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A press conference to be held this afternoon may answer one of the major questions for the future of electric-car maker Tesla Motors: Where will it locate its gigafactory? The answer appears to be Nevada. The office of state governor Brian Sandoval said he would make a "major economic development announcement" in Carson City this afternoon, according to an Associated Press report. The story broke yesterday afternoon in the San Jose Mercury News, which quoted Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean confirming that Tesla "looks forward to joining the governor and legislative leaders" at today's...
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2014 BMW i3 REx 38-HP Range Extender Vs. 14,000-Foot Mountain: Who Wins?
Steep climbs are the enemy of electric car drivers. While modern electric vehicles are more than capable of powering up a hill, with ample torque, the effect on a car with limited range can be significant. It's less of a problem with a range-extended electric vehicle like the 2014 BMW i3 REx, but a...
Antony Ingram -
Will The 2016 Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Sedan Target The Tesla Model S?
Imagine a smooth, quiet, comfortable largish sedan that emits nothing, with a range of 250 miles or more--one that pegs its driver as a person in the vanguard of advanced technology vehicles. The Tesla Model S electric car, you say? No, no, no: That would be Toyota's upcoming hydrogen fuel-cell...
John Voelcker -
2018 Nissan Leaf Renderings: How Conservative Will Design Be?
It's long been acknowledged that the current Nissan Leaf electric car is a radical and distinctive design, just as the landmark 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid was. But some portion of potential buyers, who may be amenable to the benefits of driving a battery-electric vehicle, won't consider the Leaf...
John Voelcker -
Ford, Hyundai Dedicated Hybrids To Target 2016 Toyota Prius?
It's been a quiet period for hybrid news lately, with the 2016 Toyota Prius launch delayed and still more than a year away. But further down the road, it appears that both Hyundai and Ford now plan to offer dedicated hybrids--vehicles designed specifically around a hybrid powertrain that offer no...
John Voelcker -
Every 2014 And 2015 Hybrid Car In The U.S.: Ultimate Guide
Turn back the clock by one decade, and there were just four hybrid cars on sale in the U.S. One was the first-generation Toyota Prius. The original Honda Insight was still going strong as the most efficient vehicle on sale (and only plug-in cars still better it today). Honda also offered the Civic...
Antony Ingram -
The arrival of a moderately-priced battery electric car with a rated range of 200 miles will change the entire market for plug-in vehicles. When that will happen, and from which maker, remains open--though the likely suspects are Nissan, Tesla, and General Motors, with BMW as a long-shot outsider. With GM's then-CEO Dan Akerson having referred to a $30,000 200-mile battery-electric car several times last year, the rumor mills began to buzz. DON'T MISS: 2016 Chevrolet Volt To Launch Next Year: What We Know So Far But we haven't heard much lately about such a car, except for an interesting...
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2014 BMW i3 REx Vs Chevy Volt: Range-Extended Electric Cars Compared
Until recently, the Chevy Volt was the only range-extended electric car available in the U.S. I've driven a Volt for almost three years now, and it's been a splendid car--quiet, smooth, peppy, and amazingly economical. New REx on the block But now the Volt has a formidable new competitor: the new...
David Noland -
Tesla News: Model S Warranty, Gigafactory Fight, New Roadster Battery (VIDEO)
The Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla Motors seems to be in the news almost every day. Over the last two weeks, the company faced fallout over glitches in early Model S cars, and upgraded its powertrain warranty. It also turned the screws on states competing for its multibillion-dollar...
John Voelcker -
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Still In Very Short Supply: Why?
The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid received very positive reviews when it was launched almost a year ago. Its EPA fuel-efficiency rating of 47 mpg combined approaches that of the 50-mpg Toyota Prius, but the Accord is a more conventional looking mid-size sedan--a plus for many buyers. Yet sales have been...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S Drivetrain Warranty Rises To 8 Years, Same As Battery Pack
Tesla will expand the drivetrain warranty for all Model S electric cars, including ones already on the road.
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevrolet Volts In Fleet Use: Might As Well Not Have A Plug
Chevy Volt owners, and even Chevrolet itself, are usually quite proud of the amount of miles the range-extended electric car covers on grid electricity. The company said last week that 63 percent of all Volt miles driven have been covered on grid power, totaling more than half a billion miles...
John Voelcker -
Electric cars are far cheaper to run than gasoline cars on a per-mile basis--and depending on the assumptions, they can be cheaper over their entire life too. And gasoline and diesel vehicles will get steadily more fuel-efficient through 2025 under a variety of global regulations. But what about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which Toyota and Honda strongly feel are a better zero-emission alternative than battery-electric cars? DON'T MISS: Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars To Come From Toyota, Hyundai, Honda Yesterday, a Toyota executive suggested that a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle with 300 miles of range...
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Tesla Model S Drive-Unit Replacements: How Big A Problem?
It was a car company's worst public-relations nightmare. Edmunds.com, the widely-read automotive website, bought a Tesla Model S for long-term testing in February 2013. After nine months and 11,000 miles, the car developed an ominous grinding noise under acceleration and deceleration. Under...
David Noland -
2016 Chevrolet Volt To Debut At Detroit Show, First Teaser Photo Released
General Motors confirmed this morning that the revised 2016 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car will be released at next January's Detroit Auto Show. And the company released the first teaser image of the car, showing a more rounded rear to the liftgate of what will likely continue as a...
John Voelcker -
Auto Industry Doing Fine In Meeting Gas-Mileage Goals, It Turns Out
The auto industry came very near to the precipice in 2009, and it agreed to significant new regulations to enable it to step back from the brink. Now, it turns out that it's not only meeting, but actually beating, the required reductions in emissions. That means that, according to the U.S...
John Voelcker -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In July: Leaf, Volt Both Do Well
Sales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. continued their rise in July, as Nissan delivered more than 3,000 Leaf battery electric cars and Chevy more than 2,000 Volt range-extended electrics. It's was only the second time that the two cars together have sold more than 5,000 units in a single...
John Voelcker -
2015 Subaru Outback: Gas Mileage Review Of Crossover Wagon Utility Vehicle
The new 2015 Subaru Outback is now arriving at dealerships, and it's likely to continue the small Japanese maker's striking growth over the past five years. Like every other maker, though, Subaru has to make all of its vehicles more efficient--and to do so on a considerably smaller development...
John Voelcker -
You've probably heard it at some point: A friend claims his older vehicle is far greener than the new car with much higher fuel economy you just bought That's because, he says, the old car didn't require all the energy and natural resources your car consumed as it was built. But is that older car really greener? The short answer: No. The longer answer is also 'no', but it may help educate your friend on why that beloved 20-year-old rattletrap isn't as green as he likes to think. The environmental cost of manufacturing It's easy to see why many people think that running an old car would be...
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Tesla: 8,763 Cars Built, 7,579 Sold, 'Potential' Nevada Gigafactory Ground Broken: Q2 Earnings Report
Tesla Motors built 8,763 Model S electric cars and delivered 7,579 of them to customers during the second quarter, according to just-released second-quarter results. It expects to build about 9,000 cars this quarter, and deliver 7,800, largely due to a two-week production shutdown for retooling at...
John Voelcker -
Tesla, Panasonic Sign Gigafactory Pact; Nevada Site Work Already Underway?
Now it's official: Panasonic and Tesla Motors will build the "gigafactory," a huge lithium-ion cell fabrication and battery-pack production facility in the western United States. Today Tesla will report its second-quarter earnings after the market closes, and CEO Elon Musk was bound to face...
John Voelcker -
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250: Gas Mileage Review Of Compact Luxury Sedan
We've finally had a chance to test out the fuel economy of the new and very popular smallest Mercedes-Benz, the 2014 CLA 250 sedan. The company has been struggling to meet global demand for the car, which is both the smallest Mercedes in many years and one of the least expensive. We wanted to see...
John Voelcker -
Honda Ends Three Green Models For 2015: Insight, Fit EV, FCX Clarity
With the new and more fuel-efficient Honda Fit hatchback now on sale, the Japanese carmaker is slimming down its lineup a bit. For 2015, it has eliminated three low-selling green cars: the Honda Insight hybrid subcompact, the Honda Fit EV electric car, and the very low-volume Honda FCX Clarity...
John Voelcker -
Decoding Toyota's Electric-Car Disdain: A Role For Fuel Cells
While unveiling its fuel-cell vehicle last month–priced to undercut the Tesla Model S ever so slightly–Toyota's Global R&D Chief Mitsuhisa Kato offered some dismissive thoughts on battery-electric vehicles. As quoted in Automotive News, the 39-year veteran of the Toyota Motor...
Matthew Klippenstein