Changes to Toyota EVs, BMW fuel cell SUVs, California temperatures and EV charging: Car News Today
Toyota is moving some ICE plants to EV batteries. BMW begins to produce fuel cell stacks. And California doesn’t want you to charge during today’s Labor Day weekend traffic. This and more, here Green Car Report.
On the eve of a holiday weekend, California asked electric car drivers don’t charge their EV on Friday afternoon after 4 p.m., because of unusually hot weather and increased use of air conditioning. Just a week after the state switched to new electric vehicle sales by 2035that created some awkward optics.
In Germany, BMW has begun assembling fuel cell stacks for iX5 SUV powered by hydrogen fuel cell. Although they use Toyota’s fuel cells, the iX5 will borrow electric propulsion components from the BMW i4 and iX. With Hyundai’s Nexo delayed and many other automakers shifting their fuel-cell efforts to much larger vehicles like pickups, the iX Hydrogen could become an exception.
And according to a report from Automotive News, Toyota’s $5.6 billion investment plan for battery production was announced earlier this week, including a $2.5 billion one-house expansion. machine in North Carolina, will also converting two Japanese factories to battery production, from the internal combustion powertrain. For an automaker that has traditionally viewed EVs as a narrow niche, that could signal the start of a faster shift.
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