plug-in cars
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At this morning's Frankfurt Auto Show, the wraps finally came off the production version of the 2015 BMW i8, the plug-in hybrid coupe that's the high-performance counterpart to the 2014 BMW i3 electric urban car. Among other details, BMW announced U.S. pricing for the car, which will go on sale next spring. The BMW i8 will start at $135,925 including destination--or roughly three times the cost of the smaller i3 battery-electric car. Both cars have strong but light bodies made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) riding on an aluminum rolling platform that holds the running gear...
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Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada, Aug 2013: Volt Charges Ahead
In July, we tentatively crowned the Tesla Model S as the top-selling plug-in electric carmaker in Canada, reasoning that the Muskmobile would top the 42 nationwide sales reported by the Volt and the Leaf. And we were right -- by the skin of our teeth. Government registration records showed 43 new...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Is $35,000 Or Less The Threshold Price For Volume Electric Cars?
The recent $5,000 price cut for the 2014 Chevrolet Volt has dropped the range-extended electric car into a significant price bracket. That group is the "$35,000 and under" club--occupied by every plug-in car on sale right now except for the Tesla Model S and the Toyota RAV4 EV. It makes us wonder...
Antony Ingram -
Are The BMW i3 And i8 Electric Cars Too Much Of A Stretch?
The BMW i3 and i8 are both impressive technological exercises, but will anyone actually want to buy them?
Stephen Edelstein -
Electric-Car Drivers Charge Anywhere; Check Out These Photos!
Plugging in your electric car to recharge the battery is simple if you have your own garage, carport, or driveway. If you park on the street, it's a little harder; there just aren't that many curbside charging stations yet. So electric-car owners can get very, very resourceful. We said it more than...
John Voelcker -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales For Aug: Volt, Leaf Hit New Highs, Total Exceeds 10,000
Sales of the two highest-volume plug-in electric cars soared in August, with both the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf setting all-time monthly sales records. And two Toyota plug-ins set sales records as well. The Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid sold more than it has all year, and the low-volume RAV4...
John Voelcker -
What's the best way to persuade people that electric cars are a viable alternative to gasoline cars? Get "butts in seats." And what's one of the largest car-rental markets in the United States? That woud be Orlando, Florida. Now a new initiative, Drive Electric Orlando (DEO), is coordinating rental agencies, charging stations, hotels, theme parks, and other stakeholders in hopes of creating a "seamlessly positive experience for visitors who rent this innovative technology." It plans to make electric cars available for rental at major agencies (Enterprise is the named partner) and ensure that...
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California Extends Electric-Car HOV Lane Access To 2019
The California Legislature has voted to allow drivers of plug-in cars to cruise the state's High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes solo for another six years.
Stephen Edelstein -
U.K. Goal: Consign Gasoline, Diesel Cars 'To History' By 2050
UK government proposals could extend current tax benefits for electric cars to the end of the decade, with further plans for a full market of ultra-low emission vehicles by 2050. Ministers have suggested the current benefits package could be extended to end the current reluctance of UK drivers to...
Antony Ingram -
Life With Tesla Model S: Three Days Of Service Nirvana
A few months ago, some minor glitches in my 2013 Tesla Model S were fixed at the Tesla service center in White Plains, New York. It was a perfectly satisfactory experience, pretty much like any other service visit: Drive to the shop, read magazines for a couple of hours, get the car back, drive...
David Noland -
Why Men Love Their Tesla Model S Electric Cars
A new study finds that Tesla has more male owners than other plug-in nameplates, and that those owners love their cars. Why? Because they have a need for speed.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla: Worth More Than Fiat, Which Is 100 Times Its Size?
Is startup electric-car maker Tesla really worth more than century-old Italian carmaker Fiat? Not to mention more than Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and Isuzu--the last two of which no longer sell cars in the U.S.? The Italian maker sells roughly 2 million cars a year globally (plus 1.6 million more...
John Voelcker -
Electric cars achieved another milestone recently: Plug-in vehicles on American roads now outnumber the gas stations they whiz past on the roadside. We estimate the watershed (oil-shed?) event took place in early July--though there are some asterisks, as we'll discuss below. As early as next year, electric-car sales in the United States each year could top the national gas station count. That would make it possible for electric-car fans to create a sort of "Gas Freedom Day," much as some Americans today celebrate the annual "Tax Freedom Day." Plug-ins lead gas stations, 120,000 to 119,000*...
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Tesla: As Disruptive To U.S. Car Market As Toyota, Nissan Were?
In its decade of existence, electric-car startup Tesla has accomplished many things the auto industry didn't think it could do. But could Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] be as disruptive to the existing industry as were Toyota and Nissan, the two largest Japanese car importers during the Sixties...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Tests New Heat-Resistant Battery For Leaf Electric Car
Nissan is testing a revised lithium-ion cell chemistry for its Leaf electric car that the company says appears to be as durable in sustained extreme heat as its current battery is under normal conditions. If tests confirm that the new cells degrade at no more than the standard rate, even at high...
John Voelcker -
Will Tesla Trademark Tangle Delay Electric Car's China Launch?
With its Model S on sale in the U.S. for more than a year now, and the first European delivery in Norway this month, Tesla is turning its attention to China. The company has already built a showroom in Beijing's Parkview Green Fangcaodi mall, says Reuters, but it sits boarded up without the...
John Voelcker -
Does Toyota's Hybrid Leadership Blind It To Electric Cars?
Many who follow the progress of plug-in electric cars wonder why Toyota, despite its leadership in hybrids, lags other carmakers in its electric vehicles. The business principle of The Innovator's Dilemma suggests that the company has been slow to embrace electric cars not despite its hybrid...
Matthew Klippenstein -
The Five Greenest, Most Energy-Efficient Cars of 2013
What cars available in dealers today make the most efficient use of energy? The answer turns out to be four battery-electric vehicles and one plug-in hybrid. Gasoline and diesel cars don't even come close; internal combustion engines waste two-thirds to three-quarters of the energy in their fuel on...
John Voelcker -
Shai Agassi, founder of the now-defunct Better Place electric-car service in Israel, hasn't been in the public eye much of late. But on the business network LinkedIn this morning, he emerged to weigh in on the lessons of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and what the auto industry at large could learn from the electric-car startup. His post on the topic appears to have been prompted by the news last month that General Motors set up a task force to study Tesla, prompting him to muse on what that company and the rest of the industry could learn. Agassi suggests in his post--the first of two on the...
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Electric Car Charging At Work: The Next Big Push
If you drive an electric car, the chances are that you do most of your charging at home. Why wouldn't you? It's the place your car probably spends the most time during an average 24-hour period, and it's the place you can always be sure of a good charge. But those with longer commutes may be...
Antony Ingram -
Plug-In Hybrid Model To Join Next Audi A4 Range: Report
Audi has had its fair share of criticism from plug-in car fans, but the automaker now seems to be coming around to the idea of electric propulsion after some rather public dismissals of the technology. Audi's first production plug-in model will be the A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid arriving next year...
Antony Ingram -
Half Of All Electric Cars Are Sold In 5 Cities; Can You Name Them?
Different vehicles appeal to different markets. More than half of all Chevrolet Suburban extra-long full-size sport utility vehicles, for instance, are sold in the state of Texas. So where do plug-in electric cars tend to cluster? Not surprisingly, in progressive regions with activist governments...
John Voelcker -
2013 Smart Electric Drive Cabrio: Brief Drive Of Electric Convertible
If you want an electric car, there are now 14 different models with plugs to choose from. But if you want an electric convertible, there's just one: The 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabrio. The little two-seat battery electric vehicle with the roll-back cloth roof is now on sale along with the...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Takes The Lead On Dumping Door Mirrors For Video Cameras
The rear-view mirror has now been with us exactly 100 years, having first been introduced in 1914, and it hasn't changed much in all that time. It's a small area of mirrored glass--three of them now, actually--for the purpose of seeing through the rear window or along each side of the car without...
John Voelcker