Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

  • BYD e6 electric taxi in service in Shenzhen, China

    It was quaint and adorable when Norway did it, saying it would end sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025. The Netherlands followed suit, with little fanfare. More recently, France and the U.K. have enacted various forms of bans on non-electrified vehicles, on varying schedules. Now that China has said it's considering timetables for doing the same, the world's auto industry is paying attention. Very, very close attention. DON'T MISS: China developing timetable to end sales, production of gasoline cars A week ago Sunday, Chinese government media said the country's regulators...

  • Proterra Catalyst electric bus
    How did Proterra get an electric bus to cover 1,100 miles on a charge? A bigger battery, of course

    The laws of physics tend to be immutable, at least until you get into esoteric disciplines like quantum science. In the case of electric vehicles, one law provides that higher energy capacity in a battery allows a vehicle to travel further. That's the principle electric-bus maker Proterra has used...

  • 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf
    2017 VW e-Golf lease can cost more than longer-range Chevy Bolt EV

    Model years can be confusing: the 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf electric car just went on sale this month, at a time when some other makers have already rolled out 2018 models. The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, meanwhile, went on sale since last December; at some point this fall, we expect to get information on...

  • Volkswagen ID Neo concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Volkswagen ID electric car to launch in 2020 along with new VW Golf

    Volkswagen has a critical year coming in 2020, when the German brand will launch two incredibly important vehicles nearly back-to-back. The next-generation Volkswagen Golf will arrive that year, and then, one month later, the brand will launch its first mass-market electric car, the ID hatchback...

  • Audi Aicon concept
    Audi's self-driving e-tron electric concepts: Aicon (Level 5) and Elaine (Level 4) at Frankfurt

    The 2017 Frankfurt Motor Showed offered a very specific ethos this year: electric and self-driving cars. Many automakers used the bright lights and gleaming stands to reveal their interpretation of a future with all-electric and driverless vehicles. Audi was not absent from the theme. DON'T MISS...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S 100D   [photo: David Noland, owner]
    Life with Tesla Model S: assessing my new 100D vs old 2013 electric car

    About two years ago, under the influence of an eager Tesla representative, I briefly considered trading in my trusty 2013 Tesla Model S 85 for a new Model S 90D. But after a 24-hour test drive, the advantages of the 90D—40 miles more range, all-wheel drive, and Autopilot...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf

    The deals, incentives, and rebates currently available on the 2017 Nissan Leaf are generous and well documented. A handful of utility companies across the United States have offered generous discounts, likely backed by Nissan itself, to move the current-generation Leaf from dealerships to driveways. All of this has occurred as the 2018 Nissan Leaf prepares to launch early next year in North America. DON'T MISS: Nine things you should know about the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car One YouTuber recently documented his electric-car purchasing journey and explained why he bought a 2017 Nissan Leaf...

  • 2017 Renault Zoe
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-July 2017

    The data has been crunched and the latest round of sales figures has arrived for a look at European electric and plug-in hybrid sales through the month of July. With another month on the books, Europe still continues to choose one specific electric car and one plug-in hybrid over all the other...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    Nissan, Mitsubishi, Renault to launch 12 new electric cars by 2022

    Some car companies release their business plans and goals publicly, others don't. This morning, the Renault Nissan Alliance (now including Mitsubishi as well) released a new six-year plan laying out its business goal through 2022. Among the most significant: The group said it will launch 12...

  • 2017 Mazda Mazda3 4-Door Sport Auto Grille
    2020 Mazda electric car to share Toyota underpinnings, technology

    Mazda is a tiny carmaker on a global scale, producing just 1.6 million vehicles a year. It competes with four companies (GM, Nissan-Renault, Toyota, and VW Group) that each sell around 10 million a year, as well as numerous other smaller makers still larger than Mazda. In a world where reducing the...

  • Mahindra e2o electric car
    India actually beat China to all-electric new-car pledge, targets 2030

    China made headlines around the world on Sunday when state media reported that the country is developing a timetable to end production and sales of new vehicles with gasoline engines. While Norway, The Netherlands, France, and the U.K. have adopted different timetables for various versions of such...

  • 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf
    2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, 125-mile electric car, starts at $31,315

    The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf gets several notable updates, including a larger battery pack and more powerful electric motor.

  • Tesla Enhanced Autopilot

    The Florida crash that killed the driver of a Tesla Model S while that car was operating under Autopilot software reverberated far and wide in global media. While human drivers are imperfect, with reaction times limited by millions of years of evolution, they at least provide a focus for blame if they crash their cars. So the results of a National Transportation Safety Board inquiry into the fatal Tesla crash in May 2016, released on Tuesday, have been awaited with some interest. DON'T MISS: NHTSA to investigate Tesla Model S Autopilot crash that killed driver The report concluded that...

  • Honda Urban EV Concept
    Honda Urban EV Concept to go on sale in 2019, but not for North America

    If there were a favorite car among journalists and car fans at this week's Frankfurt motor show, it may have been a small, all-electric hatchback city car. Which is pretty remarkable, given the practical, unexciting, utilitarian, slightly nerdy image every non-Tesla electric car seems to carry...

  • Mini Electric Concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show
    Mini Electric Concept revealed in Frankfurt auto show debut (updated)

    We've known since last July that an all-electric Mini Cooper will go into production in 2019. Now, we can see the first renderings of the car that will make its official debut at the Frankfurt auto show in two weeks. The Mini Electric Concept is recognizable as the three-door hardtop version of the...

  • Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy racecar
    Formula E races to add Jaguar I-Pace electric-car race series

    Media days at this week's Frankfurt motor show seemed to be all about electric cars and concepts, from mass-market brands like Volkswagen to luxury makers like Mercedes. Jaguar Land Rover, however, was able to get its own share of press by announcing that its upcoming electric car would go racing...

  • Volkswagen ID Crozz II concept, 2017 Frankfurt auto show
    Volkswagen ID Crozz electric crossover concept updated at Frankfurt show

    Germany's giant VW Group has said, several times, that it will have 30 different electric cars on sale globally by 2025. Over the last year, it's unveiled three different Volkswagen ID electric-car concepts, two of them thinly disguised versions of future production models for 2019 and 2020. Now...

  • Jaguar E-Type Zero
    World's sexiest car, Jaguar E-Type, reappears as all-electric concept

    Electric cars are now accepted as future volume models for most automakers, but Jaguar Land Rover has taken a very different approach to showcase its future electric powertrains. In fact, it's not a concept for a car of the future at all, but a half-century-old Jaguar E-Type fitted with the most...

  • BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show    [photo: Tom Moloughney]

    If concept cars are meant to grab attention, then the BMW i Vision Dynamics Concept—an all-electric sedan that debuted Tuesday at the Frankfurt motor show—may have fulfilled its mission. With the huge, vertical twin-kidney BMW grille also seen on the BMW X7 SUV concept, the smaller four-door sedan concept grabbed viewers' attention from the very first glance. But a few things have become clear now that the concept is out in the open. CHECK OUT: Electric BMW X3e to come in 2020, but BMW i5 defunct: what happened, and why? First, the BMW i sub-brand will continue to live on, and as...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQA concept, 2017 Frankfurt auto show
    Mercedes-Benz Concept EQA small electric hatchback debuts in Frankfurt

    Following various teaser images, the Mercedes-Benz EQA concept for a compact all-electric hatchback made its debut on Tuesday at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. It's a preview of what will become a volume production car around 2020, competing against numerous 200-mile hatchbacks of the same size...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    2018 Nissan Leaf: does it pioneer the 'mid-range' electric car?

    With the 2018 Nissan Leaf due to arrive at U.S. dealers in four or five months, next year is shaping up to be a very interesting test of what buyers want in battery-electric cars. Much of the focus has been on the new car's range rating, projected to be 150 miles combined when it's confirmed by the...

  • BYD Qin EV300
    China developing timetable to end sales, production of gasoline cars

    The auto industry has now grudgingly accepted that battery-electric cars will make up some portion of the world's new vehicles in years to come. But a milestone in that trend may have come today, in news from China. Policy makers in the world's most populous country, and largest car market, are...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    Goal for 2018 Nissan Leaf: double sales of new electric car

    After lavish launch events around the world, the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car will go on sale next month in Japan and early next year in North America. The second generation of the world's best-selling electric car, however, faces a very different landscape than did its predecessor in December...

  • BYD Qin EV300
    BYD: tiny electric cars for China could be 75 percent of sales

    Chinese automaker BYD was the world's largest producer of plug-in electric cars last year, and the outlook for new markets in its home country are quite healthy, suggesting strong continued growth. BYD plans to tackle the country's inland cities, viewed as a new frontier for automakers, with a...

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