone else does this for you.) Electric-car charging isn't quite that simple. DON'T MISS: Car buyers...

Tesla extends free Supercharger use to all current owners

Tesla Model S at Supercharger site in Ventura, CA, with just one slot open  [photo: David Noland]Tesla has bestowed upon its current owners a sought-after perk previously reserved for early adopters: free Supercharging. Last year, Tesla announced it would begin charging for Supercharger station use for buyers of its electric cars after a certain date—but now it appears to have walked back that policy. Instead, it has extended free...

VW Electrify America plan for electric-car charging across U.S. released

BMW i3 and Volkswagen e-Golf electric cars using Combined Charging System (CCS) DC fast chargingTwo billion dollars is a lot of money. When VW Group of America agreed to fund a $2 billion project to spread zero-emission vehicle infrastructure across the U.S. as part of its settlements in the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal, that immediately changed the playing field for electric-car fast charging. Now the first of four phases of the...

More details on fast-charging rate in 2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJFor a few years now, Tesla has shown what a nationwide network of DC fast-charging sites for long-range electric cars should look like. Its Supercharger network now covers virtually all of the lower 48 states, and until earlier this year, it was completely free to Tesla drivers. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, the first affordable battery-electric car with...

Fast-charging a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJThe 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car with more than 200 miles of range to go on sale in the U.S. That alone makes it a landmark vehicle, and has led to significant interest in the first electric car that provides comparable range to that of Tesla cars over the last nine years. Its maker, however, often refers to the...