plug-in cars

It's conventional wisdom that more electric cars will be sold in California than in any other state. Some estimates say Californians will buy more plug-in cars than the next five states combined. But California has roughly 25 million vehicles on its roads, so while the absolute numbers are high, it...

Earlier this year, General Motors announced that it would start a second shift at its Detroit-Hamtramck factory some time towards the end of 2011 to meet its production goals for the 2012 Chevrolet Volt. But on Friday the company announced that it was shelving plans to introduce a second shift...

Cities around the US will host special events on Sunday, October 16, 2011, to promote and educate the public about the growing number of plug-in cars and how they work in real-world driving.

BMW might be working hard to encourage drivers to become electronauts in its Active E electric car trials due to start in the next few months, but the German automaker has already started to drip-feed details of its 2014 i3 electric car to the press. Just last month, BMW unveiled its latest concept...

You’ve heard about the 2012 Tesla Model S Sport, read our first ride review, and seen our 2012 Tesla Model S gallery -- but unless you’ve already put down a deposit for the 2012 Tesla Model S you won’t be getting one for a while. So who is getting a 2012 Model S? What kind of...

It’s no secret that the state of California is home to some of the most congested roads in the country -- but it is also home to some of the greenest drivers according to a recent study by academics of the Transport Research Institute at the University of Michigan. Reported by The Los Angeles...

It's that time of month again. Car sales reports spewed forth from the High Gear Media teletypes yesterday (September sales were up), and analysis stories followed. On the electric-car front, Nissan sold 1,031 Leaf battery-electric vehicles and Chevy shifted 723 Volts. While that's an improvement...

When it comes to electric motorcycles, Brammo Inc. has a lot to live up to. Winner of the first two races of the 2011 TTXGP North American Series and lap-record holder at the Infineon Raceway, the Oregon-based firm can certainly make electric motorcycles which go fast. But while the world of...

On Saturday, exactly one year after it took ownership of the former Toyota NUMMI facility in Fremont, California, Tesla Motors [NASDAQ:TSLA] held a series of test-drives aimed to show off the latest Model S Betas to the press and Model S reservation holders. We’ve already told you about some...

Historically, electric vehicles haven’t had an easy time of it thanks to the old stereotype that they are slow, boring and can’t cope with the real world. We all know that isn’t true -- but what would you to to convince the general public that your new electric off-road...

Ask most people what the largest drawback to owning an electric car is, and they’ll tell you that limited range means they are only really suitable for life in large cities. But don’t tell that to the group of Europeans lead by former round-the-world Solar Taxi driver Louis Palmer...

This Saturday, we’ll be heading to the California factory where Tesla Motors plans to build its much-anticipated 2012 Model S electric sports sedan. While we’re there, we’ll be given a full tour of the former NUMMI factory in Fremont, California. where the Model S will be...

Of every 10 companies started by entrepreneurs, half or more fail. Some are sold for the parts or the people, a couple of lucky ones may be bought by larger companies, and only the very lucky ones survive as independent companies over the long term. Tesla: Apple or Altair? For every Apple, in other...

Proton is a totally unknown carmaker in the U.S., but the Malaysian company happens to own British sports car maker and engineering firm Lotus. A couple of years ago, Lotus launched--and recently revised--a range-extending three-cylinder, 1.2-liter Range Extender engine-and-generator set for...

Electric automaker Tesla Motors posted a blog post on its website earlier this week detailing how the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program had helped it expand and prepare not just one but many electric cars for the market. The blog post was designed...

Remember Apple’s popular Mac Vs PC adverts, in which John Hodgman’s haggard PC was constantly bettered by Justin Long’s smug Mac? After a while, Microsoft -- the firm to which the Get A Mac campaigns were so obviously targeted against -- chose play off Apple’s criticisms and...

When the original Toyota Prius launched over ten years ago in the U.S. as a nerdy sedan, it wooed many buyers with its low-speed, near-silent operation. Now the days of the whispering Prius are over, thanks to U.S. legislation requiring every single electric vehicle and hybrid car to fit an active...

Brammo Motorcycles -- the Oregon-based electric motorcycle company -- has concentrated for several years on bringing electric motorcycles to the masses with its Enertia commuter motorcycle and more recently, its Empluse sports bike. But now the company has embraced the high-adrenaline world of dirt...

If you’re a homeowner with a suitable home and enough money to invest in a set of photovoltaic solar panels for your roof, you can easily power your home cheaply and cleanly. But while some states offer Feed In Tariff (FIT) schemes to let you sell back any excess power your solar panels...

Despite wrangling among electric-car fans over whether the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid's 9 to 14 miles of electric range are sufficient, one factor will make the car a success, at least in California: the valued sticker that gives drivers solo access to the HOV lane.