Off-the-shelf EV conversions aren't just for classic cars like Prince Harry's Jaguar anymore. French startup Transition One plans to make it easy to convert a wide variety of average old cars in the country to electric power by building a standard conversion kit. The company says the kit will fit several top-selling models in Europe, including the...
After laying off 70 workers and closing an office in the U.S., Chinese automaker Nio is searching its cupboards for cash. EV sales have foundered in China this year after generous subsidies expired. and several companies have delayed or abandoned expansion plans. Nio seems to be no exception, except that it has other resources it can look to cash...
Americans soon will have a fully automaker-supported car that supports inductive wireless charging. BMW announced Friday that it will soon offer inductive charging in the 2019 BMW 530e iPerformance. In BMW’s current nomenclature, that’s the plug-in hybrid version of its 5-Series sedan. The catch: You’ll need to live in one of 13...
When it comes to auto racing, hybrid technology isn't just about cutting emissions and fuel consumption. New hybrid powertrains planned for Indy racers are expected not only to boost horsepower, but also to make racing safer by diminishing or eliminating stalls on the track, which now require a safety crew to respond to restart the car. IndyCar...
Which car became exclusive to California? What did NHTSA say to Tesla? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending August 9, 2019. Tesla was hit with a lawsuit alleging that a software update cut range from some of its cars. The NHTSA also sent Tesla a letter asking it to stop saying...
Tesla faces a lawsuit over lost range in some older models. Mini may go all-electric with its next generation of models. Startup heavy truckmaker Nikola won a federal grant to improve fuel cells. And a European project worked out how to get as much range and efficiency from natural-gas engines as from gasoline. All this and more on Green Car...
![2013 Tesla Model S, in July 2017 [photo: David Noland]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s-in-july-2017-photo-david-noland_100613425_t.gif)
What over-the-air-updates give, they can also take away. That’s part of what's at the root of a new lawsuit against Tesla on Thursday from a California man who says that a recent software update to his 2014 Model S cut 40 miles off the maximum range of his car, and it has lost about 8 kilowatt-hours of battery capacity. Since Tesla prices...
Startup truckmaker Nikola, which plans to build fuel-cell-powered semi trucks in Arizona, won a $1.7 million grant to research improved techniques to assemble fuel-cell membranes, the company announced on Wednesday. The company will partner with Department of Energy scientists from Carnegie Mellon University, Northeastern University, and Georgia...
As the next-generation of Mini models goes on sale, they may all be electric. According to a Tuesday report from Automobile, Mini's overseers at BMW have may have nixed all future gas engines for the brand and simultaneously pared its future lineup to just three models. The remaining models, to come in 2023 or later, will include a replacement for...
Some biofuels, like biogas from landfills—or synthetic methane—are attractive for use in vehicles as they have a potentially low energy cost to produce. They also have lower criteria emissions, of the sort that affect human health and cause smog. These engines should easily be cross-compatible with those using compressed natural gas...
Nissan and EVgo are working together to make fast-charging faster and more widespread. Tesla has started to bump up the price of its Full Self-Driving Capability option for existing owners. Auto suppliers show how much range electric heat pumps can save. And Toyota cleans up its act at factories. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As part of...
This past winter’s deep freeze and its record-low temperatures exposed a reality that anyone thinking about an electric car has to come to terms with: Cold winter weather can cut the effective driving range of some electric vehicles by 40 percent or more. Partly to blame is that the resistive heating electric cars rely on (yes, like those...
![Consumer Reports Tesla Model 3 testing Navigate on Autopilot [CREDIT: Consumer Reports]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/consumer-reports-tesla-model-3-testing-navigate-on-autopilot-credit-consumer-reports_100702129_t.gif)
Tesla announced in an email to owners on Wednesday that it will boost the price of its "Full Self-Driving Capability" suite of driver-assistance features starting Aug. 16. The increase applies over-the-air upgrades for existing Tesla owners who already have some of those features in the Enhanced Autopilot package. The move is the first step in...
Toyota announced plans last week to reduce emissions from its U.S. operations by 40 percent over the next three years as part of its plan to operate emissions-free by 2050. The plan calls to purchase Renewable Energy Credits equivalent to 40 percent of the energy needs of Toyota's U.S. operations. Those credits go to fund renewable energy...
Nissan is expanding its partnership with charging network EVgo to install 200 more DC fast-chargers across the U.S. The new chargers will each dispense up to 100 kw, which can deliver up to 150 miles of range in less than half an hour, and will have both a CHAdeMO plug to charge the Leaf and a CCS Combo plug to charge most other (non-Tesla) EVs as...
Harley hopes the LiveWire, its first production electric vehicle, will redefine an industry that has grown complacent while sales decline.
The NHTSA sent Tesla another letter asking it stop using misleading safety claims for the Model 3. Honda focuses sales of the Clarity Plug-in Hybrid in California. New forecasts peg 2037 as the year EV sales will overtake gasoline worldwide. And readers are still in favor of electric-car conversions in our latest Twitter poll. All this and more on...
Federal officials told Tesla again in October to stop advertising the Tesla Model 3 as the having "the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by NHTSA," federal documents revealed. The notice surfaced Wednesday by nonprofit PlainSite. The response runs 79 pages, with another 450 withheld at Tesla's request. In its letter, NHTSA...
Even as more major automakers announce plans to mass-produce electric cars, more companies have cropped up to convert old cars to electric power—even on a mass scale. A company in Montreal is working to convert old Ford F-150s to electric power for fleets. Several British luxury automakers, including Jaguar and Aston Martin, now offer old...
![2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars outside dealership [photo: Patrick Reid]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-electric-car-photo-patrick-reid_100605961_t.gif)
Sales of new electric passenger cars will surpass those of internal combustion models by 2037 according to a new report on EVs from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The report, "Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019," anticipates that 30 percent of vehicles in the world will be powered by electric motors by 2040. It forecasts that worldwide EV sales will...
