Electric Cars
-
Consumers in the U.K. have only just been given the chance to place deposits on the 2011 Nissan Leaf but that hasn't stopped Nissan considering a few subtle tweaks before the car goes on sale, according to Autocar magazine. Changes are likely to include subtle body alterations and interior changes for the European market. By the time production commences, Nissan will have had chance to listen to customer feedback which should influence the changes. The U.K. is home to one of the factories that'll produce the Leaf. The Washington plant in the North of England will no longer be building the...
-
GM Electric Meriva Van Tests Vehicle-to-Grid Charging in Germany
Last summer, Karl Stracke, the vice president of global vehicle engineering of General Motors, said the company planned to test three battery-electric vehicles in different global regions. This morning, the company's Opel unit announced that it would test a fleet of Opel Meriva small minivans...
John Voelcker -
California Approves $1.9 Million Upgrade To Electric Car Chargers
It’s tough being at the cutting edge of technology. Just like the early days of the video cassette or more recently, the high-definition DVD wars a technology becomes obsolete before its even had chance to take off. So what happens when over 600 EV chargers in the state of California are...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
UPDATE: 2010 Paris Motor Show: Guide To Electric Vehicles
The 2010 Paris Motor Show is upon us and amongst the supercars and superminis lie a veritable feast of electric vehicles. Whilst we've known about many of the cars due to be shown for a little while now, for many it will be the first opportunity to see the newest EV concepts and production cars up...
Antony Ingram -
Report: Electric Cars Best Way To Reduce U.S. Oil Dependancy
We like it when a study confirms a common-held belief. And for hundreds of would-be electric car owners across the U.S. a recent study has done just that. Years into the Military Conflict in the Middle East, and just months after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill a team at Rice University have...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Will the 2011 Wheego LiFe Be the First Electric Car On Sale?
Sometimes we avoid covering certain cars, for good reasons or not. One of those cars is the 2011 Wheego LiFe, a derivative of the 2009 Wheego Whip. Never heard of it? Not surprising. Wheego Electric Cars is a startup electric-car company, in this case selling an electric conversion of a...
John Voelcker -
American-born Thomas Edison might be best known for coming up with one of history's most significant inventions, the lightbulb, but the inventor had other bright ideas too. Just over a decade into the 20th Century, Edison also turned his hand to electric cars, as part of his vision to make the longest lasting battery in the world, according to Bob Burrell from Essex in the United Kingdom, who has just put the finishing touches to a restoration of a 1912 Edison electric car. "He built three cars, one of which he drove from Scotland to London, charging it up along the way," Mr Burrell told the...
-
Is BYD About To Lose Investment From U.S. Billionaire?
Last week we wrote about the latest hurdles facing Chinese battery firm turned carmaker BYD. With multiple court battles, poor sales figures and still very few all-electric cars on the streets of China, we’ve seen the automaker revise its sales predictions and even delay a floating on the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BP and Me: How The Oil Spill Changed My Mind on Electric Cars
As a writer for a group of car sites with 3 million readers each month, I don't think I need to explain how much gasoline has changed my life. I've seen the world from street level because of it. It's fueled me. Oil has caused me agita this year, too. It's played havoc with a place I see myself...
Martin Padgett -
Infiniti Offers First Glimpse Of Electric Vehicle Due In 2013
The growing push towards smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles is leading the charge for changing consumer perceptions of what defines a luxury car--with size no longer the differentiator but rather technology, quality and design. We’ve already seen most of the major luxury brands release...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW Announces ActiveE Testing For Key Markets, Starts Summer 2011
As BMW bring to an end the first round of BMW Mini E lease schemes in the U.K, drivers in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Boston and Connecticut can look forward to signing up to help BMW test its ActiveE, two years before its MegaCity EV hits the market. Based on a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Smart All-Electric Escooter Concept Revealed Ahead Of 2010 Paris Auto Show
Last year BMW rolled out its C1-E Concept, an all-electric scooter that represented the automaker’s vision of what a safe, environmentally-friendly and highly practical single track vehicle for city traffic could look like. Now BMW’s closest rival, Mercedes-Benz, through its Smart car...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Remember the Freedom Drive, where a solitary 2011 Chevy Volt made its way from Texas to New York to publicize the extended-range electric vehicle’s launch? Finishing on Independence Day with a massive fireworks display, the tour gave out T-Shirts and offered test-drives to potential customers en-route. Ever since then we’ve been waiting to see what Nissan, makers of the rival 2011 all-electric Leaf would do in response. And now we know. Starting October 1, the Drive Electric Tour will make its way around the U.S. with a roadshow worthy of any superstar. And it’s not just...
-
As BYD Sales Slide, American EV Company Heads To China
In a week where US Coda Automotive has launched its 2011 Sedan, an all-electric vehicle based upon the chinese-made Hafei Saibao, China’s own electric car industry is undergoing some interesting changes. BYD, backed by U.S. businessman Warren Buffet, has been making loud noises in the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2010 Paris Auto Show Preview: MINI Scooter E Concept
In less than a week MINI is set to unveil a new concept vehicle at the 2010 Paris Auto Show but unlike previous designs from the iconic British brand, this one only has two wheels. The concept is the new 2010 MINI Scooter E, the latest line in electric vehicles from MINI and the first with two...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Renault Kangoo Express Z.E: Value For Money EV Van
Renault may not have much of an impact to U.S. motorists, but thanks to their partnership with Nissan, they have a large part to play in the future of electric vehicles. The French company has been a market leader in the European light commercial vehicle (LCV) market since 1998, so it's only...
Antony Ingram -
EVs On Track: Electric Car Versus Electric Bike
We've speculated before on the future of hot rodding in the world of electric cars, but one aspect that's already taking off is electric vehicle racing. We've seen Think having a crack with the City EVCup, and the TTX GP is becoming a popular series for electric motorcycles. And it was a TTX GP...
Antony Ingram -
California Wants 1 Million Electric Cars On Its Road By 2020
During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama famously said that he wanted one million plug-in cars on U.S. roads by 2015. That's a goal that many experts continue to think will be extremely hard to attain. Now California has adopted the same goal for the state alone, but with a different...
John Voelcker -
What happens when the humble charging station gets a makeover courtesy of a top San Francisco design firm, a choice of colors and an TV advert full of young, happy, carefree friends making an EV road trip? The GE WattStation. Developed by General Electric as its answer to the demand for electric vehicle charging points for the ever-increasing number of EVs set to launch in the next few years, the WattStation has now become the subject of a 30 second television commercial. Aired last night for the first time, and evocative of something Apple’s ad executives may have commissioned for the...
-
2011 Coda Sedan Electric Car Priced at $44,900, $12K Over Leaf
Coda Automotive, the electric car company that many have overlooked until recently has just launched its new site detailing vehicle price, vehicle information and range information. We’ve been guessing at the Sedan’s base price now for some time, but Coda have confirmed that the retail...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
VentureBeat GreenBeat Tests 2012 Ford Focus Electric Prototype
Ford announced today that it will partner with Texas utility giant Oncor to prepare the northern region of the state for electric vehicles (EVs). The collaboration will range from consumer education to working behind-the-scenes to gather data and prepare the grid for EVs. The automaker announced a...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
Buyers Do Want Electric Cars, But Don't Want To Pay More
Cost. The issue comes up time and time again with electric vehicles. New technology means new technology prices, and you can bet that after someone asks you what range a new EV has, they'll then ask how much it costs. According to a recent poll by Nielsen conducted for the Financial Times, three...
Antony Ingram -
Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane? No, It's A <strike>2011</strike> 2012 Tesla Model S!
Telsa has always been a little unconventional in its approach to building and marketing it's cars, but its latest advertising campaign literally lifts Tesla above the competition. For its latest publicity stunt, a full-size design model of the 2012 Tesla Model S greeted San Franciscans on Sunday...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Oops! Coda Sedan Promo Photos: Next To Charger It Can't Use
What happens when a publicity photo-shoot goes on the hunt for the perfect image but doesn't notice the devil in the details? Over the weekend, our sister site GreenCarReports was privileged to publish the first-ever official photographs of the production version of the 2011 Coda Sedan. As well as...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield