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Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are looking for a happy medium to enable the grid of the future, filling a gap between high and low voltages for power electronics technology that underpins the modern U.S. electric grid. Today’s power electronics, which take split seconds to perform tasks such as converting the direction of current or adjusting voltages, tend to operate at the extremes. Charging personal vehicles or storing energy from a commercial solar panel requires low voltage, while high…

Friday and Saturday kicked off the inaugural season of the first-ever electric boat racing league when the first eight teams in the UIM E1 Championship Series motored, foiled, and splashed across the Red Sea in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Marc Anthony’s Team Miami had pole position heading into Saturday’s race, but two other famous names were on the podium; here are the final E1 results. It’s been a multi-year journey for the UIM E1 Series and its founders leading up to this weekend’s first GP, and we at Electrek have covered the nascent league most of the way. That said, we…

In January, the Ford brand sold 145,632 vehicles in the U.S., about 3.6% more than a year ago. However, its battery-electric vehicles (BEV) sales noted a weak start to the year. Last month, Ford sold 4,674 all-electric vehicles, 11% less than a year ago and the lowest level since April 2023. That’s also just 3.2% of the brand’s total volume (compared to 5-6% in late 2023). Get Fully Charged Ford was America’s No. 2 EV brand in 2023 In 2023 Ford sold a record number of over 72,000 all-electric vehicles, becoming the No.2 brand in the segment after Tesla. But…

Which automaker CEO sees EV acceleration as a safety feature? Which very exclusive luxury EV was recalled this week? This and more, here at Green Car Reports.  GM this week announced that it is ready to bring some plug-in hybrid models back to the North American market. It’s a shocker that may have many longtime EV fans doing a double take, as for years GM has resisted ideas of bringing back the tech it once championed with its vaunted Chevy Volt—saying among other things that it hurt its ability to vertically integrate its EV battery and propulsion plan.  2024 BMW…

This one style of vehicle is known by many names. In India, it’s an auto rickshaw. In Thailand, a tuk-tuk (a fun onomatopoeia that arose from the traditionally loud two-stroke engines powering them). But whatever it’s called, these three-wheeled taxis have used their half-bike, half-wagon design to shuttle folks around cities for decades. And now, a new era of rickshaws is seeing electric drives enabling interesting new designs. Take for instance this yellow behemoth of a bike I found while perusing Alibaba. It may just be one of my favorite Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week entries in…

In smart driving, users can access real-time high-precision positioning, and more accurate road features through in-vehicle terminals to help sense, decide, and control smart driving. (Image credit: Geely) Geespace, Geely Holding Group’s low-orbit commercial satellite operator, launched 11 new satellites, the latest batch after the first nine launched in June 2022 to create a planned constellation. Geespace launched the satellites, which went into their intended orbits, at 7:37 am Beijing time on February 3 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in southwest China, according to a statement from Geely. The satellites are part of a planned constellation,…

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Electricity demand associated with U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States has grown very rapidly over the last several years. Our preliminary estimates suggest that annual electricity use from cryptocurrency mining probably represents from 0.6% to 2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption. 1 This additional electricity use has drawn the attention of policymakers and grid planners concerned about its effects on cost, reliability, and emissions. Key challenges associated with tracking cryptocurrency mining energy use include the difficulty of identifying cryptocurrency mining activity among millions of…

EVs, PHEVs, and hybrids made up 16.3% of total light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales in the US in 2023 – Tesla’s price cuts were a big reason. The 2023 percentage is 3.4% higher than in 2022, when hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and BEV sales made up 12.9% of total sales. The second half of 2023 saw the highest share of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and BEVs of total LDV sales at 17.9%. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) points out that 2023 sales of hybrid and EVs rose as the number of BEV model choices increased, hybrids were offered in more popular size…

General Motors is bringing plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) back to North America, reviving a segment it pioneered but abruptly walked away from in favor of a more aggressive shift toward fully electric vehicles. That’s great news for anyone who can’t quite commit to a full-blown EV but still wants some of the best benefits of going electric.  Still, lots of questions remain about how exactly this new (old?) strategy will play out.  GM CEO Mary Barra announced the shift during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, positioning PHEVs as a way to keep meeting tightening fuel efficiency regulations while recognizing that…

Porsche has recently introduced its second all-electric model: the Macan Electric, which will enter the U.S. market during the second half of 2024. The compact SUV will be noticeably less expensive than the Porsche Taycan and just as practical in everyday use. We expect sales of the Macan Electric to be an order of magnitude higher than the Taycan, which notched 40,629 global sales last year. Pricing The first two versions of the electrified Porsche Macan are the Macan 4 Electric and Macan Turbo Electric. Both are equipped with the same 100-kWh battery and a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive powertrain. The entry-level Porsche Macan…