Bradley writes about electric cars, autonomous vehicles, smart homes, and other tech that’s transforming society. He contributes to The New York Times, SAE International, Via Magazine, Popular Mechanics, MIT Technology Review, and others. https://twitter.com/bradberman
The Lexus UX 300e, the luxury brand’s first EV, is on sale in China now and hits Europe later this year. Lexus in Europe announced today that the crossover’s air-cooled 54.3-kilowatt-hour battery will come with a 10-year, 1 million-kilometer (621,000-mile) warranty. The Lexus UX300e joins the Nissan Leaf as one of the few EVs with air-cooled batteries, which are considered not as robust.
Two very distinct electric vehicle markets are emerging on opposite sides of the Atlantic. EVs in Europe are blurring the lines between minicars, compacts, and electric quadricycles. Meanwhile, bigger is better for EVs in the US.
Fiat-Chrysler has been slow and hesitant about electric cars. But it appears that Olivier François, Fiat’s brand president, is finally coming around to EVs. He explained why the demand for the new Fiat 500, which is exclusively electric, could “explode.”
Polestar will have a retail location in New York City, where it will sell its $60,000, 78kWh Polestar 2 EV. Any day, the company is expected to announce the location of approximately 15 North American “Polestar spaces.” Electrek learned that in addition to NYC, Los Angeles will be on the list, as well as two spots in the San Francisco Bay Area and three locations in Canada. Free deliveries will begin in September within around 100 miles from Polestar locations.
The world’s electric-car infrastructure is growing by leaps and bounds. But there are still gaps – places without chargers that could be served if EV charging was portable, flexible, and put on wheels. Colorado-based Lightning Systems today became the latest to introduce a mobile DC fast charger for electric vehicles. But are these solutions more than a gimmick?
The Volvo brand is all about safety. Today the company announced that it will equip its next-generation vehicles with lidar, an expensive sensor that has almost entirely been reserved for fleet-based robotaxis — not passenger cars. Tesla rejected lidar entirely. But Volvo believes lidar’s robust capabilities can be applied to millions of vehicles for hands-off highway driving.
April 2020 was the first month in history that renewables generated more electricity than coal on every day of the month. That’s based on new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and compiled by the nonprofit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Volkswagen sales director Jürgen Stackmann announced today on Twitter and LinkedIn that “pre-bookers” can complete their order for an ID.3 1st Edition starting June 17. There are reportedly more than 30,000 pre-orders. In recent months, it was rumored that Volkswagen would delay the market introduction of the ID.3 EV, but the first orders will happen next month.
States, cities, and utilities from coast to coast are expanding programs to encourage EV adoption and new charging infrastructure. The pause in driving and pollution during the pandemic is urging authorities to promote electric cars. These local efforts come as the federal government weakens emissions standards.
The new car market in the UK went off a cliff in April, plummeting 97.3%. Only 4,321 new cars were registered in April. In this highly unusual situation, 31.8% of sales were battery-electric vehicles.
It appears that the UK hit peak diesel last year and is not looking back. The RAC Foundation reported that there were 12.4 million diesel cars on UK roads in 2018, but that number fell to below 12.3 million last year. Meanwhile, in Q1 2020, the Diesel Technology Forum (DTM) said there was a rise in diesel sales this year, mostly among pickup trucks.
Despite all the hype about high levels of vehicle autonomy, drivers always need to keep their hands on the wheel. Audi had planned to be the first automaker to introduce so-called Level 3 autonomy, where you could take your eyes off the road and let the car drive. But the combination of legislative uncertainty and a patchwork approach to the technology led the German automaker to give up self-driving plans for the next A8 due next year.
At the end of the month, Nissan will present its new “operational performance plan.” Early media reports show that Nissan will expand cooperation with Mitsubishi for plug-in hybrids in Asia and Renault for EVs in Europe. Plans for the Ariya, a new all-electric crossover, remain murky.
Toronto-based First Cobalt said today it would become North America’s first producer of cobalt sulphate, which is crucial for EV batteries. By the end of next year, its Ontario refinery could produce enough cobalt for at least 335,000 electric vehicles by the end of next year.
In recent years, EV-producing automakers have focused on expanding choices for all-electric, long-range sedans, SUVs, and pickups. That leaves an opening for smaller electric cars at the lowest price points for mass-market consumers, mostly in Europe and Asia. Volkswagen is planning to fill that gap with a new brand of EVs selling for less than $22,000.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this week claimed that the “Long Range Plus” version of the Model S was robbed of achieving a 400-mile range rating by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During the Q1 earnings call, Musk said that the EPA left the car’s door open and the key inside when stopping during range testing, resulting in the car losing 2% of battery capacity. The EPA now refutes Musk’s claim.
The libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) believes that Donald Trump didn’t go far enough to slash clean car standards. So it filed the first of many lawsuits to challenge the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency rules.
In November, Ken Morris, who has been with GM for 31 years, was named vice-president for electric and autonomous vehicles. It’s hard to imagine how he could be more gung-ho on EVs. In interviews over the past few months, he repeatedly states that GM (and the world) will soon hit an inflection point for electric propulsion. He told Automobile magazine last week that GM will be all-electric “sooner than people would think.”
Newly appointed Honda Canada CEO Jean Marc Leclerc is not keen on electric vehicles. In an interview with the Windsor Star, he trots out all the typical anti-EV arguments: too expensive, not practical, money-losing, and no demand.
Imagine a future where your EV was getting low on charge on a highway road trip – so you deploy a telescoping charging cable to another EV and borrow a few kilowatt-hours. An engineering professor at the University of Florida believes it’s not far-fetched.
Audi announced today that the Sportback version of its e-tron EV will hit dealerships this summer with a starting price of $77,400. The extra few thousand dollars above the existing e-tron SUV brings a sleeker sportback silhouette and a boost to 218 miles of range.
EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson wants to make a Green Deal part of the pandemic recovery plan. Simson told Bloomberg, “Getting rid of fossil fuel subsidies while lowering taxes on electricity can nudge us in the right direction, without putting too much pressure on the consumers.”
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) yesterday released the final draft of the Advanced Clean Trucks standard. The proposal will put roughly 100,000 and 300,000 electric trucks on California’s roads in 2030 and 2035, respectively, out of approximately 1.8 million and 1.9 million total trucks expected in those years. The Union of Concerned Scientists believes the state should go further.
When GM in January announced that it will introduce an all-electric GMC Hummer, it only offered an image of the front grille. But the company promised a full reveal on May 20. The pandemic has now caused GM to postpone that event, with no set rescheduled date. To keep the buzz going, GM provides a single new overhead teaser image that only provides the most obscure view of the EV.