Shell Airflow Starship semi truck leaves San Diego on record fuel-economy run

Shell Airflow Starship fuel economy record truckTruck driver Bob Sliwa hit the road on Thursday night in his carbon-fiber-bodied, diesel-powered semi truck, as he attempts to set a fuel economy record for big rigs by the time he pulls into Jacksonville, Fla., next Wednesday. The endeavor, sponsored by Shell and the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, aims to boost more than miles per...

Bitcoin processing uses more power than Teslas do, for now

Tesla Model S purchased with Bitcoins from Lamborghini Newport BeachOne criticism that doubters level at electric cars is that the electric grid may not have enough power to run them, at least in some places. While those concerns haven't materialized on any large scale, perhaps those critics should be more worried about Bitcoins. READ THIS: No, electric cars (still) aren't crashing the grid. Again. A new report by...

IIHS rates Autopilot emergency crash response in Tesla Model 3

Tesla Autopilot 2 Perpendicular ParkAfter a spate of crashes involving drivers using Tesla's Autopilot system, the press is awash in speculation about its effectiveness. Now the IIHS, which rates accident avoidance systems across many automakers, has given Tesla's system an official rating: "Superior." DON'T MISS: Report: Tesla rejected additional driver sensors for Autopilot The...

Volvo ditches diesel, but will half its cars be electric by 2024?

2017 Volvo S60 and V60 PolestarVolvo says it is going all-in on electric cars in an effort to turn the company into something of a Tesla alternative. To that end, the company has announced that half its cars will be battery electric models by 2024, according to a report in Road & Track earlier this year. It has also dedicated its high-performance Polestar brand to selling...

BMW reveals its self-driving, electric iNext vision for the future

Teaser for BMW iNext debuting in 2021At BMW's annual shareholders' meeting in Germany on Thursday the company released a teaser image of its future iNext electric car. The image shows an SUV silhouette similar is size to an X5, BMW's mid-size SUV. The iNext is designed to be a technology showcase for BMW: electric propulsion, full self-driving, and advanced interfaces, said BMW CEO...

Report: Tesla moves to set up operations in China

2014 Tesla Model S in ChinaFollowing a report last year that Tesla has received approval to build a factory in Shanghai, the company is setting up independent operations in China. According to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday (subscription required), Tesla is the first automaker to take advantage of new Chinese laws that will allow foreign green automakers to open for...

Northeast states band together to direct charging infrastructure

Electrify America 350 kw chargers at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.It sometimes seems as if everyone who buys an electric car lives in California. That's especially true from the perspective of officials in the Northeast, who have signed on to California's emissions regulations and zero-emissions vehicle mandates, yet see few electric cars sold in their states. One problem has been that states in the Northeast...

Why aren’t automakers advertising electric cars? Maybe they are

Chrysler Pacifica hybrid bear c ommercial stillSometimes you have to build a market when there's not one to cater to. How else would Ford have begun selling 300,000 Explorers a year when they were based on a rough-riding, antiquated (even then) Ranger pickup? Ford disseminated images in front of millions of American eyeballs of Explorers tracking campers along dirt trails, heading to the Grand...