plug-in cars
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Well, that's awkward. At its annual media briefing on Wednesday, Volkswagen Group executives said the costs of meeting new emission tests in the EU, lowering carbon emissions globally, and launching multiple new electric models would eat into the company's profits. With the company's diesels in disfavor even in Europe and unlikely to reappear in North America, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said the costs of cutting carbon emissions "pose the greatest challenge for us as a company" through 2020. DON'T MISS: VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of batteries for electric cars, it said today The...
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Why the future of electric cars depends on China's war on pollution
Roughly half of everyone alive in the U.S. today has never experienced really bad smog. Those over, say, age 45—big-city residents and Angelenos especially—may recall hazy days in which the sun was barely visible, and air that actually tasted metallic. It's a memorable experience, and...
John Voelcker -
In what segments will electric cars do best by 2025? Take our Twitter poll
Over the last several years, U.S. sales of utility vehicles, from small crossovers to hulking truck-based SUVs, have surged. Meanwhile, passenger cars—sedans, hatchbacks, the occasional wagon—have stagnated and in many cases, fallen sharply. Several factors have driven this shift. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
Electric car sales in Germany finally start to soar: Tesla leads
It's starting to look like China will lead the world in adoption of plug-in electric cars, but which carmaking nations will follow it? While electric cars were launched simultaneously in Japan and the United States, Europe lagged somewhat behind. Now, however, Germany—home to the largest...
John Voelcker -
VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of batteries for electric cars, it said today
For a company that has only two battery-electric models in production, both several years old, VW Group spends a great deal of time talking about electric cars. The company has plans to launch 30 new electric vehicles by 2025, and has released four Volkswagen ID concepts, the first of which will...
John Voelcker -
UPS says 50 Workhorse plug-in hybrid trucks cost no more than regular delivery vans
For almost a decade, commercial-fleet managers have acknowledged that electric truck are much cheaper to run per mile than the diesel equivalents they now use. But justifying the purchase of electric trucks has been a challenge because their upfront costs have been considerably higher. That may now...
John Voelcker -
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has large challenges, even nine years after it was formed when the Italian company Fiat took over the bankrupt U.S. maker Chrysler. While its Jeep and Ram truck brands are doing well, it sells only three passenger cars in North America above the subcompact category, all of them 10 to 15 years old. Its CEO, Sergio Marchionne, famously complained for years about the Fiat 500e compliance car it had to sell to comply with California's zero-emission vehicle sales mandate. DON'T MISS: Fiat-Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne doesn't think electric cars, Tesla are viable (Oct...
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India plan for converting to electric cars by 2030 may get trimmed, a lot
Two years ago, the government of India proposed a remarkable and ambitious goal: make every new vehicle coming onto its roads electric by 2030. The plan was largely a response to some of the world's highest levels of hazardous air pollution in its cities, higher in many cases than the legendary...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car Geneva debut was...a rebranded Smart car
Unveilings for several key new electric cars were expected during the media days for last week's Geneva auto show. The Jaguar I-Pace made its formal debut, and the Audi e-tron appeared in camouflage as a sort of full-size teaser display. But there had been word from Mercedes-Benz that it would...
John Voelcker -
More ways to get $10K off BMW i3 electric car: new utilities add discount
How badly do you want to buy a BMW i3 electric car? Initially, it looked like you'd have to move to areas of California where Southern California Edison would be your electric utility. But soon enough, those areas expanded to other parts of California, some areas of New Jersey where PSE&G...
John Voelcker -
Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for March 2018
Not a lot has changed since last month: Buyers continue to move from passenger sedans to crossovers and trucks, and gasoline remains relatively cheap. That means you can pick up some bargains fuel-efficient and electrified vehicles. DON'T MISS: Lexus lowers hybrid prices a lot to cut premium over...
John Voelcker -
Electric cars got even cleaner in a year, new grid data shows
More good news about electric cars in the U.S.: the emissions associated with the electricity used to charge them have fallen. Again. Based on the latest data on powerplant emissions from the EPA, an electric car on the road in the U.S. now has average emissions as low as an 80-mpg car. DON'T MISS...
John Voelcker -
Daimler AG executives said Tuesday that diesel power for Mercedes cars is here to stay, even as electric cars and electrified mobility spreads throughout its passenger and commercial vehicles, and even its global partnerships. Electrified vehicles include everything from 48-volt mild hybrids through plug-in hybrids to battery-electric cars. At the Geneva Motor Show, Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche said Tuesday his company would not change its diesel strategy, despite a German court ruling that said cities could legally ban older diesels in an effort to reduce dangerous levels of nitrogen...
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Tesla Model 3 quality is terrible, but will it matter to buyers?
So we've finally had the chance to spend time with a 2018 Tesla Model 3, courtesy of a generous and devoted Green Car Reports reader. We'll have our first-drive report and a full review of the car within a day or two—but that's not what this article is about. The build quality of the early...
John Voelcker -
If you own an electric car, what's your at-home charging from? Twitter poll results
Over the years, we've noted the paucity of solid data on the intersection of home solar energy and driving plug-in electric cars. A California-only study from 2012 still gets quoted occasionally, and we continue to seek more recent and more comprehensive data. Out of a mix of curiosity and...
John Voelcker -
Audi e-tron electric SUV appears in camouflage at Geneva show, on city roads
The Geneva auto show was expected to offer the first head-to-head comparison between the first two all-electric SUVs models from European luxury brands, both starting deliveries later this year. It didn't quite work out that way. The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace did indeed debut last Friday, before media...
John Voelcker -
Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, Feb 2018: turning over new Leafs
Cumulative Canadian plug-in electric vehicle sales surpassed 50,000 units in February, aided by the second-generation 2018 Nissan Leaf, which sold 179 units in its “rookie” month. Unfortunately for the world’s best-selling plug-in electric vehicle (and third-best in Canada), its...
Matthew Klippenstein -
2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover priced from $70,495 in U.S.
The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, the brand's first-ever production electric car, made its debut last Thursday before the Geneva auto show. At that time, only U.K. pricing was given—but on Tuesday, Jaguar released the U.S. price for the electric crossover utility vehicle that goes on sale sometime this...
John Voelcker -
This week's Geneva auto show has seen lots of news about new electric cars, but almost all of them come from luxury brands. The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace has made its debut, Aston Martin announced its Lagonda brand would be dedicated to all-electric vehicles, and so forth. That's all very nice, but what about affordable electric cars for mass-market buyers? DON'T MISS: Where will we see the most electric-car innovation? Twitter poll results This week's Twitter poll descends from those exalted levels of the auto industry to the cars that everyday buyers can obtain for near-mass-market prices. We're...
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Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept shows electric car future for luxury sedan
The storied British brand Lagonda has been owned for half a century by the tiny maker Aston Martin, best known globally for its connection to James Bond, Agent 007. It's had a number of iterations, including a startling low, sleek, square-edged sedan designed by William Towns in the 1970s and a...
John Voelcker -
Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo concept: second electric model previewed
A design study for the second version of the Porsche Mission E electric sport sedan broke cover Tuesday at the Geneva auto show. The closely guarded concept car is effectively a shooting brake version of the low-slung Mission E sedan that debuted at the 2015 Frankfurt show and will go on sale by...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept for all-electric sedan by 2022 debuts in Geneva
What's known as Volkswagen Group Night is always a major event at European auto shows. One of the marquee attractions at Monday night's event, held before Geneva auto show media days start Tuesday, was the Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept for a large, all-electric sedan. It will be the largest car in...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car pioneer Paul Scott looks back on 15 years of plugging in
Most of the U.S. was unaware that modern electric cars got their start in California between 1996 and 2002. Many of the earliest owners and EV advocates from those days remain involved 20 years later, though their names may be familiar only to a small group of activists. One of those people is Paul...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace beats Tesla Model X in electric car drag-race video
The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace SUV that debuted Thursday beat all the German luxury makes to the punch in launching a viable competitor to the looks and capabilities of electric cars offered by Tesla. The 14-year-old Silicon Valley startup has attracted huge attention for the stunning acceleration of its...
John Voelcker