Electric Cars
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It isn’t a good time to be Nissan right now. For a start, its first all-electric car, the 2012 Leaf, is suffering from poor sales. Then there’s the matter of Leafs in hot states like Arizona exhibiting premature battery capacity loss to attend to. Then, over the weekend, more bad news came Nissan’s way: that the Leaf’s onboard charger was to blame for damage some Leafs sustained while plugged into GE’s WattStation. First reported two weeks ago, several Leaf owners had reported that their all-electric Leafs had sustained damage while charging at at number of level...
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Tesla Dodges Traditional Dealerships—And Questions Remain
Tesla Motors [NSDW: TSLA], by nearly all accounts, is an automaker that’s doing things differently. It’s based in Silicon Valley, not Detroit. And it’s transitioning from making a very modest number of Tesla Roadster models to, it plans, tens of thousands of all-electric Model S...
Bengt Halvorson -
How Many Miles Are Enough To Kill Electric-Car Range Anxiety?
Range anxiety, or the fear that an electric car will run out of charge before you reach your destination. is a real and present fear for many first-time electric car drivers and buyers. Even though research clearly shows that present electric cars can satisfy the requirements of 95 percent of all...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Electric Car Industry Sums Up Progress, Challenges At Plug-In 2012
It’s been about 18 months since plug-in electric cars went on sale in the U.S., and you might say the industry is in something of a sophomore slump. Sales of plug-ins, while higher than those of hybrids at the same stage of their launch, haven’t met the optimistic projections tossed...
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevrolet Volt: Most Loved Compact Car, Most Satisfied Drivers
According to a recent, very peppy General Motors ad campaign, many Chevrolet Volt owners are brimming with enthusiasm about their plug-in hybrid. Then again, having Chevy Volt owners evangelize about their cars in an ad designed to sell the plug-in hybrid is hardly a fair yardstick to gauge how...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Five Electric Supercars We Want In Our Garage
For some, cars are much more than merely a method of transport. Much of the stereotypical gearhead backlash against electric and hybrid vehicles is to do with the perception that the vehicles are transportation for tree huggers, hippies and people who believe that people shouldn't have fun. It's...
Antony Ingram -
If you examine the demographics of the ‘average’ electric car buyer, you’re likely to find out that they are educated to at least college level, drive less than 50 miles per day, and have a household income of at least $125,000 a year. The mean age of an electric car buyer? Just 45 years. But one couple in Carroll County, Virginia, has proven that you’re never too old to make the switch from gasoline to electric. Enter 101-year old Edward Heine and his 85-year old wife Hya, who have just traded in their Jaguar for a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. According to the Carroll County...
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Tesla Buoyant After 2012 Model S Launch, Despite Losses
After nothing to sell for nearly six months, an age of anticipation, media hype and short, chaperoned rides, Tesla began official deliveries of its all-electric 2012 Model S sedan just over a month ago. So its hardly surprising that the fledgling car company has just posted net losses of $105.6...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Volkswagen Golf Blue-e-motion: Prototype Drive Report (Video)
Driving pre-production prototypes of new electric cars is part of life here at GreenCarReports, as it enables us to give you the best possible evaluation of an up-coming new car before it hits the dealer lots. Recently however, we got a chance to sit behind the wheel again of the Volkswagen Golf...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Mitsubishi i Gets 'Making Of' Program On Discovery Channel
There's something fascinating about "how it's made"-style programs. Even the most mundane items can seem interesting as they whirr down a production line gaining attributes as they go. When the object is already interesting, like an electric car, that's even more reason to watch. To that end, keep...
Antony Ingram -
BMW Invests In ChargePoint To Improve Global Charging Network
BMW has announced a strategic investment in Coulomb Technologies, the company behind the ChargePoint charging network. ChargePoint is the largest online global charging network, operating in 14 countries. The online network allows users to coordinate their charging via the cloud, with online...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Responds To Wilting Arizonan Leafs, Studies Lost Battery Capacity
When a potential engineering or safety problem with a new or nearly-new car arises, the task of reassuring concerned owners normally falls to the relevant press departments and middle-management. But growing public concern about the rapid battery capacity loss exhibited by some Nissan Leafs in...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Deliveries for the 2012 Tesla Model S have started, and in case you missed editor John Voelcker's first drive of the Model S this past week, one point of note was how calm and quiet the cabin remains even when accelerating. That said, while we've spent more time sitting in the Model S than driving it, we haven't yet spent much time using its sound system. In addition to the Slacker Personal Radio features that already come in the Model S, there's now another way to be informed or entertained. With TuneIn services, song and track information for streaming radio stations are fully integrated...
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2013 Chevrolet Volt: Already At Dealers (If You’re Lucky)
Sometimes, automakers mark the switch between one model year and the next with some pomp and ceremony, especially if the new model year is significantly better than the outgoing one. Despite the 2013 Chevrolet Volt getting an improved all-electric range, better EPA rating and the addition of a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Honda Fit EV: Video From First Drive Of All-Electric Car
Yesterday, Honda delivered its first Fit EV electric car to private buyers--or, more accurately, private lease customers, since the car isn't available for outright sale. Only 1,100 lucky lessors in a small handful of states will ever get behind the wheel of a 2013 Honda Fit EV, because for Honda...
John Voelcker -
Does Your Utility Offer Electric Car Rates? Only 6 Percent Do
Compared with gasoline cars, electric cars are cheap to refuel, especially when charged at night using specialist electric car rates. Designed to encourage the charging of electric vehicles at night time when grid demand is naturally lower, electric car rates are substantially cheaper per...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Audi Shows Getting Ready For An Electric Car Is Pretty Simple (Usually)
Although Audi has no production plans as yet for its A3 e-tron electric car, the automaker is still working hard to promote electric cars through its small A3 e-tron test fleet. Last month, Audi released a video in which we met some of its e-Pilots: the lucky few Audi employees chosen to put the A3...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Ford C-Max Energi Priced at $33,745, Cheaper Than Prius Plug-In
It’s official: not only does the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-in hybrid travel further in all-electric mode than the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid, but it will cost less too. As Ford detailed last night, its first plug-in hybrid will retail for $33,750, has a combined gasoline + electric...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
If there's one thing to be said for the relatively steady uptake on electric cars, it's that there's a friendly, tight-knit community of electric car owners ever-ready to hand out advice. Whatever you want to know about owning or driving an EV, it's never difficult to find someone who can help out. This even goes as far as charging, and Seattle-based Nissan Leaf owner Brad Gibson has made a handy video on easy quick-charger use. Brad notes that it's not unknown for electric car drivers to find a quick charger has been damaged, perhaps through improper use, and his video provides some simple...
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2013 Nissan Leaf: What Would You Change?
The Nissan Leaf may have gone on sale in December 2010, but later this year, production of Nissan’s all-electric hatchback will start for the first time in Smyrna, Tennessee. We’ve been looking forward to the 2013 Nissan Leaf for some time, with hints from Nissan that...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Tesla Model S: Seven Little Things A Buyer Doesn't Like
Let's make one thing clear right up front: I think the 2012 Tesla Model S is the coolest freaking car in the history of Western Civilization. I put down my $5,000 deposit more than two years ago. I've chugged the Tesla Kool-Aid, extra-large size. But after a 7-minute spin in a dark green Model S...
David Noland -
Honda Delivers First Privately-Leased 2013 Fit EV
Honda delivered its first coporately-leased all-electric Fit EV back in December 2010 to the city of Torrence, California, one month after announcing it at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. Since then, Honda has continued deliveries of its Fit EV to fleet customers, but at the start of last week...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Gets 4-Star NHTSA Safety Rating
A few months after going on sale, the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid has been given an official crash-test rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Unlike the 5-star rated, five-door Prius liftback it is based on however, the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid only...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tesla Opens Portland Store, Passes A Million Visitors So Far In 2012
By the sales numbers—even if you consider the 20,000 Model S sedans (which Green Car Reports drove this week, with a first drive review and video post) the company hopes to sell annually—Tesla Motors [NSDQ: TSLA] is a small niche automaker. But based on what the upstart electric...
Bengt Halvorson