Dyson walks away from Sakti3 solid-state battery patents

James Dyson with digital motors  [image: Dyson]Just 18 months after its $90m acquisition of Sakti3, the British consumer-products company Dyson is taking a step back. Dyson has chosen to relinquish the patent rights that were the core intellectual property of the Michigan based start-up company. Its move demonstrates the high risk companies are willing to accept in order to be at the forefront...

Trump budget slashes EPA emission testing, hits makers with higher fees

2017 Ford F-150 Raptor strapped to a dynoThe prospect of ongoing operations as usual continues to darken for the Environmental Protection Agency. According to a detailed internal budget document published in the The Washington Post, the Trump administration wants to eliminate virtually all federal funding for the agency’s vehicle emissions and fuel-economy testing budgets. If the...

Four of 10 drivers globally would consider an electric car

2015 Nissan LeafIt’s been merely six years since the first modern electric car hit the streets, and the segment looks ready to take off. Over 43,000 people residing in 52 countries all around the globe were asked whether they are considering buying an electric car in the next five years. On average, four out of 10 motorists say they’re either very...

Tesla loses bid to sell cars in Utah, dealer lobbyists win

Tesla Store Los Angeles [photo: Misha Bruk / MBH Architects]Tesla has once again been denied permission to sell its cars directly to buyers in the battleground state of Utah. Via a unanimous decision, the Utah Supreme Court handed Tesla Motors another setback this week. The state’s top court upheld a 2015 decision that denied the electric-car maker a license to sell new cars, citing a state law that...

2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel first drive

2017 Chevrolet Cruze DieselWhen the first Chevrolet Cruze Diesel was launched back in 2014, it made a lot of sense. Diesel was in vogue. German manufacturers were pushing diesel power in a huge way, with Volkswagen's "Clean Diesel" leading the charge. Oh, how things have changed. DON'T MISS: Volkswagen diesel scandal - all our stories Diesel for passenger cars today is, for...

Green groups gird for battle with White House: is it ‘war’?

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]Last Wednesday, a broad coalition of environmental groups sued the Trump Administration over an executive order that lifted a moratorium on issuing new leases for coal mining on federal lands. That order would have eliminated the requirement for an environmental impact study on the impacts of any form of coal extraction across a wide swath of...

Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, March 2017: Chevy charges ahead

2017 Chevrolet Volt in Vancouver, BC, CanadaThe Chevy Volt likely continued its winning ways atop the Canadian plug-in electric vehicle sales charts in March. Its 377 sales give it a comfortable margin over the Tesla Model S's high mark of 325, set in March 2016 before the Model X became available. The Chevy Bolt's 241 units were nearly triple the 86 sold in February, and could be enough to...

Mazda’s electric car gets patents for rotary range-extender engine

Mazda Demio EV test-fleet electric car in Japan (aka Mazda2)Recent patent filings suggest Mazda’s next Wankel engine will equip a battery-powered car, not a rear-wheel drive heir to emblematic sports coupes like its RX-7 and RX-8. Mazda has invested more time and money into the rotary engine than any other automaker, so executives are reluctant to let it fade away into history. While the RX-8 has...