VAG Nuremberg has just hit a milestone of operating 100 electric buses in the city, following the delivery of a new Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G bus. It’s one of 31 articulated buses of this model set to be delivered to the public transport firm by the end of the month. Read more…
Author: electrive.com
VW ID. Buzz GTX: Between sense and nonsense
As nobody really needs 250 kW of power in a family van, the ID. Buzz GTX overshot the mark here. Nevertheless, the top-of-the-range variant with all-wheel drive also offers practical features such as the highest towing capacity of all MEB models. The question of whether this is sense or nonsense runs like a red thread through almost the entire vehicle, as our test shows.
VW ID. Buzz GTX: Between sense and nonsense
As nobody really needs 250 kW of power in a family van, the ID. Buzz GTX overshot the mark here. Nevertheless, the top-of-the-range variant with all-wheel drive also offers practical features such as the highest towing capacity of all MEB models. The question of whether this is sense or nonsense runs like a red thread through almost the entire vehicle, as our test shows.
Beijing Hyundai unveils Elexio electric SUV
Beijing Hyundai has just unveiled its first electric SUV for the Chinese market, the Elexio. The brand shared images of the new vehicle to Weibo and states launch is targeted for Q3 of 2025. Read more…
‘Robotaxi’ trademarks declined in blow to Tesla
Tesla has had its trademark applications for the term ‘Robotaxi’ for its vehicles turned down by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), who said the term is too generic. The USPTO is still examining an application by Tesla to use ‘Robotaxi’ for its ride-hailing service that’s set to launch in June. Read more…
Hamburger Hochbahn gears up to launch autonomous shuttles
In the ALIKE project, Hamburger Hochbahn, Holon, the VW subsidiary Moia and other partners want to test around 20 autonomous electric shuttles in the Hanseatic city. A depot for the vehicles is to be built over the next few months. Read more…
High-ranking drive developer Vineet Mehta leaves Tesla
Vineet Mehta, Director of Battery Technology and Drive Architecture at Tesla, has left the company after 18 years. As he announced on LinkedIn, he had his last day of work at Tesla on 2 May and will “take a break.” Read more…
EU Parliament waves through softened CO2 targets
The EU Parliament has given its nod to the softening of the CO2 fleet targets for 2025 requested by the Commission. The proposal received 458 votes in favour, 101 against and 14 abstentions. Now all that remains is for the Council to give its approval, which is probably a mere formality. Read more…
Lucid reduces quarterly loss
The US electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors achieved a turnover of 235 million US dollars in the first quarter. Lucid was able to reduce its net loss – and has also confirmed its forecast for the full year 2025. Read more…
BYD & Tsingshan pull out of Chile lithium projects
The Chinese EV maker BYD and the metals group Tsingshan have announced that they will no longer be involved in the construction of lithium cathode plants in Chile, following a drop in lithium prices. The companies had previously announced separate plans to make multi-million dollar investments in the country. Read more…
Poland lures Ascend Elements battery recycling with a grant worth millions
Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has offered the US EV battery recycling specialists, Ascend Elements, the equivalent of up to 290 million euros in funding to support the construction of a production facility for recycled cathode material in Poland. Read more…
Geely wants to delist Zeekr from the stock exchange again
The Chinese automotive group Geely has announced that it will delist its electric car subsidiary Zeekr from the New York Stock Exchange. Just one year after the successful stock market debut of Zeekr, Geely is planning to buy up the shares of the other shareholders and consolidate its automotive activities. Read more…
Arriva adds new electric buses to London routes
Bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis has delivered the first of 30 new electric buses to Arriva London, which will operate them on Transport for London (TfL) routes across the city. They’ll initially be deployed on the SL6 Superloop route, which connects the outskirts of London with the city centre. Read more…
17 US states sues against the federal government’s charging subsidy stop
Legal resistance has formed in the USA against the Trump administration’s freeze on the nationwide allocation of new funding for charging infrastructure. California and 16 other states have now filed a lawsuit against the US government – with the aim of having Trump’s directives declared unlawful. Read more…
Royal Mail trials electric trucks for first time
The British postal service is testing out two 19-tonne electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to assess their performance compared to Royal Mail’s existing fleet of traditional trucks and lorries. The service is already set to deploy over 7000 small and medium-sized electric vans by 2027, but this will be the first time that it tests out larger electric vehicles. Read more…
Montréal sets new charging infrastructure target
Montreal is planning to install 11,000 new charging points for electric cars by 2030, both on roadsides, in publicly accessible car parks and on publicly accessible private property in the greater metropolitan area. Read more…
VW to recall over 5000 ID. Buzz vans
Volkswagen is recalling 5,637 ID. Buzz vans and temporarily halting further sales over a compliance issue with US safety laws. The issue is to do with the size of the long wheel base version’s third row of seats, which Volkswagen must now alter. Read more…
Phoenix Contact presents CCS connector for up to 1,000 kW
At Power2Drive, Phoenix Contact presented the second generation of its HPC charging connector CHARX connect professional with up to 1,000 kW charging power in boost mode. This was done via CCS, and not the new megawatt standard. The company is also presenting new CCS charging sockets, albeit with a lower output. Read more…
Audi to release two A6 plug-in hybrid models
The Audi A6 – not the battery-electric A6 e-tron – is now available again in two plug-in hybrid versions. Compared to its predecessors, the battery is significantly larger, increasing the electric range on paper to up to 106 kilometres. Read more…
Uber joins robotaxi forces with both Pony.ai and WeRide
Uber has added more cooperation agreements for robotaxis to its recent slate of deals. After Volkswagen, Momentum and May Mobility, Uber has now inked separate deals with Chinese-American autonomous driving systems specialists Pony.ai and WeRide. Read more…
