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No single core component in an electric vehicle costs more—or probably matters more for the acceptance of EVs—than the battery pack. Many would argue that one of the best decisions Tesla ever made was going with the Panasonic 18650 cells in the Model S (and later, Model X). Thanks in part to good power management and thermal planning, they’ve proven reliable and relatively resistant to degradation. Now Volkswagen is locking in a battery design that could power millions of vehicles, including the much-anticipated I.D. Buzz electric van. Fundamentally the approach is different...
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Will Volkswagen's electric Microbus be made in the USA?Volkswagen is expecting to launch at least three new all-electric vehicles in the U.S. in the next five years. The first will be the 2020 introduction of the ID, a unique electric-only that would replace the e-Golf; the much-anticipated, all-electric ID Buzz, a remake on the counterculture-icon...
Bengt Halvorson -
Infiniti Q50 Hybrid leaves, all-electric Audi e-tron arrives, Tesla investigation grows: The Week in ReverseAre federal officials investigating Tesla CEO Elon Musk? Even more than they already may be? How much will the new 2019 Nissan Leaf cost when it goes on sale? And what about a bigger battery already? And what about Audi's anticipated all-electric model? This is our look back on the week in green...
Aaron Cole -
State officials telegraph looming fight to proposed federal EPA rollbacksConnecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and state attorneys general from California and Maryland said Friday that they will vigorously fight proposed rollbacks by the EPA to federal emissions standards ahead of public hearings scheduled for next week. "We’re not interested in taking a punch. We want...
Aaron Cole -
Out of juice: Infiniti Q50 Hybrid luxury sedan droppedThe long-running Infiniti Q50 Hybrid luxury sedan won't return for 2019 in the U.S., the automaker said Thursday. Infiniti spokesman Kyle Bazemore confirmed the demise of the Q50 Hybrid this year for Green Car Reports. The automaker axed the Q70 Hybrid in July. Although Infiniti didn't report sales...
Aaron Cole -
Electric Volkswagen Microbus concept gets right down to businessThe panel of Volkswagen ID Buzz concepts based on the automaker's all-electric frame has finally reached, well, panel status. In Hannover, Germany, Volkswagen on Thursday showed off its ID Buzz Cargo concept based on its MEB electric-car architecture. According to VW, the panel van shows off the...
Aaron Cole -
Volkswagen is doubling down on its electric car strategy, it announced at a press event in Dresden, Germany on Monday. The company announced plans to build 27 electric cars on its upcoming MEB affordable electric-car architecture by 2022 in an effort it calls "Electric for All." Those include cars already announced, such as the ID small hatchback at the end of 2019; the ID Crozz small crossover vehicle in 2020; and the electric recreation of the classic Microbus in 2022, the ID Buzz. VW will also build another 22 models on the platform, vehicles which have not been identified. Volkswagen...
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Report: Justice Department investigating Tesla, Musk over tweetsThe U.S. Department of Justice may be investigating Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for criminal wrongdoing related to a series of tweets its founder sent this year, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment on the report. At issue are a series of tweets...
Aaron Cole -
Audi e-tron electric crossover debuts to battle TeslaAnd finally, there is Audi. Late Monday night, the German luxury maker debuted took to the stage in San Francisco with its long-awaited, first volume battery-electric vehicle, a five-seat midsize crossover utility to be known simply as e-tron. It also opened reservations and will allow customers to...
John Voelcker -
Tesla opens its first in-house body shops to reduce repair timesFacing reports of long wait times at Tesla-authorized collision repair centers, Tesla is bringing collision repairs in-house. The company has been opening in-house body shops at a Tesla service centers in the past month, and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday that the company plans...
Eric C. Evarts -
BMW Vision iNext electric concept redefines German luxury flagshipFor decades, the flagship of every German luxury maker’s line has been its largest sedan: the Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, and at the pinnacle, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. But times change. The BMW Vision iNext, previewed for small group of journalists this week before Saturday’s global debut...
John Voelcker -
Tesla updates, Hurricane Florence, and climate commitments: The Week in ReverseWhich car companies may have colluded to commit crimes? What car company stepped up to help Hurricane Florence victims? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Sept. 14, 2018. Friday, we learned that Tesla again enabled maximum...
Eric C. Evarts -
New documents revealed in a German investigation into diesel emissions cheating show that German automakers, including Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz may have colluded to limit the amount of emissions-cleaning AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid the cars used. The news was reported by the German newspaper Handelsblatt on Tuesday. The AdBlue urea solution was contained in tanks too small to last the specified distance between refills, internal company documents reveal. In one 2008 email, an Audi engineer wrote that if customers had to refill their tanks every two months, "it would be a disaster...
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Web site helps electric car drivers evacuate Florence, Tesla extends rangeEfforts have begun to help North and South Carolina and Virginia residents who drive electric cars to evacuate Hurricane Florence. Mass evacuations, as well as hurricanes, pose a special challenge for electric cars. Older models still have relatively short ranges, and may require multiple recharges...
Eric C. Evarts -
L.A. sets electric-car targets as host for 2028 OlympicsLos Angeles wants to show the possibilities of zero-emissions transportation when the world arrives on its doorstep for the 2028 Olympics. This week, the Los Angeles City Council revealed its goals for the Games, and took a significant step forward on its Zero Emissions 2028 Roadmap, by naming...
Eric C. Evarts -
Will electric cars eliminate conventional hybrids from the market? Twitter poll resultsAs electric cars have made inroads in the market, a California study shows they have largely replaced conventional hybrids, not straight-up internal combustion cars. It's an important question, because hybrids were expected to fill the gap, improving efficiency in bigger cars and introducing more...
Eric C. Evarts -
First all-electric, drive-in movie event in the US–in upstate New YorkJust before National Drive Electric Week organizers planned to hold what they call the first electric-car-only drive-in movie event in San Francisco next Thursday, Green Car Reports reader Michael Kamm wrote to us wondering if we’d be interested in a story about an all-electric drive-in movie...
Eric C. Evarts -
National Drive Electric Week 2018 kicks offThe annual National Drive Electric Week will occur this weekend with electric-car rallies and events in at least 300 cities across the U.S. and several more in Canada and New Zealand. The event aims to address one of the biggest challenges in promoting electric cars—known in the electric-car...
Eric C. Evarts -
Ford released a teaser image of its hotly-anticipated 300-mile electric SUV, which it says will no longer be called the Mach 1. The company previewed the car at a closed event in March, but wouldn't allow photographs or sketches. The sketch released Thursday of the rear of the car hasn't evolved much from the design the company showed in March. DON'T MISS: Ford's future 300-mile all-electric performance SUV: what we know As promised, it is based on the looks of the Mustang, with a similar vertical three-bar taillight treatment below what appears to be sweeping, steeply-sloped hatch glass. At...
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The new 2020 Tesla Roadster that wasn't in SwitzerlandTesla made a lot of noise about a big surprise it planned for the Grand Basel auto show, a celebration of architecture and design in Switzerland's northern industrial city. The company teased that it might show a new pre-production prototype of its new Roadster. The much-hyped car has twice...
Eric C. Evarts -
Should classic cars be converted to electric power? Twitter poll resultsGreen Car Reports readers sometimes leave themselves open to having extreme viewpoints. Such were the results of last week's Twitter poll, when we asked: "Should classic cars be converted to electric power?" We asked the question following what seemed like a rash of announcements of people doing...
Eric C. Evarts -
2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC specs revealed (Updated)Mercedes-Benz released initial specs of its newest electric car, the EQC crossover SUV, Tuesday in Stockholm. Mercedes estimates that the EQC will offer about 279 miles of range when it goes on sale in the U.S. next year. That compares to the Jaguar I-Pace's estimated range of 240 miles and the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Commentary: How to make your voice heard on fuel economy freezeDrivers are not helpless in the face of government plans to roll back fuel economy standards. A joint August proposal from the EPA and NHTSA to freeze planned increases in fuel economy standards is out for public comments until Oct. 23. Public comments can make a difference. DON'T MISS: Trump...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Honda Insight review update: Putting the Civic on noticeThat sound you hear isn’t the 2019 Honda Insight’s hybrid powertrain whirring along. It’s the undertaker coming for the vaunted Honda Civic nameplate. The 2019 Insight isn’t just a better hybrid, it’s a better compact car. I spent a week moseying around in an Insight...
Andrew Ganz