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Porsche Taycan owners will get three years of free charging
Porsche announced today that owners of its upcoming electric vehicle, the Taycan, will get three years of free charging at Electrify America charging stations across the United States. The promotion will provide an unlimited number of 30-minute long charges. Electrify America operates more than 300 highway charging stations in 42 states and 184 stations in 17 metro areas across the country.
VW's mobile quick charging station is a juice pack for your EV
Volkswagen wants to ensure you'll always have enough range to drive an electric car home after a big game or concert. The company has offered a peek at a mobile station whose 360kWh charging capacity and 100kW DC quick charging can top up as many as 15 EVs (including, of course, VW's ID cars) with an average time of 17 minutes. Instead of having to find a dedicated station after an event, you could recharge in the parking lot -- think of it as a battery bank for your car instead of your phone. And if it runs low? The organizers just have to swap it out for a fresh one.
Next-gen EV charger adds 62 miles of range in three minutes
Reducing charge times is a key factor for widespread EV adoption, and BMW and Mercedes just took a new step in that direction. A Porsche EV prototype charged at a record 400 kW rate, gaining 100 km of range in just three minutes, while BMW brought its research i3 vehicle from a 10 to 80 percent charge in 15 minutes. Both companies were testing out a new 450 kW charger recently inaugurated in Jettingen-Scheppach, Bavaria as part of part of their "FastCharge" consortium.
VW's Electrify America to install EV chargers along the Ohio Turnpike
If electric cars are going to become a staple of American roads, they're going to need chargers near prominent routes. And VW's Electrify America is about to address that. The company has revealed plans to install the first EV charging stations along the Ohio Turnpike, a 241-mile toll road meant to speed up trips in the state's northern corridor. This deployment will be modest, with four-dispenser units at Genoa's Blue Heron and Wyandot Services Plazas as well as West Unity's Indian Meadow and Tiffin River Services Plazas. However, the chargers will be fast -- each unit will offer between 150kW to 350kW, so it might take just minutes to top up your next-generation EV.
Google Maps adds EV charging station info
Following recent updates that help users plan their commutes and group events, Google Maps is now helping EV drivers figure out where to charge their vehicles. A new feature is rolling out today that will let you search for charging stations and provide you with useful information about that station. Just search for "EV charging stations" or "EV charging," and Google Maps will locate those nearby. It will also tell you what types of ports are available, how many there are as well as the station's charging speeds, and businesses with charging stations will now have a link that will lead you to more information about their setup. Additionally, you'll be able to see what other users thought of the station, as Google Maps will bring up user-posted photos, ratings and reviews.
Porsche unveils fast, low-cost 'pit stop' EV charging stations
Fast charging stations promise to end the long wait to top up electric cars, but the technology is expensive, bulky and a little intimidating. Thankfully, Porsche might have solved all three problems in one go. It just unveiled an "electric pit stop" whose design promises to make the company's 800V charging more accessible. Rather than load everything a charging station needs into a single cabinet, Porsche splits things into modular "FlexBoxes" that can offload some of the work and stay far from the customer -- you might only see the charging pole itself.
Tesla opens its 10,000th Supercharger
Tesla's Supercharger network has come a long, long way since it was available in a handful of California towns in late 2012. The automaker has opened its 10,000th Supercharger in Belleville, Ontario, Canada as part of a rapid expansion that (as of late May) included roughly 1,000 chargers either in construction or at the permit phase. For context, it took roughly a year and a half for Tesla just to have enough EV charging stations for one coast-to-coast route in the US -- now, Superchargers blanket North America as well as significant stretches of Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.
Porsche claims Mission E won't have Tesla's performance limits
Porsche knows you're probably going to compare the Mission E to Tesla's cars, and it's determined to prove that it its electric performance car is the one to beat. Company EV head Stefan Weckbach has promised that the Mission E has "reproducible" performance Tesla (and particularly the Model S) can't match. The Model S can only hit its claimed 0-60MPH time "twice" in short succession, Weckbach claimed, and can't run at at full speed for significant stretches either. The Mission E can maintain its full speed for "long periods," Weckbach said.
Shell will build 80 high-power EV charging stations across Europe
This year, Royal Dutch Shell has put more of a focus on EVs, adding charging stations to a handful of its UK gas stations and acquiring NewMotion -- a Netherlands-based company with 30,000 charging points to its name. Now, as Reuters reports, Shell has committed to building 80 high-power charging stations throughout Europe by 2019.
Shell preps for the future with acquisition of EV charging network
Royal Dutch Shell (or just Shell, if you're into the whole brevity thing) has already committed a billion dollars toward alternative fuels, and now it's showing us where some of that money is going. The gas station corporation has agreed to buy NewMotion, a Netherlands-based company that owns some 30,000 electric-vehicle charging points across Western Europe according to Reuters.
Porsche installs its first high-speed electric car chargers
Porsche knows that electric vehicles are the future, and it just took a big step to prepare for that future. The performance car brand just opened a new office in Berlin, and the new facility includes the company's first two ultra-fast 800-volt chargers (one is pictured below). They can 'only' charge existing EVs at up to a 150kW charge rate (which is still faster than a 120kW Tesla Supercharger), but they can handle up to 350kW for future cars. For Porsche's upcoming Mission E, that would mean an 80 percent charge in 15 minutes. That's longer than a typical stop at the gas station, but short enough that you don't have to plan your EV trips around charging station visits.
California power companies want $1 billion to build EV chargers
It's expensive to build an electric car charging network, and California utilities want the government's help covering the tab. PG&E, SDG&E and Southern California Edison are requesting roughly $1 billion in funding to build both EV chargers and the power infrastructure needed to support them. Edison is asking for the most. It's asking for $570 million to build public fast charging sites, the foundations for charging medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (including buses) and incentives in both electricity rates and for EV-toting ridesharing drivers.
ChargePoint's new stations are built for EVs of the future
It's quickly becoming more feasible and convenient to own an electric vehicle thanks to the steady expansion of recharging infrastructure. ChargePoint knows a little something about that, since it's built more charging stations than anyone else (over 31,000, in fact). The company isn't resting on its laurels, though. Today it announced a new super-fast, future-proofed shrine to electricity: the ChargePoint Express Plus. It's capable of pumping out an industry-leading 400 kW per port, which is way more than any EV can handle right now. For perspective, most existing "fast-charging" stations boast an output of 50 kW, though some of Tesla's Superchargers can reach a peak of 145 kW.
Tesla asks new car buyers to pay for Supercharger access
It's not just your average Model 3 owner who'll have to pay to use Superchargers. Tesla has announced that anyone ordering one of its cars after January 1st, 2017 will no longer get unlimited free Supercharger top-ups -- yes, even if you buy a top-tier Model S or X. You'll get 400kWh of free credit every year (enough to recharge a P100D four times), but every charge after that will carry an incremental "small fee." The company is quick to note that Superchargers will "never be a profit center," and that whatever you pay (which may depend on local electricity rates) will be less than what it would take to fill a similar gas-powered car.
US plans electric car charging networks along highways
While the range of modern electric cars is good enough that you can safely commute around town without running out of power, cross-country trips are still challenging. Tesla drivers have access to Superchargers, but what if you're driving a rival EV with a less robust charging network... or you're going somewhere that has no chargers at all? The Department of Transportation is changing that. It's creating 48 EV charger "corridors" in US highways that will address 35 states and cover approximately 25,000 miles. You'll find stations (both current and upcoming) every 50 miles, and states will use common signs to let you know when charging is available at the next exit.
BMW and VW finish installing EV chargers along US coastlines
If you regularly drive some of the busiest highways in the US, you now have a stronger incentive to pick up an electric car. BMW, Volkswagen and ChargePoint have finished installing 95 promised EV charging stations along key routes on the US' eastern and western coastlines. The chargers, typically placed about 50 miles apart, will help you travel from Boston to Washington, DC (mostly along Interstate 95) or Portland, Oregon to San Diego (on Highway 101 and Interstate 5) without worrying about your battery.
Here's maps will help you find available EV charging stations
If you drive an electric car, you know that it's not enough to find a charging station on the map -- you need to know that there's an available plug. Here and Hubject think they can help. They've forged a partnership that will see Here's maps (both in apps and in the car) get real-time info for EV charging stations using Hubject's platform in Europe. You'll know whether or not there's a space free, what connectors are available and other details that can mean the difference between powering up and driving by. The integration won't be finished until the summer, but it'll make those cross-continent trips less nerve-wracking when it's ready.
Apple reportedly looks into making electric car charging stations
Any electric car maker worth its salt knows that their vehicles are only as good as the charging stations that keep them running... and that includes Apple, apparently. Reuters sources understand that Apple is asking charging station manufacturers about their technology for the sake of its oft-rumored electric car project. It's not certain how deep the talks go or who's involved (the companies certainly aren't talking). However, NRG Energy issued a vague response noting that it's talking to "every potential manufacturer of tomorrow." We wouldn't rule it out, then.
Quebec contemplates mandating home EV charging stations
The Quebec government announced on Friday that it is currently considering a new mandate that would require every new home built within the province -- as well as existing rentals -- be outfitted with a 240V charging station for electric vehicles. The government has already started an impact study, the results of which are expected to be published by the start of this summer.
The Apple Watch looks like it's getting an official dock
If you've been wishing for an Apple-made dock to go with your Watch, you should start making room for it soon. Based on a couple of leaks, the Cupertino company appears to be ready to introduce a charging station for its wearable. The white circular dock (pictured above) uses a built-in magnetic puck, similar to the one that's included out of the box, to power up the Apple Watch wirelessly. However, the main difference here is that a Lightning port plugs in directly to the dock, rather than being a single USB-powered charging cable. Naturally, right now it is unclear when, or if, Apple will release this purported Watch peripheral, but the spilled packaging images suggest it could cost as much as $100.