@Davemart - we had a substantial fleet of electric forklifts even back in the '90s. Most of them were a giant lead acid batteries with a fork lift attached. They had cranes and would switch battery packs if one died mid-shift, other wise they just parked them next to chargers. It's one application where weight is a benefit, not a liability. Of course we also had equal amount of dual fuel that ran mostly propane. They ran the outside jobs while the electrics ran the inside jobs (mostly) Jason

For example, we can eliminate the need for a mechanical locking mechanism in the drivetrain and keep the vehicle in park mode through software that controls this function within the ESC and redundantly in the Electronic Brake Booster unit.\ —Manfred Meyer, Senior Vice President for Engineering of ZF’s Active Safety division This scares me. Working on the cars I see plenty of failures of "normally redundant" systems that could kill people. In this car a loss of power will render the parking brake unusable. The redundant backup should be a mechanical lock such as the locking pawl in an automatic transmission. Current model VWs have a shift cable and its SOLE function is to engage the mechanical parking lock. The rest of selecting gears and shifting is done electrically with sensors. All though in US we haven't gotten the new Golf so even that may change. Even the electric parking brake mechanically locks on and then requires no power. And on the combustion engine models all you need is a quick jump with a booster to apply it on a dead battery. So far with electric cars if it can't turn on and do it's normal start up and safety check, nothing works. Jason

I agree mahonj. Or a least count the hybrids for both categories since they have both as a source of power.

Depending on how simple and cheap a system can be built, I wonder if we could install them on cars and trucks. Put them behind the catalyst. Maybe even as a retrofit program? I do realize there is the safety issue of cars now emitting higher volume of CO that is dangerous to breath. For that I wonder how fast the CO will make bonds to something else? Along with the coated radiators we can actively reduce emissions and convert some existing into less harmful compounds.

Why not take this a step further. Why not take a cue from how smart devices handle voice controls and offload the actual computational work to a service farm. Siri and Alexa don't work without internet because the actual work is not done on your phone or Echo. If we are to go to automated driving, then why not have the computational load completed on a server farm and that also serves to connect that cars to each other for better reaction times and integrated traffic flows. The cars have enough processing power to gather data and organize it. Then A.I. can coordinate with the data coming from all the other sources and return a proper course of action. Initial roll out would be to larger metro markets and major arterial roadways. As infrastructure improved and expanded then auto drive could be used in more places. In the mean time the limited "auto pilot" functions currently available would handle outside the built up areas. I think if we require helmets for all bicycle riders (a lot of US cities do) then maybe a chip that shows position and size on short range RF would help autonomous cars in detecting them. Like Citizen watch uses motion to keep charged, a small device that only transmits size (kid's helmet) and relative motion or stopped. After a period of no motion shuts off. Similar system would work for smart phones, though even more info could be available if owner wishes to provide.

How about this? Instead of getting a complete ID on the object, just get closing motion and size threshold? So the system will warn if an object is moving towards a collision and if object is bigger or smaller (person vs truck).

For that price I can buy a Fiat 500e and get a complete, running vehicle. Probably could find a wrecked EV and take out the parts needed to build my own conversion for half that. I agree with SJC - that price is too high.

I wonder if this should be part of the required equipment on vessels over a certain size. I've watched enough fishing shows to know break downs happen. Having a means to mitigate the mess, especially if they are reasonable priced, seams prudent. Jason

At most sizable airports there is an umbilical that does this. Similar to boats at port. Once the plane (or boat) is docked, the umbilical is connected and the main and aux engines are shut down. Airlines are big on ways to save fuel. Though I could see this as an alternative during adverse conditions, extended waits on the tarmac, or at smaller airports where you walk out onto the runway to board. In these cases this would replace the mobile diesel generator. Jason

I read about a guy who came up with a plasma incinerator plant over a decade ago. His idea was to get trash companies to "burn" all incoming trash and start consuming existing dump piles. The waste was syngas (CO/H2 mixture) and small amounts of inert glass/slag. They would consume even construction waste such as concrete. Last I heard there was a plant operation in Tampa, FL The big selling points were: 1) Syngas byproduct could power your trash trucks. 2) After initial startup you generate enough electricity from syngas to power the system 3) Can sell excess H2 or electricity to grid and/or direct to customers. 4) In cities such as NY it would be cheaper from startup than the high cost of trash removal. Would slowly gain parity with traditional methods within a couple years at other locations.

Also will be useful for road side recharge. As it stands right now if you run out of charge the only option is tow it. As many times as I have seen people run out of gas around here I believe they will do the same with electric cars.

Can someone explain to me why they take AC from the grid source, convert to DC, then use an inverter to change back to AC to create a magnetic field? Or is the article trying to say that the process of creating the magnetic field does it as AC (the process is intertwined)? Three hours seems a little long for UPS, but how is it 5-6 hours for plugging in? I could see fleets install these at docks so the trucks recharge while being reloaded. Though 3 hours seems a little too long for how fast UPS turns and burns. Jason

If this model works like the last Touareg Hybrid that came to US then the drive motor is sandwiched between the ICE and the transmission. That prior model had disconnect clutch so it could operate in Emode. The bigger draw back was the older chassis was not designed with a place for the battery which limited the hybrid function severely. I believe it was something like 30 mph and 5-10 mile range? If you can take existing certified chassis and bolt on technology to improve emissions and reduce energy use then overall a win. Eventually the MEB cars (I.D.) will take over but this will bridge that gap while getting people used to the change.

Funny, my 2002 Jetta has the activated carbon filter. But the yellow allergen layer is new. Recent years a lot of VWs had switched to cheaper particulate filter, but now are starting to go back to activated carbon. Only a few have come with the yellow layer. New time I change them in mine (and wife's) car I'll pick the yellow ones.