Green
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Electric cars may run clean. But how green is the battery? Hi, this is Steven Cherry for IEEE Spectrum's "This Week in Technology." With governments around the world investing heavily in electric and hybrid cars, the demand for the batteries that power these vehicles is on the rise. The United States alone has invested $2.4 billion to ramp up production, and the first wave of lithium-ion car batteries is just now hitting the market. By 2014, the U.S. could be making a half million batteries a year. Battery-powered cars emit fewer pollutants and greenhouse gases. That's the point. But some...
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Ready For Your Electric Car? Don’t Forget The Smart Phone
If you’ve got one of the many new electric cars due to launch this year on order you’re probably as excited about going electric as our own Marty Padgett, who is one of the many patiently waiting for a 2011 Nissan Leaf. You’ve already talked with your dealer and perhaps even had a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Volkswagen Gains EV Experience With Ex-Renault Expert
Despite Volkswagen's green technology mainly being focused on clean diesels, the company are clearly serious about their EV program too, having lured Joerg Sommer from Renault to be their new sales director for e-mobility. The ex-Renault man previously ran the French company's EV brand operations...
Antony Ingram -
2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Tax Credit: $1,300, One Month Only!
Like us, you may eagerly have been awaiting the arrival of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. You may even be planning to buy one. One of the reasons may be the tax credit for purchase of a hybrid vehicle that you can claim when you file your taxes. The 2011 Sonata Hybrid will qualify you for a credit...
John Voelcker -
Toyota To Pay Tesla $60 Million For RAV4 Electric Components
What does it cost to develop an electric vehicle these days? In the case of the upcoming electric Toyota RAV4 crossover, $60 million. At least, that's the amount that Toyota will pay Tesla Motors under a contract to supply lithium-ion battery packs, electric motors, gearboxes, power electronics...
John Voelcker -
2011 Chevrolet Volt Production Number To Rise Slightly, Again
Once again, Chevrolet has upped planned production volumes of its 2011 Volt electric car in the face of strong demand and the likelihood that many dealers have more buyers than cars to sell them. In July, at a media event discussing launch markets and other details, Volt marketing manager Tony...
John Voelcker -
If you're reading this website, chances are you're already someone giving some consideration to owning an electric car. If so, great! You're one step further than the next guy to an oil-free future. However, for some the next hurdle could be a bigger one - should you lease the electric car of your choice, or should you pull out all the stops and splash out your hard-earned green on actually buying one? Luckily, AllCarsElectric is here to offer you the "pros" and "cons" of both. You're on your own choosing a paintwork color though... Leasing: Pros and Cons Leasing is a very tempting...
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Chevrolet Volt Owners Stay Updated With Dedicated OnStar Website
OnStar is already one of the handiest features you can get in a GM vehicle but for Chevrolet Volt owners the connectivity and security feature will be even more helpful. Earlier this year we reported that OnStar, together with Google, was developing a number of new mobile apps that would allow Volt...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
EPA OKs More Ethanol In Gasoline, Only For 2007 Or Newer Cars
Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency approved raising the proportion of ethanol in pump gasoline from 10 percent (E10) to as much as 15 percent (E15). It would be the first increase in ethanol percentage since 1978, when the 10-percent blend was approved. Roughly 70 percent of U.S...
John Voelcker -
The 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 What Do YOU Want To Know?
We’ve already covered the updated 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 upgrade on AllCarsElectric and although our John Voelcker has given the 2010 Roadster a 7.4 out of 10 over at TheCarConnection, we’ve yet to put the 2011 Roadster 2.5 through its paces. Updated with a new grille, some performance...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Your Ultimate Guide To Electric Car Charging Etiquette
The end of 2010 is fast approaching and that means in a few short months we’ll see the launch of several different plug-in vehicles. But as the 2011 Nissan Leaf, 2011 Coda Sedan, 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Wheego Whip LiFE and others hit the roads of the U.S., hundreds of new electric car and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
All the Gasoline You Could Use, for $40 A Month? In Detroit?
Business of Plugging In 2010 conference, Detroit -- Some executives always hit the talking points, while others clearly relish their topic and aren't afraid to add some opinion to their presentations. Tony Earley, CEO of DTE Corp., the parent company of Detroit Edison, is the rare public utility...
John Voelcker -
As any gadget geek will tell you, the electronics retailer Best Buy is a great place to get everything from the latest windscreen televisions and kitchen appliances through to electric bicycles and even in select stores, the 2011 Brammo Enertia. We already know how switched onto electric cars Best Buy is. The electric vehicle section of its website even includes a fuel saving calculator to encourage customers to switch to electric two-wheel transport. Even Best Buy’s in-house Geek Squad, a team of gadget-savvy professionals who help consumers with everything from keeping your computer...
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THINK City World's Best-Selling City EV; 2,500 And Counting
With the media kerfuffle surrounding the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and anticipation mounting for 2011 Nissan Leaf customers, it's easy to forget that there are other electric cars out there. Even successful ones, it seems. Swedish electric city car maker THINK are more than 20 years old and have just...
Antony Ingram -
2011 Volt "GM Lied" Debate: They Hate GM, They Really Hate GM
This will be our last word on the whole "GM Lied!" and "Is the Volt a hybrid?" controversy, which blew up yesterday at the first day of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt press launch. Late last night, GM issued a press release (largely reprised on its Voltage site) entitled "Clearing up confusion about the...
John Voelcker -
Audi Q5 Hybrid Not Coming To 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
Audi is hopping onto the electrified vehicle bandwagon with plans for a new range of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric luxury vehicles and sports cars in the coming years. Following the lead of parent company Volkswagen, Audi is striving to become the leader for alternative-powered vehicles...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Five Reasons Why Voltgate Won’t Hurt Sales Of The 2011 Chevy Volt
When the proverbial waste-product hit the fan yesterday with the revelation that GM could possibly have “lied to us” about just how its 2011 Chevy Volt operated we sat back and waited for the dust to settle. After all, the tabloid reporting of some sites didn’t tell us anything we...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Video: Charging The 2011 Chevrolet Volt
For some reason, while none of us think twice about plugging in our mobile phones to recharge overnight, the prospect of plugging in a car makes some people very nervous. On yesterday's test drive of a 2011 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, we visited the Detroit-Hamtramck factory where...
John Voelcker -
It's all about the Volt today, for better and for worse. On the "worse" side is the tempest in a teapot that erupted today, ably dismantled by more thoughtful commentators, over whether General Motors had "lied" about the drivetrain of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. In brief, GM revealed today that the Volt, previously described as a range-extended electric car, also has a power mode in which the gasoline engine can provide mechanical torque that blends with the electric drive motor's torque to power the front wheels. The advantage, says GM, is an increase in efficiency of 10 to 15 percent at...
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Four Ways To Combate Long-Distance Electric Car Range Anxiety
Range Anxiety, or the fear that an electric car will run out of charge before it reaches its destination, has to be the ultimate boogeyman of the electric car world. It stems from the fact that most electric cars on the market today have a range per-charge much smaller than the 200-500 miles...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Chevrolet Volt: First Impressions, Tech And Questions
If you follow AllCarsElectric with any regularity, you might just be familiar with a certain new Chevrolet known as the Volt. We've probably mentioned it at some point... Well, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is now here and our partner site GreenCarReports has been putting the car through its paces at the...
Antony Ingram -
Aptera 2e Prototype: First Drive
As electric cars make their way to market, one funky little vehicle has captured plenty of attention for its unusual looks. That would be the Aptera 2e. The car is more than just an exercise in styling: Aptera plans to bring the car to market in late 2011. To that end, the company has been bringing...
Tim Healey -
Enterprise To Add 100 2011 Coda Sedans To Its Electric Car Fleet
Electric cars and the rental market seem made for one another. While you’re not easily going to be able to make huge long-distance family trips in an electric rental car, all electric rental cars are ideal for visitors to larger cities throughout the U.S., be they on holiday or stop-over...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BMW And Mercedes-Benz Compact Cars Will Come To U.S.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW are both working on a new generation of front-wheel drive compact cars complete with four-cylinder and alternative powertrains, advanced composite construction and soaring fuel economy numbers. However, more often than not, we customers in the U.S. can only dream of such...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran