Automakers bet on electricity
Buick to be the next GM recipient of an all-electric vehicle: General Motors’ next electric car will be a Buick tall wagon based on the platform that underpins the Chevrolet Bolt EV, according to Web magazine InsideEVs. The news follows GM CEO Mary Barra’s remarks earlier this year that the Bolt was never intended to be a standalone offering. “The Bolt is our platform that we’re going to continue [working] on and have a huge range of vehicles [based on],” she said. The future Buick EV — no timeline was given for its introduction — will come with unique standard features to set it apart from its Chevrolet sibling: “all the features you wanted in the Bolt EV, but couldn’t get.”
“ContiSilent” tires help Teslas run even quieter: While touted for their silent operation, electric cars still must contend with wind, road and mechanical noises generated by the very act of moving, which has driven Tesla to adopt a technology that reduces the noise generated by rolling tires. Performance variants of the Model S — the P85D and P90D — employ a lowrolling-resistance tire from Continental that uses soundabsorbing foam. Continental says its ContiSilent tires with “internal acoustic foam” cuts rolling noise by up to nine decibels, limiting how far into the cabin that noise can reach, according to Traction.com, an online magazine for companies that sell tires. The ContiSilent tire uses a sound-absorbing polyurethane foam attached to the inner tire.
Electrified models will be more than half of FCA fleet after 2022, says Marchionne: In a big turnaround of corporate policy, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will begin embracing electric and electrified vehicles. Hybrids and vehicles that plug in to charge their batteries are being developed as battery costs decline. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters at the end of July that as products come up for renewal post-2019, his company will begin launching electrified vehicles “which will embody, I think, what we consider to be start-ofthe-art technology.” The move is an “integral part” of a broader strategy on electrification that will see “more than half” of the FCA group’s fleet electrified by 2022.
Coal hauler CSX says there’s no future as alternative power sources drop in price: A general and growing consensus that transportation will gradually electrify and that coal’s share of the energy market will continue to drop was underscored in mid-July when the chief executive of CSX Railroad — which hauls coal to market from the mines of Appalachia in the eastern United States — declared “coal has no future,” and said CSX would no longer invest in new trains and coal cars to move it. Hunter Harrison told a group of industry analysts the reason is not environmental, or even to cut greenhouse-gas emissions; it’s cost. Against “fracked” natural gas and other alternatives like solar and wind power that are becoming less costly to bring to market, coal is losing on price, Harrison said. Welcome back, Volvo: Volvo Cars is entering the small tall-wagon segment in North America with the new XC40, which will join future Volvos in offering a plug-in hybrid option. The XC40’s modular platform was developed with the Swedish-brand’s Chinese corporate parent, Geely.
That was quick: Faster chargers are part of Porsche Mission E electric-vehicle campaign, the company is saying. The first known 350-kilowatt electric carcharging station to allow 80 per cent recharging of an electric car’s battery in 15 minutes — that’s half the time of the fastest chargers currently used — has been installed by Porsche in Germany.