EDITOR'S CHOICE

Owning A Car In Singapore Costs $106,000, And That Doesn't Include The Car

05 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Singapore has a 10-year 'certificate of entitlement' (COE) system...The quota, offered through a bidding process, has made it the most expensive city in the world to buy a car...Including COE, registration fees and taxes, a new standard Toyota Camry Hybrid currently costs S$251,388 ($183,000),,,in much of the rest of the world...cars are a luxury, and transit is the standard...Imagine spending double your annual salary on a car."

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Consumer Reports: Is It Better To Buy Or Lease An Electric Car?

04 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Leasing an EV might be the easier, better deal right now...all those rules go out the window if you lease a vehicle, no matter where the car was made, no matter how much it cost, you can get that full $7,500 off the total price of the vehicle...Electric vehicle technology is changing really really rapidly. There are new cars coming on the market. Range is getting longer for battery-powered vehicles."

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Welcome To The Year Of The E-Bike

04 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"With a boost from a growing number of cities and states, the souped up two-wheelers are increasingly displacing cars for short trips - and outselling EVs.

"While e-bikes are not the vehicle of choice for long distance trips, evidence is growing that they can reduce car use for local chores...Denver studied the first residents who got rebates last year and found they rode their e-bikes an average of 26 miles per week, replacing 3.4 round-trip vehicle trips. More than 70% said they were using their gas-powered cars less."

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Driving The Energy Transition, EVs Are Simply Better For The Environment

04 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Battery electric vehicles (BEV) are the clear winner when trying to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, according to Rystad Energy research...analysis shows that battery-powered vehicles contribute at most half the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of diesel or gasoline cars

"Based on the current power generation mix in China, the lifecycle emissions of a BEV are about 39 tonnes of CO2e versus almost 85 tonnes for an ICE vehicle. The difference in the US is even starker."

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Trump's Misleading Claims About Electric Vehicles and the Auto Industry

04 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

In a speech at a [non-union] Michigan auto parts plant, former President Donald Trump distorted the facts about electric vehicles and the U.S. auto industry.

'We found no support for Trump's claim that the proposed rules would kill 40% of the auto industry's jobs...Trump claimed all-electric vehicles can only "drive for 15 minutes before you have to get a charge"..claimed EVs are "bad...for the environment." [PHOTO CAPTION: Trump stands with now-bankrupt Lordstown electric pickup prototype at White House ceremony}]

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High-Speed, Super Agile Electric Super Sub Shows Up In The Flesh At Monaco

04 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

Built by Uboat Worx..."the three-person bubble-cabin Super Sub looks like an underwater supercar...Endurance from the 62-kWh onboard battery is around eight hours...life support, oxygen, CO2 scrubbing, interior lighting and communications with the surface will last at least 96 hours...

The Super Sub's speed of 10 knots is 3-4 knots faster than the top cruising speed of a bottlenose dolphin and 7 knots faster than the average submersible..."

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US Military Is Turning To Microgrids To Fight Global Threats - And Global Warming

03 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"...it's official Department of Defense policy: The Pentagon's stated goal is that all bases be "power resilient."

"That will keep key defense capabilities intact in the case of an attack on the U.S. power grid, or more likely an extreme weather event...Getting industry partners involved made funding and building the microgrid faster than the Pentagon's normally glacial procurement process...90% of key bases worldwide have at least a plan on becoming energy independent..."

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Mercedes Just Embarrassed Tesla

03 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Mercedes has beaten them all to the punch and will be the first to offer Level 3 autonomous driving to the US market...Level 3 is considered the first official step of automation. Levels 4, 5, and 6 all require even less driver involvement, with Level 6 systems not needing steering wheels at all.

"Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) is not an autonomous driving system but is instead classified as a Level 2 advanced driver assistance system."

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Honda's First EV in the U.S. is a Semi-Affordable Midsize SUV

03 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

The Prologue will officially kick off Honda's attempt at breaking into the stateside market as a 300-mile range EV with a "neo-rugged" design...Prologue's [85kWh] battery can be charged at rates of up to 155 kW and will get up to 65 miles of range in around 10 minute...While Honda hasn’t revealed exact pricing details yet, it says the Prologue will start in the upper $40,000 range."

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Trouble Insuring Electric Vehicles Threatens Green Shift, Experts Warn

03 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Uncertainty over the rising cost of repairing EVs, particularly damaged batteries, has caused some insurers to back out of providing policies for electric car makes over the last year.

"A July report from the automotive risk intelligence company Thatcham Research found EVs cost around a quarter more to repair when compared with petrol or diesel counterparts...EV drivers will be paying substantially more for their insurance in the future"

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Metal-Loving Microbes Offer A Green Way To Refine Rare Earth Elements

03 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Cornell scientists have characterized the genome of Shewanella oneidensis - a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements - to replace the harsh chemical processing with a benign practice called biosorption.

"S. oneidensis prefers dining on the f-block elements residing in the sixth row of the periodic table, known as the lanthanides...The mutant genes found in the bacteria by the scientists can reduce the length of that rare earth element purification process by almost one-third...€5.2-million (US$5.44-million) starting price"

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Electrify America Opens 350-kw EV Fast Charger At Grand Canyon Entrance

02 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Located at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center at the south entrance of Grand Canyon National Park in Tusayan, Arizona, the charging station includes six individual chargers with power rates up to 350 kw

"The South Rim is about 160 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona, the nearest large city...Electrify America announced earlier this year that it plans to add some North American Charging Standard (NACS) Tesla connectors, but none appear to be available at this location yet."

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