China’s electric vehicle showrooms are sending an ominous signal about the sales outlook this year

[Source: South China Morning Post] Chinese electric and hybrid vehicles makers are bracing for a downturn, after consumers flocked to showrooms before the government scaled back its subsidy programme designed to promote green vehicles in June. Analysts said anecdotal evidence points to a downturn in the new-energy vehicle (NEV) segment in July, the first full Read More…

Here’s how much California is spending to put electric cars on the road

[The San Diego Union-Tribune] California policymakers are committed to making sure that electric vehicles — and the charging stations and other infrastructure needs associated with them — transform the state’s transportation sector. But it won’t come cheaply. A review conducted by the San Diego Union-Tribune showed various state agencies have committed $2.46 billion in public Read More…

Anger in California’s carpool lanes as more than 200,000 drivers are set to lose decals

[Source: Los Angeles Times] For some California commuters, cutting down on carbon emissions isn’t a sexy enough reason to buy an electric car. But the ability to bypass freeway traffic without having to carpool — that’s another story. So there is grumbling in high-occupancy-vehicle lanes across California these days. On Jan. 1, the owners of Read More…

Electric trucks facing long road to unseat diesel engines

[Source: Bloomberg] The next battleground for replacing fossil fuel-guzzling vehicles will be U.S. interstate highways, where long-haul trucks keep the economy moving. Electric trucks are coming, and they’ll be cleaner and cheaper to operate than conventional models that burn diesel, according to Tesla Inc., which already has prototypes on the road. Diesel advocates say range Read More…

California is cutting greenhouse gases, but not from cars. Can that change?

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle] California’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling faster than state leaders hoped when they launched their fight against climate change 12 years ago. But there’s a glaring exception. Emissions from transportation — cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships — keep rising. And since transportation accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other Read More…