What White House faces if it tries to roll back fuel-economy standards

Chrome exhaust pipeDonald Trump won the U.S. Electoral College and swept into the White House on a varied platform that included significant promises to cut regulation and reduce government involvement in a wide variety of spheres. The day after his election, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers sent him a letter asking that corporate average fuel economy...

China happy to become world’s climate-change leader if U.S. lags

ChinaUnder the administration of President Barack Obama, the U.S. joined the rest of the world and took a leading role in global efforts to avert irreversible climate change. But that seems unlikely to continue under the Trump administration, which has nominated climate-science deniers to numerous key positions. Just yesterday, the head of Trump's EPA...

Is Trump presidency the real market test for electric cars?

U.S. Capitol BuildingOne week ago this morning, the U.S. and the world woke up to learn that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States. The shockwaves of that election are still reverberating, and will do so for quite some time to come. Among the groups concerned are environmentalists, clean-energy advocates, and electric-car proponents. DON'T...

Why do electric cars exist? Buyer demand? Legislation? Or VW?

2016 Nissan LeafOwners love them, but modern electric cars have not made a large dent in sales of internal-combustion cars since becoming widely available five years ago. In fact, but for a few exceptions, electric cars essentially wouldn't exist without legislation aimed at lowering transportation-related carbon emissions. Tesla's success in raising the profile...

Why do electric cars exist? Buyer demand? Legislation? Or VW?

2016 Nissan LeafOwners love them, but modern electric cars have not made a large dent in sales of internal-combustion cars since becoming widely available five years ago. In fact, but for a few exceptions, electric cars essentially wouldn't exist without legislation aimed at lowering transportation-related carbon emissions. Tesla's success in raising the profile...

VW ‘annoyed’ it won’t get order for electric vans it didn’t make

Deutsche Post StreetScooter electric van prototypeSuppose you're one of the world's three largest automakers. You don't offer a type of vehicle that a relatively small but highly visible customer in your home market wants. Do you have the right to be annoyed if that customer designs those vehicles itself? DON'T MISS: USPS picks AM General to help build next-generation mail trucks Only...

German upper house asks EU to ban all gas, diesel cars by 2030

2016 BMW M2 production in Leipzig, GermanyLast week, the German Federal Council adopted a bipartisan measure that would ban all internal-combustion engines on German roads after 2030. While its actions only apply within Germany, language in the measure asks the European Union to ensure that all such cars are banned within the EU after that year at the latest. Type approval for road...

U.S.P.S. picks AM General to build next-generation mail trucks

U.S. Postal Service Grumman AM General, the firm best known for building Hummer H1s in both civilian and military versions, has been selected by a rather different governmental agency to create a prototype with a different kind of civic duty in mind. Postal trucks, those white boxes that deliver you mail, haven't changed in decades. But that's all set to change. DON'T MISS...