Toyota Sees End of Gas-Only Cars
By Matthew Rocco. Toyota, known for its Prius hybrid vehicles, recently launched a car powered by hydrogen fuel cells. On Wednesday, the Japanese automaker announced its boldest move yet, saying it will phase out almost all of its conventional gasoline cars by 2050. With the industry facing tough regulatory standards around the world, Toyota said […]
VW looks to cutbacks and electric cars to overcome scandal
By Andreas Cremer and Jan Schwartz. Volkswagen will cut investment plans at its biggest division by €1 billion (NZ$1.7 billion) a year and step up development of electric vehicles, it said on Tuesday, as it battles to cope with the fallout from its cheating of diesel emissions tests. The German company also said it would […]
Different climate change challenge for NZ
By Mike Underhill. Renewable electricity has become the urgent catchcry for most countries wanting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. New Zealand’s challenges – and opportunities – are quite different. Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan has set the bar high for the US, where nearly 40 per cent of electricity is generated by coal. Electricity production […]
Council keen to get electric car share scheme for Christchurch
By Lois Cairns. The city council is considering plugging into a rapidly growing trend by establishing a car sharing scheme in Christchurch. It is looking at going one step further than most other cities by using electric vehicles. The council has been working on the idea with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and is […]
Ford Releases Smartwatch App to Talk to Electric Vehicles
Drivers of Ford electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles can now access their battery charge status, unlock their doors, and get a driving score from their last trip with the MyFord mobile application for smartwatches. “The app gives drivers the ability to quickly check important data like available range before leaving on a journey without having […]
Elon Musk: Tesla’s Fully Autonomous Electric Vehicles With 1,000KM Range Will Be Available By 2018
By David Gilbert. LONDON — With Apple widely expected to enter the car market in the next few years, there is a lot of buzz around autonomous and electric vehicles at the moment. But it is Tesla, the company founded by Elon Musk, which is set to deliver on the promise of this new era […]
Tesla’s Model X Is Here, and It’s as Awesome as We Hoped
The world’s first luxury electric SUV is gorgeous. It’s futuristic. And once again, Tesla Motors is redefining the electric vehicle. The Silicon Valley automaker has teased us for years with the Model X, and tonight it finally gave the world its first look at the production model, then handed six customers the keys. Those people […]
Spotlight on local activity: EV happenings in CHCH
From Mark Nixon, convenor of the Christchurch EV group. We are pleased to report that EVs are really starting to take off in Christchurch. It’s not uncommon to spot the odd EV dodging cones in the Christchurch streets these days. In June the EVs owners group had a mid-winter EV meet-up at the Raspberry Café […]
REV-UP (Regional Electric Utility Project) Northland – After 5 Event
By Russell Watson of NorthPower. The REV-UP Northland after 5 EV event was held on the 12 August and hosted at Northpower’s head office in Whangarei. About 24 EVs and PHEV vehicles turned up with over 40 people attending. The attendees travel led from various parts of Northland and there were some who travelled from […]
Electric Vehicle Breakfast in Christchurch
EECA and the Christchurch City Council organised a breakfast in Christchurch on 14 September at which Drive Electric presented. Around 30 people attended from businesses in Christchurch. Participants included representatives from the hospitality, retail and electricity industries together with local government. The idea was to give participants an understanding of the key issues around […]