Range-Extended Electric Vehicle

The Audi A1 e-tron was almost a sideshow to our day at the company's future lab tron-experience at Berlin's spectacular and disused Tempelhof Airport. Drives squeezed in over lunch or at the end of the day reflect the A1 e-tron's unfortunate status: Stillborn prototype, rather than fully-fledged...

The first examples of Cadillac's range-extended electric ELR have rolled down the assembly line at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck facility. That's where Chevrolet already assembles the Volt range-extended car, on which the more luxurious ELR coupe is based. Cadillac invited IndyCar driver Simona de...

I've been leasing a 2011 Chevrolet Volt for almost two years now. And about three months ago, I took delivery of a 2013 Tesla Model S, the 60-kWh version. So I've gotten an extended first-hand look at arguably the two most technically advanced production cars in the U.S.--and the two best-selling...

The 2012 Fisker Karma is one of the most striking vehicles on the road today. It's also on its way to becoming an orphan. With just 2,000 or so made, the low, sleek four-door luxury sport sedan and its range-extended electric drivetrain haven't been produced for 10 months. Some dealers have...

Not all plug-in electric cars rely on battery power alone; some also have gasoline engines as backups, for longer range or more power. Last year, we identified six plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale during 2013. This year, the list gains three new entries (from BMW, Cadillac, and Mitsubishi) and loses...

Seems like just yesterday that we wrote about the very first Chevrolet Volt delivery--in December 2010, actually. Now the range-extended electric car is about to enter its fourth model year. So far, we don't know a lot about changes to the 2014 Volt beyond the addition of two new colors: Brownstone...

Make a car desirable enough, and people will buy it whatever is powering the wheels. That's the theory anyway, but in a world of unease over the suitability of electric cars, the Henrik Fisker has taken the more comfortable, usable route to creating an electric car: The range-extended Fisker Karma...

Newspapers keep in their files pre-written obituaries for people who are old, known to be ill, or famous. We have a feeling we should start dusting off the one we wrote awhile back for Fisker Automotive, which laid off the bulk of its remaining employees this morning at 8 am Pacific time. Numerous...

Storm clouds continue to gather over troubled luxury electric-car startup Fisker Automotive. We reported on Thursday that Fisker had put its entire U.S. staff on a "temporary" furlough to conserve cash. Later that day, a Wall Street Journal article reported on what may be the logical next step...

Range-extended electric cars are a great idea, mixing clean electric running for the majority of drivers' commutes, with an extra few hundred miles of gasoline running for those longer trips. As we alluded to last week though, the engine isn't always perfectly optimized for its task, often a...

Henrik Fisker, co-founder and executive chairman of electric car company Fisker Automotive, quit the company today. In a statement sent to Autocar and other outlets, Fisker confirmed his resignation from the company bearing his name, citing disagreements over the company's strategy. The statement...

The upcoming 2014 BMW i3 electric car is generating a lot of quiet excitement--especially for its optional "ReX" range extender, a tiny two-cylinder engine that fits under the rear deck to power a generator. The i3 will be only the third high-volume dedicated battery electric car on the market...

News Flash: The next Chevy Volt will have less electric range than the current one, perhaps no more than 18 to 30 miles. Or perhaps not. We suspect that a comment by Thomas Sedran, GM's vice president of strategy and operations, is going to be one of those off-hand remarks that creates far more...

Suppose you went to the gas station, filled up your car or SUV, and then the pump said you had to go inside to pay. And suppose that even though your total was $40 or $50 (maybe more), the cashier smiled and charged you ... $2.50. What would the expression on your face be? That's the premise of a...

It's really the defining feature of any plug-in electric car: How much electric range does it have? The ever-helpful EPA, which has rated the gas mileage of all new cars, publishes its estimates of electric range for every plug-in car on the market. So here's our list of all 2013 plug-in cars, with...

Remember those 338 Fisker Karma electric cars wrecked by Hurricane Sandy while they were sitting on a Port Newark dock? Remember the December lawsuit Fisker filed against its insurance company after its $33 million claim was denied? Never mind. Yesterday, according to Bloomberg, Fisker Automotive...

If you grew up in the early 90s, or were the parent or older sibling of someone growing up in the early 90s, you'll remember the Captain Planet cartoon. The environmental superhero always managed to vanquish whichever malevolent polluter was doing their dirty deed, thanks to his ring-wearing...

Winter testing is a vital part of developing a new car. Just as cars are expected to perform in the hottest conditions and face testing in arid places like Death Valley, cold-weather capability means owners in colder climates won't face any shocks either. That's particularly relevant for...

Last week's Chicago Auto Show had relatively few debuts; the Chevrolet Cruze diesel and a redesigned Toyota Tundra pickup truck were the most noteworthy. But the featured speaker at a luncheon thrown by the Economic Club of Chicago drew a full room: Henrik Fisker, cofounder of struggling startup...

Last week, the Chinese company Wanxiang got U.S. government approval to buy bankrupt lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems. With that underway, will China's largest auto-parts company now turn its sights toward one of A123's biggest customers, Fisker Automotive? That seemed to be the implication from...