Cars Archive

EVs have big lithium-ion batteries, and often those batteries can send energy back to the grid, just as they pull energy from it when charging. Last year, the three automakers created ChargeScape to turn the bidirectional charging capabilities of millions of EVs into a potential business. And now the whole thing is operational. According to Ford:

New Siennas are being equipped with the radar sensor to scan for movement after you’ve left the car. If it detects motion, it will flash the hazards and sound the horn to get your attention.

In another sign that automakers are confused about how their customers want to spend their time while confined in their vehicles, Ford released a new karaoke app for the F-150 Lightning and (eventually) the Mustang Mach-E. The process only works while the vehicle is parked, leading Ford to assume this will be a popular activity while EV charging. Me? I’ll take “wandering aimlessly through a Walmart” over this.

That’s how much water it took to extinguish the Tesla Semi that caught fire on a California highway last month, according to investigators. That’s the equivalent of one of those carbon-bolted steel tanks used in irrigation or wastewater. And its certainly a lot more than the 500 gallons that was needed to put out a Model S fire in 2018.

We’re going to need to figure that out “expeditiously,” according to this notice in the Federal Register, if we’re going to electrify the trucking industry. Freight accounts for about 8 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. So far, there are “over 160 models” of zero-emission trucks available, and an estimated 17,500 in operation today. And charging those trucks will be more complicated than your average Supercharger. So let’s get those ideas (and electrons) flowing.