Electric Cars

The low sales of the Nissan Leaf electric car have been much discussed in the media--just as those of the Chevy Volt were until it began to log respectable sales numbers over the last few months. Nissan is now completing its switch from centralized online reservations for the car to treating it...

Most brand-new auto technologies are, at best, a breakeven proposition in their early years. Toyota is thought to have lost money on every Prius hybrid it sold for several years, until its sales rose enough to gain economies of scale. Makers of plug-in electric cars may be losing money on each one...

If you were hoping to get your name down for one of the exclusive 2013 Tesla Model S Signature Editions, you've now left it a little too late. According to Tesla, the company has sold every one of the initial run of cars, all of which are packed to the roof with equipment, use the larger 85 kWh...

At the moment, plug-in electric car sales are chugging along between 3,000 and 4,000 a month. So with the upcoming 2012 Tesla Model S added to the mix, it seems likely that 30,000 to 50,000 electrics will be sold in the U.S. this year--more than double last year's sales. But lately, the auto press...

There are some who might say the Nissan Leaf is a bit of a car for wimps. A hippy car. Or even a car for those who don't really think we should be driving cars at all. Tell that to the guys who take their Leafs to autocross events--and even beat those racing on internal combustion. Of course, the...

Audi has demonstrated a vote of little confidence in electric cars by revealing it has canceled plans to produce the all-electric Audi A2, and the range-extended A1 e-tron. CAR cites Audi's concerns that the projected 40,000 Euro price tag--just under $50,000--would make the project unviable for...

We've all heard the stories about how electric cars were set to take over at the turn of the last century (before ironically being killed by the electric starter motor), and at least once over the last four decades too. Now they're really here, and the fact that many major manufacturers are now...

Hope springs eternal, as Alexander Pope notably said, and so it is in the world of plug-in hybrid vehicles. A new British partnership has unveiled two drivable prototypes of a lightweight plug-in electric urban delivery van with a small diesel range extender. The two companies, Intelligent Energy...

Electric motorcycles have already proven they’re great for inner-city commutes, dirt-track fun and even drag strip racing, but now Oregon-based Brammo Motorcycles adds something very important to that list: taking a pillion passenger. In the highly-polished ad for its new 2012 Brammo Empulse...

The May sales figures for plug-in electric cars continued steady, with the Chevrolet Volt leading the pack at 1,680 deliveries--15 percent up on the April figure of 1,462, but below its all-time March high of 2,289. The Nissan Leaf logged sales of just 510 units in May, barely starting a recovery...

When it comes to learning stuff, most kids look towards older siblings, parents and teachers to find out how to do something. But a 13-year old car expert in Ontario, Canada is so enthusiastic and knowledgable about cars that he’s helping his local Chevrolet dealership train its staff to be...

Like it or not, range anxiety is a real phenomenon that affects a high proportion of first-time electric car drivers, especially when driving unknown routes. But a website we’ve recently discovered -- that has been in development for several years -- helps electric car drivers better predict...

After the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi have all been working on technology designed to let electric cars provide emergency backup power. So far, we’ve seen a range of applications for backup electric car...

Less than 30 days hence, the first 2012 Tesla Model S sedans will be delivered to paying customers. Now, one Model S buyer who holds a low reservation number for the all-electric luxury car is using it as a lure to sell a million-dollar home in an upscale Illinois suburb. Not only has the home...

Three weeks ago, we listed five upcoming electric cars that we felt were strictly "compliance cars"--or vehicles carmakers offer not because they want to, but because they must do so to comply with California zero-emission vehicle rules. Now Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has admitted that his...

We've been closely following the progress of Gordon Murray's T25 and T27 minicars for some time now, and like many green vehicles of recent years, they've often seemed so near and yet so far away. However, unlike some of the more recent startups, Gordon Murray has been keeping his cards close to...

It's been just over a week since I picked up my all-electric Renault Fluence ZE--one of 110 Better Place customers to do so during May, according to the company. I've now put on 430 all-electric miles in nine days of driving. I've charged the car predominantly at home, with a couple of extra...

Ever since a battery pack from a 2012 Chevrolet Volt caught fire weeks after it was subjected to tough National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tests in a laboratory, critics of General Motor’s plug-in hybrid have been quick to question its safety credentials. But after a Toyota Camry...

New York or San Francisco? Bagels or Sourdough? East or West? If you’re from the east or west coasts of the U.S., you’ll know that there’s a (mainly) friendly rivalry between the two when it comes to culture, food, sports and even politics. Now we can add electric cars to the...

There's lot of discussion about how the value of electric cars will hold up over time, depending on how long their expensive lithium-ion battery packs last and how quickly they may lose capacity. But now the folks who estimate used-car prices for a living, the NADA Guide, have weighed in with their...