Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
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The Fiat 500e will soon be sold in a second U.S. state.
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Coda Sedan Electric-Car Rolling Bodies For Sale On eBay
The 2012 Coda Sedan electric car had a long, troubled gestation and a brief life before joining other failed automotive startups in the history books. But at least few hundred cars were built, all told, and now some of them are for sale as rolling "gliders," without their battery packs. If you...
John Voelcker -
2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Now In Production
The 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive will be the first Mercedes-badged electric car sold in the U.S.
Stephen Edelstein -
2014 BMW i3: Polarizing Looks, Average Range--Can It Succeed?
Most of the world's truly significant cars have been striking, even polarizing, designs. But some unusual, even polarizing, designs have been colossal failures. And it remains unclear which category the 2014 BMW i3 will fall, in the different global markets in which BMW is selling it. DON'T MISS...
John Voelcker -
GM Is Serious About Electric Cars, Despite Grumbling By Advocates
Sometimes memories are short. Electric-car advocates often forget that it took seven years from the first Toyota Prius hybrid, launched in Japan in 1997, until sales of the second-generation Prius started to grow in global markets. Now, General Motors appears to be the subject of suspicion and...
John Voelcker -
Life With Tesla Model S: Battery Safety Shield In Detail (Photos)
When I first heard last week that Tesla was offering Model S owners a free retrofit that would install its new underbody shield and deflector plates, I called my local Tesla Motors service center almost immediately. It seemed like a no-brainer. The titanium shield and two aluminum deflector plates...
David Noland -
A Nissan Leaf puts its regenerative brakes to good use traversing Hawaii's Haleakala volcano.
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One Percent Of Norway's Cars Are Already Plug-In Electrics
Overshadowed by their spectacular sales success in March, electric vehicles hit a momentous milestone in Norway last month. Fully one percent of Norway's passenger-car fleet now consists of battery electric vehicles. And this isn't a case of rounding up, either – this is a full 1 percent. As...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada For March: Volt Returns To Triple Figures
While the Nissan Leaf is gaining momentum, the Chevrolet Volt remains in the driver's seat for March in plug-in electric-car sales for Canada. The Chevy Volt returned to triple-figure sales in Canada for the tenth time in March, tallying 105 sales from coast to coast. That figure was up slightly...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Tesla Gigafactory Faces Skepticism From Panasonic, Analysts
Elon Musk, CEO of startup electric-car maker Tesla Motors, is no doubt used to skepticism. Now he faces new doubts over the company's plans for a massive "gigafactory" costing as much as $5 billion to manufacture more lithium-ion cells than any other plant in the world. DON'T MISS: Tesla's...
John Voelcker -
Electric-Car Sales Surge In South Korea, Supported By Subsidies
Sales of plug-in electric cars are very regional right now, globally as well as within the United States. Norway, for instance, has seen electric-car sales soar because it offers financial incentives and other benefits that aren't available to drivers of vehicles with combustion engines. Now we can...
John Voelcker -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In March: Nissan Leaf Has Best March Ever
March was another good month for U.S. sales of the Nissan Leaf, the best-selling electric car in the world. In fact, March was a good month for several plug-in electric cars, with monthly sales up for many models, and new monthly records for a few. Roughly 9,000 electric cars were sold in March...
John Voelcker -
Massachusetts is the latest state to incentivize electric-car purchases.
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Volkswagen e-Up: Driving VW's Smallest Electric Car (Forbidden Fruit)
Of the three plug-in VW cars we drove in Berlin this month, the one we liked best is the one we won't get in North America. The Volkswagen e-Up battery-electric minicar is a blast. It's small, rollerskate-agile, and performs well enough that it would be our preferred vehicle in any crowded city...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S To Get Titanium Battery Shield, Plus Deflectors: BREAKING
Tesla Motors announced this morning that it will fit three new underbody components to all Model S electric cars to add further protection against impacts from road debris, which caused a pair of fires in its cars last fall. Those two Model S cars were severely damaged when their battery packs...
John Voelcker -
Life With Tesla Model S: UPDATE On Pedal Placement Problem
Two days ago, I described in this article a frightening incident in my Tesla Model S. Approaching a downhill intersection, I inadvertently stepped on both the brake and accelerator pedals simultaneously. The car barely slowed, and it appeared I was headed for a collision with another car...
David Noland -
Compliance Car Update: Which Electric Cars Are Loss Leaders?
The Fiat 500e is perhaps the most critically lauded new all-electric vehicle that arrived in 2013. It's received rave reviews from unlikely sources, like buff-book magazines—even from Consumer Reports. There's reportedly been a long waiting list for these cars, with a $199/month lease deal...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nissan Leaf Owners Answer Common Electric-Car Questions
Nissan is letting Leaf owners demystify the electric car for potential customers.
Stephen Edelstein -
The 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf is the German maker's first production electric car to be offered for sale in the U.S. On sale late this year, it adds a plug-in electric powertrain option to the all-new seventh generation of the classic Golf five-door hatchback, now celebrating its 40th birthday. While the new Golf has been on sale in Europe since late 2012, it will arrive in the U.S. market this summer. Pilot production of cars for North America began earlier this year at the company's facility in Puebla, Mexico. ALSO SEE: How Lithium-Ion Batteries Age: Scientists Offer Insight Unlike the...
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Will National Parks Become A Black Hole For Electric-Car Visitors?
National Parks problem....black holes for our increasing electric vehicle tourists
George Parrott -
'Quietest, Slowest' Comparison Ever: 6 Electric Cars Tested By Car And Driver
Oh, to have the resources available to Car and Driver, which published in its March issue a lengthy comparison test among six battery-electric cars. They are the Chevrolet Spark EV, Fiat 500e, Ford Focus Electric, Honda Fit EV, Nissan Leaf, and Smart Electric Drive Cabrio. MORE: Electric Cars'...
John Voelcker -
Life With Tesla Model S: One Year And 15,000 Miles Later
Well, it's now been a year since I took delivery of my dark green 2013 Tesla Model S with the 60-kilowatt-hour battery. After almost four years of waiting, those first days after delivery were euphoric. As I recall, the words "greatest freaking car in the entire freaking Universe" (or thereabouts)...
David Noland -
2015 Kia Soul EV: 'Recharge Your Soul' Video Kicks Off Marketing
The first 2015 Kia Soul EV electric cars won't reach U.S. dealers until sometime between July and September, and then only in selected regions (for which read "California"). But the company has already started some lowkey marketing, with yesterday's release of a YouTube video titled, "Recharge Your...
John Voelcker -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales For Feb: Leaf Up, Volt Down (Tesla Unknown As Usual)--FINAL UPDATE
Analysts worried that winter weather would put a crimp in U.S. new-car sales last month, but one electric car racked up record February sales: the Nissan Leaf. Leaf sales of 1,425 cars in February were a record for the month, more than double the 2013 total of 653 February sales (the numbers for...
John Voelcker