plug-in cars
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This past June marked the 20th year since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup, a dry spell even longer than the country's last World Series title. June also marked the Chevy Volt's 16th consecutive month atop the Canuck plug-in sales charts. Thanks to a June sales surge, the car GM designed to leapfrog the Prius now represents about half of the country's year-to-date electric vehicle sales. Chevy Volt: Sweet 16 (months at # 1) Chevy Volt sales in June roughly doubled month-over-month, to 153 units from May's 77. It's amazing what offering seven years of interest-free financing can do for...
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2014 BMW i3 Electric Car: Specifications And Details Released
With the global unveiling of the 2014 BMW i3 less than three weeks away, BMW has revealed a few more details on its radical new electric car. The i3 battery-electric five-door hatchback's 125-kilowatt (170-horsepower) electric motor can generate peak torque of 184 lb-ft. The motor will accelerate...
John Voelcker -
Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation Set Up To Preserve Electric-Car History
With more than 100,000 electric cars on U.S. roads--and thousands more added each month--advocates and historians are turning their attention to the last time cars with plugs rolled out of U.S. factories, almost 100 years ago. But as far as we know, there's no single museum or entity in the U.S...
John Voelcker -
June Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Year Won't Quite Double 2012
With half the year now gone, are plug-in electric cars on track to double their sales last year? Not quite. As of the end of June, roughly 41,000 plug-in cars had been sold in the U.S. That number would need to be closer to last year's total of 53,000 to keep sales on pace to double the 2012 total...
John Voelcker -
LA Metro Chooses Electric Buses From Chinese Company BYD
You might think that the 25 electric buses to be purchased by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be roundly applauded. That's not necessarily the case. LA Metro announced yesterday afternoon that it would spend $30 million to buy up to 25 of the battery-electric buses made...
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevrolet Volts--Just Four--Recalled For Brake Valve Glitch
It just may be the most minimal safety recall in history. General Motors said yesterday it would recall precisely four 2012 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric cars to fix a potential problem with a brake component that could have safety implications. As reported in The Detroit News, the company...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Motors has dodged two big bullets fired its way by New York and North Carolina legislatures and auto dealers. Last week, the New York State Senate and Assembly adjourned until January without acting on two bills pushed by state auto dealers that would have made it illegal to register a Tesla store in New York state. And yesterday, the North Carolina legislature backed off on a similar measure banning the sale of cars directly from the factory, the Tesla business model. The North Carolina law, also backed by the auto dealers lobby, could have even made it illegal for Tesla to send...
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Battery Leasing Lands In U.S., Electric Smart Drivers Love It
Maybe there's a future for battery leasing among U.S. electric-car buyers after all. Nissan had considered leasing battery packs separately before launching its 2011 Leaf, but ended up choosing to sell or lease the entire car. So the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive is the first car in the country...
John Voelcker -
Is Buying A Fiat 500e Electric Car 'Environmentally Sexy'?
We liked the 2013 Fiat 500e electric car, a lot. It may be the best of the low-volume compliance cars, in fact--though the 2014 Chevy Spark EV and 2013 Honda Fit EV are pretty great too. We're less sure how we feel about the ad campaign Fiat is using to pitch the car, under the tagline...
John Voelcker -
Electric Car: Lease Or Buy?
You're considering a plug-in electric car. Should you lease or buy? It's a question that all new-car shoppers face--but for electric cars, there are some special considerations. Each financing option has its pros and cons, so we've outlined the reasons you might opt for each alternative. LEASING...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Builds Up Store Network In Europe Before Launching Model S
European electric car fans will soon get to enjoy the Tesla Model S as much as their American counterparts, when the car is launched in Europe this summer. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has spent some of the last year preparing service and repair centers in Europe, but the company's sales network is...
Antony Ingram -
First 2014 Chevy Spark EV Sold: Why We Chose This Electric Car
So how did Rick and Christine Prell and their two teenage sons become the first family in the U.S. to buy a 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV? Turns out it was at least partly luck. The family needed a third car for Alex, their 16-year-old son who is about to turn 17, to drive to school. Alex, a car...
John Voelcker -
Well, this is a new tactic we haven't seen before in the fight between franchised auto dealers and Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley electric-car startup. A pair of bills in the New York State Legislature, backed by New York state auto dealers, would make it illegal to license or renew licenses for Tesla stores within the state. The bills, submitted now pending in the last days before the Legislature adjourns for the summer, would make it impossible for any state resident to buy a vehicle not sold by an independently-owned third party. Which is to say, a car dealer. UPDATE: As Bloomberg...
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Nissan To Offer Leaf Battery Replacement Plan: $100 A Month
To allay fears about loss of capacity in its Leaf electric-car battery packs, Nissan announced today that it would offer what amounts to a battery leasing program after the pack goes out of warranty. The cost of ensuring minimum capacity will be $100 a month. The company now warranties the Leaf...
John Voelcker -
UPDATE: Musk Posts Photo Of Tesla Model S Battery Swap Video
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk confirmed that a press event to be held this Thursday evening will demonstrate battery-swapping for the Tesla Model S. The mode of communication was his favorite medium: a tweet. "Seeing is believing," wrote Musk, saying that the company will do a live demonstration of...
John Voelcker -
New Gas Mileage Rules Will Reshape What Americans Drive: Hybrids, Electrics, Cost
Hybrids and plug-in electric cars probably get more press than they deserve, given how small their numbers are in the vehicle fleet. The U.S. has roughly 250 million vehicles on the roads, of which less than 2 percent are hybrids and plug-ins of all kinds. Nonetheless, both technologies are...
John Voelcker -
Bosch Offers Wireless Charging For Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt
Tired of plugging in your Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt electric car to recharge every night? Yearn for the simplicity of simply parking over a charging pad and walking away? Bosch Automotive Service Solutions feels your pain. The service arm of the German auto-parts maker is now offering a...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S Recall Announced For Rear-Seat Latch Bracket
Tesla Motors announced this morning that it will conduct a partial recall of Model S electric sedans manufactured between May 10 and June 8 of this year to fix a potentially weakened left-rear seat attachment striker bracket. According to a post on the company's website and signed by CEO Elon Musk...
John Voelcker -
What's your first resource for electric-car information? We're hoping you answer Green Car Reports (of course!), but in reality there are quite a few by now. Today, the conservation group Sierra Club has launched its own Electric Vehicle Guide--and one of its key features is the ability to learn about state and local incentives by entering your ZIP code. While other groups, including Plug-In America, offer listings and maps of specific incentives in various locations, the Sierra Club's electric-car guide provides a neat ability to sort results by where you live. It sorts the available plug-in...
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Build Your Own Ford Transit Connect Electric: Gliders On eBay
Remember the now-defunct Ford Transit Connect Electric? It was the all-electric conversion of the Transit Connect delivery van that actually sank Azure Dynamics, which declared bankruptcy in March 2012 after sales fell short of projections. If you've always wanted one, now's your chance. But...
John Voelcker -
What's Going On At Fisker These Days?
At this point, many auto journalists have a pre-written obituary for Fisker Automotive all ready to publish if that company declares bankruptcy. Which, so far, it hasn't. And according to Reuters, its remaining executives are working furiously to arrange a buyout to avoid that fate. In fact, the...
John Voelcker -
What Questions Would You Ask Tesla's Elon Musk?
It's probably safe to say that many readers of this site would love to sit down for a chat with Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. While he's known for tweeting about the company--and autographing owners' Model S cars at publicity events--Musk is a pretty busy guy. While he can be refreshingly blunt in...
John Voelcker -
GM, BMW Complete Testing Of New CCS Quick-Charging Stations For Electric Cars
General Motors and BMW announced on Tuesday that they had jointly completed testing new quick-charging equipment for plug-in electric cars. The charging stations, cables, and plugs were built to the new Combined Charging Standard (CCS) specification adopted by the Society of Automotive Engineers...
John Voelcker -
Ford Energi Plug-In Hybrids Let You Choose Your Own 'Eco Coach'
Information is power, right? More precisely, based on an interview last week with Mike Tinskey, Ford’s Director of Global Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure, information is both what buyers of the brand’s Energi plug-in hybrids want to feel empowered, and what they need to get...
Bengt Halvorson