In preparation for the city-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which applies from 29 August, the City of London launched a scrappage programme for old vehicles. Now, the programme is significantly expanded, and the budget increased. When the programme launched in January, it had a 110 million-pound budget. It was only intended for some, such […] More…

Toyota is planning a joint venture in China with the American-Chinese company Pony.ai to mass produce and deploy driverless electric cars. The joint venture will be founded this year and endowed with a capital of one billion yuan (about 127 million euros). In addition to Pony.ai and Toyota Motor, Chinese subsidiary GAC Toyota Motor Co […] More…

The Japanese government will implement new regulations to ensure that the capacity of fast-charging stations on highways will more than double by the end of this decade – from the current average of 40 kW to 90 kW. “For high traffic areas and other places of heavy demand”, the average power of fast-chargers will increase […] More…

German powertrain supplier Vitesco Technologies has opened a new research and development centre in China. The new R&D centre will develop hardware and software for electric drives. The new research site is located at Vitesco Technologies’ production site in Changchun in Jilin province in north-eastern China and covers an area of almost 8,000 square metres. […] More…

Audi is launching the e-tron GT in China. The all-electric Gran Turismo, which shares the platform with the Porsche Taycan, will launch on the Chinese market at prices starting at 999,800 yuan (around 127,000 euros). The RS variant of the Audi e-tron GT has already been available in China since the end of 2022 at […] More…

Indian carmaker Tata Motors and Japanese battery manufacturer AESC could soon announce a partnership. According to local media, the latter will likely supply the technology for Tata’s first battery cells produced in India. That is what the Indian portal Autocar Professional reports. According to the articles, the deal could be the result of a licencing […] More…

US manufacturer Lucid Motors has significantly lowered the prices of its electric luxury sedan Air. The price reductions affect all trim levels – the Pure, Touring and Grand Touring. The Lucid Air Pure AWD now costs 82,400 dollars in the USA, which is 10,650 dollars less than before. The prices for the Air Touring and […] More…

Denza, BYD’s Chinese joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, has started deliveries of its new all-electric model N7 in China. The electric SUV is intended to compete with the Tesla Model Y. The Denza N7 starts at 301,800 yuan, equivalent to around 38,200 euros. It is thus more expensive than the Model Y in China, which starts […] More…

Nikola Motor is getting a new CEO and a new Chairman of the Board. Michael Lohscheller, who held both positions since the beginning of the year, is stepping down due to personel reasons. The move is effective immediately, though Lohscheller “will remain at Nikola in an advisory capacity through the end of September to support […] More…

In Japan, Uber is putting 100 Tesla Model Ys on the roads of Tokyo. This is the ride-hailing company’s first deployment of electric vehicles in the cab and for-hire industry in Japan. In collaboration with local cab and for-hire car operator Hinomaru Kotsu, the first 30 Model Ys will be deployed in the Setagaya, Edogawa […] More…

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $12 million initiative to support the integration of EVs and the grid. The target of this EV-grid integration is hard-to-decarbonise applications, such as heavy trucking and construction vehicles, as well as fleets and residential EV ownership. The competitive program is administered by the New York State Energy Research […] More…

Hyundai and Kia are recalling more than 91,000 newer vehicles in the USA due to fire hazards and are asking their owners to park the cars outside. One might assume that this refers to electric cars, however, one would be mistaken: this recall only affects internal combustion engines. Specifically, about 52,000 units of the Hyundai […] More…

With a range of almost 600 kilometres and low energy consumption, BMW’s i4 eDrive40 is a good electric car. But does the concept of the electric 4 Series Gran Coupé still work if the size of the battery is reduced? And is it even worth it? *** One thing right up front: a catchy model […] More…

The Chinese charging infrastructure manufacturer XCharge is setting up a production facility in the USA, specifically in the city of Kyle in Texas, through its subsidiary XCharge North America. DC fast chargers are to be manufactured there. According to the announcement, the Kyle facility will initially offer an area of around 325 square metres (original […] More…

Rwanda plans to put the country’s first electric buses into operation this year. The first examples are to roll out onto the streets of the capital Kigali as early as October – financed via a kilometre-based leasing model. The vehicles will come from the company BasiGo, a company that supplies and assembles BYD buses in […] More…

Nexeon, a UK-based developer of silicon-based anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, has announced the location for its first commercial production facility in the South Korean industrial city of Gunsan. Construction is expected to begin this year, with production scheduled to start in 2025. The plant is expected to supply “tens of thousands of tons” of […] More…

Ford is developing a heavy fuel cell truck prototype as part of an EU project. This was revealed by the Canadian fuel cell specialist Ballard Power Systems, which will supply the technology for this before the end of the year. The 44-tonne Ford F-MAX of the Turkish joint venture Ford Otosan is to be converted […] More…

Volkswagen Group of America has appointed Lyndon Lie as its new Chief Engineering Officer. He worked for General Motors and for Nikola before joining Volkswagen. At Nikola, Lyndon Lie was the global head of product development for the US manufacturer’s BEV and FCEV trucks. At Volkswagen, Lie will oversee the group’s development of future vehicles […] More…

The SAIC brand MG Motor is considering building the electric compact model MG4 in the planned European plant. While there is no concrete location for the factory yet, but the decision is expected to be made in the next two or three years. At the beginning of July, there were first reports that the Chinese […] More…

Tesla is apparently about to switch production of the Model 3 to the revised version. Observers from China report that production of the current Model 3 at the Tesla factory in Shanghai will cease in a few days on 14 August. The first examples of the new Model 3, which has been under development since […] More…