Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

  • Beijing smog

    You may not have heard it happen, but the global automotive industry changed forever on Thursday. China released its plan to require substantial sales of plug-in electric cars by all makers who want to sell in the world's largest car market, and they start in little more than a year. The levels far exceed those required by California, whose zero-emission vehicle rules have just started to ramp up for 2018 after staying steady for six years. CHECK OUT: China wants all electric cars: will it work? Reasons and reactions "It is no exaggeration to call this a landmark event in the history of the...

  • James Dyson
    Dyson electric car for 2020 draws executives from Aston Martin, Tesla

    Dyson, the British appliance company best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, has cleared up speculation that has persisted for nearly 10 years. Founder and chief engineer James Dyson officially confirmed his company is developing an electric car and is planning for a 2020 launch. Not only has...

  • 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV Prototype
    Toyota electric-car tech to come from venture with Mazda, Denso

    Very little is known for sure about the long-range electric car Toyota will launch around 2020. Over the last two years, the company—by far the industry's strongest proponent of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles—has concluded it must field a battery-electric vehicle to stay competitive...

  • 2016 Tesla Model S   [photo by owner Shiva]
    How Tesla Model S alters car ownership: a buyer's one-year notes

    In late July, we published an article describing one electric-car driver's experience in adding solar panels to his home to help with charging his family's five electric cars. That reader, who'd like to be known just as Shiva, has now owned a 2016 Tesla Model S for a year. He recently outlined for...

  • 2017 Tesla Model 3
    Which electric car will sell best in 2018, globally? Poll results

    Next year is shaping up to be a banner year for electric cars globally. The new, longer-range second-generation Nissan Leaf will be in production at three factories around the world, the Tesla Model 3 should hit volume production, and the Chevy Bolt EV will be fully available in North America...

  • Mahindra e2o Plus
    Electric cars about to be profitable, says India's Mahindra

    The market for electric cars continues to grow, but vehicles powered by fossil fuels remain dominant across the globe. Many analysts believe electric cars will reach price parity with vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines sometime within the next decade. Indian maker Mahindra, however...

  • Jaguar I-Pace Concept, 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show

    In the rarified but still high-volume world of global luxury auto brands, Jaguar is still a tiny player. The British brand sold fewer than 150,000 cars globally last year, one-third of the number of Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs from its sister brands within Jaguar Land Rover. Audi sold 1.9 million, BMW sold 2 million, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.1 million, and even Lexus sold 680,000. DON'T MISS: Jaguar I-Pace electric concept at LA Auto Show: video walkaround But electric cars may offer a growth area for Jaguar, which unveiled its I-Pace electric crossover concept at last autumn's Los Angeles...

  • 2006 Volkswagen Phaeton
    Volkswagen to show flagship all-electric ID sedan in Geneva: Phaeton successor?

    The long, strange, sad saga of the now-defunct Volkswagen Phaeton will likely go down as an asterisk in VW's long history. The pet project of now-departed VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech, a member of the Porsche family that controls the carmaker, it was a $70,000-and-up luxury sedan from the...

  • BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show    [photo: Tom Moloughney]
    Which maker will sell most electric luxury cars by 2020? Take our Twitter poll

    It has taken several years for European luxury makers to sort out what to do about the unexpected arrival of Tesla and its electric cars into a market they've dominated for decades. Sure, Lexus and a host of lesser Asian makes have competitive products somewhere between premium and luxury, but...

  • National Drive Electric Week 2014: Gathering in New Britain, CT. Photo by Gian Metzger.
    National Drive Electric Week was bigger, broader, better than ever this year

    This year's National Drive Electric Week was expected to be the biggest to date after organizers announced 175 events had been planned as of July. The seventh annual event to promote electric cars grew even larger than anticipated, with 278 separate local meets, presentations, and drive events...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    2018 Nissan Leaf vs Chevrolet Bolt EV: new electric cars compared

    The 2017 Chevy Bolt EV went on sale last December, but only became available nationwide in August. Meanwhile, electric-car shoppers waited eagerly for details of the 2018 Nissan Leaf, the second-generation car that finally premiered in early September. We've now driven both cars, and can take a...

  • Tesla Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada
    China to build many gigafactories' worth of electric-car battery plants

    While the United States federal government threatens to backslide on renewable energy, California and China continue to move at an aggressive pace to lead the world in zero-emission vehicles. However, there's another piece to the electric-car puzzle that China seems poised to lead as well: battery...

  • First 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car    [photo: Patrick Reid]

    Connecticut ushered in a unique electric-car incentive in 2014, and the first points of data on its effectiveness have now been published. The Connecitcut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate (CHEAPR) program not only provides a direct incentive for consumers to buy electric cars, it also awards cash to the dealership that sells one. The program was designed to motivate dealers to sell electric cars, since it's generally easier to peddle gasoline-powered vehicles, which are often more profitable as well. DON'T MISS: Rewarding Dealers Who Sell Electric Cars: Connecticut Takes The...

  • Frame from delivery video for "first 2017 Tesla Model 3 in Texas"
    Tesla Model 3 interior details, features emerge from pair of videos

    While the 2017 Tesla Model 3 electric car is now being delivered in small numbers to company friends and employees, not all the specifications, features, and details for the electric car are available. Now more information has emerged, in the form of a pair of videos—one by a detailer and...

  • 2019 Volvo XC40
    2019 Volvo XC40 small SUV to become brand's first electric car

    Two years ago, the Volvo XC90 large SUV launched to widespread acclaim and awards as the Sino-Swedish brand's first all-new vehicle in six years. It was followed by the S90 sedan and V90 wagon in 2017, filling out its large luxury lineup. The 2018 Volvo XC60 mid-size crossover utility is now...

  • Volkswagen ID Buzz Concept
    VW Group makes 300 models globally, will electrify them all by 2030

    Along with the gleaming concept cars and new production models unveiled at last week's Frankfurt auto show, auto-company executives also make news. Often a company's CEO or product chief will announce directions for the future, whether they're hints about upcoming vehicles or new powertrain plans...

  • Nissan Leaf Mongol Rally
    Scots couple complete grueling Mongol Rally in electric car

    The Mongol Rally is no small undertaking for any driver, in any type of vehicle. The 10,000-mile rally takes drivers from Europe to Siberia, via Mongolia, with no support vehicles or backup cars. On July 16, 2017, a Scottish couple arrived at the starting line at the Goodwood race course in England...

  • 2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017
    Which electric car will sell best in 2018? Take our Twitter poll

    OK, now the 2018 Nissan Leaf has made its debut, and we know the prices, specifications, and standard and optional features of the updated electric car with a projected 150 miles of range. Deliveries of the 2018 Leaf will start early next year, but meanwhile the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has been on...

  • Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show

    Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, announced that it will invest up to $1 billion to build electric SUVs and batteries in and around its assembly plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The plans, first reported reported Thursday in The Wall Street Journal (paywalled), represent a major expansion of electric-car manufacturing in the U.S. So far, Ford, General Motors, and Nissan produce either battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles at U.S. plants. (The plug-in Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan is built in Canada.) CHECK OUT: Mercedes-Benz electric cars to arrive sooner as urgency...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    The 2018 Nissan Leaf has three types of cruise control: how they differ

    When the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car arrives at dealerships early next year, it will offer fresh styling inside and out, more power, a 150-mile range, and an array of standard or optional active-safety features. It will come in Nissan's standard three trim levels—base S, mid-level SV, and...

  • Porsche Mission E concept, 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show
    Porsche Mission E electric sport sedan: 200-mile recharge in 15 minutes

    While there have been lots of concept cars and production announcements, the first serious German competitor to the Tesla Model S and Model X won't arrive for at least another year. And what could prove the most potent of them all—the production version of the stunning Porsche Mission E...

  • Venucia E30 (Chinese version of Nissan Leaf electric car), Guangzhou Auto Show [photo: ChinaAutoWeb]
    Foreign makers might build electric cars in China, but rumored rule change has a catch

    China's announcement 10 days ago that it was assessing a timetable for ending sales of new cars with gasoline or diesel engines continues to reverberate. The country intends to dominate global production of lithium-ion battery cells and electric vehicles, for a host of reasons from industrial power...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016
    Chevy Bolt EV, Sonic, Bolt, Sonic: GM mingles gas, electric cars on same assembly line

    General Motors didn't have to construct an all-new assembly plant to build its affordable, mass-market Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. In fact, it produces the electric car at the existing Orion assembly plant in Michigan, which opened in 1983. That's not the most interesting aspect of Bolt EV...

  • Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Mercedes EQC electric SUV reservations open in Norway, for 2019 delivery

    The country of Norway has been among the most ardent in urging drivers to buy zero-emission vehicles, offering a friendly market in which automakers can launch new electric cars. In fact, Norway was the first nation to announce a ban on the sale of new vehicles powered by fossil fuels; it's due to...

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