NASA at the forefront of electric airplane development


Aircraft are responsible for a substantial amount of air pollution, but building an electric airplane presents several physical and institutional problems that automobile designers don’t have to worry about. NASA has been working on electric planes, and grappling with these problems, for at least a decade, and has begun to demonstrate some progress. The agency… Read more »

Mazda MX-30 coming to US market in fall 2021


Mazda unveiled its first battery-electric vehicle, the MX-30, at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. Now the company plans to bring it to the US market, beginning with California, in fall 2021. It’s scheduled to roll out in additional states in 2022. The MX-30 is built on Mazda’s Skyactiv-Vehicle Architecture platform. It features a 35.5 kWh… Read more »

Ford unveils its 2022 F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck


The most popular vehicle line in the U.S. now includes a battery-electric pickup truck. Is this the turning point for EVs? Wednesday evening, Ford unveiled its long-awaited battery-electric pickup truck, dubbed the F-150 Lightning. The name harkens back to “the fastest truck in the world,” the Lightning F-150 SVT, which launched in 2002 with a… Read more »

Minnesota to become the next Clean Car state


In 2019, Minnesota announced plans to join the 14 states that enforce their own strict vehicle emissions standards. Now an administrative law judge has given the proposed policy a green light, ruling that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) can move forward with plans to adopt the Clean Cars Minnesota program. The program will go… Read more »

Chicago Transit Authority to use ViriCiti’s monitoring system for its 23 electric buses


ViriCiti, founded in 2012, makes a fleet monitoring system focused on electric buses and trucks. The system is designed to give fleet operators a real-time overview of the status, state of charge, range and location of their vehicles, and to help train drivers to maximize range and efficiency. The company says it’s working with over… Read more »

US House advances measure to provide $8 billion funding to replace USPS trucks with EVs


The US Postal Service has been deliberating about a modernization of its ancient vehicle fleet for nearly a decade. The odds-on favorite to win the contract was the Workhorse Group, which had proposed an all-electric delivery vehicle, so many were surprised when the USPS awarded the contract to Oshkosh Defense. The surprise turned to outrage… Read more »

Is Ford planning an electric version of the Bronco?


Ford seems to be following a sound strategy of electrifying models in the segments most popular with buyers (rather than those that seem convenient to electrify). The Blue Oval has a hit on its hands (if it wants one) with the Mustang Mach-E, and it could make history with the upcoming F-150 Lightning. The Bronco… Read more »

Ford taking pre-orders for E-Transit electric van


Ford has opened a web page for “hand-raisers” to register their interest in the upcoming E-Transit, an electric version of Ford’s popular Transit commercial van. The order books are expected to be open by July. Ford says over 450 commercial customers in North America, including 200 fleet operators, have already expressed interest. The E-Transit will… Read more »

ABB to supply electric power systems for ten Lisbon ferries


Electronics giant ABB has secured a contract with Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Gondán to supply an electric power solution for urban passenger ferries that will operate on Lisbon’s Tagus river. The ten new ferries will be operated by the public ferry company Transtejo on three key routes linking Lisbon to Cacilhas, Seixal and Montijo on the… Read more »

Lion Electric to build its first US manufacturing facility in Illinois


The Lion Electric Company (NYSE: LEV), a Canadian manufacturer of all-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, has announced plans to build a new manufacturing plant in Illinois. The facility is expected to come online in the second half of 2022, with a production capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year. The new 900,000-square-foot facility will help Lion… Read more »