Free Republic

Linda Barnes and her husband had to visit six charging stations as one after another they were either out of order, already had a queue or were the slow, older versions that would never be able to provide a fast enough charge in the time. The couple, who love their new fully electric Porsche Taycan 4S, which has a range of about 250 miles, contacted the Guardian to describe how difficult it is to recharge a car away from home. Their journey would have taken two and a half hours in a conventional car, they say. Linda says the sense...

Owners of electric and hybrid vehicles in Texas would face higher fees every year under a proposal that would help shore up the state’s road fund, which relies on a decreasing amount of gas taxes. Electric vehicles would be hit with an additional $200 registration and annual renewal fee, while hybrids, which use a combination of gasoline and electric power, would be taxed an additional $100 for registration and renewal, according to a proposal from state Rep. Ken King, a Panhandle Republican. King could not immediately be reached for comment. Revenue from the proposed fees would go to the state...

@athein1#FL #EarlyVoting 3pm update. https://joeisdone.github.io/florida/ D Lead (VBM+IPEV) =262653; was 302282 at 8am.-40k in 7 hrs. D lead continues its collapse. It is now projected to be well below 200k by E eve! That means Trump wins FL. Winner of FL has won each of the last 6 elections!!

Some readers thought we exaggerated when we reported on California’s plan to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. Well, now there’s a bill in Congress promising the same for everyone in America. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and four other Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday that would mandate 100% of cars sold in 2035 be electric and 50% of new cars by 2025—a Biden Presidency from now. Last year a mere 2% of car sales were electric, notwithstanding the $7,500 federal tax credit, state subsidies and other incentives such as car-pool lane access. Kamala Harris declined to put her name...

In an amazing twist of fate, General Motors' gas-guzzling middle-finger-flying Hummer brand, discontinued in 2010, is poised to make a comeback for 2022 as an all-electric sub-brand of GMC. We know very little about the GMC Hummer EV SUT pickup truck so far. But we do know that it will offer 1000 horsepower and GMC claims it's capable of blasting from zero to 60 mph in just 3.0 seconds. Pickup trucks are clearly the next frontier for electric vehicles, as potential rivals from upstarts such as Rivian, Bollinger, and Tesla—as well as entrenched truckmakers such as Ford—are preparing their own...

The National Transportation Safety Board says the U.S. is woefully unprepared to deal with EV fires, which require different strategies than gasoline vehicle fires. 31 percent of fire departments don't train for EV fires, and half say they don't have special protocols in place to deal with EVs after a crash, the agency's report found. Note the caveats, though. There are more than 29,000 fire departments in the U.S. This survey only asked for information from 32 of them. If you have been reading Car and Driver for a while, there's a decent chance you remember the news when a...

In recent weeks, the media landscape has been awash with stories declaring the beginning of the end of the age of hydrocarbons in America and around the world. The facts on the ground, however, paint a different story. As of this year, renewable generation accounted for only 17.5% of the US’ energy mix. While Deloitte predicts this number will grow to just shy of 50% by 2050, it would be naïve to assume that fossil fuels won’t continue to play a significant role in our lives for the foreseeable future. The road to the energy system of the future is...

Ford has patented a removable range extender for an electric pickup that sits in the bed and resembles a toolbox. The range extender would act as a generator, recharging the battery of the vehicle using a small motor. The system could potentially make its way into the upcoming electric Ford F-150. While automakers rush to get their electric trucks on the road, there are likely potential buyers who might still be concerned about range, especially in areas without a robust charging-station infrastructure. Ford might have a solution for those customers: a modular range extender that sits in the bed of...

Corporate and private investors have poured at least $2.3 billion into more than 100 aerial vehicle startups, including drones and electric air taxis. GM is weighing all options - whether to build, supply or partner - as it decides whether to join such automakers as Hyundai Motor Co, Toyota etc. General Motors, the US carmaker is exploring possibilities in the aerial taxi market, including whether to build the vehicles known colloquially as "flying cars," as part of a push to look for growth in related transportation markets, two people familiar with the matter said. Chief Executive Mary Barra on Monday...

Think the manual transmission is a dying breed? Guess what? You're right. Sales of electric cars recently surpassed those with three pedals. And since earlier this year, when we last revised this list, several stick-shift-equipped models have been dropped from the U.S. market, either because the option or the entire model line has been discontinued. Most notably, the Cadillac ATS-V is gone, and Jaguar no longer offers a six-speed for its rowdy F-type. But here's the good news. There are more than 30 cars available in the U.S. that come with a manual gearbox. (A handful of sport-utes come with...

General Motors will work with Honda to design and develop two electric vehicles using GM’s new EV platform, the automakers announced Thursday. Details on what type of vehicles they are building were not revealed, but Honda will design the bodies and interiors and expects to start selling them in North America by 2024. Honda is already an investor in GM’s Cruise autonomous car division, and they have previously worked together on battery technology. Honda recently said it would discontinue sales of the electric version of its Clarity model, which was the only all-electric car it sold in the U.S. …

KIST researchers developed cathode material of carbon-silicon complex by simply mixing and heating silicon mixed with oil with green ingredients corn and sweet potato starch. If batteries made of this material are installed in electric vehicles, the driving range will more than double. Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Hun-Gi Jung and his research team at the Center for Energy Storage Research of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Lee Byung Gwon) have announced the development of silicon anode materials that can increase battery capacity four-fold in comparison to graphite anode materials and...

It's equipped with a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery and should be able to support an eight-hour workday in most of applications, offering: payback in around five years (the upfront cost is higher than diesel) . Utilities who operate their own backhoe fleets can power each machine off of the electricity they generate, essentially operating the machine at cost.

Well, it happened once again. Sales of electricity in the US declined in 2019 by a significant 2.8%, despite solid domestic economic growth with real GDP increasing 2.3%. Sales across all categories of users—residential, commercial and industrial— all fell. To put this in context electricity sales have fallen in five of the past ten years. From 2010-2019 electricity sales actually declined by a slight 0.1% while real GDP rose 22%, the population increased 7% and industrial production rose 17%. Note especially the last number. It has been an easy (and we believe lazy) claim to attribute every slackening period of...

Over two decades and 2 million miles, Karl Williams has driven practically every diesel-powered truck brand on the road. Now behind the wheel of an electric-powered rig, he relishes keeping his place in stop-and-go traffic and misses neither the engine clatter nor the smell of diesel fuel Unless compelled, he won't be going back to diesel trucking. In about four months, NFI's fleet of nine electric day cabs has racked up about 50,000 miles. "I would have the space of two diesel trucks in front of me. By the time I get going, five cars jump in front of me,"...

Recently sold on the website Only Used Tesla is what is believed to be the highest-mileage Tesla Model X in the world—a 2016 “90D” rental car/shuttle with over 400,000 miles on the odometer. The company that owned it, Tesloop, gave me the vehicle’s full maintenance records, so let’s look at every part that had to be swapped for this electric crossover to reach 400,000 miles in this condition.~snip~Before we go on, I want to make clear that this story is not a criticism of Tesla, nor is it implying that its cars are less-than-reliable, or that they’re significantly more reliable or easier to maintain...

Forget “economic justice,” climate change and foreign policy. The big issue for America if Michael Bloomberg wins the presidency is: Will he install bike lanes on Interstate highways? Maybe you scoff. Of course our former mayor and his transportation sidekick Janette Sadik-Khan couldn’t possibly inflict their cycling mania from sea to shining sea. But back when Bloomberg took office in 2002, the idea that the Big Apple might one day be crisscrossed with space-hogging bike lanes seemed ridiculous. Today, the city has 1,260 traffic-snarling miles of them. They’re a barrel of fun for cycling enthusiasts, a tiny minority of New...

President Trump's budget would eliminate the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, an Energy Department initiative to lend money to retool factories and advance the progress of electric-vehicle manufacturing.

General Motors, the auto maker that sells millions of cars and trucks each year, has a new production target: zero. CEO Mary Barra hasn’t lost her mind. Instead, GM’s goal is a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion, the company said at an investor event following the release of its fourth-quarter earnings. It’s a bold vision to say the least. Zero EmissionsNo greenhouse gases coming from a tail pipe, of course, is all about vehicle electrification. GM, it seems, is leaving the traditional motor behind. “We believe climate change is real, it’s a global concern and the...