Free Republic

Five days after Deobra Redden leaped over the bench to attack a Las Vegas judge, he stood before the same woman — only this time, the 30-year-old’s wrists were chained to his body while court officers stood on each side of him. With added security, Redden’s sentence hearing resumed Monday, and Judge Mary Kay Holthus sentenced Redden to 19 to 48 months in prison on a previous charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm. Redden faces 13 new charges following the courtroom attack, which was captured on video that has been viewed more than 105 million times. Holthus said...

This is a Motormouth couple car video discussing the cost to replace the battery in 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5. After finding out that his battery protection cover was scratched, the owner was told the battery needed to be replace for more than he paid for the car brand new. Over $60,000, so he decided to make a claim on his insurance and have the car written off. This is a cautionary tale to not only EV owners and potential owners but also other manufacturers, that these kinds of casts are out much more than consumers are expecting to pay. Hyundai...

When the batteries overheat, they produce explosive gasses, such as hydrogen. In one instance, when firefighters applied water to the vehicle, an explosion blasted the garage door 30 feet into the yard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The growth of home battery systems is presenting a new danger for firefighters and homeowners. When the batteries overheat, they produce explosive gasses, such as hydrogen. If the gasses are ignited, such as when water contacts electricity and causes a spark, the building can explode. As more homes install battery systems, the problem is growing. Multiple incidents A new study by the International Association of Fire Fighters...

**SNIP** “It’s getting to the point where [the car] is almost like a consumable, like a TV,” Benoit said. Benoit’s experience heralds a problem that early adopters of EVs, as well as electric micromobility devices like e-bikes and e-scooters, are beginning to face: These vehicles contain big, expensive batteries that will inevitably degrade or stop working over time. Repairing these batteries can have sustainability benefits, saving energy and resources that would otherwise be used to manufacture a new one. That’s particularly important for EVs, which contain very large batteries that must be used for years to offset the carbon emissions...

A new nickel-rich, single-crystal battery technology is on track for rapid deployment A seemingly simple shift in lithium-ion battery manufacturing could pay big dividends, improving electric vehicles’ (EV) ability to store more energy per charge and to withstand more charging cycles, according to new research led by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. An EV’s mileage depends on the deliverable energy from each of the constituent cells of its battery pack. For lithium-ion cells—which dominate the EV battery market—both the cell-level energy capacity and the cell cost are bottlenecked by the positive electrode, or cathode. Now that bottleneck...

An electric vehicle owner in Metro Vancouver is questioning the sustainability of EVs, after his basically new car was written off due to the cost of repairs. Kyle Hsu is hoping his story serves as a warning to prospective EV buyers. He says he was left frustrated and saddened by what seemed to be an innocuous incident that scratched the underside of his car’s battery. ........ Due to the damage, Hsu says his eight-year warranty was deemed void, and the entire battery needed to be replaced at a cost of $30,000. Following the advice of the dealership, Hsu says he...

Another electric vehicle (EV) startup is touting “holy grail” charging technology. The news from UK-based Nyobolt might just rise to the billing, as it promises 155 miles on a six-minute charge, with production slated to start in 2024. Most EVs take much longer, sometimes even hours, to fully charge. “With our unique technology we have … developed smaller battery packs that can deliver more power and charge in less time,” Nyobolt CEO Sai Shivareddy told BBC Top Gear. The Nyobolt website doesn’t go into great detail about the tech inside the battery. The makers promise high power, a long life...

Vingroup’s Chairman, Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong, announces that he will donate 99.8 percent of VinES Energy Solutions Joint Stock Company’s shares to VinFast. The merger is designed to enhance VinFast’s self-sufficiency in battery technology and its production chain, while increasing its competitive edge in the ever-growing electric vehicle market.

Imperial County, a sprawling desert region three hours southeast of Los Angeles that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, may not be what you would typically associate with Southern California. Home to ramshackle landmarks like Salvation Mountain, the Salton Sea and Bombay Beach, it’s the least populated county in the region with just 180,000 residents. But U.S. politicians are suddenly interested in this rural area for other reasons — namely, the wealth of lithium deep beneath its surface. The rare mineral used in batteries, now in particularly high demand with the rise of electric vehicles, could be enough to produce 375 million...

he veteran mechanic Scotty Kilmer has warned motorists thinking of buying an electric car to be careful not to damage the battery or face expensive repair bills. The popular YouTuber has worked on cars for over 55 years, and regularly posts videos helping viewers buy the right car for them and avoid issues. In one of his latest videos, Scotty warns that a lot of car insurance companies are scrapping electric vehicles with damaged batteries. He advised: "Here's yet another reason not to buy an electric car, because many insurance companies are now totalling electric cars with even minor damage...

Ford Motor Company and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) are already cutting jobs and financial investment at an Electric Vehicle (EV) battery plant set for Marshall, Michigan. In February, Ford announced the collaboration with CATL — China’s premier battery supplier — to build a $3.5 billion plant in the small community of Marshall that executives said would create 2,500 jobs.

Voters in Mecosta County, Michigan, successfully ousted six local elected Republicans who supported taxpayer-funded subsidies for a Chinese company with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to build an Electric Vehicle (EV) battery plant in their community. On Tuesday night, voters in Green Charter Township and Big Rapids Township recalled a total of six local elected officials combined — all Republicans — who voted in favor of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) plan to have CCP-linked Gotion Inc. build a $2.4 billion EV battery plant in the area.

An Uber driver covered more than 300 miles a day six days a week in his 2019 Model 3 SR+, making two Supercharging stops per day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There's probably no better way to convince people that electric vehicles are as good as internal combustion cars for every use case scenario than having EVs undergo tough trials, and ride-hailing vehicles have it tougher than most. So can a Tesla Model 3 handle that kind of punishment long-term? Yes and no, according to Dobson, a Model 3 owner who has used his car for Uber duty for almost a year and a...

The cost of an electric vehicle (EV) battery pack can vary depending on composition and chemistry.In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti and Sabrina Lam use data from Benchmark Minerals Intelligence to showcase the different costs of battery cells on popular electric vehicles.Size MattersSome EV owners are taken by surprise when they discover the cost of replacing their batteries.Depending on the brand and model of the vehicle, the cost of a new lithium-ion battery pack might be as high as $25,000:The price of an EV battery pack can be shaped by various factors such as raw material costs, production expenses,...

General Motors (GM) has agreed to place battery manufacturing for electric vehicles (EVs) under its main agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, UAW President Shawn Fain announced on Friday. Fain said the union won’t expand its strike against the Big Three automakers following the the last-minute development in negotiations. “We’ve been told for months that this is impossible,” Fain said. “We’ve been told the EV future must be a race to the bottom. And now we’ve called their bluff.” GM’s commitment to use UAW workers for EV battery manufacturing is a massive victory for the union.

Norway is an EV leader thanks to a generous pot of tax incentives. Today, battery-electric cars make up more than half of all new car sales in Norway. Schalk Cloete takes a detailed look at what those incentives cost, and how many tonnes of CO2 they avoid. Norway – a major oil and gas exporter – needs to sell over 100 barrels of oil (which emits 40 tonnes of CO2) to pay for the tax breaks it gives EVs to avoid one tonne of CO2. And Norway’s electricity is almost completely clean thanks to hydro power, so the CO2 avoidance...

A BOY of 15 has been killed in a giant explosion feared to have been triggered by detonating electric car batteries. At least 163 were also injured following the huge blast in a customs warehouse near Tashkent Airport in Uzbekistan in the early hours, which was felt up to 20 miles away. Shocking footage shows the explosion at 2.43am local time, which caused damage to hundreds of houses and other buildings over a vast area. Batteries for electric cars exploded at the airport warehouse, it is understood. Dozens of ambulances ferried the wounded to hospitals and at least five children...

Ford repeatedly defended the proposed billion-dollar factory despite its reliance on Chinese company for key technology ... Ford Motor Company announced Monday that it would pause construction of a billion-dollar plant in Michigan involving a Chinese electric vehicle battery company. ... national security experts have blasted the company for teaming up with a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese Communist Party on such a major investment. The plan had been considered for Virginia, though it never reached a final discussion stage. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin opposed the plant over China's potential influence in the plan and argued that "CATL...

Interested in an electric car, but finding current prices are a bit too high for your budget? Worry not, as the second-hand EV market is well garnished with a wide variety of appealing zero emission alternatives. But while it’s true that an electric vehicle requires less maintenance than a gasoline one, resulting in second-hand models that are in great mechanical shape, consumers must stay on the lookout for a rapidly spreading problem in the second-hand EV market: battery fraud.

Five cars have been destroyed at Sydney Airport after a battery from a luxury electric car burst into flames. About 8.30pm on Monday, firefighters were called to a parking lot on Airport Drive in Mascot after flames engulfed a luxury electric car before spreading to another four vehicles. Research officers from Fire and Rescue’s Safety of Alternative and Renewable Energy Technologies team have also been at the scene. Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry said … “There had been some problem with the car and the battery had been removed, we believe that the car has suffered some mechanical...