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Category: Electric Vehicles (EVs) (Page 1 of 2)

How a small plane’s 16-day trip from Vermont to Florida might foreshadow a new era of battery-powered air

2023-11-10 /

NY Times »

Chris Caputo stood on the tarmac at Burlington International Airport in Vermont in early October and looked to the clouds in the distance. He had piloted military and commercial aircraft over a long career, racking up thousands of flight hours, but the trip he was about to take would be very different.

That’s because the airplane Mr. Caputo would fly runs on batteries. Over the next 16 days, he and his colleagues flew the plane, a CX300 built by their employer, Beta Technologies, down the East Coast. They would make nearly two dozen stops to rest and recharge, flying through congested airspace over Boston, New York, Washington and other cities.

98% of Europeans breathing highly damaging polluted air linked to 400,000 deaths a year

2023-09-20 /

The Guardian »

Analysis of data gathered using cutting-edge methodology – including detailed satellite images and measurements from more than 1,400 ground monitoring stations – reveals a dire picture of dirty air, with 98% of people living in areas with highly damaging fine particulate pollution that exceed World Health Organization guidelines. Almost two-thirds live in areas where air quality is more than double the WHO’s guidelines.

The worst hit country in Europe is North Macedonia. Almost two-thirds of people across the country live in areas with more than four times the WHO guidelines for PM2.5, while four areas were found to have air pollution almost six times the figure, including in its capital, Skopje.

…

Traffic, industry, domestic heating and agriculture are the main sources of PM2.5 and the impact is often felt disproportionately by the poorest communities. »

Ford’s new Nugget PHEV camper van

2023-08-31 /

New Atlas »

The three-zone layout allows campers to move around the cabin, cook breakfast, and get in and out of the vehicle without having to crawl all over each other, even if the beds are set up. The chef has full autonomy in the rear, unlike with a California-style kitchen smack bang in the middle of the living area and next to the bed.

1 in 4 new cars sold in California last quarter were EVs

2023-08-03 /

LA Times »

More than 25% of all new vehicles sold in the last quarter were EVs, according to the California Energy Commission, with sales for the three-month period totaling 125,939.

California has sold more than 1.6 million electric vehicles to date and accounts for 34% of all EV sales in the country, according to a market report by the nonprofit Veloz, which raises awareness about electric vehicles.

California leads the nation in promoting electric vehicle sales, having invested more than $5 billion to transition the state away from gas-powered vehicles.

Tesla created secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints

2023-07-28 /

Ingordigious » (17th Century) Adj. » Motivated primarily by greed.

Steve Stecklow and Norihiko Shirouzu, writing for Reuters »

About a decade ago, Tesla rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide “rosy” projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge, a source told Reuters. The automaker last year became so inundated with driving-range complaints that it created a special team to cancel owners’ service appointments.

Personal Debt Cycle Hell Encouraged » Tesla is now offering a 84 months / 7-year financing option for all models in the USA

2023-07-24 /

Fortune »

The company now includes seven-year loans as an option on its US order pages, after previously offering loans as long as 72 months. While extending loan terms can lower car buyers’ monthly payments, consumers tend to pay more in interest and face greater risk of owing more than their vehicle is worth.

InsideEVs »

Considering the estimated rate, taking out a loan on a Tesla for this extended period will not be a financially advantageous stratagem. The popular $50,490 Model Y Dual Motor AWD is an excellent example for the loan calculation.

If the buyer puts down Tesla’s preselected $4,500 initial payment, the financed amount would be $47,380. At 6.39% interest, the monthly loan payment will be $703, not considering any potential incentives. After 84 months, the owner will have paid $59,052 in monthly payments, plus the $4,500 paid initially.

In total, the vehicle will cost a staggering $63,552. This is the downside of high-interest, long-term loans on any car.

Environment » The world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train, the Coradia iLint, is being tested in Quebec’s Charlevoix region

2023-07-23 /

France 24 »

Designed in France by rolling stock manufacturer Alstom, the zero-emissions train runs on electricity produced by mixing hydrogen with oxygen, meaning that moisture its only waste product. Alstom said Europe has already placed an order for 41 hydrogen trains.

 

Environnement : la locomotive à hydrogène vert à la conquête de l'Amérique • FRANCE 24

Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

World's first hydrogen powered passenger train • FRANCE 24 English

Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

Electric-Vehicle charging stands outnumber gasoline pumps at a Circle K service station outside Kongsberg, Norway

2023-07-10 /

Bloomberg »

It’s a scene that is steadily being replicated all over the Nordic country, offering a glimpse of what may be in store for drivers the world over in the years ahead.

When it comes to electric vehicles, Norway is very much a trailblazer. It has moved much more rapidly away from the internal combustion engine than its neighbors thanks to generous tax breaks and incentives, which made Tesla Inc.’s battery-powered Model Y cost competitive with a gasoline-burning Toyota Motor Corp. RAV4.

Most countries can’t afford to move quite as fast as wealthy Norway — the nation’s government estimates that various supports measures cost it some $1.8 billion annually in lost revenue. But the International Energy Agency says the rest of the world is going in the same direction, bringing peak oil demand before the end of the decade.

Ireland and Sweden join countries calling for moratorium on extraction of metals from seabed

2023-07-09 /

Karen McVeigh and Chris Michael, The Guardian »

Much is at stake. Scientists have warned of large-scale, severe and irreversible harm to global ocean ecosystems, already threatened by the climate and biodiversity crises, if deep-sea mining goes ahead. Too little is known about the ocean’s abyss even to draw up regulations, they say.

Last month, the European Academies Science Advisory Council warned of the “dire consequences” for marine ecosystems and against the “misleading narrative” that deep-sea mining is necessary for metals required to meet the transition to a low-carbon economy.

America’s drive to compete with China requires lots more skilled workers. Tennessee’s free technical education, and its partnerships with Volkswagen and Nissan, offer a glimpse of the future

2023-07-07 /

Bloomberg »

Federal incentives are driving investments in the electric-car industry worth more than $100 billion. Every state wants a piece of the action, and Tennessee is getting plenty. It’s a lynchpin of the new Battery Belt that stretches from Michigan to Georgia. More than $16 billion in EV capital has poured into the state since 2017. Last year, Ford Motor Co. broke ground on a giant new plant near Memphis that’s slated to open in 2025 and churn out half a million electric trucks per year.

But the drive to reboot manufacturing and claim national leadership in strategic technologies is about to crunch up against a shortfall in trained workers — and impose new demands on technical education all across America.

BYD Co. will invest 3 billion reais (US$624 million) in Brazil to build its first electric-car plant outside Asia

2023-07-05 /

Bloomberg »

The Chinese electric-car juggernaut plans to build a production complex in the northeastern state of Bahia to produce both hybrids, EVs, and chassis for electric buses and trucks, as well as to process lithium and iron phosphate.

The BYD factory will have an initial annual capacity of 150,000 units, with the potential to reach 300,000 units. It will be the second facility dedicated exclusively to electric and hybrid cars in Brazil. Two years ago, Great Wall Motors agreed to buy a Daimler AG factory in Sao Paulo, pledging investments of 10 billion reais by 2032.

In Chile, BYD is building a $290 million lithium cathode factory.

Porsche celebrates its 75th anniversary with the unveiling of the Mission X concept, an electric-powered super sports car

2023-06-26 /
Porsche Mission X Concept

Porsche Mission X Concept

The 2-seater is billed as a “lightweight super sports car” with a dedicated electric powertrain, which Porsche indicates could deliver nearly 1,500 hp.

Porsche states the rear-wheel Mission X has been conceived to become the fastest road car to lap the Nürburgring Nordschliefe circuit in Germany.

Ward Auto | Auto Evolution »

 

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