Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
-
It's often said that plug-in hybrids are the "gateway drug" to pure battery-electric vehicles, exposing drivers to the electric-car experience without looming range anxiety. Now it appears that a member of the powerful board of global automaker Volkswagen Group agrees. DON'T MISS: 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf: Drive Report, First U.S. Sale Details In an interview with the Australian outlet CarAdvice, VW board member and head of powertrain development Heinz-Jakob Neusser called plug-in hybrids just a "bridging technology." The ultimate goal, he suggested, remains entirely battery-electric vehicles...
-
2017 Chevrolet Sonic EV: More Electric-Car Details Trickle Out
A few more details on the upcoming 2017 Chevrolet Sonic EV electric car are starting to come into focus, including its production date and a second version to be sold in Europe. Based on information from two separate sources in the auto industry, here's what we now know about Chevy's next...
John Voelcker -
First 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf Electric Car To Be Auctioned For Charity
The first 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf electric car will be auctioned off online.
Stephen Edelstein -
Cadillac To Offer All-Electric Car As Well As Plug-In Hybrid, ELR Successor
While General Motors' plug-in electric cars are in a bit of a sales lull this fall, the company has an expanding number of plug-in products planned for years to come. The latest to be uncovered--at least in the planning stages--is an all-electric Cadillac sedan. DON'T MISS: 2016 Cadillac CT6 Large...
John Voelcker -
BMW i3 Faces VW e-Golf, Mercedes B-Class Electric Cars In New Reviews
Opinions differ on how the BMW i3 compares to more-conventional electric cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
BMW i3 Electric-Car Incentives: Highest On The Battery-Only Model
In just five months, more than 3,100 BMW i3 electric cars have been delivered to U.S. buyers. That's a fast pace out of the box, and it indicates that BMW is serious about plug-in electric cars in a way that many other major automakers aren't. But to keep that pace going may require what car...
John Voelcker -
With U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars now averaging more than 10,000 vehicles each month, September sales achieved that mark but fell short of the sizzling pace of the last two months. Sales of the Nissan Leaf totaled 2,881 last month, bringing year-to-date deliveries to 21,882. That's almost a 50-percent increase over last September's sales of 1,953, and it marks the Leaf's 19th consecutive month of year-over-year increases. ALSO SEE: FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Aug: All-Time Leaf High, Volt Best In 12 Months The Leaf is by far the world's best-selling plug-in car. Just...
-
2014 BMW i3 Lease Deals Appear: $369/Month For Electric Car
It's a pretty standard part of the car-launch cycle: The earliest buyers pay sticker price or more, and then the discounting starts to set in. Accordingly, with the BMW i3 electric car on the market for five months now, we're starting to see more aggressive marketing on the part of dealers. One...
John Voelcker -
Plug-in Electric Car Sales in Canada, Aug 2014: Vive Le Volt
In August, the Chevy Volt won the Canadian plug-in sales derby yet again – a category dominance that brings to mind the Ford F-150's 48-year-reign(!) atop truck sales, in the land of the Maple Leaf. Funnily enough, it's actually the French fleur-de-lis which is responsible for these...
Matthew Klippenstein -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Aug: All-Time Leaf High, Volt Best In 12 Months
The best-selling electric car in the world, the Nissan Leaf, logged its best-ever U.S. sales in August, selling a record 3,186 units. This marks its 18th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, and brings the eight-month total to 18,941 and the total sold in almost four years to more...
John Voelcker -
Italy's Crisp Carabinieri Get New Patrol Cars: Tiny Electric Minicars
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV joins Italy's Carabinieri.
Stephen Edelstein -
2018 Nissan Leaf Renderings: How Conservative Will Design Be?
It's long been acknowledged that the current Nissan Leaf electric car is a radical and distinctive design, just as the landmark 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid was. But some portion of potential buyers, who may be amenable to the benefits of driving a battery-electric vehicle, won't consider the Leaf...
John Voelcker -
Well, it's about time: An electric-car maker is using straight-out sex appeal to market a new electric car. Even if it is, errrmmmm, rodent sex appeal. A new video posted last Wednesday uses Kia's now-familiar supersized hamsters to market the new 2015 Kia Soul EV. DON'T MISS: 2015 Kia Soul EV Electric Car Unveiled At Chicago Auto Show The Korean brand's first-ever battery-electric car for the U.S. entered production in June and will reach selected dealers within a month or two. "Suspenders? Check. Hi-tech lasers? Check. Holograms and dancing Hamsters? Double check," says the ad copy. "Get...
-
2015 Volkswagen e-Golf Price To Start At $36,265, Top Trim Level Only
The 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf electric car will be priced from $36,265, VW announced this morning. And the first battery-electric car ever offered in the U.S. by Volkswagen will be offered only in the very top Golf trim level, the SEL Premium model. The 2015 e-Golf goes on sale in November at selected...
John Voelcker -
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Personal Touch: Secret To His Success?
How does a car-company CEO get to be a rock star? It helps, of course, if your company makes a five-passenger luxury sedan that outdrags a Porsche 911, uses half the energy of a Prius, and has the highest crash-safety rating ever recorded. But Elon Musk has done something else to separate himself...
David Noland -
GM's 200-Mile Electric Sonic EV For 2017: What We Know So Far: UPDATED
The arrival of a moderately-priced battery electric car with a rated range of 200 miles will change the entire market for plug-in vehicles. When that will happen, and from which maker, remains open--though the likely suspects are Nissan, Tesla, and General Motors, with BMW as a long-shot outsider...
John Voelcker -
Prototype Electric Saab 9-3 EV Revealed By Struggling Owner NEVS
After Saab Automobiles vanished from the U.S. market three years ago, the bankrupt remains of the Swedish brand and its factory in Trollhattan were bought by a Chinese company. Its goal was to recast Saab as a maker of electric vehicles, and this week Swedish engineers presented a prototype of a...
John Voelcker -
First 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Sold Last Month
Last month, 41 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive hatchbacks were delivered to their owners, marking the first month of sales for the first battery-electric vehicle from the German luxury maker. The official first buyer, Kim Price, lives south of Los Angeles in Mission Viego; she's been a...
John Voelcker -
Sometimes mathematical logic is simply swept aside by the more primal emotions: fear, anxiety, and insecurity. Which is why so many car buyers make choices that cost them money in the long run. Some of those choices may be luxury items they want but don't need; others may be capabilities they'll rarely, if ever, use but want to have in case of unusual circumstances. DON'T MISS: GM's 200-Mile Electric Car For 2017: What We Know So Far The choice of vehicle range for a battery-electric car turns out to be one of those decisions where fear of what could happen decisively trumps what probably...
-
Tesla Roadster To Get Replacement Battery, 400-Mile Range: Musk
Retrofitting new powertrains to used cars isn't something that automakers have done, historically--but electric cars may change that rule. Now, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the Silicon Valley electric-car maker will offer a replacement battery for the 2008-2012 Tesla Roadsters that...
John Voelcker -
Glitches Modulate Consumer Reports Praise For Tesla Model S Electric Car
Consumer Reports tallies reliability issues with its 2012 Tesla Model S.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan And Mitsubishi To Join Forces On Low-Cost Electric Minicar
Mitsubishi was the earliest maker to launch a modern battery-electric small car and sell it in volume, and Nissan has emerged as by far the world's highest-volume seller of electric cars. Now the two makers have announced they're teaming up to develop an inexpensive electric minicar. According to...
John Voelcker -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In July: Leaf, Volt Both Do Well
Sales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. continued their rise in July, as Nissan delivered more than 3,000 Leaf battery electric cars and Chevy more than 2,000 Volt range-extended electrics. It's was only the second time that the two cars together have sold more than 5,000 units in a single...
John Voelcker -
Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada, Jul 2014: Volt Victorious, Leaf Looms
The Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car remains Canada's plug-in sales champion, but the Nissan Leaf battery-electric--the best-selling electric car in history--is coming up fast in its rear-view mirror As consistently as the Toyota Camry tops the U.S. car sales charts, the Chevy Volt leads...
Matthew Klippenstein