Mar 9, 2017 - 08:23 am

London Taxi Company, Tesla.

Video tip: The London Taxi Company has taken its upcoming range-extended electric cabs for extreme winter testing to the Arctic Circle. While the British capital barely ever sees snow, the company hopes to sell its EVs to cities everywhere, including places such as Moscow.
youtube.com via edie.net

More video tips: Tesla has released first clips from its Drive to Believe challenge, where “normal” car owners could swap their rides for a Model S for a few days.
The Netherlands, Germany

Jan 31, 2017 - 09:24 am

Mercedes, SAIC, London Taxi Company, Tesla, Nissan, Alta Motors.

Project One accidentally unveiled? As part of a design workshop, Mercedes may have revealed a detailed outlook on its Project One – AMG’s hybrid hypercar said to hit the road next year. The study at least bears some striking resemblance to teaser images published just recently (we reported).
motorauthority.com

Big investment: Chinese manufacturer SAIC is planning on investing a total of 15bn yuan (2.2bn dollars) in the development of electric vehicles and the field of connectivity. About half the money will be spend on pure battery-powered cars and the other on plug-in hybrids. SAIC plans to sell more than 320,000 EVs per year by 2020.
automobil-produktion.de (in German), autonewschina.com

Taxi power: London Taxi Company CEO Chris Gubbey confirmed that the company wants to use the almost finished platform of its TX5 hybrid taxi with range extender for commercial vehicles by 2019. LTC is a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Geely and plans on launching the hybrid taxi by the end of the year. After subsidies, the cab is said to be just as expensive as a diesel.
autoexpress.co.uk

Culprit? Tesla is accusing former Autopilot director Sterling Anderson of stealing company information for his own venture. He supposedly downloaded hundreds of gigabytes of information onto a hard drive and used it to form his own self-driving car company Aurora together with Chris Urmson, the former head of autonomous driving at Google.
theverge.com, businessinsider.de

Nissan Z as hybrid Nissan is planning to bring back its Z sports car series and will present a first concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. Apparently, the portfolio will also include a hybrid variant with a total output of 500 hp.
autoexpress.co.uk, caranddriver.com

Makeover: California manufacturer Alta Motors released an image of the new version of its Redshift, which it will present at the One Moto show in February. The electric motorbike is currently available in the variants SM and MX. No technical details have been released for the new “Street Tracker” or Redshift ST version.
electrek.co, autoblog.com, digitaltrends.com

Aug 5, 2015 - 08:07 am

Tesla, BMW, London Taxi Company, Formula E, Vmoto.

Model X production rolling: Tesla has stopped guided tours through its Fremont facility – a strong indicator that serial production of the new Model X is about to start. First deliveries are set for September and already 29,465 pre-orders have been placed. Apparently, Tesla gets up to 40 new orders a day.
cleantechnica.com (production), bidnessetc.com, teslamotorsclub.com (pre-orders)

Electric BMW SUV? BMW is readying its Tesla-Fighter, as rumours about an X7-based electric SUV have been re-enforced by German WirtschaftsWoche. The BMW board is currently evaluating potential designs, although it is not clear what these look like.
wiwo.de (in German), cleantechnica.com

The London Taxi Company broke ground on its new facility in Coventry. The 250-million pound site is to produce the new “green” Black cab and is funded by Geely (we reported). The factory is full of energy-saving features and will provide work for up to 1,500 people.
coventrytelegraph.net

Formula E approved: FIA has approved eight powertrain manufacturers that will provide the technology for the ten teams during the second season of the electric championship. It is the first time that Formula E will be an open competition with different drivetrains being introduced.
electricautosport.com

European expansion: Australian Vmoto is eyeing Europe, appointing a distributor for its electric scooters in Great Britain and Ireland. More talks are to be held with dealers in Denmark and Switzerland. Also, the company is negotiating with an unnamed European supermarket group.
businessinsider.com.au

May 4, 2015 - 08:05 am

Tesla, Toyota, Aston Martin, Audi, London Taxi Company, Via Motors.

Powerful impact: Tesla strikes again, unveiling its stationery battery packs that it hopes will lead the renewable revolution. The PowerWall for homes comes with either 7 kWh or 10 kWh and costs 3,000 or 3,500 dollars, respectively. For 25,000 dollars, businesses can purchase the PowerPack with a capacity of 100 kWh. Shipping will begin later this spring. Numerous international companies are already working with Tesla, such as EnerNOC and German LichtBlick.
chargedevs.com, transportevolved.com, greencarcongress.com (EnerNOC), greencarcongress.com (LichtBlick and others)

New Prius awaits: Toyota says it will end production of the current Prius plug-in hybrid this June. The 2016 generation will not be built before December, meaning the 2016 Prius PHEV cannot be expected before October next year and will possibly be in short supply until then.
transportevolved.com, insideevs.com

Aston Martin EV by 2019: Together, the two biggest shareholders of the British luxury carmaker will pay 200 million pounds (305m dollars) to make the electric concept DBX shown in Geneva a reality. The serial EV is set to launch in 2019.
electric-vehiclenews.com, automobilemag.com

– Text Ad –
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Semi-autonomous Audi: According to Autobild, the new A6 will come with automatic driving features up to a speed of 120 kph. Launching in July 2017, the new Audi will be made available as plug-in hybrid featuring a 90 kW electric motor, as well as a mild hybrid variant.
autobild.de (German original source), indianautosblog.com

Hybrid black cab: Geely-owned London Taxi Company announced that it wants to introduce a plug-in model of the iconic TX5 taxis. Combining an electric drive and petrol range extender, the black taxis are set to go on sale before 2018, and might be offered outside the UK as well.
autoblog.com

Via voucher scheme: Electric truck manufacturer Via Motors launched the ‘Drive Clean Chicago’ voucher programme, aimed at fleet operators and businesses in the Chicago area. When purchasing an electrified VTRUX vehicle, vouchers from 39,460 over 41,200 to 42,892 dollars apply.
electriccarsreport.com

Mar 27, 2015 - 09:46 am

London Taxi Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, BASF & Floatility.

Coventry electrified: More details on London Taxi Company’s planned facility for building black cabs have surfaced. Chinese Geely will invest 250 million pounds to be able to produce 36,000 electric cabs annually. The electric taxis will first hit the market in 2017 and might even be exported a year later.
businessgreen.com, theguardian.com, standard.co.uk

JLR to expand R&D: Jaguar Land Rover says it will double the size of its current engineering and design centre in Whitley, Coventry. The company claims the expansion is due to increased development of “ultra-low-emission technologies” so expect (partly) electric Jaguars in the future.
autocar.co.uk, gtspirit.com

Toyota heading for the title: Toyota Racing is ready to defeat its two WEC titles and has thus presented its new TS040 Hybrid. The update comes with revised aerodynamics, a new front-end design and changes to the suspension to improve tyre wear. Weight-saving measures have also been introduced.
autovolt-magazine.com

Solar scooter: Together, BASF and Floatility are developing the ‘e-floater.’ Weighing less than 12 kilograms, this solar-powered electric scooter aims at commuters wanting to float on the last mile. BASF will provide various composite and plastic materials which will be used for 80 percent of all components.
greencarcongress.com, basf.com

– Feedback –

Most clicked link on Thursday was the Chinese 3D-printed EV which is said to cost just 1,770 dollars.
3dprint.com

Feb 11, 2015 - 09:42 am

BMW, Mahindra, Fiat, Toyota, London Taxi Company, iRoad.

New BMW i at the IAA? More details on the BMW “Tesla Fighter” come from industry insider Georg Kacher. According to his sources, the model will be based on the long-wheelbase 5-series architecture and hit the market by 2018 as i5 or i7. Two electric motors and one combustion engine will provide a total power output of 400 kW. A concept car could be shown at this autumn’s Frankfurt motor show IAA.
carmagazine.co.uk

Indian EV for Europe: Mahindra is preparing a modified version of its e2o for European markets, which will come with a longer range, more power and better safety features than the Indian version. Crash tests in Spain went well and first units could arrive in Europe in the second half of this year.
thehansindia.com

Fiat 500X with plug? Rumours say that the next Fiat 500X could also be offered with an electric motor, even though it might just be a compliance car for the Californian market. A recently spotted test vehicle that does not appear to have a tailpipe spurred those rumours.
greencarreports.com

Prius c facelift in Down Under: Toyota has revealed its facelifted 2015 Toyota Prius c in Australia. It features new headlights and a redesigned grill and bumper on the outside as well as new colour themes on the inside. Another perk for Autralian buyers: Toyota has slashed 1,000 dollars from the list price of the 2015 Prius c to cement its position as Australia’s most affordable hybrid car.
practicalmotoring.com

All-electric London taxi? According to a media report, the London Taxi Company plans to build a new plant near Coventry. Based on information from the planning application, it seems that the company wants to offer a pure electric London taxi by 2018.
birminghampost.co.uk

iRoad-ing the streets of San Francisco: Toyota is testing its little electric three-wheeler in the Californian metropolis. Jennifer Jolly from USA Today got to take the “space-pod-on-wheels” for a test drive, loving the car’s agility and that it fits right through even the worst traffic congestion.
usatoday.com (with video)