Jaguar I-Pace, Faraday Future workers, low-cobalt batteries: Today’s Car NewsJaguar I-Pace, Faraday Future workers, low-cobalt batteries: Today’s Car News

We look at what makes the Jaguar I-Pace a contender for our Best Car To Buy 2019 competition—and what holds it back. Facing indefinite furlough after the company ran out of money, Faraday Future employees have launched their own GoFundMe page to stay afloat. A well-known battery entrepreneur launches a new compound to reduce the demand for cobalt in electric cars. and Danish electric-bicycle maker Biomega plans to build an urban car. All this and more on Green Car Reports.
The Jaguar I-Pace has been called the first Tesla-fighter from a traditional carmaker. It may not be that, but it did impress us with its looks and its luxury. Now the question is whether some functional quirks may hold it back from becoming our pick as Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy for 2019.
We’ve heard lots of fundraising ideas for startup companies, including Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Having to launch a GoFundMe campaign to help employees pay their mortgages, however, seems a sad milestone for an electric carmaker that just started production, as Faraday Future did.
The biggest concern with electric-car batteries has gone from lithium supplies to cobalt prices. Now an entrepreneur with a history of commercializing battery breakthroughs has announced a new compound that promises to cut the need for cobalt in electric-car batteries by 80 percent. 
Makers of electric bicycles seem to be the latest entrants to the electric-carmaking field. The latest to announce a new urban electric car is Danish Biomega. It plans to build a no-frills carbon-fiber four-wheeler for urban markets such as Shanghai. With a top speed of 81 mph, it likely won’t make it to the U.S.
Conversions used to be the staple of electric-car fans, but not like this: The custom and kit car builder that specializes in bodies for classic off-roaders built a ’49 Mercury coupe with an 85 kilowatt-hour Tesla battery, a 400-horsepower Tesla motor, and a Tesla charger port. It may be the coolest electric-car conversion yet. The battery under-hood is configured to look like a classic V-8.
Finally, a new study by Insure.com reveals that most parents don’t enforce graduated licensing laws on their teenage drivers, including cellphone restrictions.
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