Electric Vehicles

In the US, a study found that the electric vehicle shopping experience at car dealers is quite poor and a problem for EV adoption.

Now, a new study finds a similar problem in Europe where “dismissive and deceptive car dealerships create barriers to electric vehicle adoption at the point of sale.”
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Electric vehicles already have several advantages over gas-powered cars. From no fuel cost to zero tailpipe emission, but now a new study might confirm another often overlooked advantage of EVs.

The quieter driving environment of an electrically driven vehicle can have significant mental health benefits, according to a new brain monitoring study.
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A new AAA survey shows that 20 percent or 50 million Americans will likely go electric for their next vehicle purchase.

The data can be encouraging or depressing depending on how you look at it.
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With the countless number of issues that Uber has faced in recent years from regulatory compliance in many markets to major culture problems, people have often been turning to alternatives for ride-hailing services recently.

Lyft has been the main one, but other startups are also seeing opportunities to offer the service in a better way.

One of them is currently emerging in France as an all-electric and socially responsible ride-hailing service.
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At the New York International Auto Show this week, over a dozen major automakers have teamed up to launch a marketing campaign “to increase electric car use throughout the Northeast.”

But the effort is led by the automakers’ lobbying groups who have historically been anti-EV.
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The argument that electric vehicles are just as polluting as gas-powered vehicles because they consume electricity produced from polluting sources like coal plants has been debunked on many occasions at this point.

It’s now not only untrue, but electric vehicles are also rapidly becoming increasingly greener thanks to a cleaner electric grid.

In the US, the latest study shows that on average, an EV driving on electricity is equivalent to a conventional (nonexistent) gasoline car that gets 80 MPG.
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For years now, U.S. regulators have been working on a rule, known as the “quiet car rule”, that will force electric vehicle manufacturers to include a device in their EVs to emit a sound at up to 19 mph to protect pedestrians.

It was supposed to be implemented in EV models coming as soon as next year, but now automakers have one more year to adapt to the new rule.
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Research firm KPMG has released its annual automotive executive survey and it’s even more depressing than we could have imagined.

According to the survey, a majority of auto executives still think that battery electric cars will fail.
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Sorry for the snarky headline and the swipe at internal combustion engines, but I have seen so much misinformation spread about electric cars in cold weather lately that I had to clarify something.

Yes, electric cars are negatively affected by the extreme cold, but it’s perfectly manageable and arguably as manageable if not more easily manageable than gas-powered cars.
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In the general public, the range on a single charge is still the biggest concern when it comes to electric vehicles. That’s despite the fact that most EVs have enough range to cover their average commute several times over.

A longer range is believed to be key for wider EV adoption and the vehicles offered on the market are certainly going in the right direction with the median all-electric vehicle range growing from 73 miles (117 km) in model year 2011 to 114 miles (183 km) in model year 2017 of EVs available in the US.
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Bad news hit the EV world last week when Republicans unveiled their tax bill and it included a complete removal of the federal tax credit for electric vehicles by the end of the year.

The only hope for EV buyers is that the language about the tax credit changes by the time the bill becomes law. Now, those EV buyers might have an ally within the GOP.
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A new “Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill” is being introduced by the government in the UK in the Queen’s Speech.

It includes some interesting measures, including mandatory installations of electric car chargers at motorway services and gas stations.
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) came out with its 2017 Global EV Outlook and it highlights the fact that the world’s EV fleet reached over 2 million cars last year.

It also breaks down the distribution of electric vehicles around the world by country and shows how China as solidified its position as an EV leader.
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Honda, like most other major automakers in Japan and Korea, is still very much invested in fuel cell hydrogen powertrains, which has resulted in little development in battery-powered vehicles.

While the company is apparently not ready to give up on fuel cell, they announced plans to “strengthen the development” of battery vehicles and that they will unveil a new electric vehicle this autumn.
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Just as Texas was shutting the door on Tesla over their direct sale model last week, they relaunched their $2,500 electric vehicle rebate to spur EV adoption.

While it’s good news for EV buyers in general, Tesla buyers are not likely to have access to the program since its going through dealerships, which Tesla is not allowed to operate in the state.
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The argument that electric vehicles are just as polluting as gas-powered vehicles because they consume electricity produced from coal plants has been looming over electric vehicles for a long time.

It has been debunked on a few occasions and while there are places where the grid is so dirty that it doesn’t make a big difference whether someone drives an electric car or a very efficient gas-powered car, most of the US electric grid is clean enough that it doesn’t come close to the efficiency of electric cars.

As the grid gets cleaner, thanks to solar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy sources, the electric car’s advantage is increasing every day and the latest data shows that it’s not even a contest anymore.
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Electric vehicle sales keep increasing at an impressive pace in Canada to a point that they are now representing a meaningful percentage of overall car sales.

During the first quarter 2017, electric vehicle deliveries reached a record high of 1,474 units (BEVs and PHEVs) – up 68% over the same period last year.
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Electric vehicle sales are closely followed by auto industry analysts who are trying to predict when they will surpass internal combustion engine sales.

Morgan Stanley’s analysts are the latest to share their prediction in a new report today. They predict that more electric vehicles will be sold in 2040 than gas-powered cars.
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Last year, we reported on how electric vehicle investments were on track for a record high in 2016 after years of record lows following the bankruptcy of a few startups, namely Fisker, Coda, A123, and Better Place.

CB Insight has been tracking EV investments and confirmed the record year in 2016, but it projects a significant slow down in 2017 again.
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Denmark announced the phasing out of its tax break for electric vehicles starting in 2015, which caused Tesla’s sales to surge to an all-time high in the country, but they have been virtually non-existent since then and all electric car sales have crashed.

To highlight the impact, 1,300 electric vehicles were sold in Denmark in 2016, while Tesla delivered 1,300 vehicles in December 2015 alone.

The government has now announced that they are walking back some of the changes in order to boost back EV sales for at least 5,000 more vehicles.
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It’s hard to believe for someone like me who spend most of his time researching electric vehicles, but simple awareness of electric vehicles and their qualities is still the biggest barrier to EV adoption.

It is becoming clearer than ever today when looking into the results of a new survey of 158,000 people – mostly young new drivers who are studying for the driver license tests. Surprisingly, 70% of them said no to electric vehicles.
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