plug-in cars

When we visited Zero Motorcycles’ headquarters in Scotts Valley, California to test-ride its 2011 2001 model year electric motorcycles, we got to meet some of the hardworking engineers responsible for ensuring the company remained at the forefront of the electric motorcycle world. And while...

It's a little confusing when a carmaker shows a concept vehicle derived from a product that it's going to sell but hasn't yet announced. Nonetheless, the Nissan e-NV 200 Concept at the Detroit Auto Show attracted its share of attention. With a Leaf-like charging port door on its nose, and Leaf...

California has always led the nation in mandating reduction of tailpipe emissions and development of low- and zero-emission vehicles. For several years now, states have had the option of adopting stricter California vehicle-emissions regulations or sticking with the national standards. Roughly a...

There’s something special about the Volkswagen Beetle -- or VW Bug to use its more colloquial name -- that makes us think of a car that is inherently friendly to the planet. And that’s something which Volkswagen has played on with the its Volkswagen all-electric e-Bugster concept car...

We’re often asked by new readers where they should go to brush up on electric car basics, so we’re always on the lookout for new resources to recommend alongside our own guides to cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Chevrolet Volt. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department Of Energy...

When the Sexy Tesla Roadster blasted into the automotive world five years ago, we all knew that California-based Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] was only planning to build a few thousand examples. In December, we told you the final 2011 Tesla Roadsters had rolled off the production lines, destined to be...

You’re probably well aware that some of our fellow journalists in the mainstream media aren’t big fans of plug-in hybrid and pure electric cars at the moment. But U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has reiterated his support of electric cars, predicting that electric cars will command a...

Last year wasn’t a great one for General Motors’ first production plug-in range-extended electric car. Continued negative press -- not to mention post-crash-test fires and production-line upgrades -- conspired to produce first-year sales figures a little lower than GM had hoped. Does...

Got enough money to buy a 2012 Tesla Model S, but want something a little more rugged? If the answer is yes -- and you can’t wait another few years for the 2014 Tesla Model X Crossover SUV to debut -- you can now spend your hard-earned cash on an all-electric Jeep Grand Cherokee. You...

With only one month to go before Californian electric automaker Coda is due to commence sales of its $39,900 Sedan, you’d expect available options and specifications to be set in stone. But at yesterday’s 2012 Detroit Auto Show, Coda announced it had made the decision to offer customers...

Tesla [NASDAQ:TSLA] may have just confirmed the date of its unofficial unveiling of the 2013 Model X crossover SUV, but it appears some lucky stock analysts at Barclays Capital research have already their own private preview of the much-anticipated car. In a recent stock analysis posted online at...

It wouldn't be an auto show without concept cars, and the Detroit Auto Show this year has its share. From Volkswagen comes a new take on a familiar shape: the Volkswagen E-Bugster, an all-electric two-seat coupe version of its iconic Beetle. Volkswagen isn't unveiling the car until the show opens...

Officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have said they are happy with the proposed safety enhancements for the 2011 and 2012 Chevrolet Volt designed to minimize the risk of battery pack fire following a major impact. In an interview yesterday at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show...

Just before the holidays at the end of last year, Google welcomed the first 2012 Ford Focus Electric to roll off the production lines into its ever-expanding G Fleet of plug-in and hybrid cars. Google’s G Fleet now includes the 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2012 Chevrolet Volt, and various Toyota Prius...

For some time now, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said its new vehicle, the upcoming Model X crossover electric car, would be unveiled int he first quarter of 2012. We just didn't know when, until now. In an interview with In an interview with Gigaom’s Katie Fehrenbacher, Musk confirmed that the...

With the first sales of the 2012 Ford Focus Electric registered last month, Ford's battery-electric compact hatchback enters the market to compete with the Nissan Leaf and other plug-in cars. Unlike the Leaf, though, the Focus Electric is an adaptation of a high-volume gasoline-powered car. And...

Last year, the electric-car revolution became real. After a late-Nineties false start, much gnashing of teeth, and years of promises, carmakers delivered more than 17,000 plug-in vehicles in the U.S. market during 2011. December sales numbers are being announced today. The relevant figures: Nissan...

If you own a 2012 Nissan Leaf alongside a regular gasoline car, the chances are you’ve already taken to driving your electric car as much as possible, using it for everything from the daily commute to weekend trips to the dump. But while Nissan’s mass production electric car beats a...

For first responders, helping deal with the aftermath of a car crash is a common occurrence. But while dealing with crashed gasoline cars is an everyday event for firefighters, police officers and paramedics, crashes involving plug-in, hydrogen and other green cars are relatively rare. As a...

We’re less than a week away from the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and that means automakers are eagerly dropping hints about what we’ll be seeing next week. For BMW, that means posting six screenshots from its unreleased iOS smartphone application for the 2013...