Report: Trump EPA plans to cancel California emissions waiver

Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-bussThe EPA is planning to cancel the special waiver that California has relied on since 1970 to set its own emissions standards, according to a Bloomberg report. As part of its plan to reverse a program to steadily tighten fuel economy standards that it coordinates with California and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the EPA has...

Washington State electric car credits expire, agencies miss mandates

DC Fast-Charging Stations in Oregon and Washington states, January 2015 [map: PlugShare.com]On the same day that Washington State's electric-car tax credits expired on June 1, an advocacy organization issued a report that said state agencies have done very little to meet a deadline to buy electric cars. The state passed a law in 2007 requiring that all public agencies meet 100 percent of their transportation needs with electricity or...

Jeep Grand Commander EV leads FCA electrification push

2018 Chrysler Pacifica HybridAn all-electric Jeep may clamber to life as soon as 2021—at least in China. The Jeep Grand Commander will arrive in 2021 with an all-electric powertrain, according to a sweeping presentation by Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne in Italy Friday. The company didn't reveal any more details about the electric Grand Commander or specify whether...

Crowdfunded Estonian Nobe electric has a plan to revive bubble cars

Estonian Nobe conceptWant to get in on the ground floor of a new electric-car startup? Crowdfunding seems to be the latest rage for automotive startups in Europe. The latest is an Estonian startup called Nobe, which hopes to raise funding to build a small, electric three-wheeler. The company officially launched the vehicle Wednesday along with a crowdfunding drive...

California utilities commission passes record incentives for chargers

Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-bussThe California Public Utilities commission on Thursday approved the largest public electric vehicle charging package in U.S. history, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. NRDC senior attorney Max Baumhefner, who lobbied for the program, says it is designed to set electricity up as a direct competitor to gasoline as a transportation...

Battery tech may be getting a big solid-state boost soon

Tesla Motors - Model S lithium-ion battery packA Woburn, Massachusetts, company may be attracting big name attention for its solid-state technology that it says can withstand higher temperatures and offer higher capacity. For battery makers, producing a stable solid to withstand the rigors of charging and discharging has proved elusive. Ionic Materials said in February that it had secured $65...