plug-in cars
-
What’s better for a new brand of car than a bunch of A-list celebrities choosing it as the vehicle of choice around Hollywood? For BMW, the answer is simple: A starring role in the next blockbuster. While it may look more like the futuristic car driven by Chief John Anderton in the 2002 Sci-fi thriller Minority Report than a car available today, BMW bosses have secured its new 2013 BMW i8 Plug-in Hybrid sportscar a role in the new Mission Impossible Film. By a stroke of coincidence, both Minority Report’s hero John Anderton and Mission Impossible’s hero Ethan Hunt are played...
-
Nissan Goes Solar With Electric Car Charging Station at TN HQ
While the majority of its vehicles will be gasoline powered for the foreseeable future, Nissan North America has taken more steps towards zero emissions motoring for its headquarters in Franklin, TN with an 18 vehicle solar charging station to supplement the already existing electric vehicle...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
What Happens When Electric Volvo Meets Pole? We Find Out
Volvo is well known in the automotive world for its safety record. In fact, Volvo is so concerned with safety that it is driving towards a future goal of having no fatalities or casualties in any of its cars by 2050. So what happens when you combine Volvo’s legendary safety record with its...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
EVCup Shifts a Gear as Le Mans Competitors Sign Up
The American Le Mans Series may not be as popular or as iconic as NASCAR, but it is serious, big buck stuff. So when Le Mans race veterans announce their intent to compete in this year’s EVCup, we know the time to take all-electric motorsport seriously has arrived. Founded by Lord Drayson...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Europeans Suffer as 2011 Nissan Leaf MSRP Rises to $50,310
Oh dear, Nissan. You’re struggling to fulfil worldwide demand for your first ever production electric vehicle, and then you go and put the price of your revolutionary car up. At least, that’s what buyers in Europe are faced with from March 1. Even before the first Nissan Leaf has been...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Want a Virtual Electric Car? There’s an App For That
Ever since Apple announced it would allow third party developers to build and sell applications for its iPhone smart phone, we’ve seen a whole range of applications from the silly to the useful. There’s even some fantastic iPhone apps to help you find the nearest charge station, control...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
You heard the announcement, saw the artists’ sketches, speculated on its specifications and followed our live tweets from its pre-2011 Geneva Auto Show sneak-peek press day - but after a day in its presence here are 10 things we’d like to share with you about Nissan’s ultra-sexy two-seat all-electric concept. 1) The Concept is a Real, Working Car, Not a Mockup Unlike some concepts you see at auto shows, the ESFlow is a real car. We didn’t see it move, but sources within the company say it can be driven and that all of the controls work. As usual, we didn’t get to...
-
2011 Nissan ESFLOW Concept: What Do YOU Want to Know?
Announced last week just three weeks ahead of its debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the Nissan ESFLOW Concept two-seat all-electric sports car has already created quite a stir. With a lightweight Aluminium chassis, composite body and the same laminated lithium-ion battery pack found in the 2011...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Geneva Auto Show: Toyota IQ EV Preview
Until last spring, Toyota had never seemed that keen on producing an all-electric car, claiming battery technology just wasn’t ready for an all-electric car - despite having produced an all electric crossover SUV back in the late 1990s. Since then however, things have changed a lot. Not only...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Smart Electric Drive: Will Fewer Dealers Cut Electric-Car Access?
Yesterday we heard the news that Mercedes-Benz will take over Smart car distribution in the United States from Penske Automotive Group. The independent dealer network had started distributing the Smart ForTwo in 2008 with a total of 77 dealers nationwide. But with Mercedes-Benz only taking-over...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
California To Be Biggest U.S. Market For Plug-In Cars, Says Study
California is already viewed as one of the most progressive states towards the adoption of mainstream electric cars. Now, a new study has confirmed what may have seemed obvious: It is likely to be the biggest market in the U.S. for a new generation of electric and plug-in hybrid cars. The study...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Does YOUR Valentine's Day Gift Plug In? This Tesla Does
Okay, let's get the schoolyard jokes about buying your female companion a motorised whirring gift for valentine's day. We know you have a much more sophisticated set of tates than that. But how do you buy your partner an exciting, fast, luxurious gift bound to get her blood pumping without...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
It's always good to hear the arguments against electric cars. Some are valid, some are idiotic, and some simply betray a lack of knowledge about how the auto industry really works. Into that last category may go some comments by one William M. Colton, ExxonMobil’s vice president for corporate strategic planning. At least 10 years away In an interview with The New York Times, he commented that electric-car batteries were "not ready for prime time," that a breakthrough to make electric cars practical wouldn't come for at least 10 years, and that gasoline's much greater energy density...
-
Could Your Electric Car Insurance Be Higher Than You Expect?
Arranging insurance for your new car is always a stressful and unpleasant business. Often overlooked, it has a direct impact on your driving habits and your pocket book. But unlike gasoline cars, electric cars are not yet fully known by the insurance industry, causing some potential headaches for...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Senator Stabenow: $7,500 Electric-Car Credit Should Be Rebate
It's long been known that purchase rebates--buy a car, get a check--are a more effective incentive for purchase of any kind of car than an income-tax credit, which may take a year or more to affect the buyer's cash position. But the current tax credits for purchase of plug-in cars, up to $7,500 for...
John Voelcker -
A Tale of Two Countries: How The U.S. and U.K. Sell The LEAF
Like many customers in the U.S., our own Marty Padgett got to reserve his 2011 Nissan LEAF in April last year. And now, like so many of the expectant 20,000 who have signed up for a place in the queue to buy NIssan’s first mass-produced electric car, he’s been saddled with an...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
My Hummer Isn’t Electric? IRS Details False Tax Credit Claims
During the first half of 2010, nearly 13,000 U.S. taxpayers wrongly claimed a staggering $33 million under the electric tax credit incentive scheme, a Treasury Department inspector general report has revealed. The credits, designed to encourage the uptake of plug-in hybrid and electric-only...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Three is a Magic Number: One Family Gets Volt, LEAF and Prius
If you’re in the market for an electric car one of the biggest decisions to make after you’ve decided to buy a plug-in vehicle is which one to choose. For one family in California, however the choice was far easier: Get one of each. And with good reason. Ten years ago marketing...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
If you’re like us and find yourself flying too much you probably feel pretty guilty about that gas-guzzling rental car you have to use at your destination. But thanks to Enterprise Rent-a-Car, another option is now available to customers in Ontario, California: the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Announced today, customers at the Mark Christopher Auto Center branch will be able to rent the 2011 Chevrolet Volt plug-in Hybrid on a daily or weekly tariff. It may be among the first branches to offer plug-in vehicle rental, but certainly won’t be the last. Enterprise plans to electrify the west...
-
The Jay Leno Show Has New Life, And The Ford Focus Electric Does Too
There’s something terribly fickle about the bright lights and flashy sets of the TV talk-show genre. But while Jay Leno’s chat show on NBC may have failed to receive positive viewing figures the bright orange 2009 Ford Focus electric prototype used in the show has just found a new home...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Virginia Utility Tests Cheap Rates for Electric Car Owners
Dominion Virginia Power announced yesterday that is waiting for Virginia State Corporation Commission approval to offer two electricity tariffs exclusively to electric vehicle owners in a bid to encourage customers to make the switch to electric cars. As we’ve discovered before, more and more...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Which Is Selling Better: 2011 Chevy Volt Or 2011 Nissan Leaf?
The first business day of every month is when automakers release sales data for the previous month. Today, we got January's sales figures, which are an improvement over last January's. But the question that we keep hearing is: Which sells better, the 2011 Nissan Leaf or the 2011 Chevrolet Volt?...
John Voelcker -
2012 Ford Focus Electric Won’t Charge as Fast as Nissan LEAF
One of the biggest drawbacks to electric car ownership today is the time it takes to recharge the car when the batteries are depleted. So it comes as no surprise that the time it takes a car to charge from empty is a big selling point. A few weeks ago, Ford seemingly pulled ahead of its rivals...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Will Winter Storms Spell Disaster for Your Electric Car?
Is it really all doom and gloom for electric car owners when winter weather comes, and will electric car owners be stranded in the snow as many columnists have suggested? That's the suggestion we've seen time and time again over the weekend as another band of heavy winter storms is poised to hit...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield