Electric Cars

  • Renault Fluence ZE production electric sedan

    As 2010 draws to a close, we now have shipments of the 2011 Nissan LEAF and the 2011 Chevy Volt to customers around the United States. With the advent of these vehicles, is there still a business case for Better Place? To refresh your memory, Better Place is the venture between Shai Agassi and Renault-Nissan that proposes to sell electric cars without batteries, then lease the batteries to consumers and allow replacement for longer journeys through regional infrastructures of battery quick-swap stations. Nearly three years ago, Shai Agassi and Renault-Nissan announced their intent to launch...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Nissan: Most Drivers Will Top Leaf Electric Car's 73-Mile EPA Range

    Last week at one of the first 2011 Nissan Leaf deliveries we spoke briefly with Mark Perry, Nissan's director of product planning and strategy, about the Leaf's driving range, and whether the recently released EPA driving range of 73 miles—the range that will be printed on every U.S. window...

  • BMW Megacity Vehicle official teaser
    BMW Green Vehicles, Including Megacity Electric, Named 'i'

    The BMW "MegaCity" carbon-fiber all-electric car, scheduled for launch in 2013, may be the most radical BMW in decades. BMW had confirmed that this first production electric car to wear the BMW badge would be the first of a sub-brand within the make, much as its "M" series of performance editions...

  • Bluebird Electric land speed record car, 1998
    175mph (And More) In An Electric Car. Range? Don't Ask...

    What'll she do, mister? With electric cars, the response would more often than not usually be relating to the range. With Don Wales' Electric Bluebird, the answer might instead be 150 miles per hour. Maybe even 175 miles per hour. If the name Bluebird is familiar to you, then you'll probably...

  • 2012 Honda Fit EV
    Toshiba Li-Ion Batteries To Appear In Honda's Electric Car

    Following years of claims they weren't interested in developing a battery-electric vehicle, Honda backtracked earlier this year and decided that they would produce one, with the 2012 Honda Fit EV concept finally revealed at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show last month. Now, Honda has announced that...

  • 2011 Think City 2+2
    2011 Think City Becomes 2+2 in Europe, Still Overpriced

    We can’t think of many times when an automaker suddenly doubles the number of seats in a car without making the car bigger. But that’s just what the Norwegian car maker Think has done with its diminutive city car. Originally designed as a 2 seat city car, the all-electric A segment car...

  • 2011 Smart electric drive  -  first drive

    For the past few years, we’ve witnessed the success of low-volume, high-priced, highway-capable electric vehicles in the Tesla Roadster. We’ve also just recently seen the advent of medium-volume, medium -priced highway-capable electric cars like the 2011 Chevy Volt and 2011 Nissan LEAF. Other manufacturers have offered electric minicars--the Think City, 2010 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, 2012 Mitsubishi "i", the Mini E, etc.--but all of these are priced higher than the Nissan LEAF, with its lease cost of just $349 per month (the purchase option most buyers will choose). We’ve...

  • Green Vehicles Triac electric car
    Triac Electric Car - Three Wheels, 100 Miles And $25,000

    With the focus naturally going towards some of the big electric car launches we've had this year or established players like Tesla Motors, it's all too easy to forget that there are a wealth of smaller companies out there producing their own, unique take on electric transport. One such company is...

  • 2011 Nissan LEAF iPhone App
    Waiting for Your 2011 Nissan Leaf? Here, Have an iPhone App

    We know. You’ve put the deposit down, agonized over the charge station installation and felt a pang of jealousy when you discovered your 2011 Nissan LEAF won’t arrive for another four months. But while all hopes that Santa is bringing that new electric car may be lost you can at least...

  • tesla model s prototype 005
    2012 Tesla Model S All-Electric Sedan: Progress and Schedule

    It's been a while since we checked in on the car that will likely make or break Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors: the Model S, a five-door midsize sports luxury sedan it hopes to launch somewhere toward the end of 2012. Tesla hasn't said much about the Model S lately, but a number...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    And We're Off! Electric Cars Are Here; Now They Need a Charge

    It’s official: Electric cars for the mass consumer crowd have arrived. The first all-electric Nissan Leaf was sold last week to a man in California, and more are trickling in. And the first Chevrolet Volts (pictured) — GM’s model that can go up to 50 miles on battery power before...

  • McDonald's Sign
    Want Electrons With That? McDonald's To Charge Electric Cars

    As many industry analysts will tell you, the switch to plug-in cars by the general public requires an increased support network of public charging stations. But while we’ve seen charging stations popping up at shopping malls, electronics retailers and even banks the fast food industry...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt MPV5 concept, Unveiled at 2010 Beijing Motor Show

    The Voltec powetrain used in the 2011 Chevrolet Volt has never been meant for just the one vehicle. Restricting a new technology developed at great expense to a single niche vehicle makes poor economic sense. The prediction by Car and Driver of a Volt-based Chevrolet Amp, thought to be close in concept to the Chevrolet MPV5 concept that appeared at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, comes as no surprise as a result. It was only a matter of time before the Volt's drivetrain would find its way into other GM products and a compact crossover or MPV-style vehicle is a logical progression into a popular...

  • Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car at quick charging station
    Electronics Stores: The Future Electric Car Showroom?

    Are electric cars appliances? They plug in, use electricity and certainly have more computers in them than most consumers have in their entire home. But should they be sold in conventional car dealerships or somewhere else? Japanese retail chain Yamada Denki has tried to answer both questions, by...

  • 2010 Volkswagen Taxi Concept
    Moving On Up? Volkswagen Considers Producing Electric Taxi

    Whilst the 2013 Volkswagen Golf Blue eMotion might be responsible for many of the company's EV headlines, their smaller Up concept is possibly even more intriguing. The Wolfsburg maker has just revealed the third in a trio of electric taxi concepts. Following Berlin and Milano versions, the latest...

  • Think City electric vehicle
    Electric Car Company Think Starts U.S. Production Of City Minicar

    Think is a Norwegian based manufacturer of electric cars and is the same company behind the original ‘Th!nk’ electric car that went on sale in the U.S. during the late 1990s. Back then Think was owned by Ford, which sold it in 2003 to Swiss company Kamkorp Microelectronics. In 2006...

  • U.S.-spec Mitsubishi i-MiEV
    World's Two Top Electric-Car Makers Agree to Cooperate

    You may not realise it, but automakers often work together on shared projects, vehicles or technology improvements. But when the top two electric car makers in the world agree to work together, even we find that interesting. Enter Mitsubishi and Nissan. Both poised to start selling their own...

  • money
    Charging Station Incentives Sneak Into Tax Cut Extension Bill

    As recently as last week, it became apparent that the current federal 50 percent incentive towards the cost of installing an electric car charging station would expire on the 31st December this year. This would be particularly bad news to the vast majority of upcoming EV owners, many of whom...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt outside Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant

    What will $225,000 buy you? A fancy apartment in Miami Beach, aka the ground zero of the housing market? How about a McLaren MP4-12C supercar, capable of 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds? Or perhaps a used luxury yacht from the auction site eBay? These are the kind of purchases most people would dream of if they had a spare $225k sitting in a bank somewhere. So what would motivate someone to spend that figure on a 2011 Chevrolet Volt? For one lucky or should that be insane individual, that was the price paid last night to become the owner of Job 2, the first ever Chevrolet Volt to roll off the...

  • 1985 VW CityStromer
    1985 Electric Volkswagen Golf To Return To Factory of its Birth

    When I met last month with Volkswagen to ride inside a prototype 2012 Golf Blue e-motion, I was eager to experience this all-electric version of its popular 2011 Golf hatchback. It will go into production as a 2013 model. But I also knew something the VW public relations corps didn't: the location...

  • Sign indicating public electric-vehicle charging station
    Electric Vehicle Collaborative To Help Introduce EVs in CA

    If you were to draw up a listof places least in need of encouraging towards the use of electric cars, California would probably be right up there. As well as being the home of companies such as Tesla Motors and Coda Automotive, many EV manufacturers usually pick at least one city in the State to...

  • BYD e6
    Latest BYD Update: We're Still Coming Next Year, Really

    Who needs soap operas when you’ve got the auto industry? One Chinese automaker is providing enough gossip, misdirection and sneaky dealings to keep script writers happy for years. Despite officially killing off its F3e electric car last week, Chinese battery firm turned electric vehicle...

  • Think City electric vehicle
    2011 Think City Electric Car Approved For Sale in California

    Add another entry to the growing list of electric vehicles going on sale in the next year or so. Think North America, maker of the two-seat City electric car, announced that its 2011 Think City had been approved as a zero-emission vehicle by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The approval...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee
    First 2011 Nissan LEAF Shows Renters Can Own Electric Cars Too

    We’re often contacted by would-be electric car owners worried that they will not be able to have the required EVSE installed at their home. But the first ever 2011 Nissan LEAF customer to take delivery of their new car isn’t a home-owner. Olivier Chalouhi rents an home in Redwood City...

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