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Mercedes breaks ground on U.S. battery factory

2020 Mercedes-Benz EQCMercedes-Benz has broken ground on a new battery factory in the U.S.—right next door to its SUV factory in Alabama. The move is an indication that the company plans to build its upcoming all-electric EQC electric SUV in Alabama. The EQC is expected to go on sale in the U.S. as a 2021 model. Mercedes exports many of the SUVs it produces in...
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Subsidy’s swansong: Canadian plug-in sales take a dip

2018 Nissan Leaf SLAfter generous tax credits expired in Canada’s largest province of Ontario, September, not April, turned out to be the coldest month for electric-car sales North of the Border. The tax credit was worth up to $10,000 ($14,000 Canadian.) British Columbia was a bright spot, with the provincial government announcing plans to maintain current...
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Tesla again claims higher safety rating than NTHSA gives

Tesla Model 3 NHTSA testTesla took a page out of its Model S playbook over the weekend and announced that its Model 3 is the safest car that NHTSA has tested. Only Tesla isn't NHTSA. In a blog post Sunday night, Tesla said it based its findings on NHTSA data, just as it did with the Model S in 2013. "The agency’s data shows that vehicle occupants are less likely to...
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How fast is fast enough for fast charging? Twitter poll results

EVgo charging station in Union City, California with resused BMW i3 battery backupIn an effort to make electric-car charging as ubiquitous and easy as filling up with gas, fast chargers are coming to malls, gas stations, rest areas and more, and these upcoming chargers are getting a lot faster. Where original fast chargers could replenish less than 65 miles in a half-hour charging session, some new chargers today can do up to...
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Trump expected to lift E15 ban limiting ethanol in summer gasoline

Donald TrumpPresident Donald Trump is expected Tuesday to direct the EPA to lift the seasonal ban on higher-ethanol E15 blends of pump gasoline linked to summer smog issues. The move has been anticipated for months. This timing for it, according to Reuters, is aimed at helping Republican candidates in farm-belt states during mid-term elections held in four...
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Nothing comes close to Tesla: 2018 Q3 plug-in sales

Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland [photo: Forth]Even with solid increases, other electric-car sales paled in comparison with numbers from Tesla in September and for the third quarter of 2018. The next highest sellers, were the Chevrolet Bolt EV, with 3,949 sales from July to September, and the Nissan Leaf just behind with 3,767 for the quarter. By comparison, Tesla announced it sold 55,843...
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FCA announces production Jeep Renegade plug-in hybrid in Italy

2019 Jeep RenegadeJeep said Monday that it laid the groundwork to begin production of a plug-in hybrid version of its small Renegade at the factory in southern Italy where it's produced alongside the Fiat 500X. The model is expected to go on sale in early 2020, though it's not clear whether it is intended for the U.S. Jeep did not immediately respond for comment on...
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Catastrophic climate effects could hit by 2040, UN report says

Tesla Model S 'swimming' through flooded underpass, June 2016 [YouTube video by Sanzhar Altayev]Two decades. That's all the time world leaders have to reverse emissions of greenhouse gases to avoid inundating coastal cities, killing off coral reefs and their attendant marine wildlife, and potential food shortages, according to a new UN report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report was the first commissioned by world...