2011 Ford Fusion Sel Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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EV tax credits: Here's every electric car or plug-in hybrid that qualifies

Starting on April 18, the Internal Revenue Service released new guidance for U.S. buyers shopping for a new electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. On April 18th, the IRS showed only six fully electric vehicles on the qualified list, but a day later Volkswagen confirmed its U.S.-built ID.4 also qualifies. That means right now, seven fully electric vehicles qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit, with three more from Chevrolet coming for the 2024 model year (we would expect these 2024 models to roll out slowly and be difficult to find for at least the first few months they are on the market). In addition to those seven fully electric cars, two plug-in hybrids also qualify for the full $7,500 credit. To qualify, a vehicle must be assembled in North America and must meet a strict set of guidelines that cover where battery materials were sourced. If any battery materials come from certain countries (importantly including China), the vehicle's tax credit is automatically cut in half. Further, according to the IRS, the vehicle's manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) can't exceed $80,000 for vans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks or $55,000 for any other type of vehicle (basically meaning sedans). Electric vehicles that qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit: Cadillac Lyriq (2023-2024) Chevrolet Blazer EV (2024) Chevrolet Bolt EV (2023-2024) Chevrolet Bolt EUV (2023-2024) Chevrolet Equinox (2024) Chevrolet Silverado (2024) Ford F-150 Lightning — all models (2022-2023) Tesla Model 3 Performance (2022-2023) Tesla Model Y — all models (2022-2023) Volkswagen ID.4 — U.S.-built models (2022-2023) Plug-in hybrid cars that qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit: Chrysler Pacifica PHEV (2022-2023) Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring (2022-2023) A smaller credit is offered on fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids that are assembled in North America but have batteries with materials sourced from unqualified countries (mostly China).

Expert: 54.5 mpg CAFE standard can be reached without many plug-ins

Johnson Controls executive Brian Kesseler isn't likely to get any holiday presents this year from Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn or Tesla Motors head Elon Musk, but lots of other folks might be happy with what he has to say about automakers' efforts to reach stricter fleetwide fuel-economy standards. Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress, Kesseler said automakers wouldn't need to sell an extensive number of plug-in vehicles in order to meet the 54.5 mile per gallon Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard the US government set in 2012 for 2025 model-year vehicles. In fact, he said, components such as stop-start engine technology, turbochargers and direct injection may actually do the trick. Already, things like smaller engine sizes and lighter cars are already playing major roles in spurring fuel-efficiency gains. Of course, Johnson Controls sells batteries specially built for stop-start systems, so Kesseler does have a bit of skin in this game. The 54.5-mpg CAFE standard equates to about a 40-mpg "real world" fuel-efficiency level. To put that into perspective, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a report late last year that model-year 2013 average fuel economy was an even 24 mpg. That was up from 23.6 mpg for the 2012 model year and 22.4 mpg for 2011. News Source: Automotive NewsImage Credit: AP Government/Legal Green Ford Fuel Efficiency mpg CAFE standards ecoboost johnson controls

8 automakers, 15 utilities collaborate on open smart-charging for EVs

We're going to lead with General Motors here. GM is one of eight automakers working with 15 utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at developing a "smart" plug-in vehicle charging system. Why did we start with GM? Because it's the first automaker whose press release we read that mentioned the other seven automakers. Points for sharing. For the record, the collaboration also includes BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Ford. The utilities include DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. The idea is to develop a so-called "demand charging" system in which an integrated system lets the plug-ins and utilities communicate with each other so that vehicle charging is cut back at peak hours, when energy is most expensive, and ramped up when the rates drop. Such entities say there's a sense of urgency to develop such a system because the number of plug-in vehicles on US roads totals more than 225,000 today and is climbing steadily. There's a lot of technology involved, obviously, but the goal is to have an open platform that's compatible with virtually any automaker's plug-in vehicle. No timeframe was disclosed for when such a system could go live but you can find a press release from EPRI below. EPRI, Utilities, Auto Manufacturers to Create an Open Grid Integration Platform for Plug-in Electric Vehicles PALO ALTO, Calif. (July 29, 2014) – The Electric Power Research Institute, 8 automakers and 15 utilities are working to develop and demonstrate an open platform that would integrate plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) with smart grid technologies enabling utilities to support PEV charging regardless of location. The platform will allow manufacturers to offer a customer-friendly interface through which PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. The portal for the system would be a utility's communications system and an electric vehicle's telematics system. As the electric grid evolves with smarter functionality, electric vehicles can serve as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability and efficiency. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads -- and their numbers growing -- they are likely to play a significant role in electricity demand side management.