The Tesla Model 3 is serving as a test mule for Lightyear’s new solar roof. Public electric-vehicle charging expanded at a record rate in 2019 as EV sales themselves sputtered. Mullen is moving to the stock market and now also talking about an electric SUV. And will a West Coast electric highway for fast-charging commercial trucks find traction—and funding? This and more, here at Green Car Reports.
The Dutch startup Lightyear is developing its solar-panel-supplemented electric car; and in the meantime the Tesla Model 3 is serving as a testbed for the company’s solar roof system.
EV advocates have wondered for much of the past decade whether the infrastructure should be built out ahead of an electric-car expansion, or whether the sales will lead the build-out. To further feed that debate, recent data from the IEA shows that globally 2019 was a banner year for growth in publicly accessible chargers.
Electric utilities have released a plan to build a West Coast electric highway for commercial trucks, aiming to provide the means for big electric semis to do quick recharges at even intervals up and down the I-5 corridor by 2030.
Mullen Technologies, the enigmatic California company that owns used-car lots and the remains of Coda, has announced plans to deliver an electric SUV in the U.S. in 2021. The plans coincide with a move to become publicly traded. As with the Qiantu K50 the company also plans to bring Stateside, the SUV is a Chinese-market vehicle that would be homologated for the U.S., and shipped over in pieces for final assembly.
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