Electric Cars

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf

    We pick five accessories and modifications that will dress up your Leaf electric car to make it more functional, more stylish, or just cooler.

  • Munich University's Mute concept
    2011 Frankfurt Auto Show: Mute Electric Car Shows Promise

    Following the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year we speculated on the problems that small volume, odd-looking electric cars could do to the EV industry's reputation. The outlook at Frankfurt was much more upbeat. Despite the absence of Nissan and its Leaf, several other carmakers had exciting...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric launch, New York City, January 2011 - Nancy Gioia
    Electric-Car Education: As Important For Salespeople As Car Buyers

    Although it’s almost a year since the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt officially launched in key electric car markets, the majority of the U.S. population have yet to see their first highway capable electric car. So its no surprise that automakers are spending a lot of time and...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept, New York Auto Show, April 2011
    Will Infiniti Build The First Mainstream Electric Sports Car?

    Infiniti has confirmed that they're working on a two seat electric sports car with a mid-motor, rear drive layout. The car will be featured at next year's Geneva Motor Show.

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' movie
    Electric Car Revenge is Sweet in Amsterdam With 100 Nissan Leafs

    The Amsterdam premiere of the move "Revenge of the Electric Car" is expected to attract fully 100 Nissan Leaf electric cars from all over Europe.

  • Henrik Fisker launches 2013 Fisker Surf, Frankfurt Motor Show, September 2011
    Fisker Karma Customer Deliveries: Maybe October, Or November?

    Startup carmaker Fisker Automotive has probably learned a lot of lessons about the timing of auto launches. Although the car went into production in March, it still hasn't been approved for sale by various U.S. regulatory bodies--including the Environmental Protection Agency--as of this month...

  • 2011 Coda Sedan electric car, at 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show

    It’s been just a week since Californian automaker Coda Automotive opened up its first showroom in LA’s Westside in the Westfield Century Mall -- but now Coda bosses have confirmed that it has signed a deal to open a final assembly plant in Benicia, California. The deal, which Coda has been working on since last year -- will bring around 50 jobs to the area as well as produce all of Coda’s U.S. market cars. But just like fellow automaker Tesla and its 2008-2011 Roadster, Coda won’t actually be making cars at the Benicia facility from raw materials. Instead, the Benicia...

  • The Mercedes-Benz B-Class E-Cell Plus concept. Image: Mercedes-Benz
    Mercedes-Benz B-Class E-Cell Plus Extended Range Electric Vehicle

    Mercedes will soon join General Motors and Fisker in offering an extended range electric vehicle. Shown as a concept in Frankfurt, the B-Class E-Cell Plus will see production in the near future.

  • Mia Electric microbus
    2012 Mia Electric Microbus: First Drive Report

    Sometimes a clever inventor or a team of engineers changes the way we think about an appliance or a concept we’ve lived with for years -- producing a revolutionary new design that makes us wonder how we ever lived without it. But sometimes a supposed revolutionary new design is little more...

  • 2015 Infiniti electric luxury sedan teaser sketch
    Infiniti: We’ll Have An All-Electric Sedan Ready For 2015

    Infiniti -- the luxury sister brand of Nissan -- has been joining in the electric car hype at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show with talk of an all-electric subcompact car it will have ready for sometime in 2014. This isn’t the first time Infiniti has talked electric cars. Last year, Infiniti boss...

  • 2011 Brabus High Performance 4WD Full Electric concept car
    2011 Frankfurt Auto Show: Brabus AWD Electric Mercedes-Benz E-Class

    This year’s 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show has been heavily dominated by the drive towards greener vehicles, better gas mileage, and zero tailpipe-emissions motoring. So it’s no surprise that German tuning house Brabus has followed the trend set by most of the major automakers attending the...

  • Opel Rak E concept car, Frankfurt Motor Show, September 2011
    2011 Frankfurt Auto Show: Opel RAK e Electric Concept

    At this year’s Frankfurt Auto Show there’s a very clear theme among concept cars: ultra-small urban runabouts. Now Opel -- the European arm of General Motors -- has joined Audi, Volkswagen, Smart and many others with its own take on a lightweight electric-powered urban runabout. Called...

  • 2013 Fisker Surf, Frankfurt Motor Show, September 2011

    The 2012 Fisker Karma extended range electric car (plug-in hybrid) may have been sold on its sexy good looks, and sporty performance -- but now the luxury sedan has a more practical sibling -- the Fisker Surf. Unveiled today at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, the 2013 Fisker Surf is a crossover wagon variant of the luxury sports sedan. Based on the Karma, the Surf shares the same chassis and powertrain as the $95,900+ sedan but replaces the Karma’s sleek rear with a more practical wagon roofline and hatch. Performance-wise, the Surf is almost identical to the Karma, with a top speed in...

  • Audi A2 Concept, Frankfurt Motor Show, September 2011
    2011 Frankfurt Auto Show: Audi A2 Electric Concept First Pics

    Audi has just unveiled its all-electric A2 Concept vehicle at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. Placed somewhere between its two-seat electric Urban Concept which we saw yesterday and its A3 hatchback, the four-seat concept is a direct competitor to BMW’s much-anticipated 2014 i3 electric car...

  • THINK City on hire in the Alps
    Want To Buy A 2011 Think City? You Can (If You Live In New York)

    A few weeks back we nominated the diminutive Think City electric car as one of the five electric cars you’ll still be able to buy in five years’ time -- despite the roller-coaster fortunes of the firm which makes it. Arguing that the Think City had certain Blattodean qualities when it...

  • tesla model s prototype 010
    Electric Car Range Anxiety Evaporates After Three Months

    “Range anxiety” for pure battery-powered electric car owners wears off quickly as a driver begins to understand the capabilities and charging patterns of their car, according to a new study by the Technology Strategy Board. Around 35 percent of electric car owners were concerned about...

  • 2011 Coda Sedan
    2012 Coda Sedan: LA Times Drives Elusive Compact Electric Car

    “In America, we like everyone to know about the good work we’re doing anonymously,” Jay Leno explained to Top Gear’s James May, discussing his views of the green-car mentality in the U.S. His point: The models we buy affirm their conscientiousness (and our own) with...

  • Audi Urban Concept launch, 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show
    Audi Urban Concept: Live Photos Of Electric Two-Seater Launch

    The 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show officially opens to the press tomorrow, but already the private parties and launch events have started. Sunday night, Audi officially unveiled its pair of two-seat electric concept cars, known jointly as the Urban Concept vehicles. One is a coupe, with a hatch over the...

  • Lithium-ion battery pack of 2011 Nissan Leaf, showing cells assembled into modules

    A common misconception of electric cars and hybrid vehicles is that at the end of a short battery life, the remainder is dumped in landfill and contributes ever more pollution to the Earth. Of course, we know this to be incorrect. Not only are the more common lead acid batteries the world's most recycled product, but dumping old ones makes little economic sense either. Not only that, but battery life in hybrid cars is already well-proven under the toughest of conditions - as yellow cabs in New York and San Francisco. Electric car batteries use expensive metals like nickel and cobalt in their...

  • Brahms Plug-in Hybrid Hearse
    Plug-in Hearse Offers To Whisk You Silently To Your Grave

    Losing a loved one is never easy. Neither is planning a funeral afterward. Now a firm in the U.K. claims it can help provide an appropriate form of transport for electric car owners looking for a green way to make their final journeys. An engineering firm with several years of experience with...

  • 2012 Mitsubishi "i" electric car, powered by MiEV, launch event at 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
    2012 Mitsubishi 'i' Electric Car Gets Pre-Sale Price Boost

    Price increases on electric cars seem to be the rule these days. First the 2012 Nissan Leaf got a $2,420 increase (for more standard equipment), then the 2012 Chevrolet Volt got a price reduction that actually proved to be an increase in disguise (comparing similarly equipped models). Not wanting...

  • Volkswagen Beetle
    Want a Retro Electric Car? Firm Plans All-Electric VW Beetle

    When El Rey -- the final Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle to ever be made -- rolled off the Mexican production line on July 30, 2003, many Volkswagen fans around the world mourned the end of a 60-year production run. And with over 21.5 million original Volkswagen Beetles made, the VW Bug still holds the...

  • 2011 Coda Sedan electric car
    2012 Coda Sedan: You Can’t Get One Yet, But You Can Visit The Store

    Where do you go to buy your next green car? For most consumers, the answer would be the local car dealer on the outskirts of town, but yesterday California-based Coda Automotive just opened up its first showroom -- in a shopping mall. Located on L.A’s Westside in the Westfield Century Mall...

  • Chevrolet Volt arrives in China for use at World Expo 2010 Shanghai
    China Wants Volt's Electric-Car Secrets; GM Says No; Tug Of War Ensues

    It's been the official policy of the Chinese government-industrial complex for a while now that the country wants to dominate the electric-car business. While only a handful of highway-capable plug-in cars are sold today in China, the country's industrial overseers are nothing if not ambitious...

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