GM battery layoffs, Trump and fuel economy, more fast chargers: Today’s Car NewsGM battery layoffs, Trump and fuel economy, more fast chargers: Today’s Car News

Electrify America gets plans approved to build more fast chargers in California. A new study shows what the Trump administration is missing about how fuel-economy standards affect vehicle affordability. And we have results from our last Twitter poll and a new poll for you to try. All this and more on Green Car Reports.
After announcing the demise of the Chevrolet Volt, along with shuttering five factories and laying off 15 percent of its workforce, GM added to the bad news, announcing 50 additional layoffs at the Volt’s battery-pack manufacturing facility in Brownstown, Michigan. The news doesn’t bode well for an immediate successor to the Volt.
A new study by the Consumer Federation of America finds issue with the federal analysis, used to freeze fuel economy standards, suggesting fuel-economy technology makes cars more expensive for Americans on a budget: Middle- and low-income Americans don’t buy new cars.
The next round of Electrify America fast chargers has been approved in California, which will bring new charging stations to three new cities and rural areas.
Our Twitter poll results from last week show how often our Tesla-driving followers follow Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s advice and use Navigate on Autopilot. And our new Twitter poll asks whether our followers think any real progress will come from the latest climate talks.
A self-driving car engineer who has worked for Google’s Waymo and Uber’s self-driving-car operation recorded video of an autonomous drive from San Francisco to New York City in a Toyota Prius from his latest venture, Pronto.AI, which aims to provide adaptive safety systems for heavy trucks. 
Finally, lidar technology, which has been critical in most self-driving systems, may have found a new use: directing de-icing trucks to roads most likely to be iced over. 
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