Tag: Electric Vehicle

Technology

Budget 2024: Govt commits to boost electric vehicle ecosystem through infrastructure support

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2024 speech today, declared that the government aims to bolster the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem by providing support to both charging and manufacturing infrastructure across the country. In her pre-election Budget - technically a vote on account and commonly referred to as an interim Budget - Sitharaman emphasised the encouragement of electric buses for public transport networks as a pivotal aspect of this strategy."Our government is committed to expanding and fortifying the e-vehicle ecosystem by actively supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure," stated the finance minister. Additionally, she highlighted the intention to promote the adoption of electric buses in public transport networks through the implementation of ...
Technology

Apple Home Devices, Car Veteran DJ Novotney Exits for Top Rivian Auto Product Role

An Apple Inc. veteran who led work on home devices and helped start efforts to develop an electric vehicle is leaving for Rivian Automotive Inc., marking yet another senior departure for the iPhone maker, informed colleagues Friday of his exit, according to people with knowledge of the matter. He will become senior vice president of vehicle programs at Rivian, the maker of electric SUVs and pickup trucks, and report to Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing unannounced matters. Novotney, who worked at Apple for nearly 25 years, was known as a senior lieutenant to many of the company's top hardware engineering executives. He was instrumental in the development of several generations of the iPod and iPhone, and was tapped by former hard...
Technology

Elon Musk-led Tesla Zeroes in on Everyday Buyers After Winning Over Electric Vehicle Lovers

Tesla Inc. is expected to say on Tuesday it had another record delivery year in 2023, in large part due to die-hard Elon Musk fans and tech-savvy early adopters. Now the company is working to widen its appeal. The Austin-based electric vehicle (EV) maker is estimated to have handed over almost 483,200 vehicles in the fourth quarter, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That means Tesla probably exceeded its goal to deliver 1.8 million cars last year, an all-time high for the company but just a fraction of what Toyota Motor Corp. or General Motors Co. normally sell.For its next phase of growth, Tesla has to win over everyday buyers, who primarily select vehicles based on price and ease of use. “When you look at car buying in general, we're trying get to the next set of EV adopte...
Technology

Volkswagen, GM, Ford are being forced to reduce output or delay new electric vehicle models

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse was incredulous when asked this month whether the German premium carmaker would respond to a brutal price war in electric vehicles by cutting production. “Do I understand you right that you try to slow us down? Two years ago, it was the other way around,” he told analysts, triggering wry laughter.  Carmakers not called Tesla Inc. have spent the past decade being cajoled by governments, capital markets and journalists like me to speed up the transition to electric vehicles — and for good reason, because the planet is overheating. Now that EV sales aren't growing as fast as anticipated, Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are being forced to either reduce  EV output or delay new models and factories. (BMW h...
Technology

It’s Boom Times for Startups Trying to Electrify Aviation

 Since the Wright brothers invented the airplane in 1903, one aspect of how we fly hasn't changed. Evolving plane design and improved engines aside, almost all modern aircraft have one thing in common: They're powered by combustible fuels. That may be changing, though. Just as electric cars have started to revolutionize driving, a growing group of startups are now looking to electrify air transport.  Take Beta Technologies. Last month, the company flew a battery-operated aircraft — designed with fixed wings and vertical take-off and landing capabilities — from its Vermont headquarters to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The journey totaled 1,730 miles (2,780 kilometers) and marked the company's first product delivery to the US Air Force, which will pressure-test Beta's inaugural machin...
Technology

Range anxiety? These electric vehicle chargers will come to you

The US has about 50,000 public charging stations for electric vehicles, compared to an estimated 145,000 retail locations to purchase fuel for a gas-powered car. That's the prime source of the dreaded charging anxiety — the worry that you could run out of power in the middle of a trip.Not only are current and would-be EV drivers worried about whether they can find charging, they're also concerned charging infrastructure might not work. More than 20% of EV drivers in the US said they have pulled up to a charging station and been unable to charge their vehicle due to equipment malfunction, according to a study from J.D Power, a data analytics company.  We are now on WhatsApp. Click to join. A slew of startups are attempting to solve this problem by developing mobile chargers, from clunky...
Technology

How to Turn Your Electric Car Into a Mobile Power Plant

If you're planning to buy an electric car in 2024, you'll want to compare models' price, range and charging speed. But you should also ask whether the car is capable of powering your home in a pinch. A growing number of EVs coming on the market can tap the considerable energy stored in their batteries to keep the lights on during a blackout and lower your utility bill when rates spike.This “bidirectional charging” capability also promises to transform electric vehicles into a significant source of energy for utilities struggling to balance renewable energy production and climate-caused power disruptions. As EV sales grow, utilities can aggregate batteries into virtual power plants to avoid firing up fossil fuel power stations when demand spikes. The 2.1 million electric vehicles now on...
Technology

Porsche Design Head Says Chinese EVs Spur Edgier Car Concepts

After nearly twenty years of designing Porsche 911s and Cayennes, Michael Mauer says new competitors led by EV brands from China are making managers and designers in Germany more receptive to risky vehicle concepts.“These startups, with no heritage, they can do things completely different,” Porsche AG and Volkswagen AG's head of design said in an interview. “I consider it a positive thing actually, as a designer, because that makes the decision-makers — i.e., the management board — more open minded.” We are now on WhatsApp. Click to join. Volkswagen and Porsche will offer an update on their success in the coming week, when both companies report third-quarter results.Germany has long been at the forefront of car design with enduring classics like the Volkswagen Beetle, Porsche 911 and i...
Technology

The Mercedes G-Wagon is going electric. We had the first test drive

We may have Arnold Schwarzenegger to thank for the electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class, colloquially known as the G-Wagon.In 2018, on stage in front of hundreds of reporters at the debut of the V8 G-Class in Detroit, Schwarzenegger pressed Dieter Zetsche, then head of Mercedes-Benz, to make a battery version of the SUV being manufactured in Graz, Austria, near Schwarzenegger's hometown. Wearing a black cowboy hat and his signature walrus mustache, Zetsche agreed—although the brass at Mercedes had not thoroughly discussed it.    “I was actually looking at one of my guys and said, ‘Do we have a product plan for this?'” Ola Källenius, current chief executive officer of Mercedes, tells me with a laugh on Oct. 9.  He and I are in Austria, preparing to test drive the new electric G-Wagon on Schöc...
Technology

How CEOs can successfully deploy green solutions in uncertain economic times

Last month, we saw the Delhi Declaration of G20 push hard for renewable energy and cleantech alternatives. As well as reaffirming the Paris Agreement to achieve net zero global emissions by mid-century, they also made goals to triple the deployment of renewable and low-emission technology by 2030. For Indian businesses, the initial financial commitment to meet these goals comes with significant green premiums in the short-term. Green buildings for instance, are said to cost up to 32% more to design and fit, with these costs rolling over to business tenants. Likewise, the initial cost of owning an electric vehicle (EV) versus a petrol-powered car can have a 100% markup. How can business leaders begin to implement green changes to improve their operations? How can they use cleantech to ...