Apple’s Latest Electric Car Venture: Charging Stations

Here are some of the stories we’re reading this morning.

Reuters: Apple Explores Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles

Apple is investigating how to charge electric cars, talking to charging station companies and hiring engineers with expertise in the area, according to people familiar with the matter and a review of LinkedIn profiles.

For more than a year, Silicon Valley has been buzzing about Apple's plan to build an electric car. Now the company appears to be laying the groundwork for the infrastructure and related software crucial to powering such a product.

Gizmag: Peugeot and Citroen Lay Out Blueprint for Electric Vehicle Future

Peugeot and Citroen have outlined their plans for future plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles at the PSA Group Innovation Day. As well as offering a raft of powerful two- and four-wheel drive hybrids, the French brands are working on an EV with 450 km (280 mi) of range from a 50 kWh battery.

At the core of Citroen and Peugeot's (two members of PSA Group) hybrid future are two modular platforms. The EMP2 platform has been around since 2013, and will be used for mid-range cars, although it's also capable of underpinning higher-end luxury vehicles too. Meanwhile, the group will build its compact cars and SUVs on the Common Modular Platform (CMP) developed alongside Chinese brand Dongfeng.

Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia to Revive Its Solar Power Program at Smaller Scale

Saudi Arabia is seeking to revive its stalled solar-power program, scaling back more ambitious targets it set four years ago after making little headway in transforming the energy supply of the world’s biggest oil-exporting nation.

The kingdom plans to install 9.5 gigawatts of renewable energy under its Vision 2030 program announced last month, about a quarter of the previous goal. The new target is about 14 percent of the country’s current generating capacity and is achievable because of a plunge in the cost of photovoltaics, government officials said.

Global News: Tesla Motors to ‘Massively’ Expand Supercharger Network in Ontario and Quebec

Tesla Motors is giving its network of high-powered charging stations in Ontario and Quebec a serious jolt.

The California-based carmaker announced Wednesday it plans to add five new charging locations to the 10 already installed in eastern Canada by the end of the summer.

Tesla opened its latest station in Grimsby, Ontario last week, which it says will allow drivers to travel between west New York, Niagara Falls, and into Toronto and Detroit.

Politico: Trump Acknowledges Climate Change -- at His Golf Course

Donald Trump says he is “not a big believer in global warming.” He has called it “a total hoax,” “bullshit” and “pseudoscience.”

But he is also trying to build a sea wall designed to protect one of his golf courses from “global warming and its effects.”

The New York billionaire is applying for permission to erect a coastal protection works to prevent erosion at his seaside golf resort, Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland, in County Clare.

A permit application for the wall, filed by Trump International Golf Links Ireland and reviewed by Politico, explicitly cites global warming and its consequences -- increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather this century -- as a chief justification for building the structure.