Hydrogen fuel-cell e-bike claiming longer range, quick refueling

Alpha2.0 hydrogen fuel-cell e-bikeBefore the Toyota Mirai, the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, and the Hyundai Nexo faced off with the current crop of electric cars, there was a hydrogen fuel-cell e-bike—the Alpha, which also demonstrated that with hydrogen it could go farther than battery-boosted e-bikes. Now France’s Pragma Industries has introduced Alpha2.0, a new version...

Charging stations now outnumber gas stations in Britain

BYD London double-decker busIt’s not unusual to hear people wave off the change to fully electric to when EV chargers are as plentiful as gas stations, and when vehicle charging can be done, in a pinch, in nearly the same time. One side of that equation has already arrived—in the UK. According to Nissan UK, there are about 9,300 public charging stations, as...

States, Cities sue EPA over Clean Power Plan rollback

Coal power plant in ChinaThe power grid that electric vehicles plug into will get cleaner over time. But depending on where you are, the rate at which it cleans up could have a lot to do with something that’s headed to the courts. A lawsuit filed Tuesday by 22 states and seven cities, in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, aims to...

2019 Audi E-tron is first EV to earn Top Safety Pick+ award

2019 Audi E-tron IIHS crash testWith results announced Wednesday, the 2019 Audi E-tron is the first fully electric vehicle to be named a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. To be a Top Safety Pick+ award, vehicles must achieve top “Good” ratings in small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength, and head...

Domino’s expands e-bike deliveries with nationwide program

RadCity e-bike for Dominos, by Rad Power BikesDelivering pizzas in big, aging passenger cars is the norm in many neighborhoods in the nation, and it’s wasteful. In most of those locales, there’s a solid fair-weather alternative to firing up the engine (or taking the electric car) for another delivery just a mile or two away: e-bikes. Domino’s tested the use of e-bikes for...

Rivian might build upcoming Ford electric SUV

Rivian R1SRivian will likely be entrusted to build an upcoming Ford electric SUV, due early within the next few years, at the startup’s former Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Illinois. "It would be counterproductive for us to try and make what they have capacity to do in the beginning here, because they've got a factory in Illinois that meets a...

Jaguar targets Tesla owners with I-Pace discounts

2019 Jaguar I-PaceJaguar’s widely available I-Pace electric luxury crossover needs some kind of boost here in the U.S. market, where it still isn’t selling well. For now, that’s arrived in the form of a series of special promotions, one of which looks directly to Tesla owners. The promotions include a $5,000 dealer discount plus a $7,000 Allowance...

Some 2019-2020 Toyota and Lexus hybrids recalled for brake booster issue

2019 Toyota PriusToyota will recall nearly 7,000 vehicles—including many hybrids—for a faulty brake booster that could malfunction and impair those cars' brakes, the automaker announced last month. The recall affects mostly 2019 model year cars and includes the Toyota Prius, Prius Prime, and RAV4 Hybrids built between late April and late May. A small...

The fastest Porsche SUV ever is a plug-in hybrid

2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid As Porsche ramps up for the launch of its Taycan electric sedan late this year, today it has a new cheerleader for the performance boost of electric motors at the top of its SUV lineup: the 2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. Although the Turbo S E-Hybrid has the same 14.1-kwh battery pack and 2.4-hour charge time—and the same...

Silicon wafer batteries promise lower cost, better stability

XNRGI  Powercell silicon wafer battery design (from company video)In an effort to make longer-lasting, safer, and more affordable batteries, Washington-based XNRGI aims to build lithium batteries on plentiful, off-the shelf silicon wafers. Last week, the company announced plans to bring new batteries based on its patented technology to market in 2020, in a new stationary storage battery. Most such batteries...

Could moss-covered, data-connected park benches help clear city air?

Green City Solutions City Trees use moss to filter airAs countries from India to Ethiopia plant millions of trees to combat global warming, one German company has a much smaller idea. Berlin-based Green City Solutions plans to clean the air of local emissions from gasoline and diesel engines, by planting millions of tiny mossy trees in cities. Moss works similarly to trees in filtering pollutants out...

Automotive supplier tests immersion-cooled batteries for EVs

Immersion Cooled Battery Pack Concept for EVsThe two biggest challenges for electric cars—battery life and charge times—come down to battery cooling. Now British auto parts supplier Ricardo is working with partners to come up with a new type of cooling technology that the company hopes will allow automakers to pack more energy into cars' batteries and to charge them faster. The...