Electric Cars
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Solid state batteries could be seen as everything we're looking for from an electric car battery, improving on all the fundamental characteristics needed for electric mobility. Unfortunately, we probably won't be seeing them any time soon. The latest estimations reported by Automotive News (subscription required) are that solid state batteries will replace the current favorite, lithium-ion liquid batteries, between 2020 and 2025. So what is a solid-state battery, and what makes it better? Range, lightness and safety, in short. Energy in a solid state or "thin film" battery is stored, as the...
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Tesla Promotes DOE Loans, Asks For More Money
Electric automaker Tesla Motors posted a blog post on its website earlier this week detailing how the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program had helped it expand and prepare not just one but many electric cars for the market. The blog post was designed...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Chelsea Sexton Meets Pikes Peak Champion, Takes HER For A Spin
Former EV-1 saleswoman, electric-vehicle advocate and electric car celebrity Chelsea Sexton recently learnt that despite what some may say, size isn’t everything. Sexton, who works tirelessly within the auto industry to help electric cars make it to market got a little reward recently for her...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Yes, The 2012 Volt Uses Gasoline (When You Need To Pee)
Remember Apple’s popular Mac Vs PC adverts, in which John Hodgman’s haggard PC was constantly bettered by Justin Long’s smug Mac? After a while, Microsoft -- the firm to which the Get A Mac campaigns were so obviously targeted against -- chose play off Apple’s criticisms and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Brammo Electric Motorcycles Bring Off-Road Playground To The U.S.
Brammo Motorcycles -- the Oregon-based electric motorcycle company -- has concentrated for several years on bringing electric motorcycles to the masses with its Enertia commuter motorcycle and more recently, its Empluse sports bike. But now the company has embraced the high-adrenaline world of dirt...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Can An Electric Car Cut Solar Panel Payback Time? Yes, But...
If you’re a homeowner with a suitable home and enough money to invest in a set of photovoltaic solar panels for your roof, you can easily power your home cheaply and cleanly. But while some states offer Feed In Tariff (FIT) schemes to let you sell back any excess power your solar panels...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Despite wrangling among electric-car fans over whether the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid's 9 to 14 miles of electric range are sufficient, one factor will make the car a success, at least in California: the valued sticker that gives drivers solo access to the HOV lane.
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Electronauts Only Need Apply For 2012 BMW ActiveE Electric Car
Over the years automakers have used a huge array of techniques to entice members of the public to become test drivers in their electric car test programs. Often however, high lease fees combined with the requirement that lesses give back the prototype or limited run electric car at the end of the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
What Part Of 'No' Does Electric-Car Maker Li-Ion Motors Not Get?
A little over a year ago, a relatively unknown electric automaker called Li-Ion Motors Corp. won the $2.5 million Alternative Side-By-Side Class in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize. Since then, Li-Ion Motors has been putting out regular press releases and information about its two...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Woman Buys Two, 2012 Chevy Volts, Gives One Away
When the second ever 2011 Chevrolet Volt made rolled off the production line at General Motor’s Detroit Hamtamck facility last year, it was destined to be auctioned off in order to help raise funds for the public school system in Detroit. In that particular auction, a brand-new Chevrolet Volt...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Electric-Car Owners To Lose If CA Carpool Lanes Get Tolls?
State and local agencies are strapped for cash, and one source of income may be the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on congested freeways. In Southern California, local officials plan to convert "carpool lanes" to toll lanes with variable pricing, allowing drivers to pay up to $10 for the...
John Voelcker -
Coda Secures More Funding, Continues March Towards 2012 Sedan Production
Californian electric automaker Coda Automotive might have recently opened its first showroom and signed a deal to open a final assembly plant in Benicia, California where it plans to install the electric drivetrain in its 2012 Coda Sedans -- but it has only just closed an eight-month funding round...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
A few weeks back we brought you news that a team entered into the famous Cannonball Run, this year held in Ireland, would be doing the trip in a 2011 Nissan Leaf. We missed the end of their journey as the excitement of the Frankfurt Show got in the way, but we're pleased to report the ESB ecars team made it to the finish at Kilkenny with no problems, nestled amongst Ferraris, Corvettes and all manner of other exotica. The route took in more than 600 miles of green Irish countryside and was visited by more than 100,000 spectators. The team's aim was to promote electric car travel in Ireland by...
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Electric Car Charging: Coming To Central Parking Garage Near You
Central Parking, a nationwide parking garage company responsible for 1.1 million parking spots -- and its Tennessee-based subsidiary USA Parking Systems -- will soon host electric car charging facilities at 2,220 of its parking garages. Under an agreement signed earlier this week, the Car Charging...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Gordon Murray Announces New Teewave AR.1 Electric Sports Car
Gordon Murray may need little introduction among gearheads following his work on the McLaren F1 supercar back in the 1990s, but his most recent projects, the T.25 and T.27 minicars, certainly raised a few eyebrows. Sports car fans need not have feared however, as today Gordon Murray Design (GMD)...
Antony Ingram -
GM To Develop Electric Cars In China With SAIC, Longtime Partner
Maybe you can beat 'em and join 'em at the same time? That may be what General Motors is hoping with its announcement this morning that it would develop electric cars with its longtime Chinese partner SAIC. In Shanghai this morning, GM CEO Dan Akerson and SAIC Motor Corp. chairman Hu Maoyuan signed...
John Voelcker -
2013 Fisker Surf Station Wagon: Teaser Video Copies Tesla
In the automotive world nothing puts a new car in the spotlight faster than a well-edited, cleverly produced commercial. So when the Fisker Automotive, the electric automaker known for using a model in swim-suit and high-heels to sell is 2012 Karma Sedan, announced its 2013 Fisker Surf...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Cheapest Electric Car In The U.S.? It Depends How You Ask
So what's the least expensive plug-in car in the U.S.? That ought to be pretty simple to figure out, right? Just compare the base price for every electric car, add in mandatory delivery fees, and see which comes in lowest. Which is why we got confused this morning when we read Toyota's Bob Carter...
John Voelcker -
Put a group of urban planners, architects, and sociologists on a panel to discuss transportation in the cities of the future, and you may find they don’t spend much time talking about cars. Instead, you get statements like, “The megacity of the future desires to be a generous knowledge partner to all elements of the transportation matrix.” OK, then. Tomorrow’s megacities But despite some dense jargon, the Audi Urban Future Initiative seminar—held the day before last week’s Frankfurt Motor Show—highlighted issues that all car companies will face as...
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Hoping For Hyundai Electric Cars? Won’t Happen, Says Executive
Last week at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show we saw lots of new plug-in hybrid and purely electric concept cars from many different automakers. But mysteriously bucking the trend with not a single electric concept was South Korean auto group Hyundai Kia, choosing instead to represent electric...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BYD E6 Electric Minivan Gets Chinese Makeover, But Will It Ever Get Here?
This year hasn’t been easy for Chinese automaker BYD, thanks to abysmal performance on the Chinese stock-market, accusations of copyright infringement and a launch schedule that it just can’t seem to keep to. But over the summer the automaker has been busy, trying to turn its reputation...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Everything You Need To Know About Electric Cars (With Asterisks)
Although we’ve been covering electric and fuel-efficient green vehicles here at Green Car Reports for a long time now, a lot of first-time readers are completely new to the idea of buying an electric car. Exploring electric cars for the first time, these readers are looking for a simple...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
German Electric Car Battle: Audi A2 v BMW i3 v Benz B-Class E-Cell v VW Golf Blue eMotion
With the dust settling on press days at the Frankfurt Auto Show, we can take a breath, think about what we saw, and start to sort out our impressions. One very clear message: German carmakers are taking electric cars seriously. Finally. Both Audi and BMW unveiled electric-car concepts that are...
John Voelcker -
2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: Projecting Pricing Based On Europe
Toyota has just launched the production version of its 2012 Prius Plug-In Hybrid at the Green Drive Expo held in Richmond, California. Toyota will most likely launch the production version of its 2012 Prius Plug-In Hybrid at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, to be held in mid-November. Just this...
John Voelcker