Author: EVAI

Thomas Built Buses manufacturers most of the yellow school buses that populate U.S. roads—and an increasing number of them are electric.

The company on Tuesday unveiled its second-generation electric school bus. Dubbed the Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley, it features a number of changes over the first-generation model that launched in 2017.

Key among those changes is an eAxle from Accelera, a division of diesel-engine manufacturer Cummins. Where the first-generation Jouley had a driveshaft connecting an electric motor to the axle, the eAxle arrangement packages the motor, a 2-speed gearbox, disc brakes and wheel hubs, and a rear differential in one unit.

This reduces weight and complexity, lowers maintenance costs by reducing the number of parts, and improves acceleration and torque by shortening the mechanical connection between the motor and wheels, Thomas Built claims.

Accelera eAxle for Thomas Built electric school buses

The new school bus also adopts an 800-volt electrical system from Proterra, primarily known for its electric transit buses. Thomas Built also made some changes to make maintenance easier, including a floor access panel for the high-voltage junction box, a component that previously required removing the bus’ battery packs to access. The body heating loop surge tank was also moved to the left side of the bus for easier access.

Thomas Built is already assembling a 219-inch wheelbase version that can accommodate up to 60 passengers. Other wheelbase options will be available later this year, the company said, adding that ditching driveshafts for the eAxle allows for shorter minimum wheelbases, improving maneuverability.

Electric school buses have come a long way since 2014, when the first one entered service in the U.S., with Oakland, California, boasting an all-electric fleet as of August 2024. They also got a big boost under the Biden Administration, which dedicated billions of dollars in funding for school districts to purchase them, a policy that could be reversed by the anti-EV Trump Administration.

• The Afeela 1, the EV from a joint venture between Honda and Sony, will arrive in 2026
• Base Afeela 1 EVs will cost $89,900 while the Signature trim costs $102,900
• Afeela is now taking $200 deposits, but it’ll only be available in California initially

Sony and Honda confirmed pricing for the first electric vehicle from their joint Afeela brand at this week’s CES 2025 in Las Vegas.

Now officially known as the Afeela 1, the electric hatchback will cost $89,900 in base Origin spec. A $102,900 Afeela 1 Signature grade is also available, adding 21-inch wheels and a rear-seat entertainment system. The pricier model will also arrive earlier. It’s expected to start deliveries in 2026, while buyers of the Origin will have to wait until 2027.

Afeela is now accepting reservations, requiring a $200 refundable deposit, but only in California. Another caveat is that software-enabled features such as driver assistance and voice recognition are subscription-based, and only complimentary for the first three years of ownership.

Afeela 1

The near-production ready version shown at CES 2025 looks similar to the prototype shown in 2024, with some changes such as added cameras at the front corners of the roof. They’re part of an array of 40 sensors aimed at enabling Level 3 automation on the SAE autonomy scale. This allows for eyes-off driving in some situations, but Afeela expects to only offer Level 2 capability initially, and will ship cars with driver-monitoring systems.

The innocuous looking hatchback measures 193.5 inches long, making it about two inches shorter than a Honda Accord, but with a wheelbase that’s almost seven inches longer. The interior features door-to-door screens and a yoke-style steering wheel to make them easier to view. Afeela also claims that 70% of the interior’s surface area is made from plant-based or recycled materials.

A sophisticated audio system leverages Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Technologies for 3D sound. This, combined with the many screens, is aimed at making the car into a mobile lounge for watching videos or using apps that Afeela is engaging with third parties to develop. And yes, you can run PlayStation video games on the dashboard screen, as well as get game-inspired wallpapers for both the interior screen and a “media bar” that takes the place of a traditional grille.

Afeela 1

A standard dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain includes one 241-hp motor per axle. Afeela said it’s aiming for 300 miles of EPA range using a 91-kwh battery pack, and will offer NACS charging from the get-go. However, the peak DC fast-charge power rate is a fairly low 150 kw. The Afeela 1 can also charge at 11 kw using a Level 2 AC charger.

Sony’s interest in building an electric car goes back to the Vision S concept presented at CES 2020. It followed that up with the Vision S-02 SUV concept before announcing its partnership with Honda in 2022. The Afeela brand was announced a few months later, at CES 2023.

The Afeela 1 will be built in Ohio, where Honda is expanding two plants to accommodate production of EVs, including its own 0 Series models also due in 2026 and future EVs for the premium Acura brand.

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• 77% of Americans indicated they’d wait up to 40 minutes for a charge to 80%
• Many current EVs meet that timeframe already
• More consumers prefer dedicated charging stations vs. gas stations with chargers

Long charging times and lack of available public charging stations have been cited as major roadblocks to EV adoption in countless studies and surveys, but a new survey of U.S. consumers conducted by Deloitte indicates that attitudes may be changing.

While it included about 31,000 responses from thirty different countries, the survey found that charge times may be what analysts called a “softening barrier” for U.S. consumers and EV adoption, with many appearing less interested in speeding up EV charging to match gasoline fill-ups. Of U.S. consumer surveyed, 77% said they were willing to wait up to 40 minutes to charge their car from zero to 80%—well within the DC fast-charging envelope of many current EVs.

Gravity EV charging center in New York City

While respondents said that fast-charging time was the most important part of the EV charging experience, a majority were able to wait 21-40 minutes for a charge. The location was also important, with 44% of respondents saying they preferred a dedicated EV charging station to a gas station with chargers, while only 15% preferred the opposite.

The study also underscored that many EV drivers don’t require frequent fast charging. Most (79%) of U.S. respondents intending to buy an EV said they planned to charge at home. That’s a figure close to what various studied have found for years—although 58% of the overall survey sample said they do not currently have access to a charger, which begs for more details. And 35% of U.S. consumers surveyed said they drive more than 60 miles from their home only once or twice per month, while a further 23% said they never go that far.

General Motors and ChargePoint EV fast charging

This paints a different picture than a Deloitte study published about a year ago, which concluded that EV charge times and cost could be holding shoppers back. Two years earlier, another Deloitte study found that two-thirds of Americans didn’t want an EV, primarily due to range and cost concerns.

If this study’s conclusions are accurate, though, EVs are set to exceed consumer expectations. The list of vehicles with especially short road-trip charge times is growing, and several companies, including Toyota, have teased that 10-minute charge times may be around the corner—potentially involving solid-state batteries.

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Despite a lack of direct competition, sales of the traditional gasoline Ford Mustang coupe and convertible were down in 2024, and they were again outsold by the electric Mustang Mach-E. Last year marked the first full year of production for the redesigned 2024 Ford Mustang, codenamed S650, after its introduction partway through the 2023 calendar…

The electric Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV outsold its gasoline coupe and convertible siblings in 2024.

Ford recently released its Q4 and year-end sales results, which showed 51,745 Mach-E sales and 44,003 gasoline Mustang sales. Those represented a year over year increase of 26.9% from 2023 for the Mach-E, and a decrease of 9.5% for the gasoline Mustang.

That’s despite the Mustang being the last of the V-8 pony cars after the discontinuation of the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger at the end of 2023 (although some leftover inventory remained in 2024) and having its first full calendar year of production following a redesign.

2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Charlotte Motor Speedway, July 2023

Ford pointed to supply chain issues for the Mustang’s 2.3-liter turbo-4 engine, which kept inventory low throughout the second half of the year. This isn’t the first time. In mid-2021, Ford was building more Mach-E EVs than gasoline Mustangs, after reportedly choosing to prioritize the electric model in the midst of a global chip shortage.

The Mach-E has had strong sales from the get-go, though. In April 2021, shortly after its introduction, Ford said the electric SUV was moving quickly off dealer lots—an important metric in the auto industry. Ford also started delivering the Mach-E less than a year after the Tesla Model Y’s arrival, helping to quickly position it as an alternative, and has remained committed to true volume production from the beginning.

2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally

The Mach-E has also proven itself to be a solid effort. At its introduction, we felt the Ford was better looking and better to drive than the Model Y, which is why we named it Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2021. The Mach-E hasn’t been redesigned like its gasoline sibling, but for the 2024 model year it received some updates, including a new Rally grade.

Ford has taken a quite different path with the F-150 Lightning pickup truck, which shares not only a gasoline model’s badge but also its underlying structure. It recently paused production of that model, which managed reasonably good sales earlier in 2024, but remains a small fraction of overall F-150 sales.

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