Apple Looking into EV Charging Technologies Reportedly; Carmakers Feeling Pressure for Meeting Future Fuel Efficiency Goal; 2017 Ford Fusion Energi Set PHEV Range Record at 610 Miles; Study Suggests Low Level of EV Awareness Among Consumers
Apple Looking into EV Charging Technologies Reportedly
According to Reuters, Apple is interested in charging stations for electric cars. Reuters’ source indicated that Apple is reaching out to companies in this field to collect knowledge. There are also new hires at Apple, who specialize in such charging technologies, based on a LinkedIn review by Reuters. Apple is building an electric vehicle reportedly, with Titan as the project name and a target ship date of 2019. Hundreds of engineers were said to work on the project.
Carmakers Feeling Pressure for Meeting Future Fuel Efficiency Goal
According to Wall Street Journal, carmakers are anxiously waiting for the release of a mileage report from US regulators in June. The report will be followed by the re-evaluation on future targets regarding car companies’ fleet fuel efficiency. Current version is to meet 54.5 MPG by 2025.
The improvement on the MPG of new vehicles sold has been stagnating for the past 2 years or so, at about 25 MPG, partly thanks to cheap gas price. Meeting MPG regulations is one factor to carmakers to build and sell expensive electric cars.
On the other hand, EPA data reveals that car manufactures exceeded 2014 targets and 25% of 2015 models are good for 2018 targets already.
2017 Ford Fusion Energi Set PHEV Range Record at 610 Miles
According to Fortune, the 2017 Ford Fusion Energi PHEV has an EPA estimated range of 610 miles combined. The car can run on battery for 21 miles, then on hybrid mode for 589 miles. In comparison, the 2017 GM Chevrolet Volt PHEV has a total combined range of 420 miles.
Fusion Energi is ranked at the 5th best-selling PHEV in the US in 2015 by howmuch.net.
Study Suggests Low Level of EV Awareness Among Consumers
According to Reuters, a recent poll conducted by Harris, of 1,052 US samples showed that 67% did not “know anyone who owned an electric car, a plug-in hybrid or a hybrid”.
Moreover, around 76% of respondents acknowledged that they were “not at all sure” about the range of a plug-in hybrid. The average range from the poll was 260.8 miles, much less than the actual numbers. As mentioned above, Chevrolet Volt can drive 420 miles and Fusion Energi can drive 610 miles.
This research was commissioned by Ford.
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