Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute

Welcome back to Transportation Weekly; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch . This is the fourth edition of our newsletter, a weekly jaunt into the wonderful world of transportation and how we (and our packages) move. This week we chat with Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, dig into Lyft’s S-1, take note […]

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Polestar unveils its all-electric response to the Tesla Model 3

Volvo’s standalone electric performance brand Polestar introduced Wednesday its first all-electric vehicle — a five-door fastback that is gunning for the Tesla Model 3. In the past few years, every time an electric vehicle — concept, prototype, or production version — has been unveiled, the term “Tesla killer” has been tossed about regardless of whether […]

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Audi e-tron first drive: Quick, comfortable and familiar

Even after a few minutes behind the wheel, it’s easy to forget the Audi e-tron is electric. The SUV is not outrageous or radical, but rather pedestrian and effortless. Audi didn’t invent something new with the e-tron. The German car company stuck a competent electric powertrain in an SUV, and in the process, created a […]

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Trump administration changes EPA website to be kinder to fracking

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At the beginning of the year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made changes to its website pages on fracking. 

A watchdog group known as the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative tracked those changes across the EPA’s site and just released a report documenting the group’s findings. The result of the changes has left an official U.S. government website looking more like an extension of the fossil fuel industry than a federal agency with a mission to protect the environment.

The most obvious EPA website change from the report is the very title of the fracking page. Previously called “Natural Gas Extraction – Hydraulic Fracturing,” the EPA webpage on fracking is now titled “Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas Development.”  Read more…

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Kia’s all-electric e-Niro is a crossover with 300 miles of range

Kia is finally sharing more details about its upcoming all-electric crossover — the 2019 Kia e-Niro — that made its debut in Korea earlier this year. The upshot: it’s got some range. The production version of the all-electric crossover, which Kia is showing off at the Paris Motor Show this week, has a range of […]

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The 2019 BMW i3 now has 153 miles of range thanks to a bigger battery

The BMW i3 is getting an upgraded battery — plus a bunch of other improvements —that will give the 2019 model about 153 miles of range. That’s roughly a 30% improvement from the previous model. The boost in range is noteworthy, yet it still lags behind the Chevy Bolt and the Tesla Model S, Model X […]

View More The 2019 BMW i3 now has 153 miles of range thanks to a bigger battery

How the Audi e-tron compares to the Tesla Model X and Jaguar I-Pace

Audi just announced its first production electric vehicle. Called the e-tron, the EV is a mid-size SUV loaded with technology with an unofficial range of over 300 miles. It’s nicely equipped, and with a starting price of $74,800, it sits between the Jaguar I-Pace and the Tesla Model X. The e-tron is most similar to […]

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Scott Pruitt dislikes the EPA logo because he thinks it looks like a marijuana leaf

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Maybe you can see it better than we can.

According to the New York Times, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt isn’t happy with the organization’s seal, which has been in place for nearly 50 years.

The reason: He thinks it looks like a marijuana leaf. 

It features a flower bloom representing all the elements of the environment, coupled with four leaves. It was produced for no charge by an ad agency in 1971 and was illustrated by Ken Bloomhorst, who died in January.

It’s wild that Scott Pruitt thinks the @EPA seal looks like a “marijuana leaf,” because it’s clearly the fire flower from Super Mario Broshttps://t.co/gmi0IhdTnz pic.twitter.com/ceEr3tGv3n

— Jory Heckman (@jmheckman) April 11, 2018 Read more…

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Scott Pruitt used a clean water law to give a staffer a $56,765 raise

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt is taking incoming fire from multiple directions these days. Scandals emerging over his first class airline travel, large security detail, and unorthodox living arrangements in a Capito…

View More Scott Pruitt used a clean water law to give a staffer a $56,765 raise

SF Motors reveals first two EVs, aims to ship its first SUV by next year

SF Motors has revealed its first two models, electric vehicles aiming for 2018 production and 2019 street dates. The electric vehicle technology company with a headquarters in Silicon Valley, as well as a globe-spanning R&D footprint and manufacturing facilities in both China and the U.S., and it’s aiming to distinguish itself rom the established market […]

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EPA chief Scott Pruitt says his next flight will be in coach, not first class

After being criticized for taking expensive, taxpayer-funded first class flights around the country and internationally, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt said Wednesday that on his very next flight, he will be seated a…

View More EPA chief Scott Pruitt says his next flight will be in coach, not first class

EPA’s leader is open to reconsidering crucial climate assessment. That’s not good.

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Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), signaled in testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday that he is open to revisiting a bedrock scientific analysis that paved the way for his agency to regulate planet-warming greenhouse gases. If he does so, it could take the EPA entirely out of the ballgame when it comes to limiting emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other global warming pollutants. 

It would also set up an epic legal battle that could go on for years.

That Pruitt is willing to entertain the notion of revisiting what is known as an “endangerment finding” under the Clean Air Act tells you a lot about how Pruitt views his own agency. He has spent his first year as administrator as a kind of trojan administrator, bent on destroying the agency’s work from within. He has swiftly rolled back regulations on everything from pesticide use to methane emissions, all while downsizing the agency’s workforce to Reagan-era levels.  Read more…

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View More EPA’s leader is open to reconsidering crucial climate assessment. That’s not good.