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An electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using electrical energy stored in rechargeable batteries or another energy storage device. Electric motors give electric cars instant torque, creating strong and smooth acceleration. They are also around three times as efficient as cars with an internal combustion engine. The first electric cars were produced in the 1880s. Since 2008, a renaissance in electric vehicle manufacturing has occurred due to advances in batteries and energy management, concerns about increasing oil prices, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Several national and local governments have established tax credits, subsidies, and other incentives to promote the introduction and adoption in the mass market of new electric vehicles depending on battery size and their all-electric range. Electric cars are significantly quieter than conventional internal combustion engine automobiles. They do not emit tailpipe pollutants, giving a large reduction of local air pollution, and, can give a significant reduction in total greenhouse gas and other emissions (dependent on the method used for electricity generation). As of September 2015, there are over 30 models of highway legal all-electric passenger cars and utility vans available for retail sales, mainly in the United States, China, Japan, Western European countries. By mid-September 2015, about 620,000 light-duty electric vehicles have been sold worldwide out of total global sales of one million plug-in electric cars sold since 2008. The world's top selling highway-capable electric car is the Nissan Leaf, released in December 2010 and sold in 46 countries. Global Leaf sales passed the 200,000 unit milestone in December 2015, and the Tesla Model S, released in June 2012, ranks second with over 107,000 units sold worldwide. In this series, we cover stories covering the development of electric vehicles around the world.

Electric Car Series

Lithium: Australia needs to recycle and lease to be part of the boom

Mar 22, 2016 00:56 am UTC| Insights & Views

Australia has an opportunity to capitalise on the increasing global demand for lithium batteries by developing recycling systems and creating models for leasing the resource. Lithium is the third element in the periodic...

Electric Car Series

Climate Change Series

Will cheap gas at the pump stall progress on car emissions?

Mar 18, 2016 00:12 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Retail gasoline prices are now as low as they were in the roaring 90s. The 1990s, that is, when the energy crisis of the 1970s had faded from American consumers memories, the economy was strong and the market share of...

Electric Car Series

How driverless vehicles will redefine mobility and change car culture

Feb 24, 2016 16:12 pm UTC| Technology

My grandmother, Christine Johanna Hoffman, was born in 1894 and died in 1990. In the course of her lifetime, she witnessed the advent of indoor plumbing and home electrification, the Wright Brothers first flight, the debut...

Electric Car Series

Riversimple's hydrogen fuel cell Rasa gives car design a clean slate

Feb 22, 2016 14:13 pm UTC| Technology

The prototype of a car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell was unveiled this month by the Welsh company Riversimple. The company has named its vehicle named Rasa after the Latin phrase tabula rasa, which means: clean...

Electric Car Series

Why you should stay on the grid, even with your solar-powered batteries

Feb 16, 2016 02:34 am UTC| Insights & Views

Anything that can help cut our electricity bill is to be welcomed, and Teslas solar rechargeable batteries, now available in Australia, are just the latest option. Many Australian households have already installed solar...

Electric Car Series

The Supreme Court saves the smart grid, but more battles loom

Jan 29, 2016 16:13 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

In a surprising 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a controversial energy conservation rule from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency that regulates interstate electricity sales. The rule was...

Electric Car Series

Finland-Based Auto-Outlet Sells Tesla Accepting Bitcoin

Jan 25, 2016 12:45 pm UTC| Digital Currency

While experts continue to debate the status of bitcoin whether it is or not a major sale involving Bitcoin has taken place in Finland. TheAuto-outlet Helsinki Oyin Tampere and Vantaa sold a Tesla with the digital...

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Economy

Burger King Ordered to Compensate Injured Customer With Almost $8M Payout

Burger King is set to shell out about $8 million after the court ordered it to pay a customer who was injured at the restaurant. The burger store chains franchisee in Florida has been found guilty of negligence by the...

Nestlé Reveals New Operations Chief to Replace Retiring Magdi Batato

Nestlé SA food and drink company announced it has appointed the new companys head of operations. Effective on July 1, Stephanie Pullings Hart will be the new deputy head of operations, and she will be stationed at...

Asda Reportedly Finalizing £10B Merger Deal With EG Group

Asda is reportedly in the midst of finalizing its merger agreement with UK-based EG Group, which operates filling stations, fast-food outlets, and convenience stores. Reportedly, the deal will include more than 500 million...

Panera Brands Promotes Exec to CEO Post Amid IPO Plans

Panera Brands Inc., an American bakery-cafe chain store, revealed it has promoted one of its high-ranking executives to become its new chief executive officer. The promotion comes as the company reportedly plans for an...

Samsung To Invest ₩30 Billion in Advancing Smart Factories for SMEs

Samsung Electronics Co. will invest 30 billion won over the next three years in its Smart Factory 3.0 project which would transform SMEs manufacturing facilities into smart factories usingartificial intelligence (AI) and...

Politics

North Korea Media Criticizes US, South Korea, Japan Missile Warning Agreement

North Korean state media criticized the agreement made between the United States, South Korea, and Japan that would allow the three countries to share information in real-time on the isolated nations missile launches. This...

US: Biden Nominates Air Force Chief as Top General

The White House announced this week that US President Joe Biden has appointed US Air Force Chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown would become the second Black officer...

Russia-Ukraine War: Norway to Support Joint Training Programs for F-16s

Norway supports the push for joint training programs for Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 jets. This follows the endorsement by the United States for the training programs with Ukraine, assuring that the jets will not be used...

Japan Scrambles Fighter Jets Following Incursion of Russian 'Intelligence-Gathering' Aircraft

The Japanese defense ministry said it scrambled fighter jets after a Russian intelligence-gathering aircraft was spotted flying over the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan this week. This follows recent incidents,...

Science

Gravitational wave detector LIGO is back online after 3 years of upgrades – how the world's most sensitive yardstick reveals secrets of the universe

After a three-year hiatus, scientists in the U.S. have just turned on detectors capable of measuring gravitational waves - tiny ripples in space itself that travel through the universe. Unlike light waves, gravitational...

Why don't rocks burn?

While many rocks dont burn, some of them do. It depends on what the rocks are made of and thats related to how they were formed. There are three main rock types: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. These rocks are...

Quantum physics proposes a new way to study biology – and the results could revolutionize our understanding of how life works

Imagine using your cellphone to control the activity of your own cells to treat injuries and disease. It sounds like something from the imagination of an overly optimistic science fiction writer. But this may one day be a...

You shed DNA everywhere you go – trace samples in the water, sand and air are enough to identify who you are, raising ethical questions about privacy

Human DNA can be sequenced from small amounts of water, sand and air in the environment to potentially extract identifiable information like genetic lineage, gender, and health risks, according to our new...

Theory of everything: how progress in physics depends on asking the right questions

When I began my undergraduate physics degree (around 20 years ago), What is the theory of everything? was a question that I heard often. It was used as a label for how theoretical physicists were trying to develop a deeper...

Technology

Apple Reveals Broadcom Deal to Develop 5G Components

Apple Inc. revealed it has teamed up with Broadcom Inc. for the development of 5G radio frequency parts in the United States. The companies signed a multi-billion deal for the partnership. With the cooperation between...

What is a black box? A computer scientist explains what it means when the inner workings of AIs are hidden

For some people, the term black box brings to mind the recording devices in airplanes that are valuable for postmortem analyses if the unthinkable happens. For others it evokes small, minimally outfitted theaters. But...

AI is changing how Americans find jobs, get promoted and succeed at work

Whether we realize it or not, advancements in artificial intelligence are increasingly influencing the paths of our careers. Advancements in human capital management systems, more strategic and data-driven human...

AI is already being used in the legal system - we need to pay more attention to how we use it

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become such a part of our daily lives that its hard to avoid even if we might not recognise it. While ChatGPT and the use of algorithms in social media get lots of attention, an...

What is Bluesky and how's it different to Twitter?

Amid management changes at Twitter, discontented users are exploring an alternative social media platform called Bluesky. According to media reports, downloads of the Bluesky app surged more than 600% in...
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