Author: EVAI
Honda developed a “manual transmission” for EVs
Honda has developed a manual transmission complete with a clutch pedal for its upcoming electric vehicles, albeit one that works with software controlling the electric powertrain to simulate the feel of gears being shifted, rather than a true mechanical setup. The information was revealed to The Drive by a Honda engineer last week during a test…
Honda recalls about 1.7M vehicles due to steering box issue
Honda is recalling 1.7 million vehicles in the U.S. from both its main brand and premium Acura brand due to a mechanical issue that could make steering more difficult, the NHTSA disclosed on Wednesday. These vehicles have steering gearbox assemblies that may have been manufactured incorrectly. The gearbox’s worm wheel can swell during use…
Nissan joins BMW, Ford, Honda alliance for vehicle-to-grid tech
- Nissan’s taking a 25% stake in ChargeScape
- ChargeScape is a vehicle-to-grid joint venture formed by BMW, Ford, Honda, and now Nissan
- Nissan has a vision for the “fuel station of the future” where EVs would double as energy-storage units
Nissan on Monday announced that it will join ChargeScape, the vehicle-to-grid joint venture formed in 2023 by BMW, Ford, and Honda.
The automaker is set to take a 25% stake in ChargeScape alongside the original automaker partners, which announced the official launch of the venture last month. That paves the way for ChargeScape to roll out software-based services for grid integration to EV owners in the U.S. and Canada.
2023 Nissan Leaf
As articulated in the announcement of the company last year, ChargeScape’s goal is to connect EVs with electric utilities for “EV-enabled grid services” that include financial perks for owners who connect their vehicles to the grid, share data with ChargeScape, and provide power from their cars in coordinated ways to help support the grid. ChargeScape plans to launch “virtual power plants” in California, Texas, and other markets to achieve the latter goal, according to Nissan.
Feeding power from EVs back into the grid can help reduce emissions by lessening the need for “peaker” plants, Nissan noted. Used by utilities to bolster output when electricity demand is high, these plants are generally fossil-fuel powered and thus also significantly increase pollution, according to a 2023 report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).
2025 Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf could play an important role here because it’s one of the few EVs already offered with the bidirectional charging capability that’s a prerequisite for vehicle-to-grid applications. Leaf hatchbacks have had the hardware for bidirectional charging since 2013, but Nissan didn’t officially enable or endorse the use of this feature in the U.S. until 2022—and only with certain chargers.
Integrating EVs with the grid has been discussed almost as long as modern EVs have been available. In 2016 Nissan unveiled an expansive vision of the electric cars as the “fuel station of the future,” in which EVs would double as energy-storage units and help power buildings when parked. Perhaps ChargeScape and other ventures like it will finally make that vision a reality.
2025 Mini Cooper convertible rounds out redesigned Cooper lineup
The 2025 Mini Cooper convertible made its public debut Tuesday, rounding out the fourth-generation lineup of the modern Mini. Like the two-door and four-door hatchback models shown earlier in the year, the redesigned Mini convertible will reach the U.S. in base Cooper and sportier Cooper S guises. A John Cooper Works (JCW) variant will arrive…
New-car prices will continue to normalize in 2025
Normalization of supply chains and inventory levels has put pressure on vehicle prices.
Report: GM pulls the plug on Ultium name
General Motors will drop the Ultium name from the modular EV batteries and related components used in all of the automaker’s current and planned U.S.-market electric vehicles, CNBC reported on Tuesday.
The hardware will remain the same, but GM will erase the Ultium name other than for production operations such as its Ultium Cells LLC battery joint venture with LG, according to the report. CNBC cited statements from the automaker made ahead of an investor conference Tuesday in which the rebranding was expected to be made official.
2025 GMC Hummer EV
“As GM continues to expand its EV business, the company is no longer branding its electric vehicle architecture, battery cells, or EV components with the Ultium name, starting in North America,” the automaker said in a statement to CNBC.
GM announced the Ultium propulsion strategy in 2020, aiming to achieve economies of scale for a wide variety of electric models by building everything off a common battery cell and motor family. The idea was meant to be an electric interpretation of the automaker’s traditional part-sharing strategy that led to ubiquitous internal-combustion powertrains like the classic small-block V-8.
2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV
That strategy has since been implemented on vehicles ranging from the six-figure GMC Hummer EV to the $34,995 Chevrolet Equinox EV. But GM is now rethinking its EV strategy as sales grow at a slower pace than the automaker wants.
In July, GM CEO Mary Barra said the automaker was backing away from a target of production capacity for one million EVs in 2025, blaming an undeveloped EV market. In September, Barra said she was also surprised that EVs had become political, but said GM was still on track to eliminate tailpipes from its light-duty vehicles by 2035 (an “aspiration” announced in 2021) if customers are ready by then.
GM reportedly ditching Ultium EV branding on batteries and tech
General Motors is preparing to pull the plug on the Ultium branding for its EV batteries and related components, reports CNBC. The components themselves will remain the same, but the Ultium name will disappear other than for production operations such as the Ultium Cells LLC battery joint venture with LG, according to the report, which cited…
Porsche recalls over 27,000 Taycans because of battery fire risk
Porsche has issued a recall of its Taycan electric sedan because of a risk of the electric car’s high-voltage battery experiencing a short circuit, something that could lead to a fire. The recall covers Taycans from the 2021-2024 model years, of which there are 27,527 examples affected in the U.S. According to the recall notice published by the…
Honda wonders if you’d like gas-engine sounds inside your EV
- Honda might add the sounds of vintage performance models to future EVs
- The sounds might be offered for download for a small cost
- Honda’s next-gen user interface could enable in-vehicle purchase capability
The upcoming Honda 0 Series EVs are shaping up to be super-quiet inside.
But would you rather like your Honda EV to sometimes sound like a high-revving S2000 roadster? Or revisit the gauge cluster look—as well as the sound of that CRX Si you once drove?
Honda EV sport sound feature for future UX
Last week I got to sample such a system as part of a so-called Digital UX Concept installed in a Japanese-market Honda e. It provided a glimpse of the things that Honda might make available for a relatively small cost in future EVs. The 0 Series ushers in Honda’s next-generation interface, with facial recognition, regular over-the-air updates, and in-vehicle purchases perhaps enabled on a market-by-market basis.
In addition to the S2000 and CRX, other choices included a new Civic Type R, the NSX Type S from earlier this decade, and the final NSX-R form of the first-generation mid-engine sports car from 2002.
Honda EV sport sound feature for future UX
Each of the demos revamped the instrument cluster with the look of the original vehicle’s gauge cluster, accommodating quick revs of the engine in Park. Honda noted that the system responds when the vehicle is moving based both on speed and accelerator position, but it doesn’t simulate gears.
One of the most noteworthy in the demonstration was the Honda Jet. In that setting, gradually flooring the accelerator recreated a takeoff.
It’s one of the tightest integrations I’ve experienced for such a feature; if you’re over the gimmick you can simply go quiet as usual. The sounds are only for inside the vehicle, so in this case those outside the vehicle probably won’t know the difference.
Honda EV sport sound feature for future UX
Honda EV sport sound feature for future UX
Honda EV sport sound feature for future UX
The feature, in the form of modules to be downloaded for a small fee, is only said to be under consideration. It might not be exclusive to upcoming 0 Series EVs, though, since the user interface being designed for the 0 Series will eventually be deployed throughout the Honda lineup, including in hybrids and other gasoline vehicles.
Everyone feels differently about EV sounds, it seems, when it doesn’t relate directly to safety. The NHTSA has said no to EV driver-selectable pedestrian sounds, and other sounds like Tesla’s Boombox, which under its original rollout drowned out federally mandated warning sounds. You can buy aftermarket noisemakers for Teslas that generate engine sounds both inside and out, and the upcoming Dodge Charger Daytona EV trumpets its own tune.