Green Car News

  • 2018 Tesla Model S

    Wireless charging shows its efficiency potential. The Tesla Model S loses its spot on a respected consumer publication’s top list. And who should succeed Musk? All this and more on Green Car Reports. A U.S. Department of Energy lab may have reached a new power-and-efficiency threshold for wireless charging; at 120 kwh and a 97 percent efficiency. With that, it could be the energy-conscious choice over almost any physical charging connection, but cost and compatibility hurdles remain. The Tesla Model S has lost its spot on Consumer Reports’ recommended list, again. This time...

  • Al Gore at United Nations conference
    Who should lead Tesla's board after Musk steps down? Twitter poll results

    As part of an SEC settlement, Tesla needs to find a new chairman to replace Elon Musk, as he steps aside from that post but stays on as chief executive officer. That new chairman is to be an independent board member and not someone tied to Musk. When Musk was asked, in yesterday's financial call...

  • ORNL wireless charging demonstration
    Wireless charging could widen efficiency edge over cords, suggests DOE lab

    Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory last week announced they've managed to transfer 120 kw of power at an efficiency of 97 percent—more efficiently than any currently available physical charging connection. A version of the 20-kw wireless charging...

  • 2014 BMW 328d
    BMW recalling 44,000 diesel vehicles for fire risk

    BMW has announced an expanded recall effort over the possibility of fire in recent-model-year vehicles equipped with a diesel engine. The issue, which now potentially affects 1.6 million vehicles worldwide, concerns an issue in which coolant (glycol) leakage from the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)...

  • 2018 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S loses spot on Consumer Reports’ recommended list

    The Tesla Model S has slipped back off Consumer Reports recommended list, due to a dip in reliability, as the consumer organization assesses it. Suspension problems are to blame, reported CR. In 2017 Tesla made its air suspension standard on the Model S, and all versions were dual-motor (all-wheel...

  • Teaser for Tesla Model Y electric SUV due for reveal in 2019
    Tesla’s profit, Volvo’s mobile charging investment, researchers’ "mass-less" batteries: Today’s Car News

    Volvo invests in mobile charging. Vehicle bodies might double as batteries in the future. And yes, the day has finally come for Tesla. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Tesla yesterday reported a profit. With some creative number-crunching, it also claimed to have the best-selling car in the...

  • Volvo invests in Freewire

    Volvo Cars has announced an investment in Freewire Technologies, a company that emphasizes mobile charging solutions. Freewire earlier this year attracted a $5 million investment from the petro-giant BP, which will result in Freewire’s fast-charging systems being installed at some BP stations in the UK and Europe—effectively helping fill in gaps between established charging stations. DON’T MISS: Volvo XC40 crossover SUV to be company's first all-electric car “FreeWire’s fast charging technology holds great promise to simplify the experience for customers of...

  • Carbon fiber structural battery
    Could carbon-fiber electric-vehicle bodies double as ‘mass-less’ batteries?

    Automakers seem to be in agreement that the ‘skateboard’ location for heavy battery packs—low and wide beneath the passenger floor—is the ideal layout for electric vehicles. Decades from now that might not be the case. Researchers in Sweden have examined the possibility of...

  • 2018 Tesla Model 3
    Tesla Model 3 range-efficiency edge is a serious market strength

    Although Tesla may still sometimes be finding its way in terms of how to build cars themselves, it retains a distinct advantage over pretty much every other automaker in one respect: superb power management. Buried in the company’s third-quarter 2018 financial results—hailing a...

  • 2018 Tesla Model 3
    Tesla reports profit, explains $46k Model 3 Mid Range model, hints about leasing

    Tesla’s quarterly earnings call today was shaping up to be, at long last, an earnings call. Tesla reported a net income of $312 million for the third quarter of 2018. The all-electric vehicle maker made money. It also claimed that, given its financial results—and some creative...

  • 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    Tesla price hike, Dyson factory plan, GM tax-credit sunset: Today's Car News

    GM is next, after Tesla, in hitting the 200,000 ceiling for the EV tax credit. The EPA dismisses some more groups of scientists. And electric-vehicle hopeful Dyson is soon starting a factory, as Faraday Future's struggles continue. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Less than six days after...

  • Uber electric car
    Uber to bank London surcharge toward electric vehicles for its drivers

    Uber announced Tuesday that it will levy a surcharge for its ride-hailing passengers in London. The goal: to get 20,000 drivers to go all-electric by the end of 2021, on the way to make every car using its ride-hailing app an electric vehicle in the smog- and congestion-prone city by 2025. The...

  • 2018 Tesla Model 3

    UPDATE: Tesla originally rolled out the Model 3 Mid Range at a base price of $45,000 on 10/18. Less than six days later it's raised the price $1,000, and we've adjusted the numbers in this piece to reflect that. “We made a slight adjustment to our pricing for Model 3 following the introduction of the Mid Range Battery last week," said a Tesla spokesperson. "We will honor the lower pricing for all in-progress orders.” Those who’ve waited faithfully for the more affordable $35,000 version of the Tesla Model 3 to be built could finally get what they’ve been wanting...

  • 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    GM confirms it will reach EV tax credit ceiling this year—then phaseout begins

    Beginning next April, buyers of General Motors’ electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids won’t be getting the same break on their purchase as those who buy those vehicles from any other brand. Any other brand but Tesla, that is. GM has confirmed to Green Car Reports that it will reach...

  • Smokestacks pollution air quality
    EPA dissolves boards of pollution scientists

    The EPA has dismissed two panels of outside scientists that advised the agency on particulate matter and ground-level ozone, which have been linked to smog and respiratory problems. Under acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal-industry lobbyist, analyzing those pollutants will be left...

  • Dyson Automotive Manufacturing facility  -  Singapore  -  rendering
    Dyson plans to build its electric car in Singapore

    Dyson, the British maker of premium vacuum cleaners, aims to enter the electric-car arena—and it’s chosen Singapore as the global assembly site. The company confirmed that its board has ratified the decision for the company itself to construct what it calls a “purpose-built...

  • Munro & Associates teardown of Tesla Model 3 [Autoline]
    Tesla teardown redux, smaller fast chargers, dirty battery manufacturing: Today's Car News

    A much-publicized Tesla teardown from earlier in the year reveals some lessons and missed opportunities. Battery manufacturing happens to be in places with dirty power sources. And DC fast chargers have the potential to downsize. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The teardown (disassembly)...

  • Tesla Motors production line for Tesla Model S, Fremont, California
    Tesla Model 3 teardown underscores missed opportunities

    Last year employee parking lots overflowed at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant. By comparing the headcount of Tesla's factory at present versus historically, it’s easy to grasp why the facility has seemed so crowded. At its heyday, Toyota and GM needed 4,400 people at Fremont. Tesla...

  • Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show

    Mercedes-Benz is launching a new trial for fuel-cell cars in Germany, with aims to study real-world use patterns. Mercedes will begin leasing its GLC F-Cell fuel-cell SUVs to fleet customers in Germany for $917 a month, according to a report in Automotive News Europe (Subscription required.) No information was available about how many GLC F-Cells the company plans to lease or for how long. The GLC F-Cell has a 9-kwh battery with a plug-in range of up to 31 miles on a charge (using the generous European driving cycle) for when the driver can't find a hydrogen station. DON'T MISS: Mercedes-Benz...

  • North Carolina State University fast charger is much smaller, half the cost
    New fast charger is more efficient, smaller, and half the cost

    Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a 50-kw fast charger that they say costs half as much as conventional DC fast chargers, is more efficient, and only 1/16th the size. Instead of being mounted on concrete slabs, sometimes in two locations, with a transformer behind a...

  • Nissan prototype 60-kWh battery pack  -  Nissan Technical Center, October 2015
    Report: Battery production could offset emissions gains from electric cars

    A new report shows that emissions from producing large battery packs for electric cars could cancel out improvements from their low emissions for years. The report comes from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which is usually optimistic about electric cars. In May, the analytic arm of the finance...

  • Mystery Ford Mustang teaser
    EPA deadline, BMW electric reality check, Mustang hybrid tease: Today's Car News

    If you have a strong position regarding the EPA's proposal to freeze fuel economy standards at 2020 levels through 2026, speak out. Tomorrow is the deadline for making public comments that are part of the legal record. A zinc-air battery project is backed by a big name and claims to have achieved...

  • BMW and Nissan electric car fast-charging station
    How soon can all new-car sales realistically be electric? Take our Twitter poll

    Israel and Britain recently joined a growing list of countries that plan to phase out sales of gas and diesel cars and trucks. Most of the countries have set a target date between 2030 and 2050 to convert all new-vehicle sales to electric power. A few, such as China, have announced plans to set...

  • BMW iX3 Concept front 3/4
    BMW says 85 percent of cars will still have engines in 2030

    Once a leader in electric cars, BMW now says it expects 85 percent of its cars still to have internal combustion engines by 2030. Speaking to Australian reporters for GoAuto at the Paris auto show earlier in October, BMW board member for development Klaus Froehlich said, “A very optimistic...

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