Electric Cars
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Lamborghini unveiled Monday its first all-electric sports car concept, the Terzo Millennio, the first indication that the 54-year-old automaker may divorce itself from its signature V-12 powerplant for its halo car in the future. The Lamborghini Terzo Millenio was unveiled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in the automaker’s hometown of Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy. It is the first result of a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the exclusive carmaker. It also represents the first solid step toward a future all-electric supercar from Lamborghini...
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Tesla built just 260 Model 3 sedans in Q3 while losing $619M
It appears Tesla CEO Elon Musk wasn’t lying when he said in October the company was in “production hell” due to problems concerning production of the Model 3 sedan. The company on Wednesday announced its results for the quarter ending September 30 and some of the numbers released...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Toyota eyes airless tires for future electric cars
Many companies have shown airless tire concepts—Polaris is the only company to actually commercialize them—but the technology is yet to reach any sort of mass adoption in the automotive sector. If Toyota has its way, future electric cars from the company will run airless tires to help...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla installs solar panels at Puerto Rico hospital
Tesla is a busy company these days, as is chief executive officer Elon Musk. While the company and Musk juggle Model 3 production bottlenecks, an electric semi reveal, and more, it also landed in Puerto Rico recently to help restore power to the United States territory. Much of the island remains...
Sean Szymkowski -
E-Fuso Vision One heavy-duty electric truck concept with 217-mile range debuts in Tokyo
Daimler’s Japanese truck brand Fuso used this week’s 2017 Tokyo Motor Show to present a heavy-duty electric truck. Called the E-Fuso Vision One, the truck’s debut also marked the launch of E-Fuso, Fuso’s new sub-brand for electric trucks and buses. The E-Fuso Vision One...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Suzuki imagines the SUV of the future with e-Survivor concept
Though Suzuki no longer operates in the United States, the brand seems to be on the up and up elsewhere as it’s just introduced a striking new Swift Sport and will soon add a much more macho Jimny. But what does the future hold for the brand? Suzuki gave some indication this week with the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan's revealed its major debut for the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show with the IMx self-driving electric SUV concept. While the brand covered many of the technical details with its reveal, it saved one last thing for a separate presentation. Nissan's future electric cars will sing a song, a song called "Canto." In an effort to heighten pedestrian safety, since electric cars are relatively silent compared to those powered by an internal combustion engine, Nissan's Canto will become the official sound of the brand's electric cars. Nissan calls the sound "energizing" and "confident." We think it...
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Mazda engineer drops more hints about rotary range-extender
Mazda continues to tease us with a rotary engine, which last found a home in a production vehicle in the 2012 RX-8 sports car. At the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, neither of the brand's gorgeous concepts housed a rotary engine, but managing executive officer Mitsuo Hitomi, who oversees engine...
Sean Szymkowski -
Honda brings electric sports car concept to Tokyo Motor Show
Honda’s Urban EV concept was one of the stars of September’s 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. Honda has now followed up the concept with a similar sports car variant unveiled on Wednesday at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. Called the Honda Sports EV, the sports car concept wears a striking...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mitsubishi e-Evolution concept debuts in Tokyo, ushers in new strategy
Mitsubishi pulled the plug on the Lancer Evolution last year, but the automaker won't lay the iconic nameplate to rest permanently. On Wednesday, at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, Mitsubishi gave us a look at a potential new direction for the Evo with the unveiling of an electric SUV concept called the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan IMx is a self-driving electric SUV concept
Nissan is developing its next generation of cars around the three core tenets of connectivity, electrification and self-driving capability, which the automaker groups under the heading of Nissan Intelligent Mobility. These attributes, Nissan says, help strengthen the link between the car and its...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan to replace Renault in Formula E by 2018/2019 season
The Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance, currently the world’s biggest automaker by volume, plans to launch 12 electric cars between now and 2022. Most of these will come from Nissan which is being positioned as the alliance’s core brand for electric cars. However, it’s Renault...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volkswagen thinks the possibilities are plentiful to bring back some of its most iconic vehicles from the past, thanks to its dedicated MEB electric car platform. The latest retro revival? The Volkswagen Thing, which graced the United States for just two model years before disappearing. The original Thing was a rear-wheel drive, four-door convertible born from the World War II-era Kübelwagen, which was the German equivalent to the Willys Jeep. The model featured more rugged aspirations, and according to Car and Driver, Volkswagen brand chairman Herbert Diess thinks a retro-inspired...
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Amazon patented a drone that can recharge your electric car on the go
Range anxiety is still an issue with electric cars, even though 240- and 300-mile EVs are now on the market. No matter how far the range, an EV driver could run low on charge with no charging station nearby. Amazon might have a solution for the electric equivalent of running out of gas. The United...
Sean Szymkowski -
European Union launches battery cell alliance to compete with Asia
Battery cells are poised to become the most important component in future vehicles as the industry moves away from internal-combustion engines and toward battery-electric vehicles. With an increased demand for battery packs, battery cell production will be paramount, and the European Union plans to...
Sean Szymkowski -
Polestars to be made in China, rival Teslas
Volvo in-house tuner Polestar has been morphed into a standalone brand for high-performance electrified cars and on Tuesday we saw its first model, aptly named the Polestar 1, unveiled to the world in Shanghai. The Chinese metropolis is a fitting location for the debut of Polestar’s first car...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Toyota tackles future mobility with Concept-i trio
Toyota at next week’s 2017 Tokyo Motor Show will preview a potential future for mobility with a trio of concepts. The automaker’s vision for the future is one where cars and people work together to make getting around as easy and efficient as possible. The medium that will allow this to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Rotary could return in both sports car and extended-range EV, says Mazda exec
Mazda is committed to the rotary, though whether the unique engine design is used to directly power a sports car or serve as a range-extender for an electric car remains to be seen. Mazda has hinted at both options in recent years but so far has tended to flip-flop between the two. Now, though, a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes-Benz is currently constructing a battery plant in Kamenz, Germany, the second of five such plants that will be in operation in three continents by the start of the next decade, including one in the United States. The U.S. plant will be constructed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at a cost of $1 billion. It’s where Mercedes already has a vehicle plant that’s earmarked to start construction of electric cars in the coming years. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Mercedes’ electrification plans. The automaker is taking a holistic approach on the road to...
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Volkswagen Group promises electric trucks and buses by 2018
Volkswagen Truck & Bus, the Volkswagen Group’s commercial vehicles unit responsible for the Man and Scania brands, and also a strategic partner of Navistar in the United States, is the latest to announce a commitment to electrification. The company wants to introduce electric vans and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Yes, new Land Rover Defender may be electrified; no, world not ending
Deductive logic may lead to an uncomfortable truth for Land Rover fans around the world. This week, at a press event for the 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar, the automaker confirmed that it would offer electrified powertrain variants for its new models beginning with the 2020 model year. That...
Aaron Cole -
"Porsche Turbo Charging" showcased with electric Porsche Cayman
Tesla laid a blueprint for electric car infrastructure with its Supercharger stations, but Porsche may be aiming to perfect it and spread the benefits with its own 320-kilowatt fast-charging stations. The luxury and sports car brand installed its first prototype 350-kw, 800-volt station in Berlin...
Sean Szymkowski -
FCA CEO Marchionne says Tesla, electric cars not viable
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE: FCAU] CEO Sergio Marchionne hasn't exactly been an ally to electric cars. This is the same executive who urged consumers to not buy the Fiat 500e electric car since FCA lost thousands of dollars with each one sold. Marchionne once again cast doubt on the viability...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla pushes back electric semi truck reveal, again
We’ll now have to wait until November to see Tesla’s electric semi-trailer truck. After first stating in June that the truck would be unveiled in September, CEO Elon Musk in September pushed back the reveal date to October. Come October, and Musk has announced yet another delay, this...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran