Our Neighborhood

Earth

Keeping It Green

Green (Clean) Transportation

Page Updated:

Feb. 7, 2026

• Alt Fuel Transportation
(Not Just Cars)

Alt-Fuelers

Visit our Alternative Energy Transport section, filled with photos and information on the latest technology.

Warning: Your'e Going to want one.

• The Story of Alt Fuel Vehicles

History and Future

This piece was written by the website's creator, in response to the EV revolution that is now occuring.

Five pages (with photos) you might enjoy.

• NOVA Episode: Electric Flight

Breakthrough in Green Transportation

Can new emission-free electric planes replace our polluting airliners and revolutionize personal transportation in our cities? NOVA takes a ride in some quiet, energy-efficient, prototypes that are vying for success as electric flight takes off.

Click now for a link to the
episode and a preview video.

Green Transportation News
(LatesOldert Dates First)

• • Red States Lose Their Ev-Charging Money

  Texas and Florida Will See the Deepest Cuts to Their Electric Vehicle Charging Programs Under Last Week’s Spending Bill
  
  {E&E NEWS}
  
  

  Feb 9, 2026 -When Congress moved last week to slash federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations, the cuts fell hardest on red states.

  That’s unexpected, considering Trump’s efforts to throttle federal funding to blue, Democratic states. But it’s also in line with Congress’ goal of rechanneling money that has been sitting idle.

  Last week’s $1.2 trillion spending package — which included the Department of Transportation bill — has increases for highways. More than $800 million of that increase comes from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, a $5 billion Biden-era effort to build powerful EV chargers along highways.

• • EV Charging Program Faces the Axe in Budget Bill

  Legislation That Could End the Partial Government Shutdown Would Slash Funding For the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program

  
  

  Feb 2, 2026 -A budget bill moving through Congress this week would defund a 5-year-old program designed to expand electric-vehicle charging stations.

  The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program got off to a slow start and had spent only a small share of its budget when the Trump administration took office a year ago and sought to claw back funding.

• • Tesla Launches Its Own Solar Panel As Its EV Business Falters

  Tesla is Betting On a New Solar Panel to Offset Its EV Slump
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Feb 2, 2026 -With auto revenue down 10% for the year and plans to scrap Model S/X production for robots, Tesla is leaning hard into energy generation and storage (where revenue grew 27% last year). The company deployed 46.7 GWh of storage in 2025, more than 10X the rate just four years before.

  Enter: a new, proprietary rooftop solar panel. The design uses a rail-less mounting system to cut installation time and parts, leveraging data from 500K prior solar installs to fix what contractors hate most about rooftop solar.

• • One of the Worst Parts of Owning an EV is Quickly Getting Better

  Even as EV Sales Slump, the U.S. Fast-Charging Network Grew over 30 Percent in 2025r

  
  

  Jan. 28, 2026 -For years, EV drivers in America had plenty of complaints about fast-charging their electric cars. Many chargers were broken or glitchy; at the same time, drivers had to juggle several different smartphone apps and find chargers that matched the particular charging port on their car.

  But now, even as EV sales are slumping, deployment of fast chargers is booming. According to a report released Wednesday by the charging data company Paren, the fast-charging network increased more than 30 percent in 2025, with over 18,000 new ports installed. (Like a gas station with multiple pumps, each charging station can have multiple ports for cars to plug in.) The country now has over 13,200 public fast-charging stations dotting the country — with more than 3,300 of those stations installed just last year.

• • EVs Just Outsold Gas Cars in Europe For the First Time

  Last Month, EV Registrations in Europe Overtook Gas Cars
  
  {FAST COMPANY}
  
  

  Jan 28, 2026 -EVs hit a new milestone: In December, buyers in Europe registered more electric cars than gas cars for the first time.

  EV registrations hit 217,898 in the EU last month—up 50% year-over-year from 2024. Sales of gas cars, on the other hand, dropped nearly 20% to 216,492. The same trend played out in the larger region, including the UK and other non-EU countries like Iceland.

• • When Will Light Rail Service Start Between Bellevue and Seattle?

  Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson Called the I-90 Segment a “Grand Doorway” Between Neighborhoods and Cultural Centers

  
  

  Jan. 23, 2026 -Light rail service between Seattle and the Eastside will start March 28, a long-overdue connection that will provide congestion-free rides across Lake Washington to work, entertainment, college, sports events and the airport.

  Trains on this new 7.4-mile segment will carry passengers between South Bellevue and International District/Chinatown Stations, with new stops at Mercer Island and Judkins Park. The trip along the former I-90 express lanes should take about 13 minutes.

• • Ukraine Deploys World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Cobat Drone

  Ukraine's New Reconnaissance Drone Uses Hydrogen Fuel Cells to Fly 12 Hours With a "Negligible Heat Signature"
  
  
  

  Jan. 19, 2026 - The promise of the hydrogen economy has always been about what it leaves behind: water vapor instead of smog, silence instead of noise. But on the front lines of Ukraine, the appeal of hydrogen fuel cells has nothing to do with saving the climate. It’s about survival, destroying the enemy, and how the laws of thermodynamics mediate both objectives.

  For the first time in history, a hydrogen-powered drone has entered full-scale combat, utilizing the fuel’s unique chemical properties to fly cold and silent through skies capable of detecting the slightest spark of heat.

• • Railways Speeds Up Green Shift

  Towards Engines Run On Battery, Green Fuel
  
  {ET Energyworld}
  
  

  Jan. 19, 2026 -Following the substantial electrification of the railway network, the national transport authority is set to phase out the remaining diesel engines. Initial changes will be seen in yard operations, shunting, and last-mile freight tasks.

  India is scaling up adoption of battery and alternative fuel-powered train engines to replace diesel fired ones for short to medium runs.

• • California Governor Proposes $200
  Million in New State EV Tax Rebates

  This, According to the WMO
  
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2026 -California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing $200 million in new state electric-vehicle tax rebates after Congress earlier this year ended a federal $7,500 state tax deduction on new EVs, the state said on Friday.

  In late 2024, Newsom said if President Donald Trump eliminated a federal EV tax credit, he would propose creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program that ended in 2023 and spent $1.49 billion to subsidize 586,000 vehicles over a decade. EV sales fell sharply in the final three months of 2024 after the federal tax credit expired on September 30.

• • XCharge and Energy Plus Plan Brooklyn Charging Depot

  They're Building One of the Nation’s Largest Battery-Backed Ev Charging Depots in Brooklyn
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Jan. 8, 2026 -The partners are deploying 44 GridLink units across 88 parking spaces in Williamsburg, creating a massive 9.46 MWh storage hub scheduled to open in Q2 under the “Eplug” brand.

  The system uses bidirectional charging to support the grid, drawing power during off-peak hours and discharging it during high-demand periods—a model designed to lower costs and boost resilience in dense urban environments.

• • More Children Are Powering Their Own
  Wheels to School as Part of ‘Bike Buses’

  Reducing Traffic and Pollution Around Schools and Help Cut Climate-Warming Emissions
  
  
  

  Jan. 8, 2026 -On a recent autumn morning in Tempe, Arizona, dozens of kids made their way to class on an unusual “bus.” Rather than the traditional yellow, diesel-run whale of a vehicle, this one consisted of children and parents mostly on bicycles, along with a few scooters and roller-skates.

  This “bike bus” serving Broadmoor Elementary School is one of many popping up across the West as parents and schools look for ways to get students moving their bodies.

• • States Are Powering the U.S. Electric Vehicle Transition

  Even Amid Federal Uncertainty
  
  {Environmental Defense Fund}
  
  

  Jan 7, 2026 -Even as recent federal actions have attempted to weaken or eliminate clean vehicle standards, states across the country are taking actions to support clean, affordable transportation – actions that cut pollution and save people money. EDF’s new U.S. Electric Vehicle State Policy Landscape Report provides a comprehensive assessment of how all 50 states and the District of Columbia are shaping the next generation of clean, affordable vehicles. The results are unmistakable: every state has taken steps to advance electric vehicles, and many are deploying innovative policies that deliver cleaner air, lower costs and create economic opportunity.

  The report evaluates 16 distinct policy types across seven categories – from financial incentives to charging infrastructure to public fleet electrification. This nationwide assessment reveals both remarkable breadth and significant depth: many of the strongest EV policy portfolios span diverse states across the country like Arizona (14), Illinois (13), Alabama (12) and Colorado (13).

• • 96% of Cars Sold in Norway in 2025 Were Electric

  Norway is Leaving the Combustion Engine Behind
  
  
  

  Jan. 6, 2026 -Norway has effectively killed the internal combustion engine. In 2025, a staggering 95.9% of all new cars sold in the country were fully electric. By December, that number climbed to nearly 98%. For all intents and purposes, the gas car in Norway is becoming a relic.

  While the U.S. made an EV U-turn and Europe is getting cold feet on its 2035 bans, this Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has all but completed the transition. It’s also done so in a cold climate, a setting often cited by skeptics as “unfriendly” for batteries.

• • AI Take Center Stage at CES as Automakers Dial Back EV Plans

  Automakers Rethink EV Plans Due to Policy Changes
  
  
  

  Jan. 5, 2026 -Autonomous driving technology is expected to dominate the CES trade show in Las Vegas this week as investors bet that artificial intelligence will invigorate an industry beset by slow progress, high costs, safety incidents and regulatory scrutiny.

  Just as automakers have hit the brakes on electric vehicle (EV) plans and look for their next money maker, a slew of auto suppliers and start ups are lining up to show off their latest autonomous vehicle hardware and software. Partnerships and deals that promise to take away much of a driver's responsibilities, or remove the need for a human driver completely, are expected to be announced.

• • Flying Taxis? China Has Them. And Drone Lunch Deliveries, Too

  China’s Experiments In Clean Energy Can Feel Like Living in the Future. Even When Things Don’t Quite Work
  
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2025, By Keith Bradsher -As an American reporter living in Beijing, I’ve watched both China and the rest of the world flirt with cutting-edge technologies involving robots, drones and self-driving vehicles.

  But China has now raced far beyond the flirtation stage. It’s rolling out fleets of autonomous delivery trucks, experimenting with flying cars and installing parking lot robots that can swap out your E.V.’s dying battery in just minutes. There are drones that deliver lunch by lowering it from the sky on a cable.

• • Norway Is Building the World’s Longest Undersea Road Tunnel

  27 Kilometers Long and 400 Meters Below Sea Level
  
  
  

  Dec. 16, 2025 -For generations, Norway’s west coast has lived by ferry timetables and weather forecasts. A strong wind could stretch a routine commute into an all-day affair. A winter storm could reroute ferries entirely, leaving trucks, workers, and tourists waiting at the water’s edge.

  Now the country is trying something different. Deep beneath the sea, engineers are carving a huge tunnel through solid rock, aiming to make weather irrelevant.

• • Seattle E-Bike Pioneer Rad Power Bikes Files Bankruptcy

  Owes $73 Million
  
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2025 -Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes, a pioneer in mass-market e-bikes, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week as it continues to look for a buyer amid falling sales and massive debt.

  Court documents show the 18-year-old company owes nearly $73 million to dozens of creditors, including the federal agency that collects tariffs, but has only $32 million in assets.

• • EVs Aren’t Just Cars Anymore

  They Can Power Your Home Slashing Emissions—and Bills
  
  
  

  Dec. 16, 2025 -Tapping into electric vehicle (EV) batteries as a source of household power could save car owners thousands of dollars and slash carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new study.

  The study is the first large-scale yet detailed analysis of so-called vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging, an approach that involves charging an EV’s battery when cheap renewable energy is plentiful, then partially discharging it to run household appliances.

• • Inside China’s 600 MPH Floating Train Faster Than a Boeing 737

  It's Basically a Hyperloop Design On Steroids
  
  
  

  Dec. 14, 2025 -In a world where speed defines progress, China is pushing the boundaries of transportation with a train that could make jetliners seem sluggish. Enter T-Flight, a magnetic levitation (maglev) train designed to travel at speeds up to 600 mph (965 km/h). That’s significantly faster than the average cruising speed for a long-haul commercial passenger aircraft.

  Recent tests have shown that this “floating train” is inching closer to reality, promising to shrink travel times between Beijing and Shanghai to a little as an hour and a half. For reference, the 680-mile (1,100-km) journey takes around six hours on existing high-speed rail.

• • Vehicles Run On ‘Dirty’ Fuel Going Out of Favour

  No-Win Diesel
  
  {RT Energy World}
  
  

  Dec. 12, 2025 -Sales of diesel vehicle continued on a downward trajectory in the city for the third consecutive year, signalling a structural shift in consumer preference owing to regulatory pressures, new technologies and changing fleet economics.

  Govt data shows 10,683 diesel vehicle sales were sold in 2025, down 13 per cent from last year and 15 per cent from 2023. The Covid-disrupted years of 2020 and 2021 remain the only exceptions when sales dipped due to supply chain disruptions. While 2022 recorded a brief post-pandemic rebound — the figure hit a peak of 15,579 units — the "normalisation" in sales followed thereafter.

• • Will the Self-Driving Cars of the Future Lower Emissions?

  Experts Say There Are Big Questions About How Self-Driving Cars Could Affect Traffic and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  
  
  

  Dec. 11, 2025 -Call an Uber in Austin or Atlanta, and you might be offered a vehicle without a driver. Waymo, the self-driving taxi service owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is expanding rapidly and partnering with ride-hailing companies.

  Waymo operated 14 million trips across five U.S. cities this year and is expanding to Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and San Antonio in 2026 with a goal of completing one million rides a week by the end of next year.

• • Ford’s Car of the Future

  Desperate to Catch Up With Chinese Automakers, Ford Is Redesigning Its Fleet With a Silicon Valley-Style Team
  
  
  

  Dec. 11, 2025 -In 2021, after Apple gave up on its secretive plans to build a driverless electric car, Doug Field left the technology company to embark on a mission impossible meant to save the American auto industry.

  He rejoined Ford Motor, where he had started his career decades earlier, with the grand ambition of designing electric vehicles that would allow the century-old company to compete with Chinese carmakers, whose vehicles are hugely popular with consumers and breaking global sales records.

• • Ferry System Electrification

  Major Project Overview
  
  {Washington State Dept. of Transportation}
  
  

  Nov. 25, 2025 -Washington State Ferries (WSF) will rebuild and modernize our fleet and convert our system, the largest in the country, to hybrid-electric power by 2040 following direction from the Washington legislature and governor. Rebuilding the fleet is necessary to ensure reliable ferry service. Transitioning to a hybrid-electric fleet is necessary to reduce emissions, ensure resiliency, and reduce operations and maintenance costs.

  As the biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions among Washington state agencies, WSF burns approximately nineteen million gallons of diesel fuel to support nearly twenty million passengers every year. This innovative electrification program will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save millions in fuel costs.

• • Driving an E.V. Across North Dakota?

  Thank the Standing Rock Tribe
  
  
  

  Nov. 18, 2025 -This summer, Len Necefer finally planned the road trip he’s been thinking about for nearly a decade: Going coast-to-coast in an electric vehicle, stopping only to charge on tribal lands.

  As a Navajo citizen and tribal energy expert who used to work in the federal government, he saw it as the ultimate test of how far energy infrastructure had come.

  Stop by stop, his plans came together until North Dakota, where a dearth of chargers seemed to prevent a Midwest crossing. Then, he spotted it: a level-2 charger at Sitting Bull College on the Standing Rock Reservation.

• • Iowa City Made Its Buses Free
  Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air

  Ridership Jumped, People Cut Back On Driving and, Over the Summer, the City Extended the Program Another Year
  
  
  

  Nov. 18, 2025 -There was a psychiatrist, a librarian, a substitute teacher and a graduate student in biomedical engineering. There was an Amazon warehouse worker who’d just finished his night shift, and a man who’d lost his driver’s license because of an incident in Florida that he didn’t want to talk about.

  They were all riding Iowa City’s buses one sunny November morning, and they were all amped about the same thing: That everyone got to ride for free.

• • The World's Best Cities for Walking and Cycling

  Data From 11,587 Cities Show That, Rain Or Shine, Some Places Are Just Better For Bikes and Pedestrians
  
  
  

  Nov, 14, 2025 -In some cities, cyclists and pedestrians seem as rare as unicorns. And in others, such as Wageningen in the Netherlands—the world’s top biking city, according to a recent study—they’re as numerous as bees in a hive.

  The authors of the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, used data from Google to determine walking and cycling rates in 11,587 cities in 121 countries, a far larger sample size than in any previous research. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they found that cities with lots of cyclists and pedestrians tend to be dense and filled with bike lanes.

• • Portland, Maine Unveils State's First Electric Boat Charger

  Heron is One of Just a Handful of Electric Boats in Maine.
  
  {13WGME}
  
  

  Nov. 14, 2025 - Portland is now home to the state's first electric boat charger.

  The public charger was put to the test Thursday.

  "Heron," an electric aquaculture boat, charged up at the station at Wright's Wharf in Portland Harbor.

• • Chinese E.V.s Deliver a Message at the Global Climate Summit

  China is Making Inroads in Latin America
  
  
  

  Nov. 6, 2024 -The fleet of electric cars car pulling up to the conference hall was mostly Chinese. The leader who stepped out was not.

  The climate-friendly cars were carrying President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and his team. Mr. Lula is host of this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference, a gathering of dozens of world leaders in the Amazonian city of Belém.

• • Your Future Airplane Flight Could Be
  Powered By Everything You Throw Away

  Fuel Made From Trash and Food Waste Can't Entirely Replace Conventional Jet Fuel—But It Could Take a Big Bite Out of Airlines’ Carbon Emissions
  
  
  

  Nov. 11, 2025 -Trash that would otherwise rot in landfills could be converted into 62.5 billion liters of jet fuel per year, with a carbon footprint 80-90% smaller than that of fossil-based aviation fuel, according to a new study (1).

  Aviation represents 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is extremely hard to decarbonize. One potential solution is sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) made from renewable feedstocks. But some of these feedstocks come with their own problems – biofuel crops can displace natural ecosystems or food crops, for example.

• • Honda Bets On Hybrids With Lighter
  Platform For Next-Generation Models

  Honda Will Position Batteries On the Platform Around the Centre of Vehicles Instead of At the Rear, and Adjust Load-Bearing For Different Vehicle Weights Using Fewer Unique Parts
  
  {yahoo!autos}
  
  

  Nov. 5, 2024 -Honda Motor said on Thursday it is developing a platform centered on mid-size hybrid cars and a hybrid system for large vehicles, as the Japanese automaker seeks to boost competitiveness amid a slower shift to fully electric cars.

  The new platform, to be deployed in vehicles from 2027 or later, will be designed for hybrids but can also accommodate petrol-only models. Honda said the platform will be about 90 kg (200 lb) lighter than current designs.

• • EVs Quickly Overcome Their Energy-Intensive
  Build to Be Cleaner Than Gas Cars

  What the Researchers Examined
  
  
  

  Oct. 28, 2025 - Making electric vehicles and their batteries is a dirty process that uses a lot of energy. But a new study says that EVs quickly make up for that with less overall emissions through two years of use than a gas-powered vehicle.

  The study also estimated that gas-powered vehicles cause at least twice as much environmental damage over their lifetimes as EVs, and said the benefits of EVs can be expected to increase in coming decades as clean sources of power, such as solar and wind, are brought onto the grid..

• • France Activates World’s First Highway
  That Charges Electric Cars and Trucks As They Drive

  It's a Small Stretch, But It Can
  Wirelessly Charge Your Electric Car
  
  
  

  Oct. 29, 2025 -It sounds futuristic, but highways that charge electric cars wirelessly as they drive are already a thing, sort of. Several research projects have been developed in various parts of the world. Now, France has opened up the first public segment with heavy traffic. It’s just a 1.5-kilometer (almost one-mile) stretch of the A10 motorway, some 40 km away from Paris, but it’s a powerful proof of concept.

  The pilot project, dubbed “Charge as you drive,” is now testing its ability to send electric power directly into vehicles (from heavy-duty trucks to passenger cars) as they move at high speeds.

• • Washington State: Light Rail Disruptions Persist

  Should You Still Ride a
  Train to Sea-Tac?
  
  
  

  Oct. 29, 2025 -A commuter wrote to Sound Transit this month that light rail disruptions made her late four times to morning meetings, at a solar power business near Rainier Beach Station.

  “As a result my manager marked me as unreliable in my recent performance evaluation, citing my ‘decision to get to work by Light Rail’,” she wrote elected officials in charge of the agency. She also found trouble on a weekend, caught in a stall Sept. 27 inside the Capitol Hill tunnel that plunged Sounders and Mariners fans into darkness for a minute. “Please help our Light Rail system and improve rider experiences — and trust,” she wrote.

• • Uber Green Rebrands as Uber Electric

  With $4,000 EV Grants to Some Drivers
  
  {AXIOS}
  
  

  Oct. 22, 2025 -Uber plans to provide grants to drivers in key markets to switch to electric vehicles, and is rebranding its Uber Green option to Uber Electric.

  Why it matters: The move comes after the expiration in September of the federal EV tax credit, which was worth up to $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used ones.

  Driving the news: Uber will provide $4,000 "Go Electric" grants to high-mileage, tenured drivers in markets with high demand — New York City, California, Colorado and Massachusetts — to purchase new or used EVs.

• • A Way to Generate Negative Emissions From Charging Electric Cars

  The Answer Lies In Strategic Charging to Encourage Solar and Wind Power Development
  
  
  

  Oct. 21, 2025 -Charging electric vehicles (EVs) when renewable energy is abundant—and supplying power back to the grid when demand peaks—could significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions from the power system, according to a new study. The analysis finds that strategically timed EV charging not only reduces emissions but could even yield negative emissions by encouraging the expansion of renewable energy.

  Past research has shown that “smart charging”—timing EV charging to periods of low grid emissions—can minimize their impact, while using EV batteries to return power to the grid (“vehicle-to-grid,” or V2G) has also emerged as a decarbonization strategy in recent years. However, this is the first study to examine how these strategies interact to influence grid infrastructure and renewable investment.

• • Plug-in Hybrids Pollute Almost As Much as Petrol Cars

  Analysis of 800,000 European Cars Found Real-World Pollution From Plug-In Hybrids Nearly Five Times Greater Than Lab Tests
  
  
  

  Oct. 16, 2024 -Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) pump out nearly five times more planet-heating pollution than official figures show, a report has found.

  The cars, which can run on electric batteries as well as combustion engines, have been promoted by European carmakers as a way to cover long distances in a single drive – unlike fully electric cars – while still reducing emissions.

• • New Tool Tracks State Progress
  on Zero-Emission Vans, Trucks, Buses

  Driving Decarbonization:
  
  {FACTOR THIS}
  
  

  Oct. 16, 2025 -CALSTART, an industry organization focused on transportation decarbonization and clean air, has released the 2025 update to its ZET Ahead Dashboard, an interactive visualization of the progress 23 states (and the District of Columbia) have made toward accelerating the adoption of zero-emission vans, trucks, and buses.

  The 2025 update to ZET Ahead includes profiles of 6 new states: Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, and Florida, as well as progress updates to the 17 states originally featured on the dashboard. This year’s dashboard update also adds a new Economic Development market dimension, analyzing complementary tax and workforce development policies that encourage clean transportation investment.

• • What Smart Grid Advancements Mean
  for Vehicle-to-Grid Engineering in EVs

  Thanks to Smarter Grids and Better Software, Vehicle-To-Grid (V2G) Systems are Turning Parked EVs into Mini Power Plants
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Oct. 15, 2025 -Utilities say coordinated V2G charging could cut peak demand by up to 20% and lower system costs by 10–15%. Studies also suggest integrating EV fleets into smart grids could boost renewable utilization by nearly 30%.

  States like California and regions across Europe are pushing for bidirectional charging standards and incentives. But gaps in regulation, cybersecurity, and public awareness are still slowing things down.

• • How China Powers Its Electric Cars and High-Speed Trains

  In China, the Longest Ultrahigh-Voltage Power Line Stretches More Than 2,000 Miles From the Far Northwest to the Populous Southeast
  
  
  

  Oct. 11, 2024 -The power line starts in a remote desert in northwest China, where vast arrays of solar panels and wind turbines generate electricity on a monumental scale. It snakes southeast, following an ancient river between mountain ranges before reaching Anhui Province near Shanghai, home to 61 million people and some of China’s most successful electric car and robot manufacturers.

  That’s a single power line. China has 41 others. Each is capable of carrying more electricity than any utility transmission line in the United States. That’s partly because China is using technology that makes its lines far more efficient than almost anywhere else in the world.

• • Caltrain Electrified Trains Return
  Power to Grid, Offsetting Energy Costs

  Caltrain’s Electric Trains Now Give Power Back to the Grid
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Oct. 10, 2025 -Thanks to regenerative braking, Caltrain’s 37 fully electric trains return about 23% of their power whenever they slow down. That energy—once fed back for free—will now earn compensation under a first-of-its-kind deal with Peninsula Clean Energy and San Jose Clean Energy.

  The move follows Caltrain’s $2.5B electrification project, which shifted the Bay Area commuter line entirely to renewable power. It’s cutting 250K metric tons of emissions per year and could offset millions in energy costs annually.

• • How States' EV Tax Policies Stack Up After U.S. Credits End

  State Tax Credits and Fees on New EVs
  
  {AXIOS}
  
  

  Oct. 8, 2025 -Federal tax credits for electric vehicle purchases may be dead, but depending on where you live, you might still get a sizable state tax break on your EV.

  But be prepared to pay a higher vehicle registration fee than your neighbor who drives a gasoline-powered car. Why it matters: The rewards and penalties on EVs reflect an industry in flux, as policymakers try to balance environmental goals with the need to pay for roads and other critical infrastructure.

• • How Much It Costs to Drive an E.V. and a Gas Car in Every State

  Charging an Electric Car Battery is Usually Cheaper Than Going to the Gas Pump. But...
  
  
  

  Oct. 8, 2025 -The federal subsidy for electric cars has ended, which means E.V. sales will probably fall because of simple math: Electric cars are generally more expensive than comparable gas cars. (Some automakers are offering discounts to get around that.)

  But there’s one place where E.V.s are usually cheaper: the cost of filling up.

  Driving 100 miles in a typical gas car that gets 25 miles per gallon costs about $13 on average.

• • Electric Pickup Trucks Are Sending P{ower to the Grid

  The Future Is Now
  
  {FACTOR THIS}
  
  

  Oct. 7, 2025 -The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Or, in this case, three pickup trucks.

  Sunrun, the largest provider of residential solar, battery energy storage, and home-to-grid power plants in the United States, has activated the nation’s first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) distributed power plant in partnership with Maryland’s largest utility, Exelon subsidiary Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE).

  Starting in July, enrolled Ford F-150 Lightning trucks (yes, all three!) dispatched energy to the grid during peak summer demand hours from 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays. Participating customers received a payment based on the amount of energy shared, up to a maximum of $1,000 for the ‘dispatching season,’ which ran through the end of September.

• • How States' EV Tax Policies Stack Up After U.S. Credits End

  State Tax Credits and Fees On New Electric Vehicles
  
  {AXIOS}
  
  

  Oct. 7, 2025 -Federal tax credits for electric vehicle purchases may be dead, but depending on where you live, you might still get a sizable state tax break on your EV.

  But be prepared to pay a higher vehicle registration fee than your neighbor who drives a gasoline-powered car.

  Why it matters: The rewards and penalties on EVs reflect an industry in flux, as policymakers try to balance environmental goals with the need to pay for roads and other critical infrastructure.

• • Tesla Debuts Cheaper Versions of Model Y and Model 3 EVs

  Tesla Debuted A Slightly Cheaper Version of Its Model Y Crossover and Model 3 Sedan on Tuesday
  
  {AXIOS}
  
  

  Oct. 7, 2025 -Tesla immediately launched sales of Model Y Standard and Model 3 Standard — both with lower price tags and fewer features than the Premium variants.

  The Model Y Standard starts at $39,990, compared with the Model Y Premium at $44,990.

  The Model 3 Standard starts at $36,990, compared with the Model 3 Premium at $42,490.

• • Top-Like Ocean Wave Energy Converter Gets
  Funding Boost to Turn Ship Movement Into Power

  A Canadian Startup Just Got a Big Boost to Turn Ocean Motion into Clean Power
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Oct. 6, 2025 -Voltai, based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, raised $1.3M in pre-seed funding to scale its top-like electrostatic generator—a device that converts wave and ship movement into electricity.

  Unlike bulky buoy systems, Voltai’s compact design can mount directly on ships or offshore platforms without drag, creating onboard power from natural motion. The company says it could help ships cut emissions and generate continuous clean power at sea.

• • Illinois Utility Tries Using Electric
  School Buses For Bidirectional Charging

  School Buses Are Usually Parked When the Grid is Under Its Biggest Strain
  
  {ars TECHNICA}
  
  

  Oct. 3, 2025 -The largest electric utility in Illinois is rolling out a program for a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric school bus-charging pilot with three Chicagoland school districts, testing the functionality of bidirectional chargers that could make energy cheaper for customers and reduce grid load.

  The Commonwealth Edison Co. (ComEd) announced in September that it would begin the testing phase of its novel V2G electric school bus charging pilot, the first of its kind in northern Illinois, coinciding with the beginning of the school year.

• • Joby Surges Near Entry On Flight Demos

  Joby Stock is Trading Near Record Highs as the Company Showed Off Its Air Taxis at the California International Airshow
  
  {Innvestor's Business Daily}
  
  

  Oct. 6, 2025 -Joby Aviation (JOBY) on Monday announced that it completed three airshow demonstrations over the weekend at the California International Airshow in Salinas. The flights included quick round-trips between Marina and Salinas, which can take nearly 40 minutes by car.

  The eVTOL maker said that each flight lifted off vertically from Marina, transitioned to cruise for the flight to Salinas where it conducted a series of hover maneuvers, before landing vertically back in Marina.