Honda battery deal could give it a new charge in China’s EV market

Honda Clarity lineup at Honda R&D Center, Tochigi, Japan, June 2017Thus far, Honda lags in the race to develop electric cars. Its most recent model still has only 89 miles of electric range, in an era when most new electric cars come with at least 235 miles of range, and many are approaching or exceed 300 miles. The company is aiming to change that with new tie-ups with General Motors to develop electric cars...

Audi e-tron faces battery-related delay in Europe

2019 Audi e-tron first drive  -  Abu Dhabi UAE, December 2018Bringing new electric cars to market is harder than it looks. That is perhaps the message from a new report from German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, which notes that Audi is having problems with battery software in its upcoming electric e-tron quattro in Germany, which could delay the car's European launch for at least a month. The car was scheduled...

Electrify America adds city charging, fills in highways in second cycle

Electrify America DC fast chargers at San Francisco Premium Outlets, Livermore, CaliforniaOver the next 2-1/2 years, Electrify America plans to expand its network of DC fast chargers for electric cars to include more cities, as well as to finish more of its build-out along highways across the U.S. Electrify America is a division of VW founded to use money from Volkswagen's diesel emissions settlement to build out a network of fast...

Green New Deal introduced to Congress aims to cut emissions, create jobs

Hurricane Florence approaches U.S. East Coast Sept. 12, 2018Until now, the Green New Deal proposed by various Congressional Democrats has been mostly a theory—the idea that a concerted national push, with significant federal support, could accomplish goals of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions while spurring the economy and creating widespread green-tech jobs. Thursday afternoon, in a...

GM electric vehicles could be profitable early next decade, says CEO

Cadillac electric crossover SUV based on GM BEV3 modular platformIncentives, credits, and compliance schemes can only get the electric vehicle market so far. The real test of its success will be when large, established automakers can get to a point when they can call them profitable. On Wednesday, on a call with analysts to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter 2018 financial results, GM CEO Mary Barra...

Lyft plans to give riders and drivers an electric lift

Lyft car picking up a riderLyft is the latest car-sharing company to sign onto an effort to make ride sharing cars more efficient. The post-millennial taxi service announced that it plans to introduce "thousands" of electric cars onto its platform and make it easy for riders to choose them using a new "Green Mode" in the Lyft app. "These efforts will provide cleaner...

Lyft plans to give riders and drivers an electric lift

Lyft car picking up a riderLyft is the latest car-sharing company to sign onto an effort to make ride sharing cars more efficient. The post-millennial taxi service announced that it plans to introduce "thousands" of electric cars onto its platform and make it easy for riders to choose them using a new "Green Mode" in the Lyft app. "These efforts will provide cleaner...

BMW reveals prototype iNext electric SUV in winter testing

Prototype for BMW iNext electric SUV due in 2021After revealing the concept-car at a private event last September, BMW has revealed the, well, next iNext. Following the concept, the next version of the car is a test mule, complete with camouflage covering, undergoing cold-weather testing in northern Sweden—a typical place for automakers to test things like heaters, cold starts, and power...

Tesla Model 3 price cut another $1,100, for base price of $44,100

2019 Tesla Model 3 PerformanceFor the second time in barely more than a month, Tesla has cut the price of its entry level Model 3. On Jan. 1, the company cut prices $2,000 on all its models to partly compensate for a $3,750 reduction in the federal tax credit its buyers can receive. (Tesla's tax cuts are phasing down as originally scheduled after it reached 200,000 sales last...

Tesla buys ultracapacitor company to boost energy density

Tour of Tesla battery gigafactory for invited owners, Reno, Nevada, July 2016Maxwell Technologies, a San Diego company that specializes in ultracapacitor energy storage, announced Monday that it is being bought by Tesla in a stock swap valued at $218 million. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that he expects ultracapacitors could provide a more likely bet for a breakthrough in energy storage than batteries. Maxwell...