Ten months after the U.S. EPA and DOT proposed easing federal fleet fuel economy standards for 2021-2026, there has been no formal submission of the plan. And more than a year after the EPA suggested that it might challenge California’s waiver to set stricter standards, it hasn’t confirmed one way or another whether it will do that. As...
BMW teams up with Jaguar Land Rover on electric cars. Fiat Chrysler rescinds its offer to be bought by Renault. Karma spreads its dealer network. And a hydrogen shortage is gripping Northern California fuel-cell drivers. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Fiat Chrysler pulled its offer for a merger with Renault after the French automaker's...
BMW teams up with Jaguar Land Rover on electric cars. Fiat Chrysler rescinds its offer to Renault. Karma spreads its dealer network. And a hydrogen shortage is gripping Northern California fuel-cell drivers. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Fiat Chrysler pulled its offer for a merger with Renault after the French automaker's Japanese...
A potential merger between Fiat Chrysler and Renault, which would have involved Japanese partners Nissan and Mitsubishi, is off the table. Fiat Chrysler withdrew the offer after Nissan, Renault's larger but junior partner withheld its support. A report in trade journal Automotive News (subscription required), noted that Nissan representatives...
Karma, the company, is starting its effort in earnest to revive sales of its Revero—the car that started life as the ill-fated Fisker Karma. According to the federal government, Karma sold 231 of the cars in 2018, well down from the 2,667 that Fisker sold in the car's first year on the market. That's partly the result of a paucity of...
Jaguar Land Rover and BMW announced on Wednesday that they will form an alliance to build the unique parts, beyond the battery, that make up an electric vehicle. The effort will focus on electric drive units (EDUs), including motors, transmissions and power electronics, such as motor controllers. BMW has said it plans to build 25 new plug-in...
Fiat Chrysler and Renault’s attempt to join forces was a response to turmoil in the auto industry, which accounts for much of the world’s factory jobs.
Fiat Chrysler and Renault’s attempt to join forces was a response to turmoil in the auto industry, which accounts for much of the world’s factory jobs.
Fiat Chrysler and Renault’s attempt to join forces was a response to turmoil in the auto industry, which accounts for much of the world’s factory jobs.
Fiat Chrysler and Renault’s attempt to join forces was a response to turmoil in the auto industry, which accounts for much of the world’s factory jobs.
Hydrogen fuel-cell drivers in California’s San Francisco Bay Area may soon have to find a backup plan—like a gasoline or electric vehicle. As of Wednesday night, 9 out of the 11 passenger-vehicle hydrogen stations in the Bay Area were down due to a hydrogen shortage—a status that remained the same going back to Monday. An...
General Motors and Michelin are testing airless tires on a Chevy Bolt EV. Plans are revealed for a mid-sized Mercedes-Benz electric sedan. Tesla puts real cash pricing up front on its website. And our Twitter followers answer what matters most to them when fast-charging on an extended trip. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As transportation...
Mercedes-Benz has begun producing the first of its EQ line of electric cars in Europe with the EQC 400 SUV. The company has announced that it plans to build 10 new EQ electric cars by 2022, and other parts of that lineup are beginning to take shape; and officials stated very early on in the EQ project that it planned various versions that would...
It came as something of a breakthrough on Monday when Tesla updated its website to, nearly, put cash prices for its cars up front in its Design Studio—where potential buyers go to configure the cars they want to buy. Until now, shoppers had to complete building their cars online to see the final price. Up to that point, Tesla only showed an...
Last week, after being deluged with comments about our long-distance drive in an Audi E-tron, we asked our audience what parameters are most important to them when fast-charging on a road trip. Audi, which hosted our drive, is trying to make the case that what the E-tron lacks in range—at 204 miles, as rated by the EPA—the car makes up...
Michelin yesterday revealed a comprehensive look at what some cars could be rolling on in just five years: the company’s first airless passenger-vehicle tire. The Uptis Prototype (Unique Puncture-proof Tire System) is a wheel/tire combination made primarily of rubber, aluminum, and a new resin-embedded fiberglass-reinforced material...
A marketing push hatched by the firm that makes ads for Adidas and Google zooms past contrition on its way toward a greener future for the world’s largest automaker.
A marketing push hatched by the firm that makes ads for Adidas and Google zooms past contrition on its way toward a greener future for the world’s largest automaker.
A marketing push hatched by the firm that makes ads for Adidas and Google zooms past contrition on its way toward a greener future for the world’s largest automaker.
Volkswagen has achieved another milestone in electro-mobility: The ID.R, powered by two electric motors, lapped the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in 6:05.336 minutes – faster than any electric vehicle before it. Romain Dumas (F) beat the previous record set by Peter Dumbreck (GB, NIO EP9) in 2017 by 40.564 seconds. With an average speed of 204.96 km/h, the ID.R once again underlined the impressive performance capabilities of Volkswagen’s electric drive. This 500 kW (680 PS) emission-free race car is the racing flagship of the future fully electric ID. product family from Volkswagen.
“The Nordschleife of the Nürburgring is not only the world’s most demanding race track, it is also the ultimate test for production vehicles,” says Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group. “The ID.R has mastered this challenge with great distinction and has completed the fastest emission-free lap of all time. As further proof of its impressive performance capabilities, Volkswagen’s e-mobility can now proudly call itself ‘Nürburgring-approved’. I congratulate the team from Volkswagen Motorsport and driver Romain Dumas on the third record for the ID.R”
Within just twelve months, Volkswagen Motorsport has already set three track records with the ID.R. On 24 June 2018, Romain Dumas achieved the absolute track record of 7:57.148 minutes at the renowned Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (USA). Just three weeks later, he achieved a new best time for electric cars of 43.86 seconds at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England. The new record on the legendary Nordschleife has now been added to this successful run.
For Romain Dumas, who is a four-time winner of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, the record lap with the ID.R is another highlight on his favourite track. “To be a record-holder on the Nordschleife makes me unbelievably proud,” says Dumas. “For me, this is the best and most difficult race track in the world. I want to thank the team at Volkswagen Motorsport, who have once again done a fantastic job. The ID.R was perfectly prepared for the Nordschleife and it was so much fun to experience the blistering acceleration and rapid cornering speeds.”
With the e-record on the Nordschleife, Volkswagen has once again demonstrated the enormous performance capabilities that come with electric mobility. “This impressive success story is the result of meticulous preparation by our engineers, the flawless work by the whole team during testing and of course a perfect driving performance by Romain Dumas,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets.
To prepare for the Nürburgring Nordschleife challenge, in just five months Volkswagen Motorsport gave the ID.R a complete makeover compared to the record outings on Pikes Peak and in Goodwood. “For this evolved version of the ID.R, the aerodynamic configuration was more strongly adapted to the highest possible speed, rather than maximum downforce,” explains François-Xavier Demaison, Technical Director. “With extensive test laps in the simulator and on the race track, we adapted the ID.R to the unique conditions of the Nordschleife, focussing mainly on chassis tuning, energy management and optimal choice of tyres for the record attempt.”
The VW ID.R now holds the second fastest Nürburgring time ever recorded, the fastest being set by sister company Porsche with a modified LMP1 919 Hybrid EVO with a time of 5 minutes 19.55 seconds at an average speed of 233.8 km/h (145.3 mph) - almost 30 km/h faster than the ID.R.
Where the 500 kW ID.R's top speed during the lap record peaked at 270 km/h, the 865 kW 919 EVO was able to regularly sustain speeds over 300 km/h with a peak of 370 km/h during his record-beating run.
Ten months after the U.S. EPA and DOT proposed easing federal fleet fuel economy standards for 2021-2026, there has been no formal submission of the plan. And more than a year after the EPA suggested that it might challenge California’s waiver to set stricter standards, it hasn’t confirmed one way or another whether it will do that. As... 
BMW teams up with Jaguar Land Rover on electric cars. Fiat Chrysler rescinds its offer to be bought by Renault. Karma spreads its dealer network. And a hydrogen shortage is gripping Northern California fuel-cell drivers. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Fiat Chrysler pulled its offer for a merger with Renault after the French automaker's... 
A potential merger between Fiat Chrysler and Renault, which would have involved Japanese partners Nissan and Mitsubishi, is off the table. Fiat Chrysler withdrew the offer after Nissan, Renault's larger but junior partner withheld its support. A report in trade journal Automotive News (subscription required), noted that Nissan representatives... 
Karma, the company, is starting its effort in earnest to revive sales of its Revero—the car that started life as the ill-fated Fisker Karma. According to the federal government, Karma sold 231 of the cars in 2018, well down from the 2,667 that Fisker sold in the car's first year on the market. That's partly the result of a paucity of... 
Jaguar Land Rover and BMW announced on Wednesday that they will form an alliance to build the unique parts, beyond the battery, that make up an electric vehicle. The effort will focus on electric drive units (EDUs), including motors, transmissions and power electronics, such as motor controllers. BMW has said it plans to build 25 new plug-in... 
Hydrogen fuel-cell drivers in California’s San Francisco Bay Area may soon have to find a backup plan—like a gasoline or electric vehicle. As of Wednesday night, 9 out of the 11 passenger-vehicle hydrogen stations in the Bay Area were down due to a hydrogen shortage—a status that remained the same going back to Monday. An... 
General Motors and Michelin are testing airless tires on a Chevy Bolt EV. Plans are revealed for a mid-sized Mercedes-Benz electric sedan. Tesla puts real cash pricing up front on its website. And our Twitter followers answer what matters most to them when fast-charging on an extended trip. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As transportation... 
Mercedes-Benz has begun producing the first of its EQ line of electric cars in Europe with the EQC 400 SUV. The company has announced that it plans to build 10 new EQ electric cars by 2022, and other parts of that lineup are beginning to take shape; and officials stated very early on in the EQ project that it planned various versions that would... 
It came as something of a breakthrough on Monday when Tesla updated its website to, nearly, put cash prices for its cars up front in its Design Studio—where potential buyers go to configure the cars they want to buy. Until now, shoppers had to complete building their cars online to see the final price. Up to that point, Tesla only showed an... 
Last week, after being deluged with comments about our long-distance drive in an Audi E-tron, we asked our audience what parameters are most important to them when fast-charging on a road trip. Audi, which hosted our drive, is trying to make the case that what the E-tron lacks in range—at 204 miles, as rated by the EPA—the car makes up... 
Michelin yesterday revealed a comprehensive look at what some cars could be rolling on in just five years: the company’s first airless passenger-vehicle tire. The Uptis Prototype (Unique Puncture-proof Tire System) is a wheel/tire combination made primarily of rubber, aluminum, and a new resin-embedded fiberglass-reinforced material... 
