synd-vehicle-history

  • Consumer Reports tests Tesla Model 3 braking [CREDIT: Consumer Reports]

    In the latest ranking of automaker self-driving systems, Tesla's popular Autopilot system ranked second to Cadillac's Super Cruise system. The ratings come from Consumer Reports, which tested the cars on its test track and on local highways, in both lead and following positions. The organization rated the systems on their capability and ease of use; how they ensured that drivers stay engaged and don't become complacent; and to what degree the systems allow drivers to engage them in circumstances where they're not designed to be used. Consumer Reports noted that none of the systems qualify as...

  • Volkswagen MEB platform architecture
    Electric cars are clean, but can they be profitable? New report casts doubt

    A flood of new electric-car models is washing into the market in the next year as automakers scramble to meet regulatory demands for electric cars around the world—not to mention scrambling to compete with Tesla. The challenge, as with Tesla, is whether they can sell those cars at a profit. A...

  • 2018 Tesla Model 3
    Is the Tesla Model 3 the top-selling car from an American brand?

    Earlier this week we reported the Model 3 is possibly the fifth best-selling car in the U.S., based on Tesla’s update on deliveries. These Model 3 numbers released Tuesday are likely an anomaly; they’re based on a coordinated surge in U.S. deliveries in September. But also to be fair...

  • Chevrolet Bolt charging at Electrify America 350 kw charger at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.
    New electric-car ads to hit the other half of California drivers

    One problem with electric cars is that they may be invisible. Despite proliferating charging stations, multiplying car models, and extended range for many new electric cars, fewer than half of California drivers are even aware they exist, says Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources...

  • University of Michigan algae biodiesel project
    Algae blooms could be a boon for eco-diesel under DOE-funded project

    Algae-based biodiesel has been hyped in the past as a renewable fuel that can be produced here in the U.S., lowering greenhouse-gas emissions without displacing food crops or taxing water supplies. And yet it still hasn’t arrived in any significant way. There’s no single factor to blame...

  • Electrify America DC fast chargers in Gulfport, Mississippi
    Electrify America lays out plans for second round of chargers in California

    Midway through building its first installments of electric-car chargers, Electrify America sketched out plans for its second $200-million round of investments in California on Wednesday. These installations will add more California cities, target charging networks for ride hailing services and...

  • UCS 2016 EV emissions mpg map

    Electric cars keep getting cleaner, despite efforts by the EPA and NHTSA to roll back pollution standards on cars and powerplants. That's the conclusion of the latest report from the Union of Concerned Scientists which annually measures the environmental impact of driving an electric car. The study rates the environmental impact relative to gas cars in equivalent miles per gallon. CHECK OUT: How much do electric cars really pollute, even without tailpipes? The organization updated its widely-used 2009 study with the latest data available from the EPA from 2018. It shows that counting the...

  • Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-buss
    California overrules EPA emissions freeze for cars sold in the state

    At its meeting on Friday, the California Air Resources Board officially confirmed that it will stick with planned increases in emissions and fuel economy standards for cars sold in the state. The move was expected after CARB said in August that it would not follow the Trump Administration's move to...

  • 2018 Kia Sorento
    Kia smothers plans to bring Sorento diesel to America

    The Kia Sorento may not get a diesel version for the U.S. after all. On the eve of the Paris Motor Show and the introduction of the production-spec Kia Niro EV, company officials have confirmed that it’s shelved plans to bring any diesel model Stateside for now. The hold is officially...

  • 2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017
    Tesla Model 3 is fifth bestselling car in U.S., production still short of profitability goal

    Tesla announced Tuesday that it delivered 55,843 Model 3s between July and September, confirming reports that the company's mass-market electric is the fifth bestselling car model in the United States. That slightly exceeded the number of Model 3s Tesla said it produced in the third quarter...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight recalled for rearview camera failure

    The 2019 Honda Insight hybrid hasn't been on sale for long; and yet Honda is already recalling more than 6,000 of them for a rearview camera failure. The problem affects another 226,000 vehicles—2018 Accord models, possibly including some Accord Hybrids. The screen may show up blank, with...

  • Smokestacks pollution air quality
    Trump fuel-economy proposal writes off rising global temperatures

    It's not that the Trump administration doesn't believe in climate change. It just doesn't want to do anything about it. In a 500-page draft environmental impact statement concerning the EPA's and NHTSA's joint proposal to roll back fuel-economy and emissions regulations, the NHTSA reports that it...

  • Volkswagen MEB platform architecture

    Volkswagen last week laid out the basics for its set of electric-car components that plans to use to underpin a million new all-electric vehicles each year by 2025. With those components on the Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB), VW claims that it has the first pure-EV platform designed for high-volume production. It’s a claim that may be contested. The Nissan Leaf probably comes the closest; it was certainly designed for high volume, but its platform was adapted from other Nissan compact cars. And at this point, many in the industry might argue with Tesla’s earlier assertions that...

  • EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler
    EPA reportedly plans to eliminate science office

    Science looks to no longer be a high priority at the EPA. The New York Times reported Thursday that the EPA plans to eliminate the powerful Office of the Science Advisor, merging it with another office under the Deputy Administrator for Science. The move represents a significant demotion of the...

  • 2019 BMW i3
    2019 BMW i3 to get bigger battery with 153-mile range

    The 2019 BMW i3 will get a larger battery, good for 153 miles of range, up from 115 miles for the 2018 model, the automaker announced Friday. BMW refers to the new battery in the 2019 model as the 120 amp-hour battery, which delivers total energy storage of 42.2 kilowatt-hours with the i3's...

  • Paul Elio with 5 successive prototype Elios
    Elio Motors to buy engines, abandons building its own

    Elio Motors, which has been struggling since 2009 to build its own ultra-cheap, small, fuel-efficient, three-wheeled car, announced Thursday that it will source an engine from a major automaker. Previously, the company planned to build its own 3-cylinder engine with up to 55 horsepower for its...

  • Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland   [photo: Forth]
    California considers boosting electric-car rebate to $4,500

    The California Air Resources Board will discuss Thursday and Friday raising the state's electric vehicle rebate to offset the expiration of federal tax credits for the two largest electric-carmakers, Tesla and GM. The state offers a $2,500 subsidy for electric-car purchases. CARB is considering...

  • Electric vehicle parking by Flickr user aaron_anderer, used under Creative Commons license
    Illegal parking in charging spots: The culprit? Electric cars

    A whole Hatfields and McCoys culture has grown up around parking in electric-car charging spaces, with electric-car drivers who need juice facing off against conventional cars—and sometimes other electrics who park there and don't plug in or stay longer than they need to. Now a study...

  • 2019 Audi e-tron quattro, in European trim, at San Francisco launch event

    With its first electric car, Audi plans to change more than what powers the car. Ripping another page from Tesla's playbook, the traditional car company plans to reserve its new electric 2019 Audi e-tron SUV for special orders. Instead of selecting among a wide variety of cars on a local dealer's lot, customers will have to put down a deposit and wait for their car to be built, Automotive News reported. DON'T MISS: Audi e-tron electric crossover debuts to battle Tesla "I think it would be a beautiful world if you can go to a dealer—and we'd like to find that beautiful world—with...

  • Lucid Air prototype during high-speed test at Transportation Research Center, Ohio
    Lucid owners will get access to Electrify America's chargers, another jab at Tesla

    Lucid owners will get prepaid access to Electrify America's growing number of fast-charging stations when their cars arrive sometime after 2020, both companies announced Tuesday. Electrify America didn't provide details about the program for Lucid owners, including how much charging owners would...

  • VW Battery Packs
    Here's the battery pack behind VW's global electric-vehicle push

    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...

  • 2019 Volvo XC60
    Charging cord for 2019 Volvo XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid may start fire, will be recalled

    A certain charging cord included in a small number of 2019 Volvo XC60 crossover SUVs may overheat and shock owners, or start a fire, the automaker said this month. Volvo announced a recall for 35 Volvo XC60 T8 crossover SUVs earlier this month to replace the charging cords. The small number of...

  • Rich Rebuilds flooded Tesla Model S, via YouTube
    What happens to electric cars that have been flooded?

    With all the floods from Hurricane Florence, what happens to electric cars? That's the question many electric car owners may be asking after the 100-year hurricane dropped more than two feet of rain in North Carolina, where a burgeoning electric car movement was springing up. The answer is: It...

  • BMW Concept iX3
    Orders in: 1,000 buyers in Norway reserve coming all-electric BMW iX3 crossover SUV

    BMW opened order books for its upcoming electric iX3 in Europe at the beginning of September, and the company already has deposits for 1,000 in Norway. In a page out of the Tesla playbook, the Norwegian buyers each put down deposits of almost $1,900 (1,600 Euros.) News of the deposits was first...

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