Volkswagen has plead guilty in US courts to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, obstruction of justice, and the entry of goods by false statement. The guilty plea was accepted by US District Judge Sean Cox, who noted when commenting on sentencing: “This is a very, very, very serious crime. It is incumbent on me to make a considered decision.”
Nissan will be debuting the new LEAF EV in September, with plans to begin sales and deliveries of the model before the end of the year, according to recent reports. Interestingly, the company will be offering lease extensions to current LEAF lessees (along with 3 months of courtesy payments) if they decide to get on the waiting list for the refreshed version of the popular model.
An early version of the London Taxi Company’s TX5, a range-extended electric car that will be rolled out en masse on London’s streets in a few years, was recently spotted in the wild.
Tesla is reportedly in the process of securing real estate in Moscow and St. Petersburg for use as new showrooms and service centers, according to recent reports. Presumably, the company is working to establish a presence in the market before the release of the Model 3. Likely sites for Tesla locations are reportedly the “Atrium” and “Vremena Goda” in Moscow.
The Japanese electric vehicle market is comprised almost entirely of Japanese auto manufacturers (unsurprisingly), which makes the market an interesting contrast to free-for-all markets like the US.
Around half of new personal vehicle sales in Oslo (Norway) during the month of January 2017 were sales of plug-in electrics.
To put that another way, around half of those who bought new cars (including SUVs, pickups, etc.) in the capital of Norway in January bought all-electrics (EVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
Those on the lookout for an electric bicycle may want to keep an eye on the new “Volta” Kickstarter campaign by the Burbank, California-based firm Pure Cycles. The Volta electric bike looks to be a fairly “high tech” offering, with a variety of interesting features … but with an (early bird) price tag of “only” $1,499.
AT&T has signed a deal with GE that will see several thousand of the company’s Current CityIQ sensors installed into streetlights in San Diego initially and in other cities as well following that, according to recent reports.
Roughly 1.7 million children are now dying every year as a result of unhealthy living environments — exposure to high outdoor and indoor air pollution levels, chemical pollution, second-hand smoke, dirty water, and poor sanitation and hygiene — according to the World Health Organization.
Permafrost thaw and decay is intensifying in northern Canada, according to recent research from the Northwest Territories Geological Survey. To be more specific, the research found that out of a half-million-square-mile section of northwest Canada (the part the researchers analyzed), roughly 52,000 square miles is undergoing permafrost decay and collapse.
