NHTSA to Tesla: Stop claiming your cars are the safest

Tesla Model 3 NHTSA testFederal officials told Tesla again in October to stop advertising the Tesla Model 3 as the having "the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by NHTSA," federal documents revealed. The notice surfaced Wednesday by nonprofit PlainSite. The response runs 79 pages, with another 450 withheld at Tesla's request. In its letter, NHTSA...

Are EV conversions relevant today? Twitter poll results

1970 Aston Martin DB6 MkII Volante with electric powertrainEven as more major automakers announce plans to mass-produce electric cars, more companies have cropped up to convert old cars to electric power—even on a mass scale. A company in Montreal is working to convert old Ford F-150s to electric power for fleets. Several British luxury automakers, including Jaguar and Aston Martin, now offer old...

Report: EV sales will surpass gas-powered models in 2037

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars outside dealership    [photo: Patrick Reid]Sales of new electric passenger cars will surpass those of internal combustion models by 2037 according to a new report on EVs from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The report, "Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019," anticipates that 30 percent of vehicles in the world will be powered by electric motors by 2040. It forecasts that worldwide EV sales will...

Honda pulls back Clarity PHEV outside California

2018 Honda Clarity PHEV Plugged into L1 in Corte Madera, Calif.As East Coast states try to catch California in plug-in car sales, they've lost another arrow in their quiver. Honda switched from offering big incentives on Clarity Plug-In Hybrids in Northeastern States to shipping its entire U.S. allotment to California, according to a Honda spokeswoman. "California is the largest market for plug-in hybrid...

Battery supply shortages may be linked to rising demand for nickel

Lithium-ion battery cellsAs automakers fret over materials and supplies of electric car batteries, it may not be lithium keeping executives up at night. A new report from Bloomberg reveals that prices for class one nickel—high purity and required in some electric car batteries—has jumped more than 35 percent since the end of 2018 on the London Metal Exchange...

Would automatic robotic chargers be helpful? Take our Twitter poll

Automated charging pilot project  -  EA and Stable AutoElectrify America is developing new chargers with robotic arms to plug into self-driving cars. That led us to wonder: Is that really more helpful than wireless charging pads? Wireless chargers lose efficiency if cars don't line up over them precisely, which may trouble some drivers. If cars are driving themselves, they could be expected to line up...

VW ID R Nurburgring lap sets efficiency record too

Volkswagen ID R electric race car sets Nurburgring lap recordsAs the Volkswagen ID R electric race car blistered around Germany's famous Nurburgring-Nordschliefe race course in June, it broke another record too: for the lowest fuel consumption driving around the course. Volkswagen announced Friday that the ID R set a new fuel-efficiency record of the equivalent of 17 mpg on the lap. If that sounds like...