VentureBeat's GreenBeat, Contributor
Articles
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Competition for the title of most popular electric car has sparked a long and highly charged race between Tesla and Chevrolet.
Though these brands offer vastly different versions of electric...
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ChargePoint launches electric-car charging activated by smartphoneElectric-car charging network ChargePoint has announced a new feature that allows electric vehicle (EV) owners to begin charging their car using near-field communication (NFC) and their smartphone. This doesn’t mean your phone itself is capable of charging your car, of course, though that...
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Autonomous electric truck prototype can be controlled remotelySwedish company Einride has officially unveiled the first full-scale prototype of its futuristic autonomous electric truck. First announced back in April, the T-pod is touted as being more than a simple self-driving electric truck—it’s pitched as an entirely “new transportation...
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Chevy Bolt EV user interface: reviewer calls it best of any electric carThe 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is an amazing, long-range electric vehicle that won multiple awards for good reason. Driving the EV for an extended test for the first time, it’s obvious this is the future of driving. (Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently predicted that 50 percent of new cars will be...
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Startup Amber's self-driving cars to hit Dutch streets in 2018?While Uber, Tesla, and Google are fighting over who will be first to deploy self-driving cars on a large scale, the Dutch underdogs at mobility startup Amber are planning a surprise move to overtake them all. If all goes according to plan, Amber’s self-driving cars will hit the streets of...
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Tesla solar roofs can now be preordered; CA installations start in JuneElon Musk, habitually behind schedule, announced on May 10 that anyone can now preorder a Tesla Solar Roof—a roof made of shingles with built-in solar cells. Musk had previously said preorders would open in April, and promised the product would cost less than a conventional roof if you factor...
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A chatbot would never lie to you, right?
That’s what I wanted to find out when I tested a Facebook Messenger chatbot for the 2017 Kia Niro crossover, which recently won the Guinness Book of...
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Lyft ridesharing service, part-owned by GM, said to raise half a billion dollars moreLyft has reportedly raised a new round of funding to support its on-demand ride hailing service. It’s believed that investors have put $500 million more into the company’s coffers, probably invigorated by its recent market growth and Uber’s stumbles. A Lyft spokesperson declined...
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Why Elon Musk’s crazy plans for Tesla aren’t crazy (opinion)Elon Musk recently laid out a “master plan” for where the company he runs, Tesla Motors, is heading. The vision is undoubtedly ambitious: four new kinds of Tesla vehicles, solar initiatives, autonomous driving technologies, and a ride-sharing program. Judging by the subsequent 3-percent...
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Tesla CEO Musk Seeks 'Hardcore' Engineers To Beef Up Autopilot SoftwareIn three tweets late Thursday, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said he’s on the lookout for “hardcore software engineers” to “achieve generalized full autonomy” for his line of electric cars. The latest addition to that lineup was the Model X unveiled at the end of...
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Dyson Buys Solid-State Battery Startup Sakti3 For $90 MillionDyson, the U.K. company famous for its bagless vacuum cleaners, has acquired solid-state battery company Sakti3 in a deal worth $90 million. The news comes just seven months after Dyson announced a $15 million investment in the company, a spin-out from the University of Michigan. Sakti3 represented...
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Samsung Buys Battery Business From Magna To Boost Electric-Car CapabilitiesSamsung is making bigger moves into the electric vehicle (EV) realm with news that its “materials and energy” subsidiary Samsung SDI has acquired the battery pack division of Magna International, an automotive supplier based in Ontario, Canada. The Korean electronics giant is procuring...
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In January 2005, legendary car designer Henrik Fisker founded a company to bring innovative new thinking to the automobile industry.
Between that date and today, Fisker Automotive would create...
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UberX Service Offers Hybrid Cars, Lower Fares In NY, San FranciscoA car service, not for the rich, but for the rest of us. It’s a novel idea, and its time has come, thanks to on-demand car service startup Uber, which will soon start offering patrons a hybrid vehicle option for more affordable come-and-fetch-me rides. Uber is the San Francisco-based startup...
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Ride-Sharing Company 'Carpooling' Targets U.S. With Daimler DollarsBeing a backseat driver may no longer be a bad thing. Luxury car brand Daimler AG just invested an undisclosed amount in ride-sharing startup Carpooling. Although Munich, Germany-based Carpooling declined to specify the size of the investment, other sources indicate that it’s of the order of...
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Goodbye, Solar? Greentech Investors Shift To Electric Cars, Consumer TechThe green technology investing boom has slowed. But if you ask investors, greentech isn’t disappearing, it’s just changing. Between 2006 and 2007, cleantech and greentech emerged as hot terms in the investor vernacular. Startups focused on big-picture energy needs, including solar and...
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Sapphire Energy Gets $144 Million To Turn Algae Into GasolineSapphire Energy, a company that creates algae-based fuel, just announced a whopping $144 million in funding. In recent years several startups have emerged to create fuel out of plant material, all hoping to lure people away from gasoline made from crude oil. Solazyme, Algae.tec, and Sapphire Energy...
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Electric Car Range Anxiety Evaporates After Three Months“Range anxiety” for pure battery-powered electric car owners wears off quickly as a driver begins to understand the capabilities and charging patterns of their car, according to a new study by the Technology Strategy Board. Around 35 percent of electric car owners were concerned about...
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Electric car manufacturer Fisker Automotive is in the process of raising a $200 million funding round that would value the company at $2.2 billion, according to a report by Fortune.
It would be the...
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Electric Powertrain Manufacturer Mission Motors Nets $9 MillionMission Motors, a manufacturer of electric powertrains that go in electric cars and motorcycles, announced today that it has raised $9 million in its second round of funding. Mission Motors makes powertrains, which are the drive units for electric cars that include a battery, charging system...
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Volt cruises into North Carolina and South CarolinaGeneral Motors today announced that it is ramping up sales of its plug-in hybrid electric car, the Chevy Volt, in two new states: North Carolina and South Carolina. Like other new electric cars, the Volt is only available in a few states. Before today’s announcement, it was available in New...
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Tesla Raises $210 Million More In Dash To Produce Model X SUVTesla Motors, the company building high-end electric vehicles such as the Roaster sports car, raised more than $200 million today in a follow-on public offering. Much of the money is being used to help pay for development of its third electric car — the sport utility vehicle styled Model X...
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Luxury Hybrid Maker Fisker Automotive Raises Extra $100 MillionFisker Automotive, which manufactures luxury plug-in electric hybrid cars, has raised an extra $100 million in its third round of funding to help fund production of its luxury sedan and a second, cheaper electric car that is geared toward more mainstream hybrid electric car buyers. The 2011 Fisker...
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San Francisco Will Juice Your Electric Car For FreeThe city of San Francisco, California, will install electric vehicle charging stations in publicly-owned garages and at San Francisco International Airport by the end of the year that drivers can use for free until 2013. The plan involves dropping around 90 charging stations across the city in the...
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