Author: Stephen Edelstein

US shift toward wind and solar will cut coal, make EVs cleaner

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in United Arab EmiratesIncreased use of renewable energy will help reduce electricity generation from coal and natural gas power plants, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in turn making EVs cleaner. The EIA forecasts that wind and solar will together account for 16% of total electricity generation in 2023, up from 14% in 2022 and 8% in 2018...

Luxury EV leases are already tapping into $7,500 EV tax credit

2023 Lucid Air PureNew federal EV tax credit rules have set price caps that are narrowing the field of qualifying EVs; but a leasing loophole is already opening up a much wider field eligible for federal subsidies The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) re-upped the federal EV tax credit of up to $7,500 for qualifying vehicles. It added price caps of $55,000 for cars and...

Racing tech may bring efficient in-wheel motors into more EVs

Elaphe in-wheel electric powertrainElaphe and McLaren are partnering to marry the former's in-wheel motor tech with the latter's racing expertise. At the recent 2023 CES in Las Vegas, the two companies announced an "in-wheel propulsion system" using Elaphe's in-wheel motors and inverters from McLaren Applied Technologies to create "highly efficient and hyper-responsive electric...

Shell buys Volta network and its free EV charging

Volta chargingVolta, a charging company distinguished by its partly free, partly ad-supported EV charging, announced Wednesday that it will be acquired by oil giant Shell. The two companies have signed a "definitive merger agreement" under which Shell will buy Volta in an all-cash transaction that values the charging company at $169 million, according to a...

Tesla cuts prices across the board up to 20%

2022 Tesla lineup  (Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.)Tesla has once again lowered prices. As of Thursday the automaker's online configurator shows price cuts for every model in its lineup. The Model Y received the biggest cut, of about 20% across the lineup. Including the new, higher $1,390 destination fee, the base Model Y Long Range now starts at $54,380, while the Model Y Performance now starts...