Sono is designing Sion solar EV to be a mobile home power bank

Sono Sion with wallboxMunich-based Sono Motors, which is working to bring its solar-supplemented Sion electric car to market for Europe, revealed last week that it is developing its own AC wallbox that will allow the car to be used as a mobile power bank or external home energy storage. While most other such units use the DC fast-charging connector, the Sion unit will...

Confusion brews as retro-style EV startup Alpha Motor turns on the charm

Boyt and Lijewski with Alpha Wolf conceptThe electric vehicle startup Alpha Motor Corporation posted a video this week that showed the “launch” of its Alpha Wolf electric pickup concept. In it, Joshua Boyt and Jay Lijewski appear together on stage, riffing on ideas the way we’ve seen Silicon Valley types and executives do in a wide range of product debuts. No titles are...

Rare GM EV1 electric car survivor converted to a hybrid, parked outside

General Motors EV1 at Howard University (Photo by LeaderoftheNew via Twitter)You never know where an interesting car might turn up. This rare General Motors EV1 has been hiding in plain site, parked outside behind Howard University's school of engineering in Washington, D.C., but was recently spotted by Twitter user Pepe Lucho (via DCist). The EV1 was leased to customers in California and a few other locations between 1998...

Teardrop camper trailer fast-charges EVs with 75 kwh of extra batteries

Colorado Teardrops Boulder EV camping trailerCamper manufacturer Colorado Teardrops this last week revealed a small-footprint teardrop-style camping trailer that’s configured to get over the hurdle of dramatically lower range while towing with an electric vehicle—by carrying extra batteries to recharge the EV along the way. The model, called Boulder, packs a generous 75 kwh of...

Towing with an EV: Are electric trailers the future?

Dethleffs E.Home Caravan electric camping trailer prototypeAn electric trailer could solve the largest problem when towing with an electric vehicle: You might only go half the distance on a charge while towing. To compensate, EV shoppers who plan to tow beyond city limits need to opt for the largest possible battery pack. But that means you’re hauling around many hundreds of pounds of extra...

Eccentric electric: Citroën DS EV conversion translates a French icon

Electrogenic 1971 Citroën DS EV conversionThe Citroën DS is an icon of French automotive design that has now gone electric, thanks to United Kingdom-based Electrogenic, which specializes in electric conversions of classic cars. Electrogenic started with a 1971 Citroën DS (one of the later face-lifted models), removing the gasoline engine and replacing it with a brushless...

Volta’s free chargers update EV drivers on local air quality

Volta Charging  -  Air quality informationAnywhere you are in the U.S., you’re reducing the amount of localized air pollution by driving an electric car—yes, even if your local power source is a coal plant. Not all newbies understand that, and so a few reminders—about air quality itself—can be a useful motivator, perhaps, to spread the word. Volta Charging is best...