Corolla rags on plug-ins
In a new TV advert for the Corolla hybrid, Toyota dished out some dirt against their plug-in competitors and called on customers not to “get left behind” and invest in their self-charging hybrid.
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Back to the future via Easter egg
New Easter eggs in Tesla software continue to appear: A recently-discovered hidden function unfortunately does not allow time travel, but offers numerous references to the cult movie “Back to the future”.
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Mobile libraries with Volvo e-buses in Sweden
The Gothenburg Municipal Library will use two Volvo e-buses for its mobile libraries from summer 2020. Finnish company Kiitikori designed the interiors of the two 7900 Electric buses, which not only include bookshelves but also meeting points for children and adults.
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Running low when its cold out
The heat is on in a dispute between the American Automobile Association (AAA) and Tesla over range decreases in freezing temperatures. While the AAA claims to have found a loss of range of up to 41% with the heating on, Tesla says its data show the decrease not “anywhere near” that value.
Scooter licenses incoming?
According to a study by Consumer Reports, around 1,500 people have been injured in accidents involving electric kick-scooters in the USA since the end of 2017. The article is based on estimates from hospitals in 47 US cities in which either Bird or Lime operate.
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Mass marketing fail
Volkswagen was to make 3% of sales with EVs in 2018, estimated Martin Winterkorn in 2010 but now we know, they failed. According to VW, it delivered 6.24 million vehicles in 2018, of which only around 50,000 were electric cars and plug-in hybrids so they did not even manage to crack the 1% mark. Much […]
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Polar vortex affects EV batteries
The record cold in the US American Midwest is also causing problems for electric cars. EV drivers in tweets complain about significantly declining ranges. What is worse, some Tesla drivers report that the door handles, which otherwise extend automatically, are iced up due to the Arctic freeze.
Toyota blames Tesla for defectors
Tesla’s Model 3 is apparently causing a bit of trouble for Toyota’s US American market: As Toyota’s North American boss Jim Lentz recently admitted, around nine percent of Toyota customers are unfaithful to the brand. About half of them are (former) Prius owners who migrate to Tesla.
Porsche Taycan for tykes
For those who cannot afford Porsche’s incoming BEV flagship the Taycan just yet, Playmobile is offering a budget version that is a little more compact. The toy version even drives fully electrically, although via remote, and placing a passenger inside may prove a bit difficult.
Nio update causes PR stir
During a demonstration drive in Beijing, a Nio EV caused a traffic jam. The reason was an update, that launched, causing the vehicle to stand still for over an hour. We figured after the times of Microsoft, software developers would learn not to surprise users with updates.
DeepFlight Dragon works like a drone under water
DeepFlight Dragon is the promising name of an electric submarine for two people. At a price of 1.5 million US dollars, it is easy to see why its aimed at superyacht owners. The new underwater vessel operates much like a drone, only under water.
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Mexican fuel shortage as Chevrolet marketing chance
After a tapped gasoline pipeline exploded, the Mexican government closed several pipelines to combat fuel theft, leading to a nation-wide shortage of gasoline. Chevrolet Mexico immediately turned this into a marketing campaign for the e-model Bolt.
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Supercharger sabotage
Tesla haters in the USA apparently cannot leave off the provocations – After Supercharger parking spaces were recently blocked by pickup drivers, unknown persons in Utah have now cut the cable of a Supercharger and drilled holes in the charger plugs.
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Little wheeled robot makes deliveries for Amazon
Just a little bit shorter than Wall-E, Amazon.com’s little delivery bot has been called Amazon Scout. The six-wheeled robot will be making deliveries during pilot tests in Washington’s Snohomish County.
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Porsche uses environmentally pro-active surface tech
As part of its electric offensive, Porsche is declaring war on the pollutant nitrogen dioxide that is escaping from diesel vehicles, including those which were almost snuck by during the diesel scandal. Electric cars themselves, of course, do not produce any: Porsche is using NOx-absorbing surface technology for the first time on parts of the facade of the new factory built for the production of the Taycan.
Finding hidden tigers
Mahindra say they successfully completed a pilot project using electric vehicles on safaris in India’s Taboda Andhari National Park. The manufacturer is now ready to supply Mahindra Supro Eco-Rangers to other parks and tiger preserves as well.
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Nikola CEO makes job offers to laid-off Tesla workers
The recently announced renewed job cuts by Tesla have prompted the US startup Nikola Motor, specialising in fuel cell trucks, to make a special job offer: Nikola CEO Trevor Milton offers affected Tesla employees a job perspective in his company in a LinkedIn article.
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Hack it to get it: Tesla Model 3 at CanSecWest
Those competing in the Pwn2Own contest at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, Canada usually have the task of hacking a device, generally a computer. If they can breach the devices security measures, they get it for free. This year a Tesla 3 is up for grabs.
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Tesla Model 3 design flaw vs CCS Supercharger flow (videos)
Must Tesla brace itself for a social media storm under the #trunkgate? Possibly, since EV fan Bjørn Nyland demonstrates that the Model 3 trunk has a design flaw when it rains. Yet in our own news, we present one of the first CCS adapted Superchargers ready for the Model 3’s arrival in Europe.
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Back to the future with 50s charging “pump”
In Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, USA, Tesla owner and ice-cream parlour drive-in partner, Tony Caciolo, uploaded a photo of his new 50s nostalgia Tesla charger. The combination of old and new immediately become an internet sensation.
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Tesla to the rescue
Falck, a company specialising in ambulance services, has converted a Tesla Model X into a rescue vehicle and is currently testing it in southern Denmark. A rollout is not entirely unlikely, given they went as far as designing a new system to power live-saving equipment independently.
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The end of ICEing
ICEing, the practice of blocking a charge spot by parking a gas guzzler in front of it, may seen its last days, at least in China. There, a Supercharger can only be accessed with a QR code supplied to Tesla drivers via WeChat, that then lowers the forbidding iron bar guard.
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Lime pulls 500 e-scooters off Swiss streets
In Switzerland, there has been a number of incidents involving Lime electric scooter’s displays shutting off and slamming on the front brakes at full-speed. The US-American company has taken their 500 electric scooters off Swiss streets for repair.
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Robot apparently hit by Tesla on Autopilot – only it isn’t
The electric car, a Tesla Model S, apparently hits a stray robot. The event is captured on video and the Russian firm that released it claims the Tesla was in self-driving mode aka Autopilot. So far so funny but what has really happened?
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Not misleading, but complaint understandable
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in England has dismissed complaints against a Mitsubishi television advert for misleading consumers by over-playing the electric aspect of its Outlander PHEV SUV.
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From trolling to towing
ICEing appears to have been around since the dawn of the electric age, yet it recently reached a new low with pick-up drivers purposely blocking Tesla Superchargers. So, it was time for some de-ICEing and this Model X driver took matters into his on hands – or on his tow bar rather.
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Think you’ve seen it all? Try an electric surfboard.
The Chinese company Waydoo is advertising an electric surfboard, the Waydoo Flyer, that can propel riders across the water at 35 km/h. While muscle-bound surfers may scoff, it really looks like a lot of fun if you have a little cash to spare.
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Hyundai’s car with legs can save lives
What looks like something out of a Star Wars film is just a new kind of vehicle for emergency responders in crises situations. Hyundai has built a vehicle called Elevate that is a new class of vehicle. It can drive like a regular vehicle, but grows legs to step through rubble, or climb up stairs.
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Porsche pressing the pedal on gas language
While technology and the market seem to be evolving quickly, the German car manufacturers at Porsche are keeping some of their old trade alive by using marketing language derived from old turbo powered times.
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Icy safaris on an electric snowmobile
Finnish company Aurora eMotion has developed fully electric snowmobiles, with which you can take a safari through the frozen tundra of Lapland.
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