Electric Cars

  • GE WattStation Electric Car Charging Station

    For now, the electric-car purchase Federal income-tax credit remains safe. As we've written before, though, December 31 is the last day in which you can install an electric-car charging station and be able to deduct some of the costs from your income taxes. That credit allowed private individuals to take a credit for up to 30 percent of the cost of installing an electric-car charging station in their home on their income tax return. The maximum allowed credit was $1,000. Two other less-used credits expire on the 31st as well. One is for purchase of a two- or three-wheeled electric vehicle...

  • Dignitaries at Electric Highway charging station site in Bellingham, WA; photo: Washington State DoT
    First Fast-Charging Station On West Coast Electric Highway: Work Starts

    While dreams of a "Hydrogen Highway" along the West Coast have languished, the states of Washington and Oregon are moving ahead on plans to make Interstate-5 the first "electric highway" in the nation. Yesterday, a small ground-breaking ceremony took place in the Sehome Village Shopping Center in...

  • BYD e6 electric taxi in service in Shenzhen, China
    Can China's Power Industry Raise Interest In Electric Cars?

    China's car market is one of the fastest-growing in the world, and the implications of that are huge for the car industry. They're huge for the environment too. With the sort of air quality that Los Angeles was experiencing back in the 1970s, cities like Beijing are keen to get people into...

  • Andros Trophy Electric Class
    Silent Sliding: Electric Andros Cars Race Sideways On Snow

    Who said electric cars don't make sense in cold, snowy conditions? Certainly not some of the top racing drivers competing in the electric class of the Andros Trophy, an ice racing series that appeared in 1990 and has gone from strength to strength ever since. The races take place on dedicated ice...

  • Black Current III Electric VW Dragster
    Electric Drag Racing Now Embraced By The IHRA

    The International Hot Rod Association has joined the National Hot Rod Association in recognizing electric drag racing as a sport.

  • 2011 Tesla Roadster Final Edition, photograph copyright Damon Lavrinc / AOL
    Last Tesla Roadster Built By Lotus, All Eyes Toward Model S

    All good things must come to an end, and it's the same with the first modern electric car, the already legendary Tesla Roadster. It's long been known that Lotus Cars would build only 2,600 Roadster "gliders" for California-based Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. The company then installs the lithium-ion...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf - battery pack

    When we wrote last year about the 2011 Nissan Leaf being waterboarded for your safety, little did we know an even sterner test was about to challenge the safety of Nissan's electric car. The devastating and tragic results of the March tsunami shook Japan to the core, and resulted in the country's industry grinding to a halt while people picked up the pieces, metaphorically and literally. Nissan stopped production of the Leaf momentarily, but has now gained an unusual insight into the car's durability. The New York Times reports that Nissan recovered around two dozen of them from the wreckage...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma EcoSport
    Volt-Style Battery Nightmare Before Christmas Haunts Fisker

    What holiday gift do you give Fisker Automotive, the company responsible for the world’s first plug-in hybrid sports coupe? A Matchbox 2012 Fisker Karma perhaps? But a public suggestion that the battery packs inside the $106,000+ Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid are at risk of a coolant...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt drive test, March 2011
    If You Want To Attack The Volt, Try To Get Your Math Right

    Few things seem to set off a certain part of the political spectrum like the Chevrolet Volt, the extended-range electric car from General Motors. It's been on sale exactly one year, so we think it's rather too early to deem the Volt a success or a failure, though that hasn't stopped its critics...

  • Via eREV range-extended electric pickup
    Via Motors 100 MPG Electric Pickup Launching At Detroit

    So far, the range of electric vehicles offered for general sale has been fairly limited - most carmakers have been selling their technology in standard family cars, or city cars. In terms of efficiency, those vehicles are actually relatively good. Why not try and make improvements in the generally...

  • GE WattStation Electric Car Charging Station
    Plan To Buy An Electric-Car Charging Station? Home Depot Has Five

    No, this isn't a paid ad. With roughly 17,000 plug-in electric cars sold in the U.S. this year, and likely a multiple of that number next year, many owners will be installing charging stations in their garages. Not all plug-in cars will need a 240-Volt Level 2 charging station, mind you. It all...

  • Kia Ray EV electric car
    Forbidden Fruit: Kia Ray Electric Car Not Due In U.S.

    Kia might be a car company growing in quality and reputation in North America, but it seems we aren't in line for every vehicle the company produces. While the U.S. is one of the strongest markets for electric cars, Kia's new Ray EV won't be hitting American shores, according to USA Today. Instead...

  • Carwings Shows An Almost-Empty Nissan Leaf

    Just before Nissan officially launched the all-electric Leaf hatchback, it came out with a dizzying list of simulated range predictions based on all kinds of road and weather conditions. According to Nissan’s own computer-simulated calculations, the car’s 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack could propel the car up to 138 miles in optimum conditions, or under 62 miles in worse-case scenarios. In the spirit of true investigative journalism, we decided to test winter range for ourselves, with a long evening rush-hour commute on a dreary December day. Our car for the test was a 2011...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf at quick-charging station
    Top Five Green-Car Stories Of 2011: MPGs, Electric Cars, And More

    Yep, it's almost the end of the year, which means reams of roundup stories from all your favorite auto websites. Nope, we're not that different: We've got one too. Here's our take on the five most important stories--or perhaps themes--of 2011 in the growing world of green cars. New fuel economy...

  • Amp Electric Jeep Grand Cherokee
    AMP To Bring All-Electric Jeep Grand Cherokee To Detroit

    The venerable Jeep Grand Cherokee, one of the longest-running SUV brands on the market, will be coming to the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as an all-electric car. But it isn’t heading to Detroit as an official release on the Chrysler stand. Instead, it will be there...

  • Mitsubishi i takes on Indy 500
    2012 Mitsubishi i Takes On Indy 500 To Prove Itself (Video)

    Think of the 500-mile iconic race that is the Indy 500, and you probably think of highly-tuned, high horsepower single-seat race cars battling it out for first place what some call The Greatest Spectacle In Racing. But back in October, five-times Indy 500 competitor Roger Yasakawa took to the...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt
    Matt Drudge's Idiotic, Uninformed War Against The Chevy Volt

    Recently named by Gizmodo as the second most viral person on the Internet (ahead of Ashton Kutcher!), Matt Drudge is the go-to guy for headlines guaranteed to feed red meat to the right-hand side of the U.S. political spectrum. And he hates electric cars. Boy, does that man hate anything with a...

  • Polar Charging Post and Nissan Leaf
    Polar CEO: Electric Car Owners Are Rich, Can Pay To Charge

    Remember Polar Network, the U.K.-based charging network that costs electric car owners upwards of $30 a month to gain access to charging points? Previously, Polar’s sales director Neil Sharpe said that its level 2 charging stations were not designed to help electric car owners travel long...

  • 2012 smart fortwo electric drive, 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show

    Earlier this year Daimler unveiled the third generation Smart Fortwo Electric Drive at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. Offering much improved acceleration, range and charging capabilities on the previous generation Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, it has the potential to be the first truly highway-capable all-electric Smart we’ve seen. In September, Smart’s sister company Daimler said the car would be available in 30 worldwide markets by spring 2012. Now that date has been pulled back to September 2012. Talking to Automotive News, a Daimler official confirmed the change of launch date...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    2012 Tesla Model S Prices, Options, Specifications Released

    The car won't reach Tesla Stores until at least next fall, but Tesla Motors has just released pricing and options for the various trim levels and models of its 2012 Model S all-electric sport sedan. Unlike various other plug-in cars, the base prices of the 2012 Tesla Model S have not risen. They...

  • Santa In A Tesla Roadster
    Santa Wants You To Drive A Tesla Roadster This Christmas

    Still looking for a holiday gift for an electric car enthusiast who hasn’t yet experienced the sheer thrill of an accelerating electric sports car? If you live in Northern California, we might just have a last minute gift idea for you: a day’s rental of a 2010 super sexy red Tesla...

  • Mitsubishi i Delivery in Hawaii
    2012 Mitsubishi i Deliveries Have Started: Have You Seen One Yet?

    Look back a year, and you’ll probably remember the hype surrounding the first 2011 Nissan Leafs and 2011 Chevrolet Volts to be delivered to retail customers in the U.S. For the 350 or so lucky Volt and 10 Leaf owners, it meant they were among the pioneers: the first people to own one of a new...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma, offered for sale on eBay, December 2011
    2012 Fisker Karma In 3 Days? eBay Seller Wants It Gone--For Charity

    Just can't wait for a 2012 Fisker Karma, the first examples of which are now finally arriving at dealers? Well, you can always turn to eBay, that massive online repository for all things of all kinds. The auction site currently carries a listing for a 2012 Fisker Karma, one of two the seller says...

  • 2001 Hummer H1 Four-door Hardtop
    Plug-in Army Tanks? Coming To A Battlefield Near You

    Think of plug-in hybrids and you’ll probably think of cars like the 2012 Chevrolet Volt or 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid. But plug-in hybrid army tanks? They might just be closer than you think. Enter the U.S. Army, and its latest prototype test vehicle, a fully-amored plug-in vehicle...

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