In an event in Los Angeles, Tesla unveiled its upcoming Model Y electric crossover. Model Y, leveraging Model 3 technology, is a mid-size SUV that will start, according to Tesla, at $39,000 for the Standard Range version, and will also come in Long Range, Dual-Motor All-Wheel Drive, and Performance variants.... Read more →

The Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden is continuing to develop into the Volkswagen Group’s primary test location for trialing innovative technologies. In conjunction with the Wolfsburg and Emden factories, the Gläserne Manufaktur is part of a “technical center” project. The primary idea is to achieve automation of complex work steps within... Read more →

Penske Truck Leasing has taken delivery of its first FUSO eCanter elctric light-duty truck from Daimler. Penske received its fully electrified Freightliner eM2 truck from Daimler Trucks North America in the US end of last year. (Earlier post.) Penske plans to operate the light duty trucks from FUSO for urban... Read more →

Volkswagen’s ID. electric vehicle, the first to be based on the MEB, will be presented at the IAA later this year, with pre-bookings for the launch edition opening on 8 May. “Given the interest in the ID. family shown by our dealers, I think it is possible that the launch... Read more →

From 2017 to 2018, PEV sales doubled in North America, and sales in Europe and China increased 39% and 77%, respectively, according to a new report from Navigant Research. In 2019, multiple deployments of long-range battery EVs (BEVs) in crossover classes, as well as Tesla reaching full-scale production on the... Read more →

Porsche is investing more than €600 million (US$677 million) to expand its factory in Leipzig. A new body shop with a total area of 75,500 square meters will produce the vehicle bodies for the next generation of the Macan—which will be a fully electric series—from the beginning of the next... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is now planning to launch almost 70 new electric models in the next ten years instead of the 50 previously planned. As a result, the projected number of vehicles to be built on the Group’s electric platforms in the next decade will increase from 15 million to... Read more →

Canada-based Lion Electric Co. (Lion) has unveiled its first all-electric Class 8 urban truck this morning. The Lion8 will be commercialized this Fall and the first vehicle will be delivered to Société des Alcools du Québec (SAQ). The Lion8 supports a battery capacity of up to 480 kWh (LG Chem... Read more →

According to a new report from Adamas Intelligence, China became a net-importer of several rare earth oxides (or oxide equivalents) in 2018. The report, Rare Earth Recap 2018: Global Production, Trade and Prices, provides an overview of global primary and secondary production by country, oxide (or oxide equivalent) and value... Read more →

Munich Re is the world’s first insurer to offer a product that covers battery performance. The product allows manufacturers in the booming battery market to offer long-term performance guarantees—whose value is backed by the insurance coverage. The new coverage allows battery manufacturers to insure their customer warranties. For example, if... Read more →

SEAT, a member of the Volkswagen Group, presented two concept cars for the first time globally at the GenevaMotor show: the el-Born, its first 100% electric vehicle based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform (earlier post), and the CUPRA Formentor, a high-performance plug-in hybrid CUV with CUPRA DNA which is... Read more →

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) unveiled a twin-motor, four-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid (PHEV) crossover concept—the Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer—at the Geneva International Motor Show. The Engelberg Tourer takes MMC’s Twin Motor PHEV system fostered and developed in the Outlander PHEV and, using next-generation electrification and all-wheel control technologies, evolves it. The combination of... Read more →

Tesla announced that it is introducing V3 Supercharging, which will support peak rates of up to 250 kW per car. V3 represents a new architecture for Supercharging. A new 1MW power cabinet with a similar design to Tesla utility-scale products supports the peak rates of up to 250kW per car.... Read more →

Audi is testing factory vehicles powered by used lithium-ion batteries at its main plant in Ingolstadt. Like all automobile manufacturers, Audi is obliged by law to take back energy carriers after they have been used in cars. Because they still have a large proportion of their original charging capacity, an... Read more →

Kia used the Geneva International Motor Show as the platform to introduce the battery-electric e-Soul to Europe, as well as to reveal new upgrades to the Niro Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid. Every Kia vehicle on show in Geneva employs the brand’s mild-hybrid, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric vehicle technology. Electrification... Read more →

Kia Motors revealed its new all-electric concept car, Imagine by Kia, at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. Imagine by Kia is the company’s first pure electric four-door passenger car. Unlike the award-winning e-Niro electric crossover, which is based on the existing architecture of the hybrid-powered Niro, Imagine by Kia... Read more →

At the Geneva International Motor Show, Tom Gardner, Senior Vice President, Honda Motor Europe, said that the company intends to move 100% of its European sales to electrified powertrains by 2025. This new ambition builds on the brand’s 2017 aim of two-thirds of its sales to be electrified by 2025,... Read more →

XL unveiled its plug-in hybrid electric Ford Super Duty F-250 pickup truck (earlier post) at the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis. As the company first revealed in February, XL’s newest product expands its successful plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) product family, which also includes the XLP Ford F-150 that the... Read more →

Nissan unveiled the all-new IMQ concept vehicle at the Geneva International Motor Show. At the heart of the IMQ is the next generation of e-POWER, a 100% electric motor drive system that delivers instant, linear acceleration. e-POWER, introduced in 2016 in the Note, is a non-plug-in series-hybrid drive system. e-POWER... Read more →

The Nissan LEAF is the first electric car to surpass 400,000 sales. Introduced in 2010 as the world’s first mass-market electric vehicle, the Nissan LEAF has led the way in making the excitement and convenience of electric driving accessible to non-luxury buyers. In launching the first-generation LEAF, Nissan pledged to... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz unveiled the first purely battery-electric people mover in the premium segment at the Geneva Motor Show. Mercedes-Benz Vans plans to release a series-production vehicle on the basis of the Concept EQV, to be presented to the public at this year’s Frankfurt Autoshow. Technical highlights of the vehicle include a... Read more →

Volvo Buses and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have demonstrated the world’s first 12-meter autonomous electric bus. The Volvo bus will soon begin trials on the NTU campus. The bus is equipped with four lidar sensors which enables it to detect and stop for objects coming in its way.... Read more →

At the Geneva International Motor Show, Jeep presented its new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) models: the Jeep Renegade and Jeep Compass. The new PHEVs have a pure electric range of approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) and a top electric speed of about 130 km/h (81 mph). CO2 emissions are... Read more →

Audi unveiled the Q4 e-tron concept compact electric SUV at the Geneva Motor Show. The Audi Q4 e-tron concept gives an advance look at what will be the fifth series production electric vehicle that the manufacturer will introduce by the end of 2020. The Q4 e-tron concept is based on... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group Components brand will be showcasing the near-series design study of its flexible quick charging station at the Geneva Motor Show. With compact dimensions, it can be installed wherever there is demand or where there is still no charging infrastructure. Connected to the grid or even off-grid, the... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is embracing micromobility as part of its electric mobility strategy. At the Geneva International Motor Show, Volkswagen is showcasing two concept electric scooters to address the need for micromobility solutions: the compact Cityskater, a production-ready surfer for the last mile of a journey, and a larger e-scooter,... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is opening its Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB) developed in recent years to other manufacturers. The purpose is to achieve a significant reduction in the cost of e-mobility through the widest possible deployment of the MEB and the associated economies of scale, thus enabling broad access to individual... Read more →

National postal companies Swiss Post and Austrian Post have committed to electrify their delivery fleets by 2030. The national companies have joined the global electric vehicles initiative EV100 which aims to make electric transport the new normal by 2030. EV100 is led by The Climate Group, the international non-profit focused... Read more →

Despite traditionally being a seasonally-slow month for the EV market, in January 2019, 3.27 GWh of passenger EV battery capacity was deployed in China, an increase of 439% over January 2018 levels, inferring from a model-by-model build-up using Adamas Intelligence’s ‘EV Battery Capacity and Battery Metals Tracker’. China was responsible... Read more →

Volkswagen introduced the next member of the ID. concept family—the I.D. BUGGY—at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show. Drawing inspiration from the classic California dune buggies of the 1960s, the ID. BUGGY shows the versatility of the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). The zero-emissions drivetrain of the I.D. BUGGY is... Read more →

Vulog, a technology platform for free-floating, round-trip, peer-to-peer carsharing, scootersharing, ride-hailing and hybrid services, is partnering with Segway to accelerate creation of shared micro-mobility services. Through a deep integration between Vulog’s AiMA platform and new sharing-ready scooters from Segway, existing mobility operators and new entrants can now deploy profitable, large-scale... Read more →

Piëch Automotive will unveil the Piëch Mark Zero electric sports car concept at the Geneva Motor Show this week. The Mark Zero is the first of a family of products to be brought to market by Piëch Automotive over the next three years. Three vehicle variants are in planning: a... Read more →

The new Nissan LEAF PLUS pricing starts at $36,550 and goes on sale at Nissan retailers across the US this month. The “PLUS” designation refers to the increased energy density of the model’s 62 kWh battery pack and the higher 214-horsepower output of its powertrain versus the 40 kWh option.... Read more →

BMW Group sales of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the US totaled 1,110 in February 2019, a decrease of 42.7% over the 1,936 sold in the same month a year ago. The company said that model changeover has limited the current BMW Group electrified lineup to five models... Read more →

A researcher at the University of San Diego has used energy meter-level data from the San Diego region to analyze the energy load profiles of residential customers under the time-of-use (TOU) rate with and without EV charging requirements. Unlike previous forecasts on the effects of EV charging loads, the energy... Read more →

SEAT, a member of the Volkswagen Group, will unveil its el-Born electric vehicle concept at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. The SEAT el-Born concept fuses the core aspects driving change in the automotive industry: electrification, autonomous driving, shared-mobility and connectivity. SEAT el-Born is its first 100% electric vehicle based... Read more →

The Irizar Group is introducing the electric Irizar ie truck into its range of zero-emissions products. This stylish electric truck responds to several market needs and makes it possible to drive in cities and urban areas without creating any atmospheric or acoustic pollution. Irizar presented the ie truck within the... Read more →

At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Audi is showing four battery-electric drive vehicles, the series versions of which will celebrate their premiere by the end of 2020. In addition, four new plug hybrid versions (earlier post) and the fully electric Formula E race car Audi e-tron FE05 will be displayed... Read more →

The share prices of more than a dozen rare earth materials (REE) companies in China are up 20% or more year-to-date (through February 26, 2019) on the back of strong profits in 2018 and a promising long-term outlook for value-added rare earth materials, such as NdFeB permanent magnets, according to... Read more →

In September 2018, Volkswagen and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership to develop the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, one of the largest dedicated automotive industry clouds for all future Volkswagen digital services and mobility offerings. (Earlier post.) During a joint visit to the Volkswagen Digital Lab in Berlin, Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO... Read more →

FedEx Corp. unveiled the FedEx SameDay Bot—an autonomous delivery device designed to help retailers make same-day and last-mile deliveries to their customers. With the bot, retailers will be able to accept orders from nearby customers and deliver them by bot directly to customers’ homes or businesses the same day. FedEx... Read more →

Polestar, the electric performance car brand jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and Zhejiang Geely Holding, unveiled the Polestar 2 electric fastback in an online reveal from Polestar’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Polestar 2 will make its first public appearance at the Geneva International Motor Show next week. Polestar says... Read more →

Porsche is inviting developers from around the world to work on digital mobility solutions for future Porsche sports cars with the launch of the second edition of the “Porsche Next OI” developer competition. For the next nine weeks developers will have the opportunity to implement and submit their ideas. The... Read more →

According to a new report from the California Center for Jobs and the Economy, California’s cumulative plug-in vehicle (PEV, including PHEVs and full EVs) sales are at 10.5% of the state’s 5-million ZEV unit goal for 2030. True ZEVs—battery electric vehicles and the handful of fuel cell electric vehicles—are at... Read more →

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. will invest a total of $4.5 billion in five of its existing Michigan plants, and will work with the city of Detroit and state of Michigan on building a new assembly plant within city limits. The move would increase capacity to meet growing demand for its... Read more →

WiTricity, the industry pioneer in wireless power transfer over distance, has entered into a technology licensing agreement with Yura Corporation, a leading South Korea-based automotive Tier 1 supplier. Yura is a global supplier of a wide range of automotive parts for conventional vehicles and xEVs. The agreement will allow Yura... Read more →

GKN Automotive unveiledthe first battery-electric vehicle (BEV) with a two-speed transmission and torque vectoring on the front axle. Based on a standard Jeep Renegade, the GTD19 demonstrator vehicle is undergoing testing at GKN’s annual winter testing program in Arjeplog, Sweden, and showcases how automakers can use drivetrain innovations to achieve... Read more →

The Supervisory Board of Porsche AG has decided to manufacture the next generation of the Macan as a fully electric series. This will be the first all-electric compact SUV from Porsche, and is due to roll off the assembly line in the Leipzig site at the start of the next... Read more →

Motiv Power Systems (Motiv), the leading provider of all-electric medium-duty fleet chassis, announced a commitment from Detroit Custom Chassis LLC (DCC) to install Motiv’s all-electric EPIC chassis on the base Ford F-59 platform, which is assembled by its affiliate Detroit Chassis Plant (DCP), both owned by Spectra. DCC assembly line... Read more →

In 2018, 4.28 million BEVs, PHEVs and HEVs were sold globally—an increase of 28.6% over the year prior—amounting to 5.2% of total global passenger vehicle sales, according to Adamas Intelligence. Not only is the EV market growing extremely rapidly, the modern EV itself is also undergoing a rapid technological evolution,... Read more →