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Car companies have big dreams for software features, connected services and more as they aim to make “smartphones on wheels.” But the bankruptcy of one such automaker in China is showing what can go wrong when software support evaporates. How do car companies ensure their products will work for the long haul? Last year, ahead of leasing a Kia EV6, I sold a 2002 Toyota 4Runner I had owned for several years to a friend. I had barely been driving the old truck by the end of my time with it; it was slow, it was thirsty and it was…
The tri-motor Lucid Air Sapphire provides a quick means of escape from trouble, but should no escape route be available, there’s now an armored version as well. California-based U.S. Armor Group has made the electric luxury sedan bullet-resistant. The company will outfit an Air Sapphire with composite armor that it claims is 10 times stronger than ballistic steel, but five times lighter. Bullet-resistant material also replaces the factory glass, and is strong enough to stop a round from a .44 Magnum, the company claims. The armor package adds 385 pounds to the Sapphire’s curb weight. Armored Lucid Air Sapphire by…
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! As I lamented recently, my 2019 Tesla Model 3 SR+ doesn’t yet have version 12.5 of Full Self Driving (FSD). Tesla is now rolling out new versions of FSD to cars with the latest FSD hardware first. Though, luckily, David Havasi just recently bought a brand new Tesla Model 3 Performance, and his car has version 12.5.1.3 of FSD! So, we went on another FSD test drive to document its current status and try to identify how it has improved (or not). You can…
The last Shanghai auto show was held in April 18-27, 2023, with 1,413 vehicles on display, including 513 NEVs. (Nio’s booth at the 2023 Shanghai auto show. Image credit: CnEVPost) The next Shanghai auto show is starting to come into sight, with the Chengdu auto show about to begin in two days. The 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2025) will be held from April 25 to May 2 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from April 25 to May 2, the event’s organizers announced yesterday. April 23-24 will be media days, April 25-26 will…
Photo: SEIA Since 2014, solar capacity at K-12 schools has more than quadrupled across the US, according to a new report from clean energy nonprofit Generation180. The “Brighter Future: A Study of Solar on K-12 Schools” report highlights that over 6.2 million students – more than 1 in 9 – now attend schools powered by solar. In 2023 alone, more than 800 schools added solar panels, meaning that at least one school went solar every single day during the 2022-23 school year. “The benefits of solar energy are now reaching a broad range of schools across the country, including those…
A Tesla Supercharger station worth a whopping $18 million is coming to the Queens borough in New York City. Tesla paid real-estate developer Wildflower for the lot in Queens’ Maspeth neighborhood, public records show. NYC’s existing charging infrastructure has been overwhelmed by increasing number of electric rideshare drivers. Tesla has paid real estate developer Wildflower $18 million to acquire a piece of land in New York City where it will build a Supercharger station, public records show. This appears to be just the cost of the land. Permitting and installing the stalls would dial up the costs further. Despite having…
Porsche aims to scale production of synthetic fuel Porsche’s R&D boss believes synthetic fuel will play a big role in reducing emissions Ferrari’s counting on synthetic fuel too; Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru are investigating whether e-fuels can keep ICE alive Porsche is confident that synthetic “e-fuels” will displace a significant amount of conventional gasoline use by the end of the decade, research and development boss Michael Steiner said in a recent interview with Autocar. In 2022, Porsche opened a synthetic fuel pilot plant in Chile that produces a gasoline alternative by combining hydrogen with carbon dioxide captured from the air,…
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Phoenix-based Lectric eBikes has been driving the pace of innovation in the affordable, high volume e-bike space for years and charged onto the scene this year with perhaps its most disruptive new bike yet. The Lectric ONE is a compact, lightweight e-bike that packs some of the best components not just in affordable e-bikes, but in the entire cycling industry. The Pinion gearbox with Smart Shift and the Gates belt drive are typically only found on e-bikes in the $10k range, and Lectric eBikes…
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Most of the heavy electric trucks on the road to date are in China. As of 2022, China sold 36,000 electric trucks, 91% of the total. No country other than China ever sold over 1,000 electric trucks in a year. In heavy electric trucks, China is by far the largest user. This lead continued into 2023, with Europe gaining a larger share but China still in the lead. China’s motivation for heavy-duty electric trucks is that heavy-duty truck emissions exceed light-duty emissions by 50%.…
The Avatr 012 is Avatr’s second limited-edition model, based on the Avatr 12 electric sedan with different features to emphasize its more premium positioning. (Image credit: Avatr) Avatr Technology, the electric vehicle (EV) brand backed by Changan Automobile, CATL, and Huawei, has begun pre-sales of its limited-edition model, the Avatr 012, as it continues to strengthen its premium image. Avatr gave the Avatr 012 its debut at an event yesterday and began accepting pre-orders at a pre-sale price of RMB 700,000 ($98,110). The car is based on the Avatr 12 mid to large-size pure electric sedan and is limited to…