Electric Cars

Last year, U.S. car buyers drove home in roughly 17,000 plug-in cars, the bulk of them Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts. As several more plug-in cars enter the market this year, analysts will watch sales carefully to see whether retail and fleet buyers are willing to pay the significant surcharge...

At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Land Rover unveiled its first ever plug-in hybrid concept vehicle, the Land Rover Range_e Diesel Plug-in Hybrid. Then in October last year -- purely by chance -- we bumped into one of Land Rover’s five engineering test Range_e prototypes in a shopping mall...

Last week we told you that the 2011 sequel to Who Killed The Electric Car? -- Revenge Of The Electric Car -- had finally been released on DVD. At the time, we pointed out that the film would also be available on select cable TV on-demand services, but neglected to point out that it was also...

Japanese automaker Toyota has fired a warning shot across General Motors’ bow today with a revised set of gas mileage figures for the soon-to-be-launched 2012 Prius Plug-in Hybrid. Announced by Toyota Division Group Vice President and General Manager Bob Carter, official economy figures in...

Depending on which websites you visit and which news channels you watch, electric cars are either portrayed as the poster children of green revolution, or an example of catastrophic government failure. But while it’s relatively easy to find examples of extreme pro- and anti-electric car...

In case you hadn’t heard, smartphone apps are the number one accessory for any plug-in car owner. In fact, nearly every mainstream electric car on the market today has its own dedicated iOS, Android and Windows Mobile applications, designed to help you monitor your car’s charge level...

You may recall that a few years ago, there was a flurry of interest in compressed-air cars. In the end, it didn't pan out. Compressed air just isn't a dense enough form of energy storage to make it practical for vehicle use--even in very lightweight cars--and no such passenger car is sold anywhere...

Ask any automaker, and they'll tell you they believe most early electric cars will be charged at night, in garages attached to private houses. That would seem to cut out residents of multiple dwellings, from rental apartments to condominium complexes. But electric car owners are resourceful;...

Normally, automakers unveil their latest model in one of two ways: on the main stage of an big automotive show, or at an exclusive, invite-only evening event. Tesla, in keeping with the method preferred by most boutique and luxury automakers, tends to unveil its cars to exclusive audiences at a...

A few weeks ago, we told you that all new 2012 Chevrolet Volts manufactured after February 8 and destined for Californian dealers will feature a redesigned exhaust system that will enable them to qualify as Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emissions Vehicles (e-AT-PZEVs). As a consequence...

Last week, lithium-ion battery specialists Ener1 made an official filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Another firm to take advantage of U.S. Department of Energy loans -- an estimated $55 million to date -- Ener1’s bankruptcy has already become the latest pawn in the (mainly Republican) battle...

Earlier this month at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, Californian startup Coda Automotive promised that it would begin sales of its first car -- the all-electric 2012 Coda Sedan -- in February. However, with just a week to go before the end of January and very little news to go on about the impending...

California has long been at the forefront of developing rules to reduce automotive pollution levels, but a vote held yesterday could prove to be a landmark for green cars. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been voting on regulations requiring 15 percent of new cars sold in the state by...

When Smart launched its ForTwo over a decade ago in Europe, the company heavily played the car's ability to park nose-on to a curb, thanks to its short length. Parking a Smart is hardly difficult anyway, but in crowded cities like Paris, Rome or Madrid, every inch helps. Still, that perpendicular...

One day after General Motors CEO Dan Akerson fended off occasionally fact-free Congressional attacks on the Chevrolet Volt and its safety, it has doubled-down on promoting the Volt with a TV ad buy featuring well-known TV and movie star Tim Allen. The ad, which shows the Volt assembly line snaking...

The state of Kansas is famous for a lot of things, from its wild sunflowers and large wheat-fields through to its miles and miles of straight roads, an incredibly flat landscape, and a certain 1939 musical about a little girl, a tornado, and her dog. This week however, Kansas became one of the...

Technology market research firm Gartner announced yesterday that it forecasts plug-in car sales in the U.S. will top 100,000 vehicles during 2012. But with 2011 sales figures much totaling just over 17,000 fully electric and plug-in hybrids, is it conceivable that total plug-in car sales will more...

At the end of 2011, Tesla released its final specification, options and price list for the 2012 Model S sedan. Depending on the choice of battery pack, the 2012 Tesla Model S should travel 160, 230, or 300 miles per charge. For Tesla Model S owners who have purchased cars with the 230 or 300-mile...

Electric car battery swapping stations became reality yesterday as Better Place started delivering all-electric Renault Fluence Z.E. cars to customers in Israel. Unlike regular electric cars, Renault was commissioned to build the Fluence Z.E. with a battery pack that could be removed by automated...

Think about the names given to electric cars and electric motorcycles on the market today. Most, if not all, are a play on the concept of all-electric, zero tailpipe emissions travel. So when we heard about a team of engineers in Henderson, Nevada who were developing a new electric motorcycle...