As Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government doubles down on highways and combustion engines, critics warn that ignoring electric trends and digital innovation could cost Germany its place in the global auto industry.
Tag: electric cars
Demand for the U.S. automaker’s vehicles is waning, with sales of new Tesla cars almost halving in Europe in January 2025. While this is partly due to its CEO Elon Musk’s cahooting with President Donald Trump, there are also other factors at play.
The U.S. automaker is struggling with a severe drop in sales. This is, of course, partly due to its CEO Elon Musk’s cahooting with President Donald Trump. But there is something else going on.
The rescue of 163 Chinese workers from a BYD plant in Brazil reveals the persistence of labor exploitation in the 21st century. This case, alongside reports of politicians with slave-owning ancestors facing similar accusations, underscores how Brazil’s colonial legacy continues to shape its present.
Europe’s electric car battery dreams are crumbling. From halted construction to creditor protection filings, the once-promising industry is on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile the incoming Trump administration says it plans to undo Biden-era policies supporting electric vehicles and emissions standards.
Germany is trying to avoid tariffs on Chinese electric cars because it is interested in selling its own cars to China — and wants to avoid direct confrontation. But the European Union has decided to impose new tariffs. All of this may wind up as a full-fledged new trade war between China and Germany.
No place says Volkswagen like Wolfsburg. The city and the brand live in symbiosis, and for a long time, this has been beneficial to both. Now, the times of prosperity might be over. A visit to the quiet and historically prosperous corner of western Germany.
How can trucks be powered in a non-polluting way? The industry has been looking for good solutions for a long time. Now, electric trucks are gaining ground. The shift towards electric could actually happen faster than with cars.
In China, sales of electric cars, consumer goods and industrial products are stalling. State-owned companies have built up excess capacity. The new plan is to flood the European market with the products. The first signs are appearing in Germany.
Bolivia believes lithium is the new “white gold,” for its role in fueling new technologies. Distrusting Western investments and technology, it’s counting on collaborations with Russia and China. But there will be problems at home that could block it all.
The author set off on a three-week vacation trip across Europe in an electric car. Would the charging infrastructure be enough to get all the way, or would they end up stranded without battery, far from home?
Canada’s subsoil is among the world’s 10 richest in graphite, lithium and cobalt. Only China can say the same. A report from Quebec, home to North America’s biggest graphite mine project.
The “Made in Japan” label used to be a mark of progress, but Japanese manufacturing has declined rapidly. Now, the automobile industry, the last bastion of the country’s technology, has fallen behind in the transition to electric vehicles.
PARIS — This past summer, Parisians bid adieu to Autolib”, a pioneering electric-car-sharing service that came to a premature demise after operating for fewer than seven years. But that doesn’t mean the French capital is turning its back on the overall concept. There is a plan B in the works, though what exactly it will […]
-Analysis- Bitcoin’s blistering price rise has broken a new milestone, passing the $10,000 threshold for the first time. It’s a considerable achievement given that the most famous of cryptocurrencies was worth under $1,000 at the beginning of this year, and first reached $2,000 just a few months ago. But it’s also a frightening feat. The […]
Finally some serious competition for Tesla. Just days after Elon Musk said his American multi-billion dollar electric automobile startup would start producing its Model 3, the brand’s first mass-market electric car, a heavyweight automaker from the past declared “the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car.” By 2019, all new Volvo models will come with […]
-Op-Ed- LAUSANNE — While plenty of attention has been paid to Donald Trump’s “America First” pledge — as troublesome or laughable as it may seem — relatively little is being said about another protectionist economic strategy, one that could have a far greater impact on Europe and the West. Unlike the U.S. president, with his well-known habit of airing every thought and whim on Twitter, authorities in Beijing have been discreet about their “Made in China 2025” initiative. Don’t be fooled though. It may not have a lot of fanfare, but this is no half-measure. Just as China has already […]
Perhaps just as fascinating as the electric cars is the company’s founder and the genuinely earnest ideal among employees to make the world a better place.
German carmaker Audi has commissioned Etogas Ltd. to build the planet’s first power-to-gas plant to fuel cars with transformed wind and solar energy. Could this “windgas” technology make today’s electric cars obsolete?
BEIJING — The continuous heavy haze over Beijing is an ever-present reminder of the country’s losing battle with pollution. But it may also have been the engine to jump start the Chinese government’s recent push to promote the sale of and use of electric vehicles. Beijing officials, who had instituted incentives for purchasing electric cars, […]