Better Place: $850 Million, One Car and No Key Fobs in Hawaii
Better Place raised $850 million to swap EV batteries and left Hawaii drivers without key fobs after its 2013 collapse. Tesla’s swap pilot and NIO’s 100M swaps.
Toni
EVs imitating gas cars: do electric cars dream of V8s?
EVs imitating gas cars: fake grilles, borrowed nameplates, simulated gearshifts and speaker V8s. Blade Runner saw it coming in 1982.
Spain e-scooter certificate deadline: millions of scooters lose the right to ride on January 22, 2027
Spain e-scooter certificate rules: from January 22, 2027, uncertified scooters can’t ride. Registration, plates, insurance and the one way out.
Chevrolet Volt: The Plug-In Washington Bet On and GM Buried
Chevrolet Volt: the plug-in Washington backed and GM buried. The million-car goal, the EPA sticker, the fire and owners who did plug it in.
Pininfarina Battista: the $2 million Italian exotic running on Croatian guts, and why America should get it
Pininfarina Battista: Italian name, Indian owner, German address, Croatian heart from Rimac. In the EV age, does the badge still mean anything?
BMW i8: America had two visions of the future in 2014, and picked the other one
The BMW i8 paired supercar looks with a 1.5L three-cylinder, and lost the future to Tesla’s big battery. A decade on, its bet looks early, not wrong.
Audi Duo: The Plug-In Hybrid Wagon America Never Got
Audi Duo: the plug-in hybrid wagon Audi built in 1989 and America never got. Ten built, a Prius that sold 123,000 and numbers that don’t add up.
Ferrari F80: the anti-Prius hybrid that refuses to drive on electricity
The Ferrari F80 is a 1,200 hp hybrid with no plug and no EV mode: its 2.28 kWh battery is built to go faster, not greener. The no-filter take, on NEB.
Henney Kilowatt
Henney Kilowatt: The 1960 Electric Car Sold to the Meter Reader In 1960 you could spend $3,600 on an Oldsmobile 98. Or you could spend it on a French compact with golf-cart batteries under the skin and a charging cord instead of a gas pump. Consumer Guide and Lancaster Insurance both put the Henney Kilowatt’s … Read more
Lotus Evija: the featherweight brand just built a 1,900-kg muscle car (and ran it on batteries)
The Lotus Evija makes nearly 2,000 hp and weighs 1,887 kg. The lightness brand built its heaviest car, not through laziness, but by choosing the wrong kind of car. On NEB.