Electric Cars

BEIJING: Baidu's electric vehicle (EV) arm Jidu Auto launched a "robot" concept car, the first vehicle to be revealed by a Chinese internet company. The concept car, which is free of door handles and can be fully controlled via voice recognition, was launched through an online press conference held on Baidu's metaverse-themed app Xirang. Jidu, an EV venture controlled by Baidu and co-funded by Chinese automaker Geely, plans to mass produce the model, which would be 90 percent similar to the concept car, in 2023. The…

European carmaker Volvo on Wednesday announced a collaboration with Fortnite game developer Epic Games to use its 3D creation platform 'Unreal Engine' to power its next generation of electric cars.Volvo Cars will now use the Epic's real-time 3D creation tool for developing digital interfaces inside its cars and rendering real-time graphics in the vehicles.Volvo Cars is the first European carmaker to use the Unreal Engine for development of the Human Machine Interface (HMI)."To offer our customers the best possible user…

TeslaPhoto: Robert Alexander (Getty Images)Tesla could one day bring Apple technology to the cabin of its electric cars. Before I go any further: CarPlay isn’t coming to save you from using Tesla’s operating system. Rather, the automaker is discussing ways of improving its already excellent sound system by using AirPlay instead of Bluetooth.Twitter user ShibaDoge proposed last week that Tesla use AirPlay for lossless audio streaming. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded, stating that he’d discuss the idea (and other…

Sales of electric cars accelerated last year but the availability of critical raw materials such as lithium risked slowing the sector’s growth, a report has warned. At 6.6 million last year, electric vehicle sales more than doubled and they now account for one in 10 new cars sold, according to the International Energy Agency’s annual report on the sector. China alone accounted for half of those sales. Electric vehicle sales continue to soar, rising by 75 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same…

Broken charging stations across the US mean plenty of first-time electric cars will be stranded with an empty battery. The range anxiety didn’t start until I pulled up to the charging station. I had made it to the bank of electron hoses with about 15 miles to spare, but three of the six units weren’t working and a Nissan Leaf owner at the fourth slot was on the phone with the station’s customer service, looking far from cheerful. With my two small kids in the…

Elon Musk said on Twitter on Wednesday that American electric vehicle giant Tesla will hold a second “AI Day” during which “many cool updates” will be released. The event will take place on August 19. He wrote: “Tesla AI Day #2 on Aug 19. So many cool updates!” Tesla has begun to hold somewhat regular annual events with specific subjects at the centre of the presentation in recent years. It all started in 2020 with “Tesla Battery Day,” when the automaker revealed its new 4680 battery cell and announced plans to produce…

Tata Nexon EV Max has been teased ahead of its launch on May 11. (Photo: Tata Motors)The Nexon EV Max, the new car will be offered with a bigger battery pack and a host of other updatesTata Motors is all set to unveil the updated iteration of the Nexon EV tomorrow. Called the Nexon EV Max, the new car will be offered with a bigger battery pack and a host of other updates, most of which are still under wraps. Ahead of the official launch, Tata has shared a few teasers giving us a glimpse of the car’s design and feature…

Hybrid electric vehicles combine the advantages of petrol engines and electric motors. They can be built to achieve a variety of objectives, such as improved fuel economy or increased power.Most hybrids use advanced technologies like regenerative braking, electric motor drive or assist, as well as automatic stop and start.However, now four-wheeler manufacturers are introducing hybrid electric options in the mid-size vehicle class.ChoicesFor example, in India, Honda has unveiled a hybrid version of its City sedan, with a…

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the Chief of Army Staff and top officers of the Indian Army were given a demonstration of electric vehicles (EVs) in New Delhi on April 22. Tata Motors, Perfect Metal Industries (PMI), and Revolt Motors all displayed their EVs and were briefed on the advancements in technology and range of operations gained over the last few years.The Indian Army’s initiative to introduce EVs and minimise reliance on fossil fuels in accordance with government policies has been praised by Singh. This news…

Key enterprises like SAIC Motor, US electric carmaker Tesla and semiconductor makers like SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor have resumed 80-90 per cent of their production in Shanghai which is under Covid lockdowns, The Global Times reported on Saturday.Companies on Shanghai’s initial whitelist have resumed over 80 per cent of their production while chip makers now maintain over 90 per cent production.China has established a “whitelist" approach to support the resumption of work for key companies and minimise the impact of…