Category Archives: Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars

‘It feels very fun and freeing’: US sees ebike boom after years of false starts

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Sales surge as cities and states look to cut pollution from cars and improve options for Americans to get around

After several years of false starts, electric bikes are finally entering the American mainstream, amid booming sales of a multiplying number of models on offer and as more states offer incentives for people to ditch their cars and shift to two, motor-assisted, wheels.

This year could be considered “the year of the ebike”, according to John MacArthur, a transport researcher at Portland State University. Ebike sales in the United States leaped by 269% between 2019 and 2022, with the market size expected to have grown further in 2023, to be worth $2.59bn.

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EU set to suspend Brexit tariffs on EVs for three years in major boost for car industry

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Commission moves to delay 10% sales charge after intense lobbying by EU and UK carmakers

The European Commission looks set to propose a three-year delay to a 10% tariff on sales of electric vehicles between the EU and the UK, in a major boost for car industries across Europe.

Duties were due to kick in on 1 January 2024 but all the major carmakers in the UK and Europe including BMW, Volkswagen and Stellantis have been lobbying for a temporary reprieve.

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Europe is ‘miles behind’ in race for raw materials used in electric car batteries

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EU and UK carmakers have secured just 16% of lithium, cobalt and nickel needed to hit 2030 targets, says study

European carmakers have secured less than a sixth of the key raw materials they will need by 2030 to make electric vehicle batteries, according to analysis that highlights the expected scramble for green-tech resources.

Carmakers have secured contracts for 16% of the lithium, cobalt and nickel required to hit their 2030 electric car sales targets, according to public disclosures analysed by Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based campaign group.

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London’s biggest minicab firm Addison Lee makes emissions U-turn

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Lack of public chargers blamed for decision to be only ‘zero-emissions capable’ by April 2024

London’s biggest minicab company has U-turned on plans for all its cars to produce zero emissions this year, blaming a lack of public chargers in the capital.

Addison Lee said it had spent £30m on new Volkswagen Multivans, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which combine a small battery with a polluting internal combustion engine, and admitted that the switch to electric cars had been harder than it had expected.

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EU hatches backup plan to lessen impact of 10% Brexit tariff on EVs

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Exclusive: ‘Cushion’ for carmakers facing looming tariff under deal for vehicles traded between EU and UK from start of 2024

The European Commission has hatched confidential Plan B proposals to “cushion” the impact of a looming 10% tariff on imports and exports of electric vehicles, the Guardian has learned.

The proposal was presented to member states on Monday in response to pressure from carmakers to amend some of the conditions imposed when the UK left the EU in January 2021.

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‘Breakthrough battery’ from Sweden may cut dependency on China

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Northvolt says new lithium-free sodium-ion battery is cheaper, more sustainable and doesn’t rely on scarce raw materials

Europe’s energy and electric vehicle industries could reduce their dependency on scarce raw materials from China after the launch of a “breakthrough” sodium-ion battery, according to its Swedish developer.

Northvolt, Europe’s only large homegrown electric battery maker, has said it has made a lower cost, more sustainable battery designed to store electricity which does not use lithium, nickel, graphite and cobalt.

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Republicans welcome local benefits of climate law despite voting against it

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Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene among those accused of hypocrisy over efforts to gut landmark Inflation Reduction Act

At least a dozen Republican members of Congress have welcomed clean energy investment flowing to their electorates following Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill, even as they launch fresh attempts to dismantle the legislation.

The group of conservative lawmakers, including the House of Representatives members Nancy Mace, Clay Higgins and Marjorie Taylor Greene, have all recently praised the arrival of new renewable energy, battery or electric vehicle jobs in their districts even after voting against last year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was loaded with incentives for clean energy projects.

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UK drivers make claims of ‘dangerous’ electric car faults

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Motorists locked inside their cars, while an NHS doctor said her BMW iX accelerated to 65mph and then crashed

An electric car owner has claimed her vehicle’s autopilot engaged without warning and accelerated to 65mph, zigzagged across the road and caused a serious crash, the Guardian can reveal.

The alleged incident involved a doctor, Ravpreet Kaur, who was travelling in Buckinghamshire with her son in the family’s £80,000 BMW iX. Her husband said they were lucky to escape unhurt.

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Delay EU tariffs to help sales of electric cars, says UK car industry

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Brexit trade deal gave UK and EU carmakers until 1 January 2024 to source batteries from within Europe or face 10% tariffs

The UK car industry has said incoming tariffs between the UK and the EU could raise the price of imported electric cars by as much as £3,400 unless a solution is found by the end of the year.

The Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU gave carmakers until 1 January 2024 to source batteries from within Europe or face 10% tariffs when exporting to each other. However, the supply of European-made batteries has failed to meet demand, meaning carmakers face the new tariffs from next year under these “rules of origin”.

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Most new cars sold in UK will have to be fully electric by 2030, government confirms

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Green campaigners relieved after last week’s decision to delay ban on petrol and diesel cars

The government has confirmed the majority of new cars sold in Britain will have to be electric by 2030 despite Rishi Sunak’s decision last week to delay a ban on petrol and diesel cars by five years.

Under the long-awaited zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, 80% of sales must be fully electric, or another alternative, within seven years. Carmakers would have to pay £15,000 for each petrol or diesel engine above that threshold, the Department for Transport said on Thursday.

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Carmakers call on EU to delay 10% tariff on electric vehicle exports

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Manufacturers expect levy agreed in Brexit deal to hand chunk of market to global firms, including China

Car giants including Renault, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have called on EU leaders to “act now” and delay plans for a 10% tariff on electric car exports from Europe.

Renault’s chief, Luca de Meo, led the calls, saying that if the EU did not take action then policymakers would simply be “handing a chunk of the market to global manufacturers” including Chinese companies, which are making significant inroads.

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Rishi Sunak announces U-turn on key green targets

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UK prime minister delays ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars as he pushes back net zero goals

Rishi Sunak has announced a major U-turn on the government’s climate commitments as he promised to put his party on a more radical path in an attempt to close the gap with Labour before the next general election.

In one of his biggest policy changes since taking office, Sunak confirmed the UK would push back the deadline for selling new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of gas boilers, prompting furious condemnation from the automobile and energy industries.

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Germany backs tariff delay on electric vehicle sales between UK and EU

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Manufacturers face 10% levies under post-Brexit trade deal but German government supports postponement

Carmakers could be in line for a reprieve after it emerged that Germany is backing calls to postpone tariffs on electric vehicle sales between the UK and the EU.

Manufacturers in the UK and on the continent face the prospect of 10% levies on new electric vehicles that cross the Channel from January under the post-Brexit trade deal agreed between Britain and the bloc in 2020.

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EU diplomats hope Horizon deal could be first of many with UK

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UK’s return to science programme raises hope of more deals, including suspension of planned EV tariffs

A dramatic thaw in relations between Britain and the EU has raised hopes that the Horizon science deal could be the first of many breakthroughs, diplomats in Brussels have said.

They claimed the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had a close relationship that was in stark contrast to the hostility EU officials faced from Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

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China’s share of Europe’s electric car market accelerates as UK leads sales

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Chinese-owned MG’s MG4 is Britain’s bestselling EV after Tesla’s Model Y in first seven months of year

China’s share of the European electric car market has more than doubled in less than two years as the world’s second largest economy tries to take the lead in the transition away from petrol and diesel cars.

The UK is the largest market in Europe for Chinese electric car brands, accounting for almost a third of sales in 2023 so far, according to data from Schmidt Automotive Research on the 18 largest European car markets. About 5% of all new car sales in the UK were from Chinese brands in the first seven months of 2023, a market share second only to Sweden.

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Hundreds more rapid charging points installed in UK to help drivers go electric

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Fast charging stations that allow for longer journeys are being added in regions beyond London

Charging companies are plugging the gaps in the UK’s high-speed charger network, with hundreds added this year outside London in a shift that will help end the “range anxiety” that holds back some would-be electric car buyers.

The capital and the south-east still have far more chargers of all speeds – ranging from slow to rapid and ultra-rapid – than the rest of the country. But the presence of high-speed chargers, generally used for quick recharging on longer journeys, is increasing in other regions as electric car sales surge.

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Europe hits roadblocks in the race to switch to electric cars

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Despite progress towards a 2045 zero-emission goal, the high price of EVs has created a headache for governments

European countries are struggling to persuade people to switch from combustion engine cars to electric ones, experts warn.

Europe sells 10 times more electric cars today than it did just six years ago, according to the International Energy Agency, but its fleet is cleaning up too slowly to meet its climate goals. Governments across the continent are struggling with the price-tag of electric vehicles, which can cost several thousand euros more upfront than comparable ones that burn fossil fuels.

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Lotus produces record 2,200 sports cars in first half of 2023

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British carmaker also gearing up for sales of new Eletre electric SUV under Chinese owner Geely’s expansion plans

The British carmaker Lotus produced a record number of sports cars in the first half of 2023, as it gears up for a huge push behind sales of a new electric SUV under its Chinese owners’ expansion plans.

Lotus, which marked its 75th anniversary this year, produced 2,200 vehicles in the first six months of the year at its factory in a former second world war bomber factory at Hethel in Norfolk.

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Kemi Badenoch casts doubt on electric car targets over job loss fears

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Mandate for carmakers to sell increasing number of zero-emissions vehicles could be weakened, business secretary hints

Kemi Badenoch has suggested electric vehicle mandates could hamper investment in Britain and lead to job losses, in a sign that another of the government’s green pledges is in doubt.

The business secretary was discussing the automotive industry’s concerns about a rule to be introduced in January that will require manufacturers to ensure at least 22% of new sales in the UK are of emissions-free models, rising each year to reach 80% by 2030.

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Tesla beats Wall Street expectations to produce record number of vehicles

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Report comes amid concerns Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX, Neuralink and Twitter, is spread too thin

Tesla narrowly beat Wall Street expectations in the second quarter of 2023, but shares began to fall in after hours trading following an earnings call that offered shareholders little reassurance surrounding Tesla’s promised Cybertruck release and other production concerns.

Revenue for the quarter topped $24.97bn compared to analyst predictions of $24.7 bn.

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