ReportWire

Tag: evs and hybrids

  • Why Are We All Still Carrying Around Car Keys?

    My iPhone Wallet stores theater and transit tickets and all of my credit and debit cards, and it lets me sashay like a boss through my gym’s turnstile. The tech works flawlessly, requiring only my proximity or the merest tilt of the device toward my face. Biometric goodness means I have few worries about security, even accessing my bank accounts.

    So … why am I still opening my EV with a key?

    OK, it’s more than just a metal key; it’s a passive electronic fob with proximity-based radio signaling, which means I don’t have to press anything to unlock my car. But it’s nevertheless a bacteria-rich, easily lost, marque-branded plastic blob that, in truth, I no longer need. And I haven’t needed it for some years.

    BMW 5 Series owners have been using smartphones to unlock, start, and digitally share access to their luxury vehicles since 2021, the year after Apple’s introduced its plainly titled Car Key. Audi, Kia, and Hyundai later implemented support for ‌the feature. During the WWDC 2025 keynote in June, Apple said that 13 additional vehicle brands would “soon” join them, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Porsche. “Soon” appears to mean 2026.

    Tesla Model 3 owners have had digital key access since 2017, when the midsize sedan launched without a fob; it could only be opened with a smartphone. Subsequently, digital-native carmakers Rivian and Polestar also enabled digital key use. (“Digital Key has been removed from the upcoming 2025.34 software update for further testing,” noted a recent update from Rivian. The company’s comms team tells WIRED it’ll be available again “soon.”)

    Owners of the latest high-end Ford vehicles can use digital keys. Still, the Dearborn, Michigan, company clearly isn’t ready to ditch fobs—in October it launched the $200 Truckle, an ornate Western-style belt buckle with a cavity to fit the oversized F-150 fob, so it need never get lost or spoil the line of your jeans.

    Courtesy of Ford

    Digital for All

    Phone-as-a-key functionality isn’t just for select luxury cars. The wire-in MoboKey device turns a smartphone into a digital key and can be fitted by an auto electrician to almost any modern car, gas or electric.

    Similarly, KeyDIY, a Chinese smart key maker, sells a USB-powered box of tricks that allows almost any car to operate with a digital key. The box grabs car connectivity signals–Flipper-Zero-style–emulating the rolling codes that key fobs use to foil signal boosting “relay” attacks where criminals use antennas and extenders to capture the signals from a car’s key fob. (Always store your fob in a Faraday cage.) KeyDIY’s box, which lives in the car, is actuated by a device connected momentarily to the vehicle’s onboard diagnostic port.

    The Key to Meaning

    In short, the picture here is that digital key tech is mature and (mostly) secure, and we’re perfectly happy using Bluetooth Low Energy, near-field communication (NFC), and ultra-wideband (UWB) in the rest of our life—unless you’re a conspiracy theorist who clings to cash, that is—so why are so many of us still seemingly so attached to our physical car fobs?

    “Most people are reluctant to go without the physical backup of an actual key,” says Sean Tucker, managing editor of automotive research company Kelley Blue Book. And, he adds, picking up a fob is now an ingrained habit. There are also emotional factors to consider.

    “A car key is full of meaning,” says Stefan Gössling, a professor at Linnaeus University, Sweden, and author of The Psychology of the Car. “Jingling them gives some motorists the opportunity to show off their automobile, even if the car is not close by. Car keys are also comforting to some, a physical reminder that your vehicle is there to take you away; to protect you.”

    Carlton Reid

    Source link

  • The EV Battery Tech That’s Worth the Hype, According to Experts

    You’ve seen the headlines: This battery breakthrough is going to change the electric vehicle forever. And then … silence. You head to the local showroom, and the cars all kind of look and feel the same.

    WIRED got annoyed about this phenomenon. So we talked to battery technology experts about what’s really going on in electric vehicle batteries. Which technologies are here? Which will be, probably, but aren’t yet, so don’t hold your breath? What’s probably not coming anytime soon?

    “It’s easy to get excited about these things, because batteries are so complex,” says Pranav Jaswani, a technology analyst at IDTechEx, a market intelligence firm. “Many little things are going to have such a big effect.” That’s why so many companies, including automakers, their suppliers, and battery-makers, are experimenting with so many bit parts of the battery. Swap one electrical conductor material for another, and an electric vehicle battery’s range might increase by 50 miles. Rejigger how battery packs are put together, and an automaker might bring down manufacturing costs enough to give consumers a break on the sales lot.

    Still, experts say, it can take a long time to get even small tweaks into production cars—sometimes 10 years or more. “Obviously, we want to make sure that whatever we put in an EV works well and it passes safety standards,” says Evelina Stoikou, who leads the battery technology and supply chain team at BloombergNEF, a research firm. Ensuring that means scientists coming up with new ideas, and suppliers figuring out how to execute them; the automakers, in turn, rigorously test each iteration. All the while, everyone’s asking the most important question: Does this improvement make financial sense?

    So it’s only logical that not every breakthrough in the lab makes it to the road. Here are the ones that really count—and the ones that haven’t quite panned out, at least so far.

    It’s Really Happening

    The big deal battery breakthroughs all have something in common: They’re related to the lithium-ion battery. Other battery chemistries are out there—more on them later—but in the next decade, it’s going to be hard to catch up with the dominant battery form. “Lithium-ion is already very mature,” says Stoikou. Lots of players have invested big money in the technology, so “any new one is going to have to compete with the status quo.”

    Lithium Iron Phosphate

    Why it’s exciting: LFP batteries use iron and phosphate instead of pricier and harder-to-source nickel and cobalt, which are found in conventional lithium-ion batteries. They’re also more stable and slower to degrade after multiple charges. The upshot: LFP batteries can help bring down the cost of manufacturing an EV, an especially important data point while Western electrics struggle to compete, cost-wise, with conventional gas-powered cars. LFP batteries are already common in China, and they’re set to become more popular in European and American electric vehicles in the coming years.

    Why it’s hard: LFP is less energy dense than alternatives, meaning you can’t pack as much charge—or range—into each battery.

    More Nickel

    Why it’s exciting: The increased nickel content in lithium nickel manganese cobalt batteries ups the energy density, meaning more range in a battery pack without much more size or weight. Also, more nickel can mean less cobalt, a metal that’s both expensive and ethically dubious to obtain.

    Why it’s hard: Batteries with higher nickel content are potentially less stable, which means they carry a higher risk of cracking or thermal runaway—fires. This means battery-makers experimenting with different nickel content have to spend more time and energy on the careful design of their products. That extra fussiness means more expense. For this reason, expect to see more nickel use in batteries for higher-end EVs.

    Dry Electrode Process

    Why it’s exciting: Usually, battery electrodes are made by mixing materials into a solvent slurry, which then is applied to a metal current collector foil, dried, and pressed. The dry electrode process cuts down on the solvents by mixing the materials in dry powder form before application and lamination. Less solvent means fewer environmental and health and safety concerns. And getting rid of the drying process can save production time—and up efficiency—while reducing the physical footprint needed to manufacture batteries. This all can lead to cheaper manufacturing, “which should trickle down to make a cheaper car,” says Jaswani. Tesla has already incorporated a dry anode process into its battery-making. (The anode is the negative electrode that stores lithium ions while a battery is charging.) LG and Samsung SGI are also working on pilot production lines.

    Why it’s hard: Using dry powders can be more technically complicated.

    Cell-to-Pack

    Why it’s exciting: In your standard electric vehicle battery, individual battery cells get grouped into modules, which are then assembled into packs. Not so in cell-to-pack, which puts cells directly into a pack structure without the middle module step. This lets battery-makers fit more battery into the same space, and can lead to some 50 additional miles of range and higher top speeds, says Jaswani. It also brings down manufacturing costs, savings that can be passed down to the car buyer. Big-time automakers including Tesla and BYD, plus Chinese battery giant CATL, are already using the tech.

    Why it’s hard: Without modules, it can be harder to control thermal runaway and maintain the battery pack’s structure. Plus, cell-to-pack makes replacing a faulty battery cell much harder, which means smaller flaws can require opening or even replacing the entire pack.

    Silicon Anodes

    Why it’s exciting: Lithium-ion batteries have graphite anodes. Adding silicon to the mix, though, could have huge upsides: more energy storage (meaning longer driving ranges) and faster charging, potentially down to a blazing six to 10 minutes to top up. Tesla already mixes a bit of silicon into its graphite anodes, and other automakers—Mercedes-Benz, General Motors—say they’re getting close to mass production.

    Why it’s hard: Silicon alloyed with lithium expands and contracts as it goes through the charging and discharging cycle, which can cause mechanical stress and even fracturing. Over time, this can lead to more dramatic battery capacity losses. For now, you’re more likely to find silicon anodes in smaller batteries, like those in phones or even motorcycles.

    It’s Kind of Happening

    The battery tech in the more speculative bucket has undergone plenty of testing. But it’s still not quite at a place where most manufacturers are building production lines and putting it into cars.

    Sodium-Ion Batteries

    Why it’s exciting: Sodium—it’s everywhere! Compared to lithium, the element is cheaper and easier to find and process, which means tracking down the materials to build sodium-ion batteries could give automakers a supply chain break. The batteries also seem to perform better in extreme temperatures, and are more stable. Chinese battery-maker CATL says it will start mass production of the batteries next year and that the batteries could eventually cover 40 percent of the Chinese passenger-vehicle market.

    Why it’s hard: Sodium ions are heavier than their lithium counterparts, so they generally store less energy per battery pack. That could make them a better fit for battery storage than for vehicles. It’s also early days for this tech, which means fewer suppliers and fewer time-tested manufacturing processes.

    Solid State Batteries

    Why it’s exciting: Automakers have been promising for years that groundbreaking solid state batteries are right around the corner. That would be great, if true. This tech subs the liquid or gel electrolytes in a conventional li-ion battery for a solid electrolyte. These electrolytes should come in different chemistries, but they all have some big advantages: more energy density, faster charging, more durability, fewer safety risks (no liquid electrolyte means no leaks). Toyota says it will finally launch its first vehicles with solid state batteries in 2027 or 2028. BloombergNEF projects that by 2035, solid state batteries will account for 10 percent of EV and storage production.

    Why it’s hard: Some solid electrolytes have a hard time at low temperatures. The biggest issues, however, have to do with manufacturing. Putting together these new batteries requires new equipment. It’s really hard to build defect-free layers of electrolyte. And the industry hasn’t come to an agreement about which solid electrolyte to use, which makes it hard to create supply chains.

    Maybe It’ll Happen

    Good ideas don’t always make a ton of sense in the real world.

    Wireless Charging

    Why it’s exciting: Park your car, get out, and have it charge up while you wait—no plugs required. Wireless charging could be the peak of convenience, and some automakers insist it’s coming. Porsche, for example, is showing off a prototype, with plans to roll out the real thing next year.

    Why it’s hard: The issue, says Jaswani, is that the tech underlying the chargers we have right now works perfectly well and is much cheaper to install. He expects that eventually, wireless charging will show up in some restricted use cases—maybe in buses, for example, that could charge up throughout their routes if they stop on top of a charging pad. But this tech may never go truly mainstream, he says.

    Aarian Marshall

    Source link

  • New Rules Could Force Tesla to Redesign Its Door Handles. That’s Harder Than It Sounds

    The issues could cascade beyond the design. The auto manufacturing industry operates on strict production schedules. Though it builds in time to validate and test whatever new features come in each new model, the sudden intro of a design change late in the process could throw off the delicate timetable.

    In this decade, China’s auto industry has shocked the world by racing ahead of legacy automakers, quickly developing, with government support, ever newer, cheaper, and more technologically advanced vehicles on shorter production schedules. The country is the world’s largest automotive market; it’s expected to manufacture a full third of the world’s cars by 2030. Still, quickly complying with new design regulations won’t be easy for domestic Chinese automakers either, says Broglin-Peterson. “Mechncial release requires a mechanical assembly,” she says. “It’s not just, you write some code.”

    Automaker’s door handle trouble likely won’t end in China. The new rules could lead to cascading responses from other global regulators. It’s a now-familiar pattern: China, once a place with lax protections, has forged ahead of the rest of the world in setting guidelines for electric vehicle battery safety and recycling, and autonomous vehicle tech. “This is a classic example of China setting the guardrails early: protecting consumers while quietly shaping global design standards,” Bill Russo, the CEO of Automobility, a Shanghai-based advisory firm, wrote in an email.

    A Handle on Design

    For many years, says Raphael Zammit, the chair of the transportation design department at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, flush electronic door handles were the stuff of futuristic concept cars. “The fact that Elon Musk and Tesla put it into production was, frankly, pretty amazing,” he says. Their rise was linked with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles; tucking door handles into the doors of cars was meant to reduce their drag coefficient, leading to increased battery efficiency. Or so the theory went: Back-of-the-envelope math suggests the tweak maybe adds a mile of range. Maybe. Either way, the handles became a “demarcation of luxury,” Zammit says.

    Indeed, electronic door handles can be found on many luxury vehicles, including some made by Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz. Jake Fisher, the senior director of the Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center, tested several of those vehicles’ electronic handles. While all had emergency mechanical releases, as the Chinese regulations mandate, some were in places that could be difficult to find in an emergency—on the floor, in shadow, or, as in the rear seats of the 2021 Model Y under investigation by NHTSA, under a slot at the bottom of the rear door pocket. The best emergency mechanical releases, Consumer Reports found, were those that simply needed to be pulled a bit harder than usual to open, an intuitive reaction in an emergency.

    Aarian Marshall

    Source link

  • The Corvette E-Ray Is Dynamically Up There With the Best

    A 1.9-kWh lithium-ion battery has been packaged within the car’s already beefy central tunnel, and additional cooling has been added to manage battery temperature. There’s also new software to harmonize all the components.

    The hybrid adds 160 bhp for a total system power output of 645 bhp, which is almost identical to the amount produced by the thunderous ZO6. On top of that, the more overtly aero-oriented comp-inspired car also donates its wide-body look, the previously optional carbon-ceramic brakes are standard, and the tires epically chunky: 275/30ZR-20s at the front, 345/25ZR-21s at the rear. (Specially developed all-season Michelin Pilot Sports are available.)

    Riotous Design

    We’re not sure the car’s visuals are quite equal to the ambition being exercised elsewhere, though. The Corvette’s design trajectory since its 1953 launch is instructive of American automotive design overall, the ’60s C2 Sting Ray and ’80s C4 iterations culturally relative high-points. The latest car is an incoherent riot of competing angles and edges, undeniably dramatic and a crowd-pleaser to judge by the reaction it generates during WIRED’s drive. But still no oil painting.

    Courtesy of Corvette

    It’s unrepentantly expressive inside, too. It’s easy to get in and out of, the doors opening wide, the seats more luxurious in feel and amply cushioned compared to its more minimalist rivals. The steering wheel is one of those fashionably square items, its spars oddly downcast. But the driving position is good, the view ahead helped by fairly slender A pillars. A rear-view camera mirror helps ease reversing anxiety, usually a tricky thing in a mid-engined car.

    Multi-configurable instrument dials lie straight ahead, there’s a crisp Head-Up Display, and an angled touchscreen handles the infotainment. Then there’s that swooping central tunnel, the leading edge of which houses the switchgear that operates the climate control and various other functions. Fearing total ergonomic catastrophe, it’s a surprise to discover that it all actually works well in practice.

    Electric Stealth

    Given that the Corvette’s V-8 is totemic, the E-Ray’s principal hybrid party trick is its “stealth” mode, which does what it says: enables the car to exit your street under near-silent electric-only propulsion. Its range in this mode is barely a few miles, but still, this is briefly an electric, front-drive Corvette. What a novelty.

    Corvette ERay 2026 Review Price Specs Availability

    Courtesy of Corvette

    Jason Barlow

    Source link

  • Ferrari Reveals Its Electric Powerhouse, and What Could Finally Be Real EV Sound

    Palermo says the sound can be reduced when cruising, then amplified during more dynamic driving. Allegedly, it’s even possible to sense when a rear wheel breaks traction, since the rise in revs of that motor would be detected by the accelerometer. He also says how latency—the time between a change in motor revs and the sound reaching the driver’s ear—is “below the threshold of human perception… instantaneous.”

    The sound will also adjust depending on how the driver engages with the steering wheel paddles for regenerative braking and the Torque Shift Engagement system. But, for now, Ferrari refuses to comment on exactly how motor sound is broadcast in the cabin—be it through the car’s sound system, or some other means—and how external sound will be created. Underscoring Ferrari’s commitment to using an authentic drivetrain sound, Palermo adds: “It’s an instrument, not a ringtone.”

    Individually Controlled Wheels

    Remarkably, for a company whose cars are synonymous with theatrical histrionics, Ferrari says during normal driving “silence is preferred to maximize acoustic comfort.” To that end, it has worked hard to illuminate noise, vibration, and harshness (known in the industry as NVH), since there’s no longer a loud engine to drown it all out.

    The Elettrica’s suspension is an evolution of the active system used by Ferrari’s Purosangue SUV and F80 hypercar, which employs 48-volt motors to apply torque to each shock absorber, actively working to eliminate pitch and roll.

    As with other electric cars, a heavy battery pack in the floor helps to lower the center of gravity; in this case, by 80 mm compared to an equivalent non-EV. Although it can’t defy physics, Ferrari claims its suspension trickery and quad-motor setup makes the Elettrica handle as if it were almost 1,000 lbs lighter.

    The result is a car where each wheel has its own individually controlled power, braking, suspension, and steering—with the rear wheels even able to be steered independently of each other, by up to 2.15 degrees in either direction. Each of the four motors can also operate their own regenerative braking, with up to 0.68G of deceleration possible with the most aggressive level of regen. That’s more than half the braking force experienced during an emergency stop in a regular car.

    Alistair Charlton

    Source link

  • The Free Ride for EVs in the Carpool Lane Is Coming to an End

    A rough year for electric vehicle adoption just got a little rougher for owners in some parts of the US. Starting next month, EVs will no longer be able to ride in the fast lane in California, after the US federal government and Congress failed to reauthorize a popular program that has given hybrid and electric vehicles access to state carpool lanes—and worked to promote the sale of electrics for more than 25 years.

    Under the program, California drivers with qualifying electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could purchase $27 stickers that gave them access to several highway carpool lanes, plus discounts on a number of toll roads and bridges—even if a driver was alone in their car. Over 1 million decals have been issued to California drivers since the program’s start in 1999, and hundreds of thousands of vehicles have decals today.

    However, those decals will no longer be valid after September 30, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said in a press release. Drivers who currently have stickers—even those who purchased them recently—won’t receive refunds, the department confirmed.

    California isn’t alone. Another pilot project that gave some New York state electric-vehicle drivers access to carpool lanes will also end. Over 48,000 New Yorkers had received decals through that Clean Pass program.

    The programs are ending because they were not reauthorized by the president and Congress, says Walter McClure, a spokesperson for the New York Department of Motor Vehicles. The White House did not respond to WIRED’s questions about why President Donald Trump chose not to reauthorize the program.

    The end of the decal program is yet another knock back for US electric vehicles, which are facing long-term slower-than-projected sales in the country following a cut in government support for the newer car tech. EV-curious buyers have rushed to purchase new and used electric vehicles before tax credits, worth up to $7,500, end this month. But analysts expect that US sales will once again slow after the credit expires, even as the rest of the world continues its transition to EVs. Just a year ago, many analysts projected that between a quarter and a half of new US cars sold in 2030 would be electric; since then, those projections have been cut by half.

    But while the California program’s end will likely frustrate plenty of EV drivers, it might not make a meaningful dent in the state’s transition to new-energy vehicles. The state has raced ahead of the rest of the country in EV adoption; 22 percent of new light-duty vehicles sold in the state so far this year have been battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen-powered, according to state data. Compare that to the projected 8 percent of new electrified vehicle sales for the rest of the country, and the reason for the program closure might become clearer—it seems the state’s carpool lanes were getting crowded.

    The decal program “worked nicely as a bundle with monetary incentives,” says Gil Tal, the director of the Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC Davis, who has studied the effectiveness of the decal program over the past decade. “It was another reason to buy an electric car.”

    Aarian Marshall

    Source link

  • The Concept C Is the All-Electric Sports Car Kickstarting Audi’s Design Future

    Car companies love a mission statement. With the arrival of the Concept C, Audi’s new one is crystal clear: “radical simplicity”. An all-electric two-seater with a retractable folding hard-top, the Concept C is a “progressive interpretation” of the company’s legacy, says Audi—and it’s not hard to see the TT has factored pretty heavily in that.

    But as you pick your way through the messaging—key words here are precision and clarity, as well as a re-emphasis on our old friend, “Vorsprung durch Technik”—this feels like a substantial reset after a period of aesthetic drift. This isn’t just a piece of conceptual eye candy, then: it’s Audi engaging combat mode in an industry currently beset with challenges.

    “Our vision is a call to action for the whole company—and is essential for making our brand truly distinctive once again,” Audi’s Chief Creative Officer Massimo Frascella explains. “It is the philosophy behind every decision we make, and we aim to apply its principles across the entire organization. We call it ‘The Radical Next’.”

    Let’s start with the car itself. Although the e-tron GT set the bar high, Audi’s model range has been light on coherence and drama. The Concept C isn’t quite a first-principles machine, but it definitely strips things back and seeks to stoke some good old-fashioned flames of desire. It’s a terrific looking thing in the flesh: stocky, solid, and charismatic. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner, in charge for exactly two years, personally pushed for a new sports car; Frascella used it to push the boundaries in terms of design creativity and manufacturing technique.

    Courtesy of Audi

    It’s also one for marque historians: although there’s nothing explicitly retro here, the Thirties Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car, the early Noughties Rosemeyer concept and more pertinently the original TT are all in the mix, as is Bauhaus and German modernism.

    Frascella, it should be noted, is an Italian who rose to prominence as Head of Design at Jaguar Land Rover, and is credited with the current Range Rover, a universally admired vehicle (though he also worked on the rather more polarising Jaguar Type 00.) A lack of adornment and commitment to what car designers are wont to call “monolithic” surfaces are evidently two of his trademarks.

    That much is certainly apparent here. The Concept C’s taut, machined look suggests something carved from a giant billet of aluminium, and there’s a strong new vertical front grille shape with a slim but powerful light signature that echoes the four-ring logo. We reckon it’s best appreciated from an elevated position above the rear three-quarters, though. There’s no rear window, minimal decoration and slender LED tail-lights, with three slats in the rear deck to suggest a more emotionally charged, mid-engined configuration. We’re told the window-less, slatted look will make production, the new car slated to arrive in 2027.

    The Concept C Is the AllElectric Sports Car Kickstarting Audis Design Future

    Courtesy of Audi

    Jason Barlow

    Source link

  • Automakers Are Hot for Extended-Range EVs. They Hope Buyers Like Them Too

    Automakers Are Hot for Extended-Range EVs. They Hope Buyers Like Them Too

    EREVs have some manufacturing advantages, too, says Steven Ewing, who directs editorial content at Edmunds. Specifics on Scout production are scant, but at least the Ramcharger is using components and technology that Stellantis already puts in other cars. “You’re not introducing this giant new propulsion system,” Ewing says. On the EREV (and PHEV) con side: It’s always going to be expensive to put two powertrains into one vehicle.

    An Emissions Win?

    Some climate advocates, who hope the world transitions quickly to battery electric vehicles to stave off the worst of climate change, say EREVs could be part of a cleaner transportation system, even if the design still uses gasoline.

    “The future is fully electric,” says Kathy Harris, who directs the clean vehicles policy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. “But many drivers are worried about going fully electric. While the country continues to build out a robust charging network, EREVs can be a good choice for some of them.”

    EREVs might prove less emissions-intensive than their PHEV cousins because drivers cannot simply choose to skip charging and drive on gasoline alone, a phenomenon that some researchers worry is degrading the real-life emissions output of many plug-ins.

    Other researchers are less convinced by automakers’ “bridge technology” arguments but say EREVs might be helpful anyway. EREVs are showing up on heavy vehicles like trucks and SUVs because those need more battery power to move, especially when they’re hauling or towing. The tech might obviate the complaints of, say, some Ford F-150 Lightning owners, who say they want to use their all-electric trucks to do work and charge tools but can’t get enough done on one charge. Full battery electric might never be a fit for every person.

    “For those drivers who live in rural areas or who have driving patterns where they go long distances every day, a range extender with a very efficient generator may be a great technology,” says Gil Tal, who directs the Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC Davis. “I think that will be the way we get to 100 percent electric.”

    Older Tech, New Interest

    Technically, the Chevrolet Volt, which in 2010 represented General Motors’ first modern foray into EV tech, was an EREV, though it was marketed as a PHEV. Jaguar intended a 2010 concept car, the C-X75, to go into limited production in 2013 but canceled the project amidt the Great Recession. (A C-X75 appeared in the James Bond film Spectre, and a design firm turned out a gas-powered conversion, but otherwise the car never saw the light of day). A few years later, the BMW i3 EV came with a range-extender option, with a very small generator giving drivers a few extra miles to get to a charger, stat. But that choice didn’t prove popular with buyers, according to Edmunds data.

    The EREV story began to change in China. The Chinese automaker Li Auto was a global outlier in 2019 when it unveiled its first model, the Li One, a range-extended SUV. That year, EREVs accounted for 1 percent of all PHEV sales, according to the research firm BloombergNEF. But by 2023, Li Auto had led EREVs to a 28 percent share of PHEV sales—accounting for 9 percent of all electric vehicle sales in China. That’s not a huge share, but the tech has “been transformative in a pretty short amount of time,” says Corey Cantor, an analyst with BloombergNEF who covers electric vehicles. The world might be learning from that experience.

    Aarian Marshall

    Source link

  • The Renault 5 EV Is an Instant Smash

    The Renault 5 EV Is an Instant Smash

    Credit where it’s due, former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn—the man who was later smuggled out of Japan in a double bass case—was quick to identify electrification as the key paradigm shift in the 21st-century car industry. Cue the cute Renault Zoe, forward-thinking in terms of design and propulsion, but perhaps too aloof to capture hearts and minds.

    The new Renault 5 EV is unashamedly nostalgic in look, mining a design trend that’s been around so long that retro is almost retro. Yet when you see it in the flesh for the first time resistance is futile. Here, surely, is the electric car that will demolish any lingering preconceptions, a surprisingly sophisticated conduit for all-round feel-good vibes that’s packed with big-car tech.

    Current Renault boss Luca de Meo is certainly bullish. “Some products are magical,” he notes. “You don’t have to hold endless discussions, everybody is always in agreement on what needs to be done. And they do it. There’s no inertia.”

    Courtesy of Renault

    As one of the masterminds of the noughties Fiat 500 revival, De Meo has solid instincts on this stuff. Even if you’d never driven one, you knew what the classic Cinquecento stood for. The same applies to the Renault 5: It arrived into an early ’70s world in which the Middle East was in convulsions, energy was suddenly scarce, and conspicuous consumption was unfashionable. Context matters, and this one has a distressingly familiar feel.

    Design Winks

    The new R5 aims to brighten your day via its candy colors, and an exterior and interior design that prompts an expertly executed Proustian rush. The silhouette might be familiar, but the new car has fuller proportions and imaginative postmodern touches galore.

    There’s a cheeky little four-corner graphic in the headlights that “winks” as you approach. The fog-lights below mimic that motif, while the vertical taillights are another echo of the original. They’re now designed for a degree of aerodynamic efficiency that would have boggled the minds of Renault’s engineers back in the day.

    The chunky wheel arches call to mind the mid-engined R5 rally car, and the new car’s roof can be had in a variety of treatments. It’s a five-door car but the rear door handles are cleverly hidden away. And the old car’s hood vent reappears here as a state-of-charge indicator. Each strip represents 20 percent of the available energy.

    Jason Barlow

    Source link

  • McLaren’s $2.6M W1 Supercar Wouldn’t Seem Out of Place in Formula 1

    McLaren’s $2.6M W1 Supercar Wouldn’t Seem Out of Place in Formula 1

    And the W1 needs one to do its best work. Even in a world in which the new breed of electric hypercar has rewired expectations, this is a phenomenally rapid machine. The W1 can accelerate to 62 mph in 2.7 seconds, 124 mph in 5.8, and 186 mph in “less than 12.7 seconds.” That makes it faster than the highly streamlined Speedtail, and the W1 is also three seconds per lap faster round McLaren’s reference test track—at Italian proving ground Nardo—than the aggressively aerodynamic Senna. Its top speed is an electronically limited 217 mph.

    Powertrain options in Race mode include a GP setting for consistency on longer runs, or Sprint for all 1,258 bhp. Bespoke Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS rubber is standard fitment, 265/35 at the front, 335/30 at the rear (there are also less extreme R and Winter 2 Pirellis.)

    The steering is also fully hydraulic, a key McLaren USP while virtually everyone else adopts a fully electric setup. The brakes use the McLaren Carbon Ceramic-Racing+ setup, with 390-millimeter discs front and rear, and six-piston calipers on the front, and four-piston ones on the rear. There are F1-style ducts and aero wheel appendages to optimize cooling. The W1 can come to a halt from 124 mph in 100 meters.

    InnoKnit Interior

    Inside, the fixed seats and raised footwell give the W1 the feel of a well-bred competition car. The pedals, flat-bottomed steering wheel and primary controls adjust to meet the driver. The W1 has the narrowest A-pillars on any McLaren, slender sun visors, and a rear-view camera to atone for the lack of over-the-shoulder visibility.

    Courtesy of McLaren

    The wheel now has two buttons—one for a Boost function, the other to tweak the aero—but is still less busy than a Ferrari’s wheel. As on the McLaren Artura and 750 S, the chassis and powertrain modes can be adjusted via rocker switches on the top of the instrument binnacle. The binnacle itself has been shaped aerodynamically.

    There’s a central hi-res touchscreen, as on other McLarens, although in the W1 such considerations are surely secondary. There’s a modest amount of stowage space behind the seats. McLaren is also pioneering an interior trim called InnoKnit, an ultra-lightweight sustainable material that can be tailored in multiple colors, and integrates audio and ambient lighting. Its Special Operations division is ready and waiting to personalize the car.

    To which end the W1’s £2 million cost ($2.6 million) is merely the starting point. It’s academic anyway, because production is limited to 399 cars, all of which are spoken for. McLaren Automotive has had a turbulent few years, but the W1 is a once-in-a-generation techno marvel.

    Jason Barlow

    Source link

  • I Own a Chevy Bolt, and Superchargers Are a Total Game Changer

    I Own a Chevy Bolt, and Superchargers Are a Total Game Changer

    It should not be so exciting to eat a breakfast quesadilla in your car.

    But this quesadilla was from Wawa, this Wawa hosted a Tesla Supercharger, and this car was the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV, hooked up to that Supercharger through an NACS/CCS adapter. More than a year after GM’s switch to NACS was announced, and following some Tesla internal chaos that made it seem like a dead deal, Tesla unlocked access to its conveniently placed EV charging stations to General Motors cars in late September. It wasn’t every Supercharger, but it was more than 17,000 spots, many in places that were previously dark zones in any road trip plan.

    I bought my car knowing that road trips would be an infrequent but real inconvenience. With Tesla’s network available now, the anxiety of rolling the CCS dice in unknown lands has lessened considerably. To understand just how this feels, you must first hear about the Before Times.

    Lots of Apps, Few Guarantees

    I’ve had my Bolt for a little over a year now, completing four road trips that required DC Fast Charging (DCFC). “Fast” is a misnomer with the Bolt, the slowest-charging modern EV, forcing you to plan across battery levels, nearby amenities, pets, and guesses at crowd timing. Every night before a long ride, I’m pinching, zooming, and stressing inside A Better Route Planner, PlugShare, and Google Maps reviews, asking myself if a ChargePoint in a brewery parking lot will deliver 7 or 9 kilowatts per hour.

    Despite all this groundwork, I have amassed an impressive collection of fast-charging scars in a year’s time:

    • Three different highway stops on Thanksgiving weekend with multi-car lines, endangering our pick-up time at dog boarding
    • An Electrify America station where a single car’s terrible parking made every other car occupy two working plug spaces
    • Excessive exposure to outlet malls, the EV honeypots with the most reliably working non-Tesla chargers
    • A single ChargePoint level 2 charger working (after a long delay) out of four in a hotel parking lot, the only charging spot on a vacation island.
    • A state-sponsored EV charging spot where two out of five plugs worked, then only one after a mid-charge failure, where a man heading to a Dave Matthews concert begged me to swap this last spot with him so his wife wouldn’t miss the band’s opening song.

    It almost doesn’t matter exactly why or how a non-Tesla charger refuses to work. Damaged cables or plugs, busted screens, cellular data drops, app issues, electrical faults—whatever the reason, it will never get fixed in that moment by calling the support number, and now you need a backup plan.

    This is how I think Supercharger access is most useful to us, the wretched of the EV earth: a robust backup plan for those tired of the alternatives. Plugging into the country’s most established network requires a none-too-cheap adapter (or finding a rare “Magic Dock” station). You have to find a way to connect a very short cable meant for a specific driver-side, rear-end location to your port. On the Bolt, that’s the middle-front-left, just ahead of the door, possibly the worst place for these cables. You can only charge at third- and fourth-generation chargers. And you have to pay whatever Tesla decides to charge us nonmembers, which is usually on the costlier side (I’ve paid $0.48 and $0.53 per kilowatt-hour).

    No More Car Dealership Chargers

    But it’s hard to argue with the locations and reliability of those bright red rectangles. On my most recent trip from Washington, DC, to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I planned a longer charging stop on the way down at an EVgo in Williamsburg, Virginia, near a shopping plaza with a Target. This worked out because we needed some groceries for the trip. But only two of four chargers were working (after I wasted 5 minutes trying to make a green-in-the-app third station work). Had I wanted to save 11 minutes and up my chances a lot by having 12 stalls to pick from, I could have instead chosen a Tesla Supercharger farther down the road I was already on.

    Tesla Superchargers tend to be located along highways, near places with restrooms or snacks or shopping, and the Tesla app seems to keep up on how many stalls are occupied and working. With every other network or multibrand app, you’re doing a lot of guessing, which is the bane of road-trip planning. What seems better: Hoping that the very fast 250-kW charger Plugshare shows at a car dealership is available at 9 am on a Sunday, or driving 15 minutes out of your way to a Walmart and waiting your turn? Follow-up question: Have you ever willingly spent 30 minutes at a car dealership when you already own a working car?

    The Proof Is in the Plugging

    This kind of thinking spurred me to try some Tesla charging on the way back. I bought an A2Z Typhoon Pro adapter, based on its solid reviews and fast shipping. It also cost notably less than GM’s $225 charger after a coupon code, the GM model was backordered into November, and Chevrolet’s app suggested I’d have to pick it up at a dealer. Before I could use any adapter, though, I had to find a spot. The spots are the hard part.

    At my first stop, a Wawa, every other spot out of eight total was taken, and the one stall that lined up to the side of the car was occupied by a family that told me they would be there 50 minutes. I pulled up in an empty space, tried to stretch its cable, but it wasn’t even close. I pulled away, parked, and started looking for my next stop. Soon after, the father of the 50-minute family appeared in my window. I steeled myself for some kind of lecture, teasing, or maybe political discourse.

    “You know, you could actually pull up, like, sideways, behind those plugs, and I think it would work,” the father said. He was right; there was nothing behind these Supercharger stations but more parking, and it was empty. I pulled up, plugged in the adapter (quick review: rock solid), pulled over the cord, opened the app, selected the station and charger number, and tapped. Less than 30 seconds later, the juice was flowing. No screens or two plugs sharing one power source, just power.

    Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica

    Source link

  • Europe Votes to Slap China-Made EVs With Tariffs—but Tesla Gets Off Easy

    Europe Votes to Slap China-Made EVs With Tariffs—but Tesla Gets Off Easy

    “I think you can envision this playing out pretty well for BYD, actually,” says Ilaria Mazzocco, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “And also, they’re going to have less competition from other Chinese automakers.” BYD is known for its ability to control production costs, so it can still sell its cars at a relatively low price. For other Chinese brands, though, the tariffs could mean they now have to set their prices higher and compete head-on with models from Europe.

    Chinese automakers are not the only ones being impacted. Tesla, with half of its cars made in the Shanghai Gigafactory in China, will receive the smallest tariff at 7.8 percent after the company requested an adjustment based on the actual subsidies it gets in China. In contrast, Volkswagen and other European brands that produce cars in China may get around 21 percent.

    One way for Chinese brands to get around the tariffs is to set up factories in Europe and shift production here, like what Volvo has done for years producing in Sweden even though it’s been acquired by the Chinese company Geely.

    Such decisions may well be welcomed by some European countries, since that would in theory contribute significantly to local employment and green economic growth. Indeed, many Chinese companies have announced plans to move part of their supply chain to countries such as Spain, Hungary, and Poland, although Mazzocco warns these announcements should be taken with a grain of salt until factories actually start production.

    Alternative Solutions

    Yet despite the vote result, the approved tariffs may not be final. On Monday, a European Commission official said that the commission is willing to continue the negotiations with China even after the tariff vote. If they manage to agree on other solutions to the issue of unfair competition—for example, setting up import quotas or a price floor for Chinese EVs—the tariff could be revised.

    China has filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization about the EU tariffs, and the WTO could also request the EU to change or withdraw these tariffs if it finds them unacceptable.

    “What the commission really wants to do is to tell the members, ‘Look, we need to look serious here. We can negotiate later,’” says Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at French investment bank Natixis. If member states had rejected the commission’s proposed tariffs, it would’ve shown that Europe is divided and powerless facing the influx of Chinese brands. But now that the tariffs have passed, Europe has more leverage in negotiating a better trade deal with China.

    Not all of the alternative outcomes would impact Chinese companies the same. For example, the worst situation could be an import quota, says García-Herrero. Turning a profit with the tariffs is challenging, but still possible. “But a quota would reduce the number of exports, so it’s not in China’s interests,” she says.

    On the other hand, setting a price floor for the imported EVs alone may not be a bad thing after all. It gives the automakers a higher profit margin and forces them to compete on the basis of better quality and service. “I think Chinese automakers feel pretty confident about their quality,” Mazzocco says. And it can even be good news for the Chinese EV brands that are focusing on the higher-end, luxury car market, like BYD’s sub-brand Yangwang, which is making luxury SUVs that can drive across lakes in emergencies.

    Zeyi Yang

    Source link

  • First Ride: Can-Am Pulse Electric Motorcycle

    First Ride: Can-Am Pulse Electric Motorcycle

    The dual-sport Origin has a city range of 90 miles and a combined range of 70 miles. Riding flat out at average speeds above 55 mph, I saw about 50 miles of range. That’s enough of a difference to notice it in day to day use. The off-road knobby tires probably didn’t help those numbers, either.

    Both bikes come with the same 8.9-kWh battery pack. In the city, the Pulse delivers 11.2 miles per kWh. That slightly bests the efficiency of the nearest competitor, the Zero S ($14,995 and up) which delivers 154 miles of city range from a 14.4-kWh capacity battery and has an efficiency rating of 10.7 miles per kWh.

    And, if you prefer retro styling, let’s not forget Maeving, which WIRED loves, with its new sportier city EV option, the RM1S, that has a 70 mph top speed and 80 miles max range, but with two important advantages: The batteries are removable and swappable, and it costs under $9,000—considerably less than the Can-Ams.

    Both Can-Am bikes are equipped with a Level 2 AC (SAE J1772) charging port. Charging is available up to 6.6 kW. Can-Am says that the motorcycles will charge up from 20 to 80 percent in roughly 50 minutes. When asked about future versions supporting NACS (SAE 3400, aka the Tesla port), Can-Am stated it would adapt in step with the evolution of the market and would offer adaptors if needed.

    The all-electric Pulse, left, and the taller Origin are here to remind riders that Can-Am makes bikes.

    Photograph: Can-Am

    Active Regen Braking and Backing Up

    One particularly interesting feature Can-Am has added to its bikes is active regenerative braking. Passive regenerative braking on electric bikes has been around for years. The rider twists off the accelerator and the bike slows itself using the electric motor. The happy byproduct of this system is that the motor sends the electricity created by this deceleration back into the battery.

    But Can-Am has added something else to the mix. On its two bikes, this active regeneration means that, after rolling off the throttle, the rider can twist the throttle beyond its neutral position up to roughly 6 degrees to enable additional regen braking. It’s an interesting solution to the challenge of how to best increase the efficiency of a motorcycle without adding regen to the traditional friction brakes.

    Roberto Baldwin

    Source link

  • Proposed Ban Would Be a ‘Death Sentence’ for Chinese EVs in the US

    Proposed Ban Would Be a ‘Death Sentence’ for Chinese EVs in the US

    After officially hiking tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports earlier this month, the US government is getting even more serious about keeping China-made autos out of the country. On Monday, the US Commerce Department proposed a new rule that would ban some Chinese- and Russian-made automotive hardware and software from the US, with software restrictions starting as early as 2026.

    The Biden administration says the move is needed for national security reasons, given how central technology is to today’s increasingly sophisticated cars. In announcing the proposed ban, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo cited vehicles’ internet-connected cameras, microphones, and GPS equipment. “It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of US citizens,” she said.

    The US government’s move comes as China has dramatically increased the number of affordable vehicles, and especially electric ones, it makes and sells overseas. Chinese auto exports grew by more than 30 percent in just the first half of this year, setting off alarm bells in Europe and the US, where officials worry inexpensively made Chinese vehicles could overwhelm domestic industry. The US and Europe had moved to make it harder and more expensive for China to sell its autos in those regions, but the Chinese automakers have responded by setting up manufacturing bases in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Mexico—all of which might one day provide a loophole to allow more Chinese-designed and engineered vehicles into new Western markets.

    Still, the proposed rule focuses on security rather than competition. Raimondo had previously raised the specter of foreign actors using hijacked connected car technology to cause mayhem on the US public roads. “Imagine if there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of Chinese connected vehicles on American roads that could be immediately and simultaneously disabled by somebody in Beijing,” she said in February.

    That situation isn’t quite realistic, given how few Chinese and Russian firms supply automotive software or hardware in the US right now. A proposed software and hardware ban is more preemptive than a response to any immediate security risk, says Steve Man, the global head of auto research at Bloomberg Intelligence, a research and advisory firm. “PRC and Russian automakers do not currently play a significant role in the US auto market, and US drivers right now are safe,” a senior Biden administration official told WIRED.

    Because the rule would apply to any connected vehicle, not just electric ones, it would create even stronger prohibitions against Chinese-made auto tech. “If the 100 percent tariffs on made-in-China EVs were a wall, the proposed ban on connected vehicles would be a death sentence for China EV Inc. aiming to enter the US,” says Lei Xing, the former chief editor at China Auto Review and an independent analyst. Under such a rule, he says, the prospects of seeing Chinese EVs on sale in the US in the coming decade is “nearly zero.”

    Aarian Marshall, Zeyi Yang

    Source link

  • The Auto Industry Finally Has a Plan to Stop Electric Vehicle Fires

    The Auto Industry Finally Has a Plan to Stop Electric Vehicle Fires

    Last month, a Mercedes Benz EQE 350 electric vehicle caught fire in a South Korean apartment building’s underground parking garage. Reportedly, 23 people were sent to the hospital and approximately 900 cars were damaged. The fire reached temperatures of more than 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius), and took firefighters almost eight hours to extinguish.

    The incident led to a series of swift policy changes in the country, including the acceleration of a planned EV battery certification program and new rules in Seoul that should prevent owners from “overcharging” their vehicles in underground parking garages. It has also pushed automakers to do something they wouldn’t normally: reveal who makes the batteries inside their electric cars. (In early September, the South Korean government said it would require automakers to disclose this often secret information.)

    Data from the National Transportation Safety Board, the US’s independent federal investigation agency, shows that the risks of electric vehicle battery fires are low. In fact, very low. An analysis of that data by one insurance company suggested that more than 1,500 gas cars catch on fire per 100,000 sales, compared to just 25 electric vehicles.

    On some level, fire is a risk of any kind of battery technology. Professionals talk about the “fire triangle”—the three-ingredient recipe for ignition. Fire needs oxygen, a spark, and fuel. Because the point of a lithium-ion electric vehicle is to store energy, the fuel is always there. EV batteries are meant to be tightly packed and isolated from other parts of the car, but an incident like a catastrophic crash might quickly introduce oxygen and heat to the brew.

    Building a Fire-Proof(ish) Battery

    Some battery makers have taken steps to reduce the risk of their batteries catching fire. The first is to create stringent manufacturing processes and standards. This is important because any sort of flaw in a battery could lead to an inferno, says Venkat Srinivasan, who studies batteries and directs the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science at the US’s Argonne National Laboratory.

    To understand why battery manufacturing matters to fire risk, you have to understand the basics of lithium-ion batteries. The battery’s anode and cathode store lithium, and they are connected by an electrolyte, a liquid chemical that passes lithium ions between the two to store or release energy. If, say, a tiny particle of metal gets into that electrolyte through an unclean manufacturing process, and it keeps getting electrified as the battery charges up and down, it could create a spark, open the battery cell, and allow oxygen to come rushing in and possibly expose the entire battery pack to fire.

    These sorts of battery-making screw-ups do happen. In August, Jaguar told some 3,000 owners of its 2019 I-Pace SUV to park their vehicles outside because of fire risk, which was linked to three fires. The manufacturer behind those vehicles’ packs, the South Korean firm LG Energy Solution, has been subject to a US road safety probe since 2022. BMW, General Motors, Hyundai, Stellantis, and Volkswagen have all recalled vehicles over battery risks (some of them in hybrid rather than all-electric vehicles). But these situations are rare. Through solid manufacturing processes, “one can never make the risk of fire absolutely zero, but good companies have minimized the risk,” says Srinivasan.

    Less Fire-y Chemistries

    The good news is that less-fire-prone batteries are already rolling around in cars, thanks to specific battery chemistries that are harder to ignite. Since the first Tesla hit the road in 2008, the standard electric vehicle battery has been made primarily from nickel and cobalt. Batteries with this makeup charge quickly and hold lots of energy, which is great for EV use because drivers of vehicles that use them enjoy longer ranges and faster top-ups. They’re also more likely to enter “thermal runaway” at lower temperatures, in the 400- to 300-degrees Fahrenheit (210 to 150 degrees Celsius) range.

    Thermal runaway is a state in which lithium-ion batteries enter a kind of fire doom loop: A damaged battery cell produces heat and flammable gases, which in turn produces more heat and flammable gases, which begins to heat nearby battery cells, which release more heat and gas. The fire then becomes self-sustaining and hard to put out.

    Aarian Marshall

    Source link

  • How Do You Solve a Problem Like Polestar?

    How Do You Solve a Problem Like Polestar?

    The all-electric sibling of Volvo has a new CEO, new models landing, and a new plant in South Carolina—but will this be enough to stop the EV brand’s decline?

    Carlton Reid

    Source link

  • China Conquers Mexico’s Automotive Market, and the US Is Worried

    China Conquers Mexico’s Automotive Market, and the US Is Worried

    This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

    China has positioned itself as the main car supplier in Mexico, with exports reaching $4.6 billion in 2023, according to data from Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy.

    The Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Honda and Nissan to position itself as the seventh largest automaker in the world by number of units sold during the April to June quarter. This growth was driven by increased demand for its affordable electric vehicles, according to data from automakers and research firm MarkLines.

    The company’s new vehicle sales rose 40 percent year over year to 980,000 units in the quarter—the same quarter wherein most major automakers, including Toyota and Volkswagen, experienced a decline in sales. Much of BYD’s growth is attributed to its overseas sales, which nearly tripled in the past year to 105,000 units. Now BYD is considering locating its new auto plant in three Mexican states: Durango, Jalisco, and Nuevo Leon.

    Foreign investment would be an economic boost for Mexico. The company has claimed that a plant there would create about 10,000 jobs. A Tesla competitor, BYD markets its Dolphin Mini model in Mexico for about 398,800 pesos—about $21,300 dollars—a little more than half the price of the cheapest Tesla model.

    Prevented from selling their wares to the United States due to tariffs, Chinese EV manufacturers have explored other markets to sell their high-tech cars. However, as Mexico establishes itself as a key market for Chinese electric vehicles, officials in Washington fear that Mexico could be used as a “back door” to access the US market.

    That tariff-free access is part of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (T-MEC), an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement that, as of 2018, eliminated tariffs on many products traded between the North American countries. Under the treaty, if a foreign automotive company that manufactures vehicles in Canada or Mexico can demonstrate that the materials used are locally sourced, its products can be exported to the United States virtually duty-free.

    According to official figures, 20 percent of light vehicles sold last year in Mexico were imported from China, representing 273,592 units and a 50 percent increase compared to 2022. Currently, most of the vehicles imported from China come from Western brands that have established manufacturing plants in that country, such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, and Renault.

    Mexico is the second largest market for Chinese automobiles worldwide, behind only Russia, according to data from Linked Global Solutions, a company specializing in business between China and Latin American countries.

    A Trade War Against China

    Both the United States and the European Union have intensified a trade war against China, focusing on automobiles and semiconductor chip production, which have been the subject of investigations for predatory practices, tariffs, and restrictions. This new geopolitical strategy is prompting Western companies to look for alternatives to relocate their factories outside of China, a trend known as “nearshoring.”

    Concerned about the potential impact on domestic automakers, the US has raised tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles to 100 percent. Canada is also considering implementing its own tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles.

    Anna Lagos

    Source link

  • How Electric-Vehicle Battery Fires Happen—and How You Should React

    How Electric-Vehicle Battery Fires Happen—and How You Should React

    Lithium-ion battery fires can be intense and frightening. As someone who used to repair second-hand smartphones, I’ve extinguished my fair share of flaming iPhones with punctured lithium-ion batteries. And the type of smartphone battery in your pocket right now, is similar to what’s inside of electric vehicles. Except, the EV battery stores way more energy—so much energy that some firefighters are receiving special training to extinguish the extra-intense EV flames that are emitted by burning EV batteries after road accidents.

    If you’ve been reading the news about EVs, you’ve likely encountered plenty of scary articles about battery fires on the rise. Recently, the US National Transportation Safety Board and the California Highway Patrol announced they are investigating a Tesla semi truck fire that ignited after the vehicle struck a tree. The lithium-ion battery burned for around four hours.

    Does this mean that you should worry about your personal electric vehicle as a potential fire hazard? Not really. It makes more sense to worry about a gas-powered vehicle going up in flames than an electric vehicle, since EVs are less likely to catch fire than their more traditional transportation counterparts.

    “Fires because of battery manufacturing defects are really very rare,” says Matthew McDowell, a codirector of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Battery Center. “Especially in electric vehicles, because they also have battery management systems.” The software keeps tabs on the different cells that comprise an EV’s battery and can help prevent the battery from being pushed beyond its limits.

    How Do Electric Vehicle Fires Happen?

    During a crash that damages the EV battery, a fire may start with what’s called thermal runaway. EV batteries aren’t one solid brick. Rather, think of these batteries as a collection of many smaller batteries, called cells, pressed up against each other. With thermal runaway, a chemical reaction located in one of the cells lights an initial fire, and the heat soon spreads to each adjacent cell until the entire EV battery is burning.

    Greg Less, director of the University of Michigan’s Battery Lab, breaks down EV battery fires into two, distinct categories: accidents and manufacturing defects. He considers accidents to be everything from a collision that punctures the battery to a charging mishap. “Let’s take those off the table,” says Less. “Because, I think people understand that, regardless of the vehicle type, if you’re in an accident, there could be a fire.”

    While all EV battery fires are hard to put out, fires from manufacturing defects are likely more concerning to consumers, due to their seeming randomness. (Think back to when all those Samsung phones had to be recalled because battery issues made them fire hazards.) How do these rare issues with EV batteries manufacturing cause fires, at what may feel like random moments?

    It all comes down to how the batteries are engineered. “There’s some level of the engineering that has gone wrong and caused the cell to short, which then starts generating heat,” says Less. “Heat causes the liquid electrolyte to evaporate, creating a gas inside the cell. When the heat gets high enough, it catches fire, explodes, and then propagates to other cells.” These kinds of defects are likely what caused the highly publicized recent EV fires in South Korea, one of which damaged over a hundred vehicles in a parking lot.

    How to React if Your EV Catches Fire

    According to the National Fire Prevention Agency, if an EV ever catches fire while you’re behind the wheel, immediately find a safe way to pull over and get the car away from the main road. Then, turn off the engine and make sure everyone leaves the vehicle immediately. Don’t delay things by grabbing personal belongings, just get out. Remain over 100 feet away from the burning car as you call 911 and request the fire department.

    Also, you shouldn’t attempt to put out the flame yourself. This is a chemical fire, so a couple buckets of water won’t sufficiently smother the flames. EV battery fires can take first responders around ten times more water to extinguish than a fire in a gas-powered vehicle. Sometimes the firefighters may decide to let the battery just burn itself out, rather than dousing it with water.

    Reece Rogers

    Source link

  • What the Electric Fiat 500e Is Like—From a Fiat 500 Owner

    What the Electric Fiat 500e Is Like—From a Fiat 500 Owner

    It’s also nice to use a car with modern amenities like lane guidance and auto braking when it detects a pedestrian. Heck, even having a reversing camera is nice. However, the Fiat 500e constantly warns me about “emergency vehicles” in front on the display (it plays a scarily loud sound, too), but it’s unfortunately wrong 80 percent of the time. Stop giving me a heart attack!

    The Old Range-and-Charging Problem

    You’re getting a roughy 150-mile range on the Fiat 500e, which is OK for how often I drive. I don’t commute for work, so most of my trips are for leisure. I did drive the 500e more often than I probably would in a normal week, but after four days, I went from 96 to 41 percent after around 53 miles. This poses a problem when I need to make the occasional longer jaunt, like when visiting my in-laws or going on a road trip.

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    An exterior photograph of the Fiat 500e

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    I have a house with a parking spot in New York City, which makes me very privileged and lucky to be able to charge from home—however, the charger Fiat includes was just a smidge too short to reach the charging outlet at the back of my house. Regardless, many folks are not going to have a luxury like that and will have to use charging stations. When I tried looking for charging stations near me, almost all were described as “slow.” Thankfully, there was just one marked as “fast.”

    But before that, earlier in the week I found myself near WIRED’s Manhattan office, and I figured I’d find a spot to park and charge the car while I sat in the office for two hours. The first parking garage I went to was full, so they turned me away. The second I went to said it’d cost $60 to charge and park for two hours because, in New York City, you’re not paying only for electricity but also real estate. Sixty dollars boosted my battery from 41 to 77 percent. It’s worth noting that I regularly pay around $35 every two weeks to refuel my gas Fiat 500 (and it takes a few minutes).

    Finding the right fast-charging station is important. The one near my home that had plenty of spots available (on a Thursday evening), and I watched many EV drivers passing the time in their cars as they charged, watching videos on their phones. I pulled up, plugged the car in, and after roughly 20 minutes I had gained 20 percent, which cost me roughly $4. Now I can get used to that.

    I didn’t get to test drive the Fiat 500e on a longer trip, though I imagine I’d have to be a bit more meticulous about making sure there are fast chargers on my route and time it so that a 30-minute recharge could perhaps fall right during a lunch or bathroom break. It’s more involved, and this is arguably the biggest pause I’d have about buying an EV if I frequently make long trips (but I don’t).

    Let’s Talk Money

    While I was researching a car to buy, I frequently saw the backronym for Fiat: Fix It Again Tony. These cars seem to have earned a poor reputation for reliability and maintenance over the years. I had the 500 I bought inspected, and it was in fair condition, though the previous owner did tell me they had to replace the car’s door handles after they broke off. I have never heard of a car’s door handles just breaking off, but apparently it’s a common problem among Fiats. I can’t say much about the reliability of the Fiat 500e in the US, but I’m hoping it’s improved.

    The elephant in the room is the $32,500 starting price (the model I tested starts at $36,000). You have tons of EV options with more room and better range, like the Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Kona Electric, and the Tesla Model 3.

    However, if you’re after a small car, there really aren’t many options in the US, save the new Mini Cooper SE, which has a $30,900 starting price. I’m consistently envious watching my UK counterparts enjoying a suite of tiny and affordable electric cars—we need them here, too. (I would totally drive the Microlino.)

    The Fiat 500e is too expensive, but we’re starved for choice in the US, especially for small EVs that look great. The Fiat 500e is just that. I’d easily choose to drive it over my gas model; too bad it’s out of my budget. It also doesn’t come in yellow (boo!). If Fiat could solve those two problems, I’d happily open my wallet.

    Julian Chokkattu

    Source link

  • Cars Are Now Rolling Computers, So How Long Will They Get Updates? Automakers Can’t Say

    Cars Are Now Rolling Computers, So How Long Will They Get Updates? Automakers Can’t Say

    This is a new issue for the automotive industry. “One of the beautiful things about automotive has been that it tends to move much more slowly than consumer electronics,” says Phil Amsrud, an associate director of automotive at the market research firm S&P Global Mobility. That gives auto manufacturers and suppliers plenty of time to figure out how to support their products and guarantee that software will stay up-to-date and functioning through at least year 15. But “now that we’re trying to compress automotive’s timeframe to look more consumer-like, will 15 years get compressed to 10 years, five years?” Amsrud says.

    Automakers love the idea of a “software-defined vehicle” because they might prove an entry point into the low-margin, high-profit software business. A customer whose car is updatable whenever and wherever might also be a customer willing to pay to update their car whenever and wherever.

    As a result, automakers can keep selling new services and subscriptions—hands-free driving systems, perks including remote start and enhanced maps—to people who already bought their cars, as long as that car is on the road. Today, some car customers pay extra monthly fees for these packaged services, including General Motors’ OnStar roadside assistance, Tesla’s Full-Self Driving (Supervised), and Mercedes’ Me Connect package. But the public has balked at other subscriptions, including a 2022 offering from BMW that would have charged South Korean drivers a monthly fee to turn on their heated seats. (The automaker eventually dropped the scheme.)

    Max Headroom

    The concept of “software-defined vehicles” requires automakers to build in “headroom,” or guarantees that the car hardware of today will be able to handle the new capabilities of tomorrow. The sunsetting of connectivity standards—choices ultimately made by telecommunications firms, not automakers—demonstrates this is a tricky challenge moving ahead.

    In a written statement, Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies said that “despite our best efforts, we have not yet identified a solution that meets our standards for reliability and safety for 3G vehicles.” He declined to comment further on solutions, citing ongoing lawsuits, but said the company believes 4G sunsets will not happen until after 2035, “which means the majority of our 4G vehicles will have the ability for connectivity for at least 10 years.”

    Automotive experts say the industry hasn’t made any significant commitments about how long it plans to keep updating its newer, software-enabled vehicles. And if vehicles lose the ability to update well before they make it to the junkyard, “whoever’s holding the bag gets a big hit in resale value,” says Philip Koopman, who studies transportation software and safety as an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

    Ray Cornyn is the senior vice president and general manager of automotive processors at NXP, a Dutch firm that’s among the automotive industry’s most popular suppliers. He predicts the auto software future will look a bit like the present. “Vehicles will be defined and designed for 10 to 15-year lifetimes,” he says, with support from suppliers like NXP extending past the 15-year mark. But the bulk of updates will happen in years five to 10.

    EV company Rivian markets itself as a software-forward company. Software head Wassym Bensaid says its solution to obsolescence is, in concept, pretty simple: The automaker is talking with its suppliers about when its hardware will no longer be updatable. “Today, the headroom we’ve planned in our hardware with what we think are best practices in the software world, we estimate it to be seven years,” Bensaid says. So while this matches smartphone longevity, in practice this could mean that Rivian trucks and SUVs sold today will continue to get software updates only until 2031.

    Yet in spite of the fact that this may be the firmest any automaker has committed to updates, experts are still skeptical, and wish automakers would be clearer about when and how they plan to update their vehicles.

    “Whatever anybody is saying right now, it will really have to be proven out in time,” says Stacey Higginbotham, a policy fellow at Consumer Reports.

    Aarian Marshall

    Source link