China
-
Countries around the world—especially China, France, the U.K., and Norway—are aiming to phase out the sale of new fossil-fuel vehicles entirely between 2025 and 2040. So it's in automakers' best interests to begin planning and investing now in vehicle lineups that will comply with that regulatory environment when it comes. But the amounts of cash that will require are not trivial. In fact, they're relatively staggering. DON'T MISS: Ford to cut engine funding by one third, invest in electrics, autonomy In total, global automakers have earmarked more than $90 billion to develop...
-
Byton electric SUV promised for 2019 at $45,000 after CES debut: first-ride video
It's rare that automakers let journalists or potential buyers drive or even ride in development prototypes. It's not unknown: Chevrolet did it with development versions of both its 2011 Volt range-extended electric car and the more recent 2017 Bolt EV battery-electric model. But it's a good way for...
John Voelcker -
Will US auto industry simply succumb to China over electric cars?
For a century, the U.S. auto industry was the world's largest. That ended in 2009, when China's sales of 13.5 million new vehicles surpassed a recession-slammed U.S. total of 10.4 million. Last year, U.S. drivers bought 17.5 million new vehicles—against more than 30 million sales in China...
John Voelcker -
China plug-in electric vehicle sales in 2017: almost four times those in the U.S.
Compared to previous years, overall car-sales growth in the U.S. has all but plateaued at around 17.5 million. China is doing little better, with growth reaching just 3 percent for 2017. But the Chinese new-vehicle market is undergoing a seismic shift in which types of cars are sold. Want proof?...
Mark Stevenson -
China extended tax breaks on hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles through 2020
As China stares down climate change and smog alerts in numerous cities, the central government has extended its tax rebates for hybrid and electric vehicles for another three years. Announced on December 27, the move is one of many recently that will eventually see traditional internal-combustion...
Mark Stevenson -
Shenzhen now uses only electric buses: 16,500 of them
Over the last few years, the Chinese government has begun to push electric vehicles with all its might. In addition to incentivizing the purchase of electric vehicles, the central government has recently banned the sale of some 553 fossil-fuel passenger cars in the country. But when it comes to...
Mark Stevenson -
China has taken a major step toward cleaning up the new cars sold in the country beginning January 1. As numerous countries debate plans to end sales of fossil-fuel vehicles completely at points in the future, China has now forced the end of production for some 553 models, starting Monday. The vehicles, from a wide range of automakers, can no longer legally be sold because they exceed fuel-consumption limits. DON'T MISS: China developing timetable to end sales, production of gasoline cars According to a Bloomberg report later confirmed by Chinese state media outlet Xinhua, the China Vehicle...
-
2017's most important green car story: internal-combustion engine ban in China
The most important green-car story of 2017 came on September 10, in a report by the Associated Press that covered articles in two Chinese state media outlets on a statement by a deputy industry minister. Speaking at "an auto industry forum," the AP wrote, Xin Guobin said his ministry has begun...
John Voelcker -
Faraday Future, primary investor crushed by mounting debt, lawsuits
Struggling Faraday Future and its founding investor Jia Yueting are facing financial and legal woes that threaten the company's existence. Jia specifically has been placed on an official list of debt defaulters on a website run by the Chinese government after the LeEco founder failed to follow a...
Mark Stevenson -
What was our most important story of 2017? Twitter poll results
Year-end roundups are an unavoidable necessity of the media business. They let editors and writers opine, and they fill space when there may be little real news. They also serve the more valuable function of forcing a longer-term perspective on the hundreds of news items a month that flow through...
John Voelcker -
Ford: China will lead our electric-car effort, 300-mile electric SUV to be built in Mexico
As we start to look toward the 2019 model year, it's worth noting that Ford hasn't introduced a single new hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric vehicle since 2013. In fact, the company is now clearing the decks and killing off old models. The C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid tall hatchback went out of...
John Voelcker -
China's aggressive plan to counter climate change leaves US government in the dust
As the Trump administration abandons numerous U.S. efforts to rein in emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide over time, another large polluter is pushing ahead with an aggressive plan to slash pollution from energy producers. China, currently the top carbon emitter and largest consumer...
Mark Stevenson -
Lists, news roundups, and general reflections are the usual order of business as a calendar year comes to a close. We've published more than 1,600 green-car news stories so far during 2017, and it's proven to be quite a year. In the car market at large, the most notable trend was a continued move toward utility vehicles of all sizes as passenger sedans and hatchbacks lagged in popularity. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model 3: impressions of a BMW i3 driver (and reservation holder) In the U.S., that's largely due to continued cheap gasoline prices and the higher fuel efficiency of all types of new...
-
Nio ES8 electric SUV to go on sale in China this month; half the price of Tesla Model X
Another day, another electric vehicle from another startup carmaker in China enters the fray. The Chinese company Nio has now officially launched its first vehicle for the masses—an all-electric 480-kilowatt (644-horsepower) SUV to take on Tesla's Model X at just over half the price. The new...
Mark Stevenson -
First all-electric NEVS 9-3 sedans (nee Saab) built in China two weeks ago
The company that bought the remains of Swedish carmaker Saab, known as National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), finally celebrated the start of car production in China two weeks ago. NEVS first production vehicle is the 9-3 electric, of which it plans to produce 50,000 copies annually during phase...
Mark Stevenson -
Weltmeister EX5: first electric car from $1 billion Chinese company you've never heard of
After numerous positions with BorgWarner, Fiat Group, Volvo, and China's largest automaker Geely, an executive named Freeman Shen has finally rolled out his own creation. That is the Weltmeiser EX5, the product of $1 billion in first-round funding from some of the largest players in Chinese tech...
Mark Stevenson -
Why China will beat U.S. in electric-car battle: urgency, regulations
As the electric-vehicle market matures and more global automakers commit to building battery-powered cars, one driving force has emerged to lead the pack. With apologies to the title of a comedy from half a century ago ... The Chinese Are Coming. That's the assertion made by old China hand Michael...
Mark Stevenson -
All-electric Chinese cargo ship will be used to haul coal
A shipyard in China has built what it says is the world's first all-electric cargo ship, capable of hauling 2,000 metric tons of lading some 50 miles on a single charge. The ship, built and operated by CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Ltd under the China State Shipbuilding...
Mark Stevenson -
How, where, when, and to what degree electric cars will increase their share of the world's billion-plus vehicle fleet is a topic of much debate these days. Combined with autonomy, connectivity, and sharing, the growing electrification of personal vehicles is a major transition for carmakers old and new. Now, with governments increasingly focused on reducing the carbon footprint of transportation, road vehicles are squarely in regulators' crosshairs. DON'T MISS: China developing timetable to end sales, production of gasoline cars Nowhere did that become more apparent than in China's...
-
Chinese electric-car startup SF Motors bought Tesla founder's battery-tech firm
Although Elon Musk is the name now associated with Tesla, the current CEO was not a founding figure in the electric-car startup. That honor goes to two men, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Eberhard subsequently sparred with Musk in and outside of court. Following his time at Tesla, Eberhard...
Sean Szymkowski -
Toyota to sell electric cars in China, use Suzuki EVs in India, from 2020: report
Toyota made its future battery-electric car project public this past April after an "agonizing" decision to depart from its sole focus on a future powered by hydrogen fuel cells as its sole zero-emission vehicle technology. Mostly, that shift is due to China and India—two major auto markets...
Sean Szymkowski -
Is China making U.S. irrelevant to the future of automobiles?
The first automobile was invented in Germany in 1885 by Karl Benz, but it was the U.S. that led the building of the global 20th-century automobile industry. Through the turn of the current century, the U.S. new-vehicle market was the world's largest, and General Motors was for decades the world's...
John Voelcker -
Chinese electric-car startup Nio gets $1 billion in funding: report
Nio, the electric-car maker formerly known as NextEV, has raised a substantial amount of money in its latest round of fundraising. The Chinese startup reportedly received a stunning $1 billion in funding, with Chinese investment powerhouse Tencent leading the charge. Notably, Tencent also holds a...
Sean Szymkowski -
Jaguar Land Rover owner denies stake in electric-car maker Faraday Future: updated report
Most reports on startup electric-car maker Faraday Future tend to describe it as "struggling," and that may be an understatement. It halted work at its Nevada-based production facility in 2016; the startup company's main backer, China's LeEco, acknowledged this past May it was experiencing...
Sean Szymkowski