A small team within Ford has spent the last two years developing a low-cost platform for smaller electric vehicles, CEO Jim Farley said on Tuesday. “We made a bet in silence two years ago,” Farley told investors during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call, describing the creation of a “super-talented skunkworks team” that operated
Month: February 2024
By Zachary Visconti Posted on February 6, 2024 A California judge has forced General Motors’ (GM) self-driving unit Cruise to increase its settlement offer to the maximum amount, after one of the company’s robotaxis pinned and seriously injured a pedestrian in October. On October 2, a driverless Cruise vehicle dragged and pinned a pedestrian in
Porsche appears to be keeping all that’s great about its leading-edge Taycan electric sports car, while teasing out more of the numbers that matter: range, efficiency, and acceleration. The 2025 Porsche Taycan starts with a larger battery pack. Versions with the Performance Battery Plus now have a gross capacity of 105 kwh—up from 93 kwh.
Porsche has unleashed even more power and potential with its electric Taycan sports car. On Tuesday, the 2025 Porsche Taycan debuted with more power, more usable battery, faster charging times, and quicker performance specifications. The automaker even threw in more standard equipment. When the 2025 Taycan sedan arrives this summer it’ll cost between $101,395 and
For EVs to deliver their full emission-reducing potential, the battery supply chain must be as clean as possible, and cathode active materials (CAM) are a key part of the sustainability equation. Umicore takes a fourfold approach to minimizing the emissions embedded in its materials. LFP chemistries are popular in China for several reasons, but in
The US-China trade war heats up as the Biden administration has signaled a warning that electric vehicles from China could pose a “significant national security risk” in that the huge amount of data they collect could be sent to China. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that electric and autonomous vehicles are “collecting a huge
In the beginning stages of a technological transformation, the new tech tends to conquer the best use cases first. Regular Charged readers will be familiar with EV-friendly applications such as drayage trucks, delivery vans, school buses and suburban yuppies, but here’s one you may not have heard of: skid steer loaders. A skid steer is
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee
Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) headlight systems are one of the coolest features found on modern cars. And, no, I’m not talking about simply flicking the high beams on and off when your vehicle detects an oncoming car. These adaptive headlights can change the trajectory of your headlight’s beam to avoid blinding oncoming drivers—well, if you’re
By Zachary Visconti Posted on February 5, 2024 Hyundai is reportedly looking to launch an affordable electric version of its Casper mini SUV in Europe later this year, which is expected to rival other small electric vehicles (EVs) in the market. Although the Hyundai Casper mini SUV is currently only available in the South Korean
Aptera says it has enough money to push ahead with production. Mercedes’ eSprinter previews passenger vans and more. Tesla tops the sales charts in California by a long shot. And is 90 minutes enough to school dealerships on EVs? This and more, here at Green Car Reports. In a first drive of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz
The end of the road looms for the current Audi RS 6 Avant, but not before a grand finale. On Monday, the 2025 Audi RS 6 Avant GT debuted as the swan song for the current fire-breathing wagon that channels the automaker’s IMSA racing legacy. 2025 Audi RS 6 Avant GT Audi said it will
The latest round of funding to be announced by the US Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office includes support for a wide range of projects designed to advance low-carbon transportation technologies, including several EV-related initiatives. A big chunk of the money—$60 million—will go to the United States Advanced Battery Consortium to further develop pre-competitive vehicle-related
Idiots have always had a great capacity to find new ways to abuse Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta. Their latest innovation is using the new Apple Vision Pro headset. Both Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD Beta systems are some of the most misunderstood products in the world, and that’s partly Tesla’s fault. When you
The Canadian province of Alberta, currently the country’s top producer of petroleum, could soon be producing substantial quantities of lithium. Alberta-based lithium developer E3 Lithium has announced the discovery of higher-than-expected lithium concentrations in the Nisku Aquifer through a new six-well sampling program conducted late in 2023. E3 Lithium sampled brine in the Nisku from
Consumer Reports is out with its annual owner satisfaction survey, showing Rivian to be far and away the most-loved car brand according to owners. The rating comes soon after Consumer Reports strangely listed the R1S as one of its “least favorite cars we tested in 2023.” Consumer Reports does an annual survey of its readers,
The upcoming Cadillac Escalade IQ, an all-electric full-size SUV based on the General Motors’ Ultium platform, will enter production in the summer of 2024 at GM’s Factory ZERO Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center in Michigan. It will be the third electric Cadillac model (after the Cadillac Lyriq and the unique Cadillac Celestiq) and targets the high-end, luxury,
By Zachary Visconti Posted on February 4, 2024 After reports have gone back and forth over the weekend about whether the Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta could be transferred to new vehicle purchases for a limited period of time, Tesla has officially re-launched the incentive. The automaker has also added the Model 3 to its limited-time
EV sales are still booming in California—and they continued to capture an even larger piece of the market in 2023. Although there was a slight downturn in the market share of EVs toward the end of 2023, EVs finished the year up 5% in market share in the Golden State versus 2022. Looking at all
If your job is stealing hamburgers, it helps to have a good getaway car. McDonald’s has given the Hamburglar—cartoon burger thief extraordinaire—his own ride. It’s a modified 1970 Plymouth Barracuda called, inevitably, the Burgercuda. It’s being driven cross country, and McDonald’s is inviting fast food customers to win prizes by spotting it and scanning a
Some may think of Mars as a candy company (your correspondent has a weakness for peanut M&Ms), but it’s a food industry giant that owns 50 global brands, and operates a large truck fleet. Now the company has announced plans to put 300 heavy-duty electric trucks into operation in Europe by 2030, in partnership with
This one style of vehicle is known by many names. In India, it’s an auto rickshaw. In Thailand, a tuk-tuk (a fun onomatopoeia that arose from the traditionally loud two-stroke engines powering them). But whatever it’s called, these three-wheeled taxis have used their half-bike, half-wagon design to shuttle folks around cities for decades. And now,
EV startup Canoo seemed to have fallen off the media radar, until a recent volume order for its electric vans brought it back to the headlines. Now the company has announced another high-profile deal, this time with the United States Postal Service (USPS), which, after a decade or two of deliberation, finally appears to be
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee
In January, the Ford brand sold 145,632 vehicles in the U.S., about 3.6% more than a year ago. However, its battery-electric vehicles (BEV) sales noted a weak start to the year. Last month, Ford sold 4,674 all-electric vehicles, 11% less than a year ago and the lowest level since April 2023. That’s also just 3.2%
By Zachary Visconti Posted on February 3, 2024 Saudi Arabia is set to launch a Lucid Air police cruiser, as highlighted in a recent preview of a defense conference starting this weekend. The Saudi Arabia Ministry of the Interior posted a short video of the vehicle on X on Sunday, showing the Lucid Air police
Which automaker CEO sees EV acceleration as a safety feature? Which very exclusive luxury EV was recalled this week? This and more, here at Green Car Reports. GM this week announced that it is ready to bring some plug-in hybrid models back to the North American market. It’s a shocker that may have many longtime
We took the 2024 Lexus GX 550 on- and off-road. After our brief time with it we concluded that Land Rover dealers should be nervous. With a new platform, a turbocharged engine, plenty of modern tech, and a sharp design, the GX is set to win over buyers when it hits dealers this spring. Polestar
New battery chemistries using niobium oxide in the cathode active materials are nearing completion in Asia, according to CBMM, a niobium manufacturer and seller. Since 2019, CBMM has seen a 500% increase in niobium oxide exports to fulfill demand for new uses for EV battery cathodes. The company expects sales to reach 1,000 tons in
Friday and Saturday kicked off the inaugural season of the first-ever electric boat racing league when the first eight teams in the UIM E1 Championship Series motored, foiled, and splashed across the Red Sea in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Marc Anthony’s Team Miami had pole position heading into Saturday’s race, but two other famous names were