EDITOR'S CHOICE

Toyota Exposed For Funding Climate Denialism Designed To Slow EV Transition

15 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"Instead of innovating, Toyota has bankrolled lobbyists and climate-hostile lawmakers to help it defeat EVs," according to Public Citizen.

"In the report, titled Driving Denial, Toyota has emerged over the last three election cycles as the auto industry's top financial backer of climate deniers in Congress - donating to 207 of their campaigners... Toyota was named by InfluenceMap as the third-worst company in the world for anti-climate lobbying, after only fossil fuel giants Chevron and ExxonMobil."

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World's First Liquid Hydrogen Powered Turbine Engine

15 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

" Turbotech, Safran, and Air Liquide teamed up to validate the feasibility of using liquid hydrogen to power a turbine engine...Hydrogen inherently has an extremely high flame temperature of up to ~5,500 °F (3,038 °C), ripe for creating NOx..Liquid hydrogen requires even more specialized equipment, as it must be kept at or below -423 °F (-253 °C) to remain liquid."

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Breaking: California Abandons Diesel Truck Ban And Other Clean-Air Rules Ahead of Regressive New Adminstration

15 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"The withdrawal comes after the Biden administration recently approved the California Air Resources Board’s mandate phasing out new gas-powered cars by 2035, but had not yet approved waivers for four other standards

"California's Advanced Clean Fleet rule, which phases out diesel trucks, was one of the most far-reaching and controversial rules...would have ended the sale of new fossil-fuel trucks in 2036 and required large trucking companies to convert their medium and heavy-duty fleets to electric or hydrogen models by 2042."

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Ford Sold More Electric Mustangs Than Gas Mustangs In 2024

13 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"...every year since Mach-E sales rose while Mustang sales dipped until last year when Mach-E sales trumped the sales of its gas counterpart under the same nameplate.

"Ford Motor Co. sold 51,745 Mustang Mach-E SUVs in the U.S. last year, trumping the sales numbers of its gas-powered counterpart Mustang [44,003] for the first time since the EV's sales commenced in late 2020 (3 sold)."

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Biden Energy Secretary: Hit Reverse On EV Investments And China Wins The Race

13 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"...China has a formidable head start in the EV race. They saw the writing on the wall early, and got to work building the supply chains, the manufacturing capacity, the charging infrastructure -and yes, the consumer incentives...

"...America is on track to produce 21 times more lithium by the end of this decade - slashing China's market dominance in half - and 18 times more battery cells." - US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

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2025 To Be Year Of Electrification In Africa & South America

13 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"...the big story of 2025 in the EV world is going to be rapid electrification of auto markets in Africa and South America. Several countries on both of those continents seem primed for an EV boom, and Chinese automakers looking for more rapid growth...smart non-oil countries are starting to realize they can save an enormous amount of money by not buying gasmobiles...smarter countries are seeing the opportunity to bring in various manufacturing jobs..."

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Cold Is Less And Less A Problem For The Electric Car

13 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"According to manufacturers, cold weather is becoming less and less of a problem as batteries, energy management systems, recharging and even the methods used to test cars continue to evolve.

"...the latest test, carried out in 2023 on more than 30 new and used models, confirmed that cold weather can still lead to a reduction in effective range of between 10% and more than 30%."

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Ex-Aston Martin CEO: Scrap Hybrids, Go All In 0n EV cars

13 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

These are legitimate concerns in the short term, and they are precisely what draw people to hybrids: the perception of a "best of both worlds" scenario. But that perception can be misleading.

When the electric component of a hybrid system is not consistently used, drivers end up relying heavily on the combustion engine, undermining the environmental benefits...hybrids could create a false sense of security, slowing the momentum toward pure battery-electric cars."

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Volkswagen Marketing Exec: EVs Are 'Much More Reliable' Than Gas Cars

09 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"Volkswagen is confident its electric vehicle sales will finally flourish in 2025....latest Consumer Reports study showed that EV owners have had 42 percent more issues with their cars. As bad as that may sound, it's actually a major improvement compared to the 2023 study, when electric cars had 79 percent more problems than ICEs...CR...has the VW ID.4 on its list of the least reliable new vehicles..."

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How To Guarantee Seamless EV Charging In Shared Buildings - Right To Plug!

09 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

[EU's] "Energy Performance of Buildings Directive...sets targets to install EV chargers in buildings with more than 3 parking spaces. But the rules for existing residential buildings, and especially apartment buildings, are too vague and lack concrete targets

T&E urges "implement a clear and simple right to plug into national law, for both owners and tenants...Ensure that all new and renovated apartment buildings are fully cabled for EV charging.."

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Chinese Electric Plane Maker Rhyxeon Zooms In On Markets In Africa And Asia

09 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

It is also the world's first electric aircraft to be certified under the part 23 airworthiness regulations for normal category aircraft...The RX4E made its maiden flight in 2019. Since then, the project has accumulated more than 1,200 flight hours and 1,800 take-offs and landings in three aircraft.

"The company says it has an agreement with the developers to commercialise the plane in 15 countries, including for manufacturing operations."

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Why Ohio Companies Are Investing in Hydrogen Cars Despite Infrastructure Issues

09 Jan 2025 | Synopsis

"The Ohio companies' focus on fuel cell passenger vehicles is unique nationwide, especially for a state that doesn't yet have any public hydrogen fueling stations...[Engineering firm DLZ] station in Columbus can generate about 20 kilograms of hydrogen per day, using electricity from a solar array atop a large building on company property...Whether hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles are the best use for renewable energy remains questionable."

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