Thin-film solar panel maker Ascent Solar Technologies announced today that it’s going to repurpose its Thornton, Colorado, factory to accelerate industrial-scale commercialization of perovskite solar modules. Perovskite solar cells use a thin film of perovskite to harvest light, and they have the potential to be a low-cost, power-conversion-efficient alternative to traditional silicon-based solar cells. However,
Entertainment
Volkswagen has officially selected St. Thomas, Ontario, as the home for its first North American EV battery cell plant Monday, after revealing its rugged electric SUV and pickup line Scout will build EVs in South Carolina. The initiatives are part of the the VW Group’s broader North American EV strategy. Shortly after the Inflation Reduction
During its annual press conference earlier today, Porsche AG is reporting four new financial records for 2022 following a successful IPO last fall. With record revenues for the previous year, Porsche now looks ahead toward its goal of delivering 80% electrification throughout its entire vehicle lineup by 2030 and has updated the public on what
Tesla Model S Plaid is finally delivering on original promises to achieve a 200 mph top speed with its new ceramic brakes. When Tesla first announced the Model S Plaid, its new top-performance flagship electric vehicle, the automaker promised a top speed of 200 mph (322 km/h). However, when it was first delivered last year,
Lexus has begun accepting orders for its first fully electric vehicle, the RZ 450e, an upscale luxury alternative to the Toyota bZ4X. Check out the latest RZ 450e images from Lexus below. Lexus RZ 450e electric vehicle images and specs Like parent company Toyota, Lexus is playing catch up when it comes to fully electric
The Biden administration said on Monday that it’s approving the Willow oil drilling project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. New oil drilling in Alaska Biden’s Willow plan will allow three drill sites in the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska’s North Slope. ConocoPhillips, which is developing the oil drilling project, has said it will include around
Tesla has significantly ramped up its hiring effort for Cybertruck production, which is just a few months away. The Cybertruck production program is being closely followed by the industry as it is likely the most important new electric vehicle to launch this year. With over 1.5 million reservations and Tesla’s incredible track record in building
Spotify is preparing to roll out what it’s hailed as the “biggest evolution” to its popular music streaming app to date. Announced at its Stream On event this week and set to roll out over the coming months, its 500 million users will see their home screen get a substantial makeover that founder Daniel Ek
Tesla has decided to open direct Powerwall orders again after previously only making the popular home battery pack available with a solar power system. Home battery packs have greatly gained in popularity in recent years. People have been looking for more energy security to counter power outages and to make better use of renewable energy,
Texas leads the US in renewable electricity production, but Republican lawmakers want to curb that and boost fossil fuels instead. Texas is a leader in renewables… and fossil fuels Texas generated 136,118 gigawatt-hours from wind and utility-scale solar in 2022, according to the EIA. (Compare that to No. 2 California, with 52,927 gigawatt-hours.) Texas’ predominant
Despite Nissan recently announcing it will boost efforts to bring electric vehicles to market, production of the automaker’s first electric SUV, the Nissan Ariya, is running one-third short of planned. Nissan introduced the Ariya electric SUV in 2020, its second global electric vehicle, after establishing an early lead with the LEAF released in 2010 as
Tesla Cybertruck’s size has apparently been revealed through executives at Investor Day, confirming that it is just a bit smaller than the original prototype. Not long after unveiling the Cybertruck prototype in 2019, CEO Elon Musk started talking about making the electric pickup smaller to fit inside a regular garage. In 2020, the CEO was
Ford has issued a recall related to its production halt of the F-150 Lightning over battery issues discovered during production. But the recall will only affect 18 vehicles which slipped through the cracks during its stop-shipment order. The issue was originally found during standard post-production inspections, when one vehicle displayed a battery issue. Ford put
Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese automaker to accelerate its electrification strategy as demand for electric vehicles continues climbing at a record rate. The company revealed a new business plan Friday, “Challenge 2025,” that involves four new EVs, including an electric pickup truck. Mitsubishi unveils new electric strategy and spending plan Despite being an early EV
Tesla is facing “criminal” allegations regarding Gigafactory Berlin as environmentalists accuse the automaker of “suspected water pollution and a possible environmental crime.” For years now, Tesla has been in battle with environmentalists in Germany who have tried to stop or slow down the construction of and production at Gigafactory Berlin. Their complaints have ranged from
Tesla announced today that its new Model S vehicles come with a new “high-visibility glass roof” following a slight refresh. There has been sort of a stealth refresh of the Model S and Model X. The main reason appears to be the integration of Tesla’s Hardware 4.0 Autopilot and Self-Driving sensors and computer, but the
Ford is building electric school buses; you heard that right. The automaker is offering a Type A electric school bus package based on its top-selling E-Transit commercial van. Ford introduces an electric Type A school bus The E-Transit was first introduced by Ford back in 2020 as an all-electric smart workhorse version of its best-selling
Nissan is doubling down on its new efforts to boost electric vehicle production. The automaker says under its new EV powertrain approach, development and manufacturing costs will be reduced by 30% by 2026. Despite Nissan’s early lead in the pure battery electric vehicle market with the release of the LEAF in 2011, the Japanese automaker
Tesla has decided to install a “dummy” camera in its new vehicles equipped with its Hardware 4.0 Autopilot/Self-Driving sensors. Hardware 4.0 is Tesla’s latest suite of sensors and computer that powers its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving package features. We have been gradually learning more about the new sensors and computer over the last few months.
Tesla has added a rare new paint color option, “Ultra Red,” available on the Model S and Model X built at Fremont Factory. Back in the early days of the Model S, Tesla used to offer a variety of colors, but the automaker decided to streamline options in order to facilitate production and service. It