Author: Casper Benedict

The CEO of Nissan Motor Company, Makoto Uchida, has announced a significant investment of $250 million in the company’s powertrain plant in Decherd, Tennessee. This investment is intended to support the electrification of Nissan’s vehicle lineup, as demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States continues to grow and government initiatives support this trend. Although Uchida did not specify when the investment will occur or provide specific details about its purpose, he did indicate that it is part of Nissan’s increased efforts to electrify its vehicles in the US. This investment brings Nissan’s total commitments to US electrification to…

24M announced today that it has been awarded $3.2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) as part of the EVs4ALL program. The program aims to develop more affordable, convenient, efficient, and resilient electric vehicle (EV) batteries. “We are pleased to be chosen for this initiative and help strengthen the domestic supply chain for advanced batteries that power electric vehicles,” said Naoki Ota, president and CEO of 24M. “The demand for lower-cost, higher-capacity batteries is greater than ever before. The current processes to manufacture lithium-ion batteries are approaching performance and cost limits and…

Mercedes-Benz has made several new appointments to its top management team, affecting the level 1 positions below the Group Board of Management. Among the changes, Christoph Starzynski, currently the Head of Development Electric Drive, will take on responsibility for the overall vehicle development of all Mercedes-Benz passenger car series starting July 1, 2023. The series of appointments was prompted by Wolf-Dieter Kurz, Head of Product Strategy & Steering, who after 34 years with the company, decided to “begin a new phase of his life” in March, according to an official statement. Kurz’s duties will be taken over by Oliver Thöne,…

The Genesis GV60 electric SUV was awarded the title of “Best Electric SUV” at the 2023 What Car? Awards, held at Grosvenor House in Park Lane. The event brings the automotive industry together to honor the UK’s top achievements and contributions. This award marks the GV60’s first of the year, building on a string of accolades received in Europe in 2022, such as “German Car of the Year” in the premium segment and “Swiss Car of the Year.” What Car? Editor Steve Huntingford praised the GV60, saying, “With its first electric SUV, Genesis has created a truly game-changing car. Standout…

Rental car company Hertz has announced a new public-private partnership called Hertz Electrifies, which aims to bring thousands of electric cars and data-based infrastructure to American cities. The initiative will begin in Denver, Colorado, where Hertz will provide no less than 5,200 rental electric vehicles (EVs) to customers and rideshare drivers. In partnership with BP Pulse, the company also plans to increase charging capacity at the Denver International Airport and Hertz locations by installing a mix of Level 2 and fast chargers. Additionally, Hertz has pledged to develop a workforce training curriculum focused on servicing and maintaining EVs with local…

As the world’s leading manufacturer of plug-in electric vehicles, BYD has seen rapid growth in recent years. However, one question remains: when will the Chinese company finally enter the United States market for consumer electric cars? Currently, BYD offers only commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks in the US, which are assembled in California. Despite this, the company has been exploring the possibility of entering the consumer electric car market for over a decade, since the debut of its first BYD E6 model. Despite several pilot presentations, BYD has yet to make a formal launch of its consumer electric…

General Motors (GM) announced today that it will invest $918 million across four production facilities in the United States to support the construction of drivetrain components. The funds will be divided among the production of electric vehicles (EVs) and the automaker’s next-gen small block V8 engine. “Today we are announcing significant investments to strengthen our industry-leading lineup of full-size pickups and SUVs by preparing four U.S. facilities to build GM’s sixth generation Small Block V-8 engine,” said Gerald Johnson, GM Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability. “These investments, coupled with the hard work and dedication of our team…

The development of a new generation of a classic vehicle like the Chevrolet Corvette is always a delicate balance of tradition and innovation. For its most recent model year, General Motors (GM) decided to introduce a hybrid drivetrain for the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, rather than a fully electric one, due to a number of factors, including performance concerns, cost, and design considerations. According to interviews conducted by CNBC, GM executives and engineers explained the reasoning behind the choice of a hybrid drivetrain. The main hurdle was the performance of an all-electric Corvette, which some argued would not have been as…

Volkswagen will reportedly appoint a new design chief, as the brand’s CEO is said to be dissatisfied with the current chief designer’s work. Andreas Mindt, who currently holds the position at Bentley, will replace the current designer, according to insiders. According to Automobilwoche, a change in Volkswagen’s design chief will occur on February 1st. The report cites sources within VW’s corporate circles. The current chief designer, Jozef Kaban, allegedly failed to make an impact on VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer and the board with his work on the ID.2 city car, which was previewed with the ID. LIFE concept. It…

SEA Electric and Mevco, companies that provide commercial electric vehicles and specialize in light-duty electric utility vehicles for the mining industry, respectively, have teamed up to convert 8,500 Toyota off-road vehicles to electric drives for mining operations in Australia. The project is valued at approximately $1 billion AUS or 648 million euros. SEA Electric and Mevco intend to install SEA Electric’s SEA-Drive electric drive system in 8,500 units of Toyota’s Hilux and Land Cruiser models over five years for use in the Australian mining industry. The Hilux is a pickup truck and the Land Cruiser is a large off-road vehicle.…

Winnebago presented the eRV2, a prototype of an all-electric motorhome, at the RV SuperShow in Florida. The eRV2 is an advancement of the company’s eRV concept from the previous year and is built on a Ford E-Transit electric chassis with an estimated range of 108 miles. The American motorhome manufacturer has outfitted its concept vehicle with a 48-volt, 15-kWh battery pack located beneath the floor. This battery can power all the interior features for up to seven days without needing to be recharged from an outlet. The prototype RV utilizes 900-Watt solar panels that charge the batteries located under the…

Some Rivian vehicle owners have reported high battery drain while their vehicles are idle, leading to discussions on forums and Reddit. According to one R1T owner from Phoenix, Arizona, who goes by the name “shrink” on the RivianForums, he left his truck plugged in and parked for an entire week and it drew 32 kWh, equivalent to around 4.6 kWh per day or 8 miles per day. The vehicle had a 70% charging limit set, was connected to a 240-volt 48-amp home charger, had Gear Guard turned off, but remained connected to the WiFi network. The owner contacted Rivian to…