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After a failed first attempt, the car entrepreneur has revised his design and manufacturing ideas – and will have battery-powered vehicles ready for delivery next month Henrik Fisker is under no illusions about how hard it is to start an electric car company from scratch. He should know: his first attempt ended in bankruptcy. The second attempt is going better so far: his company, Fisker Inc, claims to be the only one of a batch of would-be Tesla challengers that has not had to push back its production schedule. “Most of the startup companies are fairly naive at the beginning,” he says. “We didn’t have that. We knew it was going to be expensive. We know manufacturing is difficult.” Continue reading...

Reuters learns US DoJ launched investigation last year after more than a dozen crashes, some fatal, involving Autopilot system Tesla is under criminal investigation in the United States over claims that the company’s electric vehicles can drive themselves, three people familiar with the matter said. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched the previously undisclosed investigation last year following more than a dozen crashes, some of them fatal, involving Tesla’s driver assistance system known as Autopilot, which was activated during the accidents, the people said. Continue reading...

Government-backed scheme aims to crack down on road users who breach legal noise limits Noise-detecting traffic cameras will be trialled in four areas in England in an attempt to crack down on “boy racers” who rev engines and use illegal exhausts, the Department for Transport has announced. The so-called noise cameras will be installed on the roadside in Bradford on Tuesday, before a rollout in Bristol, Great Yarmouth and Birmingham over the next two months. Continue reading...

PM urged to increase windfarm capacity and expand energy company obligation to make more homes efficient If Liz Truss is looking to give her leadership a new start, a cross-party group of MPs has suggested some answers, in the form of a 10-point wishlist for climate and nature. Tripling the capacity of floating offshore windfarms , restoring 30% of the UK’s saltmarshes and seagrass meadows , and expanding the existing energy company obligation to make more homes efficient , are among the recommendations by the MPs on the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on the environment. Continue reading...

Cowley factory on outskirts of Oxford not up to challenge of creating electric vehicles, says Mini boss BMW is to axe all UK production of the award-winning electric Mini and relocate it to China, dealing a major blow to hopes that Britain could be a global hub for zero-emission vehicle manufacture. BMW makes 40,000 electric Minis per year at its Cowley factory on the outskirts of Oxford. Continue reading...

RAC says one in seven drivers want EV as next car and one in three want hybrid model but cost of living crisis is delaying move A record number of drivers want their next car to be electric, but the cost of living crisis is forcing many to delay making the switch to a more eco-friendly vehicle. The RAC said a record 14% of drivers say their next car will be electric, up from 10% last year and just 3% in 2018. A further 29% said they intended to switch to a hybrid vehicle of some description, which combines petrol and electric power. Continue reading...

EV Council figures show uptake lags behind other countries with carmakers opting to send stock to faster-growing markets Get our free news app , morning email briefing or daily news podcast New electric vehicle sales within Australia have increased by 65% in 2022 but uptake still lags far behind other countries. Electric cars now represent 3.39% of all new car sales in Australia according to the latest State of Electric Vehicles report by the Electric Vehicle Council, but the figures pale against those in other nations such as the UK, where one in five new cars are electric. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

The state has several programs in place to assist residents – but they’re already running out of funds When Graciela Deniz worked as a health educator at a medical office in Kerman, California, it seemed like all the doctors drove Teslas. Deniz, 32, assumed electric vehicles were a luxury reserved for those with high incomes, until she started a new job last year as a community health worker at the Central California Asthma Collaborative. The organization was involved with the EV Equity program, an initiative to help low-income residents in the San Joaquin Valley buy electric vehicles. Continue reading...

The car maker is now selling electric vehicle chargers, solar panels and other energy products to EV owners and utilities General Motors is expanding beyond car-making, with plans to offer energy storage and management services to residential and commercial customers through its new GM Energy unit in a move that puts it in even greater competition with Tesla . “We’re getting into the entire ecosystem of energy management,” GM executive Travis Hester said in an interview. Continue reading...

Entrepreneurs in the oil-producing state now plagued by shortages recycled parts from golf carts and motorcycles to make battery- and solar-powered cars Far from Tesla’s US megafactories and China’s mass production lines, a quiet electric vehicle revolution is under way in an unlikely location. Entrepreneurs in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo have created affordable battery- and solar-powered vehicles adapted from golf carts and inspired by drag racing to overcome the country’s chronic fuel shortages and power outages. Continue reading...

The investment in vehicles includes the installation of fast charging points and ‘micromobility hubs’ Amazon is investing more than €1bn (£880m) to add thousands more electric lorries, vans and cargo bikes to its sprawling fleet of delivery vehicles across Europe over the next five years. The online retailer said it would invest £300m in the UK, where it plans to have as many as 700 electric HGVs by 2025, up from just five today, and more than triple its fleet of electric vans to 10,000 across the continent. Continue reading...

States have plans to ban gas-powered cars and the White House wants chargers along highways, but implementation is a challenge Speaking in front of a line of the latest electric vehicles (EVs) at this month’s North American International Auto Show, President Joe Biden declared : “The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.” Most vehicles on the road are still gas guzzlers, but Washington is betting big on change, hoping that major federal investment will help reach a target set by the White House for 50% of new cars to be electric by 2030. But there are roadblocks – specifically when it comes to charging them all. “Range anxiety,” or how far one can travel before needing to charge, is still cited as a major deterrent for potential EV buyers. Continue reading...

From cameras to electric chargers, or using your time to pet-sit, you can bring in extra income Whether it is renting out an electric car charger, a designer dress, a camera or a carpet cleaner, growing numbers of people are tapping into the sharing economy to make some extra money. As the cost of living crisis continues to bite, lots of consumers are scrabbling around looking for ways to supplement their normal income, and sometimes the answer is sitting there in the loft, under the stairs or in the garage. Continue reading...