plug-in cars
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Eight states plan to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on their roads by 2025.
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BMW, Tesla Are Only Electric-Car Makers 'To Build A Business': Really ??
Sometimes we read things that just make us scratch our heads. Often, statements about the electric-car industry by (presumably) highly-paid analysts in the finance industry are among those things. Take, for example, a statement by one such analyst, contained an article published two weeks ago in...
John Voelcker -
Japanese Electric-Car Makers Set Up Single Charging Network; Could It Ever Happen In U.S.?
One challenge to more widespread adoption of electric cars is public charging--or rather, the scattered multiple networks of irregularly spaced public charging stations. In Japan, the four major electric-car makers have now joined together to form a new company whose goal is to build a single...
John Voelcker -
Three Mercedes Plug-In Hybrids On Sale By End Of 2015: S-Class, C-Class, ML-Class
The first wave of electric cars and plug-in hybrids has been largely centered on smaller vehicles, mostly from mass-market brands (Tesla excepted). Four years later, German luxury makers are entering the fray--and the plug-in cars and utility vehicles they sell will markedly expand the offerings on...
John Voelcker -
BMW i3 REx Range-Extended Electric: No NJ Sales-Tax Exemption, Costing Owners Extra $3,000-Plus
Electric cars enjoy many incentives, from tax credits and purchase rebates through carpool-lane access, to encourage buyers to give them a try. But the range-extended model of the BMW i3 electric car turns out not to qualify for a state exemption from New Jersey's new-car sales tax--despite at...
John Voelcker -
2014 Nissan Leaf: Bestselling Electric Car, Driven By Newbie
Driving the world's highest-volume battery-electric car in New York's Hudson Valley.
Stephen Edelstein -
Within the next year and a half, three different plug-in hybrid SUVs or crossovers will arrive on the U.S. market, or at least some parts of it. And one of them will be the 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, whose limited launch is set for sometime in autumn 2015--despite quite recent reports to the contrary. DON'T MISS: Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid: Quick Drive According to a source who asked not to be named, the plug-in hybrid Outlander that will arrive in the U.S. will carry the changes from a mid-cycle update of the mid-size crossover that arrived with a gasoline powertrain...
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Owning A Tesla Model S: New Book Offers Tips, Tricks, Inside Info (Book Review)
Regular readers of Tesla forums will recognize the name of Nick J. Howe, whose hundreds of astute comments recently earned him accolades for "best forum postings over time," according to a reader poll. A Florida chemical engineer and owner of a Tesla Model S P85, Howe has technical savvy, dogged...
David Noland -
Chrysler CEO Underscores, Again: Electric Fiat 500e Loses Money
OK, clearly he shouldn't have said, "I hope you don't buy it." But last week's little media explosion over Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne's negative comments on the 2014 Fiat 500e electric car his company sells--in limited numbers, in California only--shouldn't be a surprise. To summarize his...
John Voelcker -
2014 BMW i3 REx: Range-Extended Electric Car Drive Report, By Very First Owner
This past Wednesday, May 21, I picked up my shiny new 2014 BMW i3 REx range-extended electric car from JMK BMW in Springfield, New Jersey. The car, in Laurel Grey, was the first range-extended i3 delivered in North America, and I will always appreciate that BMW gave me the honor of being the first...
Tom Moloughney -
Crushed BMW ActiveE Test Fleet Headed For Scrapyard (UPDATED)
Just two weeks ago, drivers of the BMW ActiveE fleet of electric test vehicles were delighted to see that their cars would have a second life. BMW announced that it would redeploy 80 ActiveE electric cars to its DriveNow car-sharing program in San Francisco. MUST READ: 2014 BMW i3 Test Drive: No...
John Voelcker -
Indianapolis Electric-Car Sharing: We Drive BlueIndy's BlueCar
While you might expect a city-wide electric car-sharing service in Paris--or perhaps progressive havens like San Francisco or Santa Monica--the midwestern city of Indianapolis may not be the first such place you'd look for an all-electric car-sharing plan. Nevertheless, the city announced the...
John Voelcker -
Every time I visit a conventional car dealership to test-drive an electric car, I'm struck by the salesman's lack of savvy about plug-in cars. The first time I drove a Chevy Volt three years ago, the salesman barely knew how to turn the car on, and had no clue about electric cars in general. The Nissan salesman showing me a Leaf wasn't much better. A couple of months later, at another dealer, the guy who sold me my Volt was at least aware of such exotic concepts as regenerative braking and maximum torque at 0 rpm. But it was clear that I was still far better informed about the Volt than he...
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Now Electric-Car Drivers Can Use Google Glass To Find Charging Stations
Charging-station operator SemaConnect created a Google Glass app to help drivers find its stations.
Stephen Edelstein -
EZ-Charge Program Not So Easy As ChargePoint Exits Nissan Plan
The design for EZ-Charge, an access card that would let new Nissan Leaf electric-car drivers use multiple charging networks, was unveiled yesterday at the EDTA convention. Unfortunately, one of the four partners pulled out of the program--seemingly just an hour or so before the lunch event at which...
John Voelcker -
Google Gets Chevy Spark EV Electric Cars For Ride-Sharing Test
GM will test a ride-sharing program on the Google campus using Chevrolet Spark EV electric cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
Electric Cars For Speed Freaks: Which One Is Quickest?
Debate still rages on the best way to sell electric cars. Should automakers be boasting of their environmental credentials? Or should they talk in a language people understand--money--and highlight the economic benefits? Maybe it's all about silence and refinement? Rarely mentioned is just how fun...
Antony Ingram -
Ford Focus Electric: Ultimate Guide To What You Need To Know
The 2014 Ford Focus Electric is already available in select parts of the U.S. -- and to answer all your questions about Ford’s first mass-produced all-electric car here’s our ultimate guide to the Ford Focus Electric. For our guide, we’ve hand-picked the best information about the...
Antony Ingram -
The Chevrolet Spark EV has been on the market for only a year, but already it's being updated. And in this case, the update is major: The 2015 Chevy Spark EV will have an entirely new battery pack. General Motors announced yesterday that it will bring assembly of the electric Spark's battery in-house and assemble packs for the 2015 Spark EV at the Brownstown, Michigan, plant that already builds batteries for the Chevrolet Volt, Opel/Vauxhall Ampera, and Cadillac ELR. DON'T MISS: 2016 Chevrolet Volt To Launch Next Year: What We Know So Far Batteries for 1,000 or so Spark EVs for the 2014 model...
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Electric-Truck Maker Smith Gets $42 Million In New Investment
Smith Electric Vehicles plans to restart production, and will partner with a Hong Kong-based maker of lithium-ion batteries.
Stephen Edelstein -
BMW Says It Will Triple Production Of Carbon Fiber For Electric Cars
BMW plans to produce up to 9,000 tons of material per year at its Washington-state plant.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Model S: 'Intergalactic SpaceBoat Of Light And Wonder'
The Tesla Model S electric luxury sedan can be described many ways, and its owners generally use glowing superlatives in doing so. But we've never seen it called an "intergalactic spaceboat of light and wonder" before. Nor an "Electric CruiseBeast," for that matter. ALSO SEE: Next-Generation Tesla...
John Voelcker -
Dual-Carbon Battery: Same Energy Density, Safer, Longer Life Than Lithium-Ion, Says Power Japan Plus
In the search for better electric-car batteries, lots of lab research has to happen before anything can be announced. Today, a company called Power Japan Plus came out of stealth mode to unveil a new battery chemistry, with both electrodes--anode and cathode--made of carbon. The new cell, known as...
John Voelcker -
Life With Tesla Model S: New Northeastern Superchargers Now Live
As the owner of a Tesla Model S in New York's Hudson Valley, I've long lamented the puzzling dearth of Superchargers in the Northeastern U.S. But in the last few weeks, the official opening of two of Tesla's superfast (120-kilowatt) free DC charging stations in New Jersey and upstate New York--both...
David Noland