Free Republic

As the automotive industry rapidly evolves towards electrification, high-voltage batteries are finding their way into various applications. From mining trucks to hydrofoil boats, electric powertrains are finding their homes in many unsuspecting vehicles. But one area is particularly fascinating: the classic car domain. Due to the high-torque nature of electric motors and battery packs that allow for a low center of gravity, swapping an old gas-guzzling engine for a battery pack and electric motors provides a quieter, faster, and more refined driving experience. Florida-based automaker E.C.D. Automotive Design Inc. has been working on precisely that. Founded in 2013, the automaker...

American truck drivers are sounding the horn on the Biden administration's recently finalized environmental regulations that aim to push for the heavy-duty vehicle sector to go all-electric. The truckers voiced concerns that electric heavy-duty vehicle technology is not nearly advanced enough to replace the nation's existing diesel-powered fleet, noting limitations on vehicle batteries, like low performance in cold weather conditions and shorter range. They also warned that the lack of high-powered charging infrastructure and power grid upgrades needed for fueling vehicles would present additional problems. "I'm an owner-operator. I've been in the business for 30 years," Mike Nichols, a Wisconsin-based...

EVs are really heavy compared to their gas-powered brethren. The heavy battery packs that power the electric motors in electric cars and enable their long trips between charging sessions tend to be the culprit of bloated EVs, which concerns Stellantis (STLA) CEO Carlos Tavares.

The fossil fuel industry is cashing in on the $7.5 billion for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that President Joe Biden approved in the Inflation Reduction Act, lobbying to have the stations built at existing gas station locations. Politico‘s Energy & Environment News reported: More than half of the charging stations being built so far from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law are rising at truck stops and gasoline stations, according to data exclusively provided to E&E News by EVAdoption, an EV data consultancy. In essence, the law’s $7.5 billion pot for charging is reinforcing the very fossil-fuel infrastructure that the...

Tesla's price CUTS in Australia follow the company's decision on April 3 to announced 0% financing for new orders of the Model 3 and Model Y in China. The incentive runs through the end of April and is Tesla's first interest-free promotion for China, the world's biggest EV market.Meanwhile, Tesla INCREASED its U.S. prices for all Model Y trims on April 1. Tesla RAISED prices on Europe Model Y vehicles on March 22. In China, Tesla also HIKED prices on its entire Model Y line by around $690 on April 1, even as some incentives expired.

DETROIT – Ford Motor is delaying production of a new all-electric large SUV and pickup truck, as it shifts to offer hybrid options across its entire North American lineup by 2030. The Detroit automaker on Thursday said it will continue to invest in EVs, but it is postponing production of the three-row SUV at a plant in Canada from 2025 to 2027 to allow for the market to mature more. The pickup is being pushed back from late 2025 to 2026. The shift in EV plans is the latest for Ford and the entire automotive industry as adoption has been...

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “America Reports” that people who do not want electric cars were like those who wanted “landline phones forever.” Buttigieg said, “Let’s be clear consumers have wanted and purchased more EVs every single year than the year before. Tesla is facing more competition as GM and Ford and Stellantis and other competitive players make sure they get a piece of the EV market. Let’s be clear, the automotive sector is moving toward EVs and we can’t pretend otherwise. Sometimes, when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s...

Pitched as a near-future electric touring bike, the Felo TOOZ has a top speed of 125 mph, a hand-of-God mid-range, and a range of 720 kilometers per charge (450 miles). Those numbers suggest it will be one of the largest motorcycles on the road, regardless of engine type, because that's a lot of battery capacity required to go that far on one charge. The biggest promise the TOOZ makes is high levels of technological connectivity to your phone (AKA life), and the ability to output multimedia through the 12" TFT dashboard with sound via a 6-channel surround sound speaker system....

The Biden administration’s well-funded push to build out a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers has so far resulted in only a handful of installations, according to The Washington Post. The bipartisan infrastructure bill of 2021 allotted $7.5 billion to subsidize thousands of EV chargers to help the administration’s goal of having EVs constitute 50% of all new cars sold in 2030, but only seven stations in total have been built in four states to date, according to the Post. The slow rollout of the EV charger funding is unfolding as the Biden administration has recently issued stringent emissions...

The war on gas-powered vehicles continues. While the White House recently released new rules to phase out gas-powered vehicles by 2032, several states have gone further. Eight states plan to completely ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported. Who’s leading the charge, you might ask? Why, it’s California, of course! They are joined by Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. Washington, D.C., has also committed to the ban, according to Money. If you live in one of these states, you won’t be forced to take your gas-powered car...

Ford will need to build two fully electric F150s for every gas-powered F150. By 2032, the company will need to build four electric F150s for every gas-powered F150. The Environmental Protection Agency has released its final tailpipe emissions standards, which some have called an electric vehicle mandate. “Make no mistake: This is a coerced phase-out of gas-powered cars,” the Wall Steet Journal editorial board recently opined on the final rules. The 1,181-page rule doesn’t require auto manufacturers to produce any electric vehicles, and the EPA insists the rule is not an EV mandate. “The standards continue the technology-neutral and performance-based...

Two years ago, the Biden administration rammed through Congress a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill that contained, among other boondoggles, $7.5 billion for building EV charging stations across the country. The administration says it's going to need 500,000 charging stations in place by 2030 to achieve Biden's climate goals on emissions. So far, a grand total of seven charging stations are operational. “I think a lot of people who are watching this are getting concerned about the timeline,” said Alexander Laska, a deputy director at the Third Way think tank. Gee! Ya think? How many charging stations will $7.5 billion buy? The...

Electric-vehicle startup Fisker said on Wednesday it was cutting the prices of its 2023 electric Ocean SUV model, signaling an attempt by the cash-strapped firm to drum up demand and ease concerns regarding its uncertain future. The company slashed the price tag of the entry level version - Ocean Sport - by around 36%, or $14,000, bringing it down to $24,999 from $38,999 earlier. The company said it will reduce the price of the top-end version of the vehicle, called "Extreme", by around 39%, or $24,000, to $37,499. Fisker also cut the price of its Ocean Ultra version to $34,999...

Tires on electric vehicles (EVs) have less durability and wear more quickly than tires on traditional gas-powered cars, a 2024 study shows. The revelation poses another problem for President Joe Biden’s quest to force Americans into EVs. The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study found that EV owners reported more tire wear compared to gas-powered cars, Automotive News reports: Findings from the study highlight EV owners having less satisfaction with the durability of their tires, expecting them to wear similar to gasoline-powered vehicle tires. However, EV tires naturally wear quicker because of greater vehicle weight and...

At least eight states are planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the next decade - and others are considering joining them. Only zero-emission vehicles can be sold in participating states beginning from the 2035 model year, according to the Advanced Clean Cars II legislation. The rule, which was first adopted by California, means that automakers and dealerships would be banned from selling new gas cars in these states from that point onwards.

Lucid said on Monday it is raising $1 billion in capital from an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), sending the shares of the luxury electric carmaker up about 8%. The latest investment by the sovereign wealth fund underscores a key advantage Lucid has in the race for survival among struggling EV startups. The Saudi government, which has a 60% stake, has invested billions in Lucid’s success as part of a strategy to diversify the Kingdom’s economy beyond oil. Ayar Third Investment Company, a PIF affiliate, will buy $1 billion in convertible preferred stock and will be able...

Why even order a Cybertruck if you can't immediately flip it for twice what you paid?Even before deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck began, the electric automaker made it clear that it would be a long time before it was produced in anything other than extremely limited quantities. That meant that if you were one of the few who had pulled yourself up by your bootstraps hard enough, you stood to make quite a bit of money auctioning yours off to the highest bidder. The latest failed attempt to do so, this time on Cars & Bids, has us worried, though....

The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed its ambition: to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). Incredibly, this announcement comes as we are flooded with overwhelming evidence that EVs are a market loser. Indeed, the artificial boom and then meltdown of the EV market is a modern industrial calamity. It was created by government, social media, wild disease frenzy, far-flung thinking, and the irrational chasing of utopia, followed by a rude awakening by facts and reality. CEO of Hertz Stephen Scherr has been booted out due to a vast purchase of an EV fleet...

Donald Trump's anodyne if overexcited comment that the U.S. auto industry would face a "bloodbath" if he's not elected and doesn't impose 50% or 100% tariffs on cars produced predictable results. "Don't outsmart yourself," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) posted, and Joe Biden's campaign promptly charged Trump with promising a "bloodbath" if he loses, without saying that he used a common metaphor and was talking about the auto industry. That's a subject Team Biden is understandably touchy about, given the conspicuous fiasco of its electric vehicle policies. It's summed up in a lengthy Wall Street Journal report on how a "dramatic...

I have a friend who frequently says that, if you control CO2 outputs, you control everything. Let me explain: Every aspect of modern life is dependent on hydrocarbons and, when hydrocarbons are burned for energy, they produce CO2. By demonizing CO2, you demonize hydrocarbons, which means…ta-dah!...you get to block hydrocarbons and control everything. We’re getting a glimpse of that with Joe Biden’s new energy emission rules, which will effectively make it impossible to build a gas-powered car in a few years, forcing people into costly, dangerous, unreliable, and dirty electric vehicles. Here’s the report from Fox:The Biden administration has finalized...