Electric Cars
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If you've got a brand new 2012 Tesla Model S sitting in your garage--or you're soon to have one delivered--then life is probably pretty sweet right now. Not that it can't be improved, of course. Drivers of Model S cars in Signature trim, denoting the first models delivered, also get a year's worth of mobile data at no extra cost, says Tesla (via Engadget). When your car has a massive, 17-inch internet-connected touchscreen dominating the center console, that's pretty useful. Those first owners won't have to pay a penny to use the screen's Google maps facility, nor listen to music via the...
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Driving An Electric Car? You'll See So Much More Stuff!
If you were to pick a vehicle in which to do a road trip, an electric car may not be your first choice. Particularly one as small as the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive. For some, the frequent stops to recharge would get tiring, and the ForTwo isn't a natural highway car even when burning...
Antony Ingram -
5 Places You Wouldn’t Expect To Find An Electric Car Charging Station
As all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars become more popular, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of public charging stations being installed in grocery store lots, shopping malls and corporate parking garages. Locations like these are undoubtedly the most common places you’ll find a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Forget Smart Cards: This Electric Car Charging Station Is Coin-Operated
Ask any electric car owner to tell you about public charging stations, and they’ll likely show you the wallet full of smart cards and RFID tags. That’s because most electric car charging stations, with a few exceptions, only give access to pre-registered members. But what if you could...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BMW Launches ActiveE DriveNow Electric Car Sharing In San Francisco
We quite like the BMW ActiveE. It's a good-looking, comfortable, quick electric car, and its existence will help develop BMW's first true electric production car, the 2014 BMW i3. Now, thanks to BMW's car sharing service DriveNow, residents in San Francisco will also get to enjoy the ActiveE's...
Antony Ingram -
When Do Electric Cars Really Charge? All At The Same Time
If you’re not an electric car driver, the chances are that how and when electric cars recharge is one of the lesser mysteries of the universe. After all, if every electric car in town charged at the same time, wouldn’t it bring down the electrical grid? The answer, at least for now, is...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Like early-adopters of any new technology, the first owners of electric cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Chevrolet Volt have already proven that they like to hack their plug-in cars to improve features, charging times and even performance. The latest leafhack, from plug-in hybrid battery specialists Enginer, aims to increase the range of the 2011 and 2012 Nissan Leafs by installing a supplemental lithium-ion battery in the bottom of the trunk. But with the 2013 Nissan Leaf rumored to have better range and winter performance, what’s the real cost of hacking your Leaf in this way...
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The Joy Of Daily Driving A Gas-Sipper
One of the great things about living in a free country is having the luxury of a choice of products and services. We may not always agree with someone's choice of car, but at the end of the day it's easy to appreciate their freedom to choose it. So when our friends at Jalopnik write about the joy...
Antony Ingram -
How Toyota Made The 2012 RAV4 EV More Aerodynamic
As most electric car fans will tell you, it’s much easier for automakers to build an all-electric car from scratch than it is to repurpose an existing gasoline model with an electric drivetrain. In the case of Toyota’s RAV4EV however, the Japanese automaker, with help from Californian...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Tesla Model S Update: 100 Built, 74 For Delivery
Tesla Motors may have been initially cagey about its production figures while the first few cars were being delivered, but as production gathers pace the company is revealing more details on Model S deliveries. In one of his regular Inside Tesla features on the Tesla Blog, Tesla vice president of...
Antony Ingram -
Chevy Volt (Opel Ampera) Ad Banned In U.K. On Range Claims
Since the Chevrolet Volt first launched in the U.S., we’ve seen a variety of quirky, funny, and downright weird ads designed to get people driving General Motors’ first plug-in hybrid. But over in Europe, where the Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera -- its European sibling -- are...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Fisker Karma: No. 2 Best Selling 4-Door Luxury Car In Netherlands, But...
After a week involving fires, financial woes and recalls, it looks like things may be looking up for Fisker Automotive: its 2012 Karma plug-in hybrid is the second best-selling 4-door luxury car in the Netherlands. As PlugInCars reports, Fisker’s founder Henrik Fisker is ecstatic. “How...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Last week, President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that would allow the installation of electric-car charging stations in U.S. Capitol parking garages. That got us to wondering, how many U.S. Senators and Representatives actually drive plug-in cars? With the help of Juan Barnett, aka DCAutoGeek, and the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), so far we've identified three. And, perhaps bucking stereotypes, they're not all Democrats either. Here's our list: Senator Lamar Alexander [R-TN] Alexander has driven a 2011 Nissan Leaf since just a couple of months after the first...
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2013 Chevy Volt, OnStar, Is Smart-Grid Ready: The Utilities Aren’t
Imagine a future where plug-in cars not only know when the cheapest time to charge is, but also work in concert with utility companies to recharge when it is greenest or when grid power demand is the lowest. For years, automakers, charging station manufacturers, utility companies and even the U.S...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Electric Aircraft Has Unlimited Range... With A Fleet Of Recharging Planes
It's okay, you've not clicked on "Green Plane Reports", but every so often something from beyond the world of cars catches our attention. This time, it's electric flight. The concept is nothing new, and it's even been alluded to by people like Elon Musk of Tesla, but for the time being it remains a...
Antony Ingram -
Electric-Car Charging In The Heart Of New York: How Easy?
Our recent test of a 2012 Mitsubishi 'i' electric minicar was actually the first time we've tested a pure battery electric car in New York City. While the relatively short distances covered in NYC would seem well suited to plug-in cars, there's the big issue of recharging. With most residents not...
John Voelcker -
Fisker Surf, Sunset On Back Burner; Atlantic Is Top Priority
With a cause swiftly identified for a recent fire, 1,000 sales out of about 2,000 cars built , and promising European volume, Fisker has come through some rough water lately. Now, the company can focus on its next cars: the Surf shooting brake and Sunset retractable hardtop coupe derivatives of its...
John Voelcker -
CA’s Green HOV-Lane Access: Off To A Slow Start?
Earlier this year, the State of California launched a new, green HOV-lane sticker, letting qualifying plug-in hybrids drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, even if there is only a single occupant in the car. According to California's North County Times however, fewer than 4,000 stickers...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
We liked the 2012 Mitsubishi i electric minicar we drove last week rather more than we expected. Its main handicap, even in city usage, is its low electric range. We didn't test the car to its limits, and indeed the range indicator may be slightly pessimistic (much safer than being optimistic, needless to say). But in 90-degree weather, the little purple car soaked up sun to the point that air conditioning was a necessity. That turned it into an electric car with only 40 miles of range (even on the lowest setting)--and without a gasoline-powered range-extending generator, as found on the...
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Could 2013 Nissan Leaf Use Renault Zoe’s Heat Pump For Cold Weather?
If you drive a 2011-12 Nissan Leaf, you’ll know that keeping your car warm in winter can drop its range by as many as 30 miles, due to the inefficiency of the its coolant-to-air heater. Starting with the 2013 Leaf, Nissan has already promised a much more efficient heater that will better the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Last Few Think City Electric Cars Being Finished in Indiana
Perenially struggling electric automaker Think is once again seeing out another unsuccessful chapter in its life as the final few cars are completed at its Indiana plant. Originally formed in Norway in 1991, Think has been around longer than several other dedicated electric car companies--but it's...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Tesla Model S: Electric Luxury Sedan Ultimate Guide
Finally, after several years of teaser images, videos, clips, auto show appearances and more, there are finally production examples of the 2012 Tesla Model S driving around on the streets Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has been working tirelessly to put the Model S on the market, and CEO Elon Musk even...
Antony Ingram -
Will Chevy Volt Sales Hit 40,000 This Year (Ampera Included)?
After being flayed for not achieving its 2011 sales goal for the Chevy Volt, you might think General Motors would shy away from further volume predictions for its innovative range-extended electric car. Not so. CEO Dan Akerson said in late June that the company thought it would sell 35,000 to...
John Voelcker -
Fisker Karma Fire Due To Faulty Cooling Fan, Recall Underway, Factory Says
Well, that was quick. On Saturday, just eight days after a fire badly damaged a 2012 Fisker Karma, the company has completed its forensic investigation, announced the cause, and started a recall for the part in question. Fisker concluded that the fire was caused by an internal fault in a sealed...
John Voelcker