charging
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With wires running along almost every street in America where cars drive, putting EV chargers along the curb would seem a natural enough place to put them. While several other countries such as Britain have begun efforts to put charging stations on light poles, in America, chargers have been sited almost exclusively in parking lots and garages. Now EVgo, a network of mainly DC fast chargers, has set up the first public fast chargers along the side of the street in Sacramento. READ THIS: California utilities commission passes record incentives for chargers The new installation, on 6th Street...
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West Coast charging corridor may expand to trucksEven as installations of fast and public chargers for electric cars have taken off, they have not kept pace with the number of new electric cars automakers have sold. Now states and utilities are trying to get ahead of a potential similar problem for trucks. Following on an earlier model for the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Colorado bill aims to fine ICEholes who block charging spotsAs one of the top states in the nation for electric-car sales, Colorado hopes to do something about charging problems. In the state's General Assembly, the House passed a bill on Friday to fine drivers who park non-electric cars in any electric-car charging space $150, statewide. The bill is now...
Eric C. Evarts -
Charging network EVgo goes tagless, tests battery buffers at stationsUpdated: This article has been updated to include the specific location of the first charger and detail from the event. At an event in Los Angeles on Monday, EVgo turned on the first DC fast charger in the nation that doesn't rely on RFID tags or even credit cards to be activated—other than...
Eric C. Evarts -
Kona Electric pricing, Ford charging software, Karma recall, EV racing: Today's Car NewsHyundai quietly bumped up the price for a new Kona Electric, Ford used big data for better charging, and EV racing may have a future.
Eric C. Evarts -
Ford develops software to target most effective places for public chargersFord in the U.K. used big data to calculate the most convenient places for public charging, which could be used for fleet operators in the future.
Eric C. Evarts -
It’s not unusual for fuel gauges on gasoline cars to be inaccurate. Often they can hug "Full" so long you might suspect it’s malfunctioning—only to then swing rapidly toward the halfway mark and below. Usually these idiosyncrasies are no big deal. When the low-fuel light and chime prompt you, you’re almost always within distance of a gas station, where you can fuel up and be back on your way in minutes. For electric cars, the same is not true. Unfortunately, it’s a version of this that can make road-trip time in some electric vehicles a harrowing experience. The...
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Mountain hardware: Testing the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV on a high-country day tripColorado, which is taking steps to adopt California’s EV mandate, has always had a different wildcard factor affecting road trips: altitude. The state has the highest portions of the Interstate highway system, including routes spanning past 11,000 feet and varying several thousand feet. Even...
Andrew Ganz -
Colorado to launch smart-charging pilot program as it prepares for EVsAs it prepares to launch an electric-car mandate in coming years, Colorado is working to learn how electric cars can help it move to a more renewable energy grid. The non-profit Platte River Power Authority announced last month that it is teaming up with eMotorWerks, which sells home smart...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 gets Supercharging V3 first: How about 75 miles of range in 5 minutes?If you road-trip with an electric car like a Tesla, you soon become acutely aware of miles per hour. That's not the miles per hour you see on the speedometer, but the rate at which the car will gain range when being fast-charged. It determines how quickly you can pull out of the charging station...
Bengt Halvorson -
Ford C-Max Energi, Fusion Energi owners still waiting for cooler charge cordsSix months after Ford issued a recall over a fire risk and its charge cords, some drivers of Ford plug-in vehicles still don’t have the peace of mind of a new charge cord. The recall, issued last August, affected or the 120V AC “convenience charge cord” that Ford supplies with...
Bengt Halvorson -
Volvo's Polestar 2 electric car, plug-in Jeeps, Honda e Prototype: Today's Car NewsHonda showed off its e Prototype concept for the upcoming Geneva auto show. Volvo unveiled its first all-electric car, the Polestar 2, and we compared it with the Tesla Model 3 Fiat Chrysler announced a new $4.5 million investment to lay the groundwork to begin producing plug-in versions of all of...
Eric C. Evarts -
In a study released on Tuesday, Volvo and its Harris polling partners found that 29 percent of electric-car drivers wished for more wireless charging. That may or may not be what our readers think. After one of the biggest suppliers of wireless charging, Qualcomm, announced last week that it would sell its Halo wireless charging business to rival WiTricity, in a deal that looks likely to break open the wireless charging market, we asked our own Twitter followers whether wireless charging would be a meaningful benefit to them. Our Twitter poll last week asked: "Do you look forward to home...
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Do you look forward to wireless charging at home? Take our Twitter pollLast week, news came that could make finally help bring wireless charging to more electric-car drivers. Qualcomm, one of the biggest players sold its Halo wireless charging business to one of its biggest rivals, WiTricity. Not unlike DC fast charging, one of the biggest problems bringing the new...
Eric C. Evarts -
Rivian buzz, renewable-grid deep freeze, wireless charging deal: Today's Car NewsTech giant Qualcomm sells its Halo wireless charging business to rival WiTricity. GM and Amazon could be in talks to invest in startup electric pickup-maker Rivian. A new computer model tests how a 100-percent renewable power grid would have held up to the recent polar vortex. And results of last...
Eric C. Evarts -
Qualcomm sells wireless charging patents to WiTricityIt's one of the worst nightmares for electric-car drivers: They go out to jump in their car, and somebody forgot to plug it in. Automakers and technology companies have talked for years about developing wireless charging, but it hasn't developed in part because of disagreements over standards, and...
Eric C. Evarts -
One-step Plug&Charge coming to Greenlots stationsNo more RFID tags! A new "interoperability" standard is sweeping across the electric-car charging landscape in the U.S. After reaching the largest ChargePoint network last month, Hubject's Plug&Charge is now coming to Greenlots chargers, the companies announced last week. The technology will...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 could charge faster in Europe, charging network results suggestDeliveries of the Tesla Model 3 in Europe have just started. So too have some accounts of the most significant difference included in European-market versions of the electric sedan: their CCS Combo DC fast charging port. One of those first accounts has come from the European charging network...
Bengt Halvorson -
Over the next 2-1/2 years, Electrify America plans to expand its network of DC fast chargers for electric cars to include more cities, as well as to finish more of its build-out along highways across the U.S. Electrify America is a division of VW founded to use money from Volkswagen's diesel emissions settlement to build out a network of fast chargers to make it easier for consumers to own and get where they want to go in an electric car. MUST READ: Electrify America maps out charging network to rival Tesla Superchargers Under terms of the court-decreed settlement, Electrify America is...
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Tesla battery packs coming to Electrify America chargersElectrify America has been billed as a charging network to compete with Tesla's Superchargers. Now it turns out, they may be partners as well. In an announcement on Monday, Electrify America said it would install Tesla stationary battery packs at 100 of its locations to balance power demand and...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla squeeze, broadband charging, EV education, EPA science: Today's Car NewsThe British parent of Virgin Media plans to use Virgin's broadband wiring to build public electric-car charging stations. Electric-car charging info site Chargeway sets up its first installations in Portland, Oregon. And the EPA appointed a noted skeptic of climate action. All this and more on...
Eric C. Evarts -
Chargeway Beacon to help shoppers and dealers navigate past EV charging confusionMultiple electric vehicles arriving this year promise a driving range of more than 200 miles. While that’s great news, and it’s bound to convince more households to make the jump to a fully electric vehicle—and to take road trips with it—it presents a new challenge to...
Bengt Halvorson -
Forget light poles, British firm to build chargers from cable boxesThe future of electric-car charging may be down in the trenches. At least British broadband provider Liberty Global hopes so. The company, which owns Virgin Media, plans to start a pilot project using Virgin Media's cables and trenches that run to thousands of neighborhoods around Britain. Since...
Eric C. Evarts -
VW buggy, Porsche 911 Hybrid, Shell chargers, Tesla profits: Today's Car NewsTesla reported profits, and revealed new model lineups for its Model S and Model X—and another price cut. Volkswagen announced it will build a concept electric dune buggy for the Geneva auto show. Details of the upcoming Porsche 911 Hybrid have emerged. And Shell has bought its first charging...
Eric C. Evarts