Wrangler 4 handlebars, Mazda rotary details, small electric car GM: The Week in Reverse
Which automaker revealed this week that some of its front-wheel drive electric vehicles will switch to rear-wheel drive?
Which charging network has Shell announced plans to buy?
Here’s our look back at the Reversal Week—right here at the Green Car Report—for the week ending January 20, 2023.
The 2023 Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the king of plug-in hybrid all-terrain vehicles in terms of practicality. And on a recent test drive, while we found it easy to go all-electric, it was also difficult to turn off the petrol engine when fully charged, in blizzard conditions.
Volvo has announced the return of rear-wheel drive, in EVs a range-enhanced engine. Configuration will return in 2024 for the Volvo XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge models, although details and US availability are yet to be established.
Mazda MX-30 R-EV
Mazda reveals some technical details regarding extended shooting range MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EVand it provides a confusing set of components and mixed signals. It’s a vehicle that Americans, quite literally, may not have.
GM is considering the supplement a compact electric pickup for $30,000 into its lineup. This project is said to be part of a design-based project to test future affordable electric vehicles.
GM electric pickup silhouette – from Ultium 2020 platform preview
Shell announced this week that it will buy Volta, the ad-supported free EV charging network. Volta joins Greenlots and Ubitricity, among the oil giant’s recent EV charging acquisitions.
maybe hydrogen fuel cell technology to replace jet engines to make airline passengers cleaner? With cryogenic hydrogen storage and a “megawatt-level propulsion system,” Airbus is working on this possibility—and testing the idea mid-decade.
Airbus ZeroE Platform
With a lot of pollution large diesel rigs before 2010 are now banned in California, the state is penalizing operators who still use them and refuse to register. It’s part of regulations made more than a year ago.
In-wheel motor manufacturers Elaphe and McLaren Applied Technologies jointly announce that the partnership will lead to a new generation of in-wheel motors and coordinated inverters can help maximize efficiency and make EVs super responsive.”
Aptera-Elaphe . Partnership
Car rental giant Hertz plans to bring thousands of electric vehicles to major US cities. With that, it aims to install assistive charging infrastructure in actual neighborhoods — with Denver being the first rollout city.
Nikola has developed a trailer mounted on portable hydrogen refueling rig for fuel cell trucks. The company will show it off at an event next week, and what could essentially be a large tank is looking like a temporary solution as Nikola supplies more trucks before the hydrogen stations arrive.
Concept Toyota AE86 BEV and H2
Toyota has built two zero-emission versions of the 1980s Corolla GT-S coupes—one with a battery-electric powertrain and the other with a hydrogen-burning engine. The project aims to show that retrofitting older cars is a possibility.
And while the trend of shifting from passenger cars to SUVs continues, a few in the industry see the trend reversing in the future. One of them is the CEO of Citroën, who recently said that SUV “gets done” thanks to electric cars—because of the better aerodynamics of cars and the need to provide maximum range with minimal battery cost. Suffice it to say to Citroën’s hugely successful, SUV-focused cousin, the Jeep.
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