Electric

  • eBay Green Driving Website (Screenshot)

    Once upon a time, if you wanted to buy a used car, the place to start your search was the local used car dealer or newspaper listings. Over the past decade however, searching for a used car has become a lot easier thanks to Internet auction site eBay and its eBay Motors listings. Listing everything from exotic sportscars to daily drivers, eBay has helped sell hundreds of millions of used cars. If you’ve tried searching for a green car however, you’ll know how frustrating it can be to find exactly the right car without trawling through hundreds of irrelevant listings. Now the...

  • Filling up the Mini E at the gas station; photo, Michael Thwaite
    Electric Car Charging Stations Replaces Gas Station: Is This A First?

    We’ve often heard people muse that electric car charging stations need to be as ubiquitous as the humble gas station. In fact, we’ve even encountered rare occasions where electric car charging stations are offered alongside regular and premium, but what if electric car charging stations...

  • Polar Network Charging Stations
    Does Public Charging Network Confusion Hurt Electric-Car Use?

    Ask most non-electric car drivers why they haven’t even considered an electric car, and the reason they give will undoubtedly involve some form of range anxiety: the idea that an electric car will run out of juice before it reaches its destination. On the other hand, as those who own an...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf SL
    2012 Nissan Leaf: No More Reservation Fees, Buy Like Any Other Car

    When Nissan first launched the 2011 Leaf, it introduced an online reservation system for would-be owners of the all-electric hatchback. Instead of relying on Nissan dealers to assess demand, Nissan opened up a dedicated reservation website, where those interested could pay $99 to be given a place...

  • Chevrolet S-10 Electric Pickup Truck On Government Liquidation Site
    Tired 15-Year Old Chevy S-10 Electric Pickup Sells For $4,000

    How much would you pay for a tired 1997 Chevrolet S-10 pickup, especially one of unknown condition? A quick look at auction site eBay tells us that at best, even a tidy example of would be worth little more than $1000. What if that truck happened to be powered by the same drivetrain that was found...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric
    2012 Ford Focus Electric: Small Ad Budget Due To Low Sales Of Volt, Fisker

    Earlier this week, Ford announced it had signed a deal with troubled Internet content provider Yahoo to stream 10 episodes of an Internet reality show centered on its 2012 Ford Focus Electric. Called Plugged In, the show will send teams of contestants to various U.S. cities in Ford's battery...

  • 2004-2009 Toyota Prius battery pack, second generation

    We all know that battery packs are the biggest Achilles Heel of the electric car, which is why automakers like Nissan and General Motors are working hard to improve the energy density, cost and lifespan of electric vehicle batteries. But once you've designed a new battery pack, how do you prove its lifespan without waiting year and years? You’d think that some complex math, along with some basic scientific theory would answer the problem, but life is rarely as predictable as a science lab. Instead, physicists, chemists, battery firms and automakers are working together to build...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    Abu Dhabi Sells Off 7-Percent Tesla Stake, Makes $133 Million

    Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, might be working hard to ensure that the oil-producing nation becomes more environmentally friendly--but that hasn’t stopped its state-owned utility company from selling its 7 percent stake in Californian electric automaker Tesla Motors...

  • BMW i8 Concept
    2014 BMW i8 Supercar: 0-62 in 4.9 Seconds, Top Speed 156 MPH

    Last week, we confidently predicted that we’d be hearing more about BMW’s first all-electric and plug-in hybrid production cars -- the i3 electric minicar and i8 plug-in supercar -- as we neared the BMW-sponsored 2012 Olympics. For the past few weeks, most of the news we’ve heard...

  • Electric RaceAbout EV
    Electric Car Nürburgring Lap Champions Set New Record On Ice

    Unless you live in one of the more northern states -- or spend a lot of time in snow-covered mountains -- the idea of driving on ice might fill you with a sense of foreboding doom. Especially if that ice happens to be covering a very large expanse of water. Enter former Automotive X-Prize entrants...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt
    GM: We’ll Replace Chevrolet Volt 120-Volt Charging Units

    General Motors announced yesterday that it would replace the 120-Volt charging unit provided with every Chevrolet Volt, to provide what GM spokesman Randy Fox called a "more consistent charging experience." Back in July, we reported that some of the charging units provided in Volts were...

  • The open road
    Your Guide To Long-Distance Electric Car Publicity Drives

    You might think that electric vehicles aren't naturally suited to driving long distances just yet, but that hasn't stopped plenty of people giving it a go anyway. Here then is the GreenCarReports guide to the world of long-distance EV publicity stunts, arranged conveniently by distance, shortest to...

  • BMW i3 and i8 preview, New York City, November 2011, photo by Tom Moloughney

    Last week, we were 90 miles north of the Arctic Circle, putting the Volvo C30 electric through its paces. But we weren’t the only people driving electric cars in the Arctic Circle as our colleagues over at Motor Authority found out earlier today. As our own Viknesh Vijayenthiran reports, Motor Authority has been given an exclusive spy-video of a camouflaged i3 being tested somewhere in Northern Europe. Due some time in 2013 as a 2014 year model, the all-new i3 will offer BMW’s usual level of build quality and luxury combined with a highly-efficient electric drivetrain. On...

  • Volvo C30 Electric Arctic Test Drive
    Volvo C30 Electric: Winter Drive Report

    Over the past few days, we've told you about our trip to Kiruna, Sweden, where Volvo allowed us to put its C30 electric car through its paces in a series of cold-weather tests designed to push the car to its limit. Now it's time to tell you about our real-world test drive, along 40 miles of snow...

  • Three Nissan Leafs
    2013 Nissan Leaf: Better Heater, Leather Option, 6.6-kW Charger

    Nissan’s all-electric Leaf hatchback has only been on sale in the U.S. for the past 15 months, but Nissan has already confirmed it will get some much-needed upgrades for the 2013 model. Speaking to The Detroit News yesterday, Mark Perry, director of product and advanced planning for Nissan...

  • Gas pump
    We’re Not Joking: You Might Soon Pump Electrons Like Gasoline

    As automotive journalists, April 1 is the day we get to let our collective hair down and write stories about cars that sound plausible, but are purely fictitious. All in the spirit of April Fool’s day, of course. But sometimes our April Fool’s pranks get a little close to reality, as...

  • Nissan Leaf Wheel
    Drive An Electric Car? Remember To Exercise Your Car’s Brakes!

    If you drive a plug-in car or a hybrid, the chance are you’ll be familiar with the concept of regenerative braking. But although regenerative braking might be the preferred way to slow down a plug-in or hybrid car, it could mean that your car’s traditional friction brakes don’t...

  • Nissan Leaf Goes Underground
    Nissan Leaf Goes Underground In The Name Of Bluegrass Music

    Unless you’re the kind of person who likes spelunking, the chances are you don’t spend much time in caves. For PBS, the underground caves of Cumberland Caverns, Tennessee form the perfect acoustic music venue for the latest season of its Bluegrass Underground show. But how do you get...

  • Rinspeed Dock+Go Concept live photos

    When the automotive world descends on Switzerland for its annual motor show, there’s one thing that we can be certain of: another imaginative automotive creation from Swiss firm Rinspeed. Unlike previous creations, like the world’s first underwater electric car or its natural-gas-powered hydrofoil car, this year’s offering is a little less James Bond and a lot more practical. Behold the Rinspeed Dock+Go. A cross between a conventional trailer and the automotive equivalent of a backpack, the Rinspeed Dock+Go has been designed to offer range-extending capabilities to the Smart...

  • Morgan Plus E Concept live photos
    Morgan Plus E Concept Car LIve Gallery: 2012 Geneva Motor Show

    Visit this year’s Geneva Motor Show, and you’d be forgiven for passing one very important electric car by without even realizing it. The Morgan Plus E concept car. Complete with the sweeping fenders that morph into elegant running-boards, the Morgan Plus E looks just like the...

  • 2012 Infiniti Emerg-E concept
    Infiniti Emerg-E Plug-In Sports Concept: Live Photos, Geneva Motor Show

    Images of Infiniti’s much anticipated Emerg-E range-extended electric sports concept car might have leaked onto the Internet long before its 2012 Geneva Motor Show unveiling -- but now we know the sexy sports car isn’t all looks. Officially unveiled this morning, we’ve learned...

  • 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander
    Mitsubishi Confirms 2013 Outlander Plug-in Hybrid: Geneva Motor Show

    For some time now, it’s been no secret that Mitsubishi has been planning on bringing a plug-in hybrid SUV to market. Now we know it will arrive this year, in the form of the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid, a car Mitsubishi first promised us back in 2009. The Outlander plug-in hybrid...

  • Opel Ampera
    2012 Opel Ampera (Chevy Volt) Wins European Car Of The Year

    The 2012 Chevrolet Volt -- along with its European twin -- have just been chosen as 2012 European Car Of The Year. Beating the Volkswagen Up, Toyota Yaris, Fiat Panda, Range Rover Evoque, Ford Focus and Citroën DS5, the plug-in range extended electric vehicle becomes the second plug-in car to...

  • Peraves E-Tracer, winner of Progressive Automotive X-Prize. Photo: Stefano Paris.
    All-Electric Monotracer, X-Prize Winner, Enters Production

    Remember the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize -- the $10 million prize to find the next big thing in green transportation? While the X-Prize -- not to mention many of the companies who took part -- have long been forgotten, one of the competition winners wants you to know its revolutionary...

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