Electric Cars

We've written before about the schedule for the 2011 Fisker Karma, which (like many other electric cars) has slipped a bit since the car was first unveiled. Now Fisker's newest dealer, located in none other than LA's epicenter of green consciousness--namely Santa Monica, California--says that the...

Remember yesterday's article where we spoke about rumbles from the rumor mill at Toyota and Tesla? Industry insiders had told two auto sites that the two companies were working together on a supercar and a re-development of the classic RAV4 EV. We said yesterday that the possibility of the RAV4...

 We've known for some time that Toyota and Tesla are planning on working together on an EV, despite protests to the contrary. But with two separate rumors breaking today this partnership looks ever more likely to produce not one, but potentially two very interesting cars. That's if the rumor mill...

California's Highway 1, otherwise known as the Pacific Coast Highway is one of the world's most famous roads and one we should all drive at some point in our lives. Some 400 miles of driving, a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles might be a fun journey in a gas car, but isn't a trip many would...

Having recently visited Smith Electric Vehiclesin Kansas City, Missouri, president Barack Obama is now on his way to the Compact Power battery plant located in Holland, Michigan. The specialized plant will be supplying the upcoming Chevrolet Volt range-extended vehicle with its lithium-ion battery...

Today the silence ended. We've driven the 2011 Chevy Volt Test Mule, We've cringed through the Volt Dance and we watched the Freedom Drive unfold over the July 4 weekend. While we've known about the car's 40 mile all electric range, 9 gallon fuel tank and planned 10,000 car production schedule for...

Perhaps it’s a sign of the times but almost every major automaker has unveiled some kind of electrified vehicle, with everything from battery-powered supercars to hybrid urban runabouts making their debut in either production or concept form. Until the recent past, pure electric vehicles and...

Ask most consumers to describe an electric car and the chances are they will talk about the Tesla, the 2011 Nissan Leaf, maybe the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. They almost surely won't think of the large, luxurious, and expensive Range Rover. They may talk about how expensive EVs are. And unless they're...

With any new technology there’s always a steep initial price as low supply and even lower demand play a delicate balancing act that will eventually determine whether the technology lives or dies. The same is true for electric vehicles (EVs), which are still considerably more expensive than...

Super sexy Silicon Silicone Valley darlings Tesla Motors might be feeling a little motion sickness after the ups and downs of its first two weeks on the stock market, but its most recent hire brings a whole new level of retail chic to its aggressive sales plans. You'd be forgiven for thinking that...

Elon Musk, the CEO of electric-car startup Tesla Motors and rocket-launcher SpaceX, should be applauded for the mighty challenges he’s taken on and the powers of persuasion he has deployed to build his companies. But along the way, he discovered that he could stretch the truth, casually and...

Next year will see several major automakers test the waters with their new electric offerings, with cars like the new Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid all available by then. However, the real electric onslaught is expected to come in 2012, a timeframe that will allow...

Auto industry analysts get paid to issue reports, and most of them are vastly better at data analysis and number crunching than we'll ever be. That doesn't mean, however, that sometimes their data isn't misleading. It's important to keep context in mind, and not miss the forest for the trees...

Getting custom-built cars has been a part of the auto industry for many years. From improving the power curve on a small block engine through to creating custom convertibles from anything from a Hummer H3 through to a Toyota Prius, paying a company thousands of dollars for a unique vehicle happens...

As we move toward the December launch of electric cars from real automakers--the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt--there are many myths and fears that will have to be dispelled among consumers. One of them is the old toaster-in-the-bathtub fear: If you get an electric car really wet ...

Volkswagen is intent on becoming the world’s leading automaker by 2018 and that means being the top dog in every segment, including hybrid and electric vehicles. Recently the automaker announced plans to start building its own electric powertrains, as well as the launch of a Jetta Hybrid in...

Remember the bright yellow Mercedes SLS AMG E-Cell prototype we wrote about back in June? Equipped with a four-motor, all-wheel-drive system the SLS AMG E-Cell is capable of putting out more than 525 horsepower onto the road and packs electric supercar performance into the iconic gullwing body. As...

The small, seaside town of Brighton UK, some 50 miles south of London, has often been the destination for many a weary Londoner keen to take in its pebbled beaches, kitsch souvenir shops and traditional fish and chip suppers. But today it wasn't sticks of sweet sugary ‘seaside rock' candy cane or...

One of the best parts of the electric-vehicle world is the camaraderie. Someone knows someone who passes us along to a friend who knows a guy ... you know the story. Which is how we ended up in San Francisco on a sunny Friday, driving a well-used--but still reliable--example of one of the...

Last week, electric car maker Tesla Motors made history as the first automotive company to go public since Ford in the 1950s, but its share price continues to drop, down another 9.24 percent so far today. Despite its buzz and sex appeal, it looks like the company won’t be able to escape the fate...