VW says it needs ’40 gigafactories’ for electric-car batteries by 2025

Tesla Gigafactory battery plant in NevadaVW Group remains one of the world's three largest carmakers, along with Toyota and General Motors, but the German automaker foresees challenges ahead. Specifically, VVolkswagen believes the industry will face a shortage of lithium-ion batteries if new investment is not made soon for additional cell fabrication factories, often referred to using...

Combustion engines: high emissions from short commutes a huge challenge

Chrome exhaust pipeDrivers in the U.S. have longer commutes than those in Europe and Asia, on average. In the U.K., short commutes in vehicles with combustion engines—whether gasoline or diesel—pose particularly tough emission problems. That's because the exhaust aftertreatment systems have to warm up fully before they cut emissions to the levels...

Can we have fully carbon-free electricity by 2100? Predictions vary

Solar farm used by West Hill House B&BThe future of energy production remains in considerable debate, but some new research provides a more optimistic view for a lower-carbon future. Sources for new and replacement energy production remain uncertain, especially the degree to which renewable sources can replace those based on fossil fuels. Even with the newer, optimistic predictions...

If 2018 Nissan Leaf has 200-mile range, what will it cost? Poll results

Teaser for 2018 Nissan Leaf debuting in 2017At the moment, the Tesla Model 3 is getting lots of media attention and electric-car buzz now that the company says its first production car has rolled out of the factory—even if features, specs, and pricing isn't yet known. Meanwhile, the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV is at roughly 9,000 cars sold in North America over the past six months...

Life with Tesla Model S: the challenges of selling her at last

2013 Tesla Model S, in July 2017   [photo: David Noland]It was time to let her go. She is my 2013 Tesla Model S, serial number 003662, in dark green, now with 76,000 memorable miles. The best car I’ve ever owned, by far. She had taken me to 33 states and roughly 100 Superchargers, through deserts, mountains, and tropics, with total reliability, and always with style and flair. DON'T MISS: Life...

Bolt EV electric car sales after 6 months: how do they compare?

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016Last month, 1,642 Chevrolet Bolt EV 238-mile battery-electric hatchbacks found buyers, enough to take the Bolt's six-month aggregate to 7,592 deliveries all told. It was the latest and highest in a string of rising monthly delivery totals for the 238-mile battery electric hatchback, and it marked half a year (plus a couple of weeks) that the Bolt...

2017 Tesla Model 3 in pilot production: Musk tweets photos of first car

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017It now appears that the 2017 Tesla Model 3 has entered pilot production, following a pair of photos tweeted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The caption on the first of the two photos, this one black-and-white, says simply, "First production Model 3." The second photo, tweeted 40 minutes later, is in full color but bears no caption. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model...

Streetlights that charge electric cars arrive in California city

ebee streelight charging stationAs the market for electric vehicles continues to grow, electric-car infrastructure will need to keep up with the growing population of them. To solve the problem, companies are looking at a variety of new and innovative ways to charge more cars without actually taking up more space. Enter the ebee Smart Technologies streetlight charging...

Driving a Chevy Bolt EV electric car across Canada, all the way

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car on Coquilhalla Highway, BC, Canada, May 2017 [Boyd/Hetherington]To celebrate Canada's 150th birthday, Barb Hetherington and Buddy Boyd embarked on their maiden voyage to prove electric car travel is feasible in a very large country with some very sparsely populated areas. With a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV as their chariot, and their dog Piper for company, the couple left Victoria, British Columbia. They don't plan...

Missing piece in global vehicle emission puzzle: heavy trucks

Toyota 'Project Portal' proof-of-concept hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi tractor, for Port of LAA global push to reduce vehicle emissions and create cleaner air for future generations has been underway for half a century now. However, while many governments around the world have introduced lower emission and higher fuel-efficiency standards for passenger cars, another large contributor to global emissions has mostly traveled under the radar...