News

Tuesday 25th August 2020

Battery-electric vans are currently only rarely subject to individual conversions. Especially when the sector concerned is the transport of temperature-sensitive products like food or medicines. The energy required for the cooling previously meant concessions in the payload or the range. But as a provider of holistic systems-oriented solutions, Mercedes-Benz Vans has a solution for precisely this field of operation: the refrigerated eVito with a cooling upfit made by Kerstner. Seven of these vehicles have now been brought into operation by the Belgian food box provider HelloFresh.

Tuesday 25th August 2020

The new Volkswagen ID.301 has set its first range record: The electric car covered the 531 kilometers from Zwickau to Schaffhausen (Switzerland) on a single charge. Officially, the model has a range of up to 420 kilometers (WLTP). This mark was topped by more than 100 kilometers – an increase of 26 percent. The vehicle was a series production ID.3 1st Pro Performance with a 58 kWh battery built at the Zwickau electric car factory. The route to Switzerland consisted entirely of public roads and highways, passing cities such as Bayreuth and Ulm. The record-breaking vehicle was driven by “hypermiler” Felix Egolf, a native of Switzerland. The term “hypermiling” originated in the USA and refers to driving a series production vehicle with techniques that maximize efficiency and minimize consumption.

Monday 24th August 2020

The Scottish Government has opened a new Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme. This year, the scheme will provide £9 million ($11.79 million) to help bus operators invest in ultra-low emission vehicles to help drive a green recovery out of the COVID-19 crisis while improving air quality.

Monday 24th August 2020

Valmet Automotive, one of the world’s largest vehicle contract manufacturers and engineering service providers focusing on electric mobility, is expanding its site in Helmstadt-Bargen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, to produce electrically powered small series vehicles for urban mobility.

Monday 24th August 2020

ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp., a designer and manufacturer of electric vehicles, announced an official start date of August 26th for the commencement of production for its flagship SOLO EV.

Monday 24th August 2020

Arriving in the UK early in 2021, the Mazda MX-30 is Mazda’s first all-electric production vehicle and part of an electrification strategy that has already seen Mazda M Hybrid mild hybrid systems fitted as standard to the Mazda3 and Mazda CX-30, plus selected Mazda2s.

Monday 24th August 2020

Britishvolt, the UK’s foremost investor in battery technologies, has appointed Dr Allan Paterson as Chief Technical Officer.

Monday 24th August 2020

Friday 21st August 2020

Baidu opened the Apollo Go Robotaxi service in Cangzhou, Hebei province, extending robotaxi coverage to the downtown area of a city for the first time in China. The launch marks a significant milestone in Baidu’s development of autonomous driving technology and its aim to bring about the era of intelligent transportation.

Friday 21st August 2020

AKASOL is once again expanding its production capacity at the US location in Hazel Park. From 400 MWh to around 2 GWh. The background here involves long-term supply contracts with a global commercial-vehicle manufacturer that will outfit its US brands and vehicle types with new, high-energy battery systems by AKASOL beginning in 2021.

Friday 21st August 2020

Orders for the 100% electric Fiat E-Ducato have now been opened, priced from £47,675 ($62,455) excluding VAT (after the Government PiVG). Kickstarting the Fiat brand’s foray into 100% electric vehicles, the E-Ducato large LCV receives a range of between 99 and 192 miles (WLTP City), depending on the variant. It is congestion charge and ULEZ-exempt, making it the perfect tool for businesses in both urban and suburban environments.

Friday 21st August 2020

With “&Charge”, Porsche Digital has successfully spun off its own company in the field of e-mobility, thereby expanding its digital business portfolio. “&Charge” offers a digital platform through which users can obtain credit for their online purchases for electric mobility. The start-up, which is based in Frankfurt am Main in Germany, thus offers the first loyalty programme for e-mobility in Europe.

Friday 21st August 2020

GKN Automotive, the leading global technology company, has announced Dirk Kesselgruber as the new President of its ePowertrain division.

Friday 21st August 2020

Volkswagen is electrifying the eighth generation of the Golf with two new plug-in hybrid versions: the Golf eHybrid and Golf GTE. This means that no less than two Golf models are now available as plug-in hybrid models for the first time.

Friday 21st August 2020

Research by Jaguar Land Rover has revealed how an innovative recycling process could upcycle aluminium waste from drinks cans, bottle tops and end-of-life vehicles into the premium cars of the future and reduce production CO2 emissions by up to 26 per cent.

Friday 21st August 2020

Premium EV manufacturer NIO has officially launched Battery as a Service (BaaS) for customers in China. Now, NIO BaaS users can purchase a car without the battery, making EVs more price competitive against existing powertrains, while also providing the flexibility to change battery capacity depending on their needs and pay accordingly. In addition, BaaS also represents a systematic solution to the long-existing challenges for EV penetration, including battery degradation, battery upgradability, and lower resale value.

Thursday 20th August 2020

Volkswagen’s electric offensive continues to gather speed: Series production of the brand’s first all-electric SUV, the ID.4, gets underway in Zwickau. The world premiere of the ID.4 follows at the end of September.

Thursday 20th August 2020

As people around the world start driving more again, Ford and INRIX will soon help them find cheaper options for fuel prices and that elusive open parking spot.

Thursday 20th August 2020

A consortium led by Ford is developing an innovative predictive road safety tool which, using data from connected vehicles and intelligent roadside sensors, could help to make travel in towns and cities safer and easier.

Thursday 20th August 2020

Kandi America, the US subsidiary of Kandi Technologies Group, Inc., rolled out America’s most affordable EVs – models K23 and K27. Kandi America has received 436 pre-order reservations for the newly launched models within 24 hours. The number is expected to increase further.

Thursday 20th August 2020

Elkem announced that it has selected Herøya Industrial Park as the site for a potential large-scale plant for battery graphite production in Norway. The project, named Northern Recharge, aims to supply the fast-growing battery industry through a competitive production process and make batteries greener with lower CO2 emissions.

Thursday 20th August 2020

Electrify America, the largest open direct current (DC) fast-charging network in the US, announced that it will work with Love’s Travel Stops, the nation’s industry-leading travel stop network, to bring public ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to seven locations in six US states.

Wednesday 19th August 2020

esVolta has selected ION Energy, an industry leader in battery management solutions, to improve the operational efficiency of its utility scale battery energy storage projects, in one of the largest such deals in the world. Under the partnership, ION Energy's battery analytics platform, Edison Analytics, will be deployed across esVolta’s entire portfolio of battery energy storage projects in North America, totaling to 581 MWh of energy storage.

Wednesday 19th August 2020

Mercedes-Benz Bank has been offering the telematics-based InScore insurance solution since 2017. The solution enables customers to lower their insurance rates by adapting their individual driving style and choosing their routes and times of travel. Since August 2020, interested customers are able to test InScore for up to three weeks for free — and with no obligation.