Volvo is laying out an ambitious calendar as it moves toward becoming an all-electric premium car brand by 2030. As previewed by the all-new Concept Recharge SUV(ish), the Swedish automaker's next generation of electric vehicles will push toward longer driving ranges, faster, bidirectional charging, and rapidly evolving tech. The Concept Recharge looks quite different from Polestar's future and certainly isn't the prettiest electric car to roll out of the Geely Group, but it represents a step toward giving drivers exactly the type of electric vehicle for which they clamor.
Volvo presented its plans at the Volvo Cars Tech Moment event in Gothenburg this week, focusing attention on how it will mold a new generation of smart, fast-updating electric vehicles that spend more time driving and less time plugged into the charger. The company intends for EVs to make up half its vehicle sales by the middle of this decade, ahead of it becoming a pure-electric brand by 2030.
As Washington gears up to pour billions into getting Americans behind the wheel of electric cars, demand for electric bicycles is soaring — and advocates say that demand would be even stronger if U.S. cities were building bike infrastructure to match the revolutionary emerging mode.
In response to a recent revelation from the U.K. Bicycle Association that retailers in Great Britain had sold an e-bike roughly once every three minutes in 2020, advocates here crunched the numbers to reveal that 600,000 e-bikes were sold last year in the U.S. — a rate of about once every 52 seconds.
That’s a slower per-capita sales rate for the United States, but it still means that two-wheeled electric vehicles outsold four-wheeled ones more than two to one last year, despite federal (and many state) subsidies for the latter mode. Unlike e-bikes, many EVs are eligible for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits, in addition to enjoying robust publicly funded roadway infrastructure and all the other non-gasoline-related ways the U.S. incentivizes private car ownership.
I've seen several of these in my hometown, so I believe it. The perfect compromise between a motorcycle and bicycle. I actually want one myself.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
McMurtry Spéirling may be the fastest, loudest electric car ever built
By Loz Blain
July 13, 2021
British company McMurtry Automotive has gone to Goodwood to show off its new Spéirling, a miniature electric hypercar with a Gordon Murray-style fan system in the back capable of generating more than 500 kg (1,100 lb) of downforce at a standstill.
However exactly you're supposed to pronounce it, the Spéirling is a tiny little single-seater designed purely for track use – at least, to start with. Its full-carbon body is just 3.2 m (10.5 ft) long, 1.05 m (3.4 ft) high and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) wide, all the better to cut through air more efficiently.
A new study lays to rest the tired argument that electric vehicles aren’t much cleaner than internal combustion vehicles. Over the life cycle of an EV — from digging up the materials needed to build it to eventually laying the car to rest — it will release fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a gas-powered car, the research found. That holds true globally, whether an EV plugs into a grid in Europe with a larger share of renewables, or a grid in India that still relies heavily on coal.
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis. So governments from California to the European Union have proposed phasing out internal combustion engines by 2035. But there are still people who claim that EVs are only as clean as the grids they run on — and right now, fossil fuels still dominate when it comes to the energy mix in most places.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
GM issues 2nd Bolt recall; faulty batteries can cause fires
Source: AP
By TOM KRISHER
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling some older Chevrolet Bolts for a second time to fix persistent battery problems that can set the electric cars ablaze.
Until repairs are done, GM says owners should park the cars outdoors, limit charging to 90% of battery capacity, and not deplete batteries below 70 miles of range. The company says the Bolts should not be charged overnight, and should be parked outside immediately after they are charged.
The second recall comes after two Bolts that had been fixed under a previous recall caught fire, one in Vermont and the other in New Jersey. It covers about 69,000 Bolts worldwide from 2017, 2018 and part of the 2019 model year. All have batteries made by LG Chem in South Korea.
The recall is another bug in a growing global rollout of electric vehicles by all automakers to replace internal combustion vehicles to cut emissions and fight climate change. Ford, BMW and Hyundai all have recalled batteries recently. Also, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigated a series of fires in Tesla vehicles and earlier this year said the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries pose safety risks to first responders after crashes.
A new study from Ernst & Young has revealed that out of those looking to buy their next car, 41 percent are interested in going electric. EY surveyed consumers from 13 major international markets (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, and the US) and found that the degree of interest varies by country—only 17 percent of Australian consumers are thinking of going electric, compared with 48 percent of those in China and 63 percent in Italy. But overall, the shift marks a significant 11 percent jump in EV interest from EY’s study last year.
“This represents a breakthrough moment in consumer attitudes that could hugely accelerate demand for EVs and alternative powertrain vehicles,” the study concluded. “Previously, many consumers expressed generalized concerns over sustainability, but those concerns did not translate into action when it came to buying their next car.”
The auto industry’s push into electric vehicles has gained traction this year with sales of these models growing at a faster clip than the broader U.S. car business.
While still a sliver of the overall market, sales of plug-in vehicles more than doubled in the first half of 2021 compared with last year, when the pandemic sapped sales. That far outpaced the 29% rise for total vehicle sales, according to research firm Wards Intelligence.
The biggest factor driving the gains was Tesla Inc.’s continued dominance in electrics. Tesla’s U.S. sales rose 78% through June this year, according to an estimate from research firm Motor Intelligence. The increase was helped by Tesla’s Model Y crossover SUV, which has quickly become the company’s top seller since being introduced last year. Tesla is scheduled to report second-quarter financial results Monday.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
US automakers pledge huge increase in electric vehicles
Source: AP
By TOM KRISHER and AAMER MADHANI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the U.S. must “move fast” to win the world’s carmaking future, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a commitment from the auto industry to produce electric vehicles for as much as half of U.S. sales by the end of the decade.
Biden also wants automakers to raise gas mileage and cut tailpipe pollution between now and model year 2026. That would mark a significant step toward meeting his pledge to cut emissions and battle climate change as he pushes a history-making shift in the U.S. from internal combustion engines to battery-powered vehicles.
He urged that the components needed to make that sweeping change — from batteries to semiconductors — be made in the United States, too, aiming for both industry and union support for the environmental effort, with the promise of new jobs and billions in federal electric vehicle investments.
Pointing to electric vehicles parked on the White House South Lawn, the president declared them a “vision of the future that is now beginning to happen.”