Featured (was)
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Electric-car advocates are often passionate, with memories long enough to remember GM's 2004 destruction of its pioneering fleet of EV1 electric cars. Since then, the company has built and sold two generations of the Chevrolet Volt, with the launch of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV imminent within a year—before Nissan, Tesla, BMW, or any other plug-in pioneer manages to field a 200-mile electric cars below $40,000. Despite that, at least some electric-car owners and fans seem to retain a considerable undercurrent of skepticism about Detroit's largest automaker and its intentions. DON'T...
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Electric car predictions: panel video from NY Auto Show
Every so often, Green Car Reports is asked to take part in panels and industry events discussing the future of advanced auto technologies—particularly electric cars. Two weeks ago, at the New York Auto Show, site editor John Voelcker joined electric-car advocate Chelsea Sexton and Salim Morsy...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3 demand startled everyone, even Musk; now what?
To say that the auto industry has been startled by the volume of deposits on the Tesla Model 3 would be an understatement. The number of potential buyers worldwide who have sent Tesla Motors $1,000 to reserve a place in line to buy the car is now approaching 400,000, said longtime executive...
John Voelcker -
All-wheel-drive Tesla electric cars rated more efficient, but how?
One of the myriad advantages of electric propulsion, we’re told, is the efficiency of all-wheel drive. The AWD versions of the Tesla Model S, for example, are rated as more efficient than the rear-wheel-drive versions of the car. This flies in the face of 100 years of automotive history...
David Noland -
2016 Tesla Model S gets styling update, 48-amp charger, new interior options, $1,500 price increase (updated)
The Tesla Model S electric car, which went into production in June 2012, is getting its first styling updates in almost four years. The Silicon Valley carmaker said that Model S luxury sedans produced starting today in its Fremont, California, assembly plant will have a new front-end design...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model X recall to replace third-row seat backs after European safety test
Tesla Motors will recall 2,700 Model X electric crossover utility vehicles to replace seat backs in the third row after a recliner unexpectedly slipped during seat-strength tests. The vehicles in question were built prior to March 26, and are all located in the U.S. Tesla said in a letter e-mailed...
John Voelcker -
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is the only U.S. maker to release five-year business plans to the media--and offer updates when things change. That's just what it did yesterday, when it updated its plan for 2014 through 2018. The biggest shocker of the day was the company's announcement that it would kill off its two newest sedans, the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart, apparently within 18 months. DON'T MISS: 2015 Chrysler 200 Four-Cylinder: Gas Mileage Review FCA will use the freed-up plant capacity to boost production of sport-utility vehicles and light trucks, especially the Jeep Cherokee compact...
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Tesla Model 3 depositors vs Chevy Bolt EV: sea change or double standard?
More than 325,000 potential buyers have put down $1,000 apiece for a Tesla Model 3 electric car that they won't get for two years, if not considerably longer than that. Which must frustrate the electrification team at General Motors deeply. The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV with more than 200 miles of...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3 reservations rise to 325,000 after one week
Getting more than a quarter of a million people around the world to put down $1,000 apiece for a car they won't get for another two years is a remarkable feat. When Elon Musk took the wraps off the Tesla Model 3 last Thursday evening, a screen on stage showed more than 100,000 deposits. But by the...
John Voelcker -
2019 Ford 'Model E' hybrid, electric car coming from Mexico plant?
Two years ago, Ford successfully fought efforts by Tesla Motors to register the name "Model E" for what we now know as the Tesla Model 3, unveiled last week to great fanfare. Now it appears that the Detroit automaker may plan to use that name itself on a dedicated vehicle coming in 2019 that will...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model X trailer towing: how much range impact on electric SUV?
A trailer company hitches up a Model X to one of its products.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Model 3 deposits now 300,000 or more; what does this imply?
Three days ago, when Global Equities Research projected more than 300,000 reservations for the Tesla Model 3 electric car by the start of this week, that number seemed outlandish. And yet, by the end of Saturday, the global total had reached 276,000, according to a tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk...
John Voelcker -
The Tesla Model 3 electric car has been revealed. And we’ve been among the first fortunate few to have been allowed a ride in one. While our ride (from the back seat) was less than five minutes in all, and the car, thus far, is only in design prototype form, we managed to notice a few more details and form some impressions about what could make the Model 3 a strong entry in the market well after the hype subsides. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model 3 orders start as buyers wait in line outside stores The numbers are promising: at least 215 miles of range, with both Supercharging fast-charge...
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Report from the Tesla Model 3 trenches: lines, camaraderie, deposits
I figured I’d be smart, and get to the Tesla Store at 8:30 a.m., half an hour before it opened. That would get me in line for the Model 3 before everyone but a few die-hard camper-outers. Boy, was I wrong. As I pulled up to the store in Santa Barbara, California, this morning, the parking lot...
David Noland -
Tesla Model 3 orders start as buyers wait in line outside stores
Eager buyers have already put down deposits to reserve a Tesla Model 3 in those time zones where Tesla Stores are already open today, including both Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Meanwhile, lines of Tesla fans and future Model 3 owners are waiting patiently in queues outside dozens of Tesla...
John Voelcker -
How to reserve a Tesla Model 3 at stores and online (updated)
Tesla will begin accepting Model 3 reservations March 31.
Stephen Edelstein -
How to buy an electric-car charging station: buyer's guide to EVSEs
Electric cars all come with a 120-volt charging cable that can charge the battery from a household socket if there are no other options. But sooner or later, most battery-electric car owners will want a 240-volt Level 2 charging station that can recharge the car as much as four times faster. Owners...
John Briggs -
Here's the Tesla Model 3 reservation agreement for Thursday
We're pretty much expecting Tesla Model 3 enthusiasm to build to a fever pitch over the coming week. Thursday, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk will reveal the design of the $35,000, 200-mile electric car that the company plans to use to vault itself into sales of hundreds of thousands of cars a year...
John Voelcker -
Which popular and important plug-in hybrid model made its world debut in New York this week? And, what European brand is returning to North America with an electric car? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday, March 25, 2016. Friday is our day for slightly unusual or oddball stories, and our contributor Matthew Klippenstein provided one: a translation of a Japanese manga comic about the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Filled with cautions about the car's usage—only four seats, fueling in Japan must be done by...
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2017 Mitsubishi Outlander: delayed for U.S. again, specs may change
Americans who want an SUV combined with a plug-in hybrid powertrain have had a very long wait. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV—the plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander now on sale—has been promised for several years, and it’s already a sales success in Europe. Despite being the...
Bengt Halvorson -
Toyota Mirai manga: hydrogen fuel cell beats electric cars, plug-in hybrids
Manga are comics created in Japan, conforming to a style set more than 100 years ago and still very much a part of popular culture. While they may look like no more than light entertainment, they're widely read by people of all ages—and sometimes used to market commercial products. A year...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Tesla Model 3: speculating on versions, batteries, prices, power
The Tesla Model 3 that will be unveiled next Thursday evening may be the most anticipated and significant electric car of recent years. Scheduled to hit the market in late 2017 with a price tag of $35,000 before incentives and a range of 200 miles or more, the Model 3 aims to be the first true...
David Noland -
2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid: 22-mile range, styling updates: Live photos and video
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime, the new plug-in hybrid version of the world's best-selling hybrid car, was unveiled this morning at the New York Auto Show. The second plug-in version of the Prius hybrid, it will carry an EPA range rating of 22 miles from the 8.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack, according...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevy Bolt EV pre-production cars now being built (video)
There are just nine days to go before the much-hyped Tesla Model 3 is unveiled to the world. But it appears that the makers of a different affordable 200-mile electric car wanted to point out that their car will actually precede the Model 3 into production by at least a year. Chevy said today that...
John Voelcker