South Korea
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Sales of plug-in electric cars are very regional right now, globally as well as within the United States. Norway, for instance, has seen electric-car sales soar because it offers financial incentives and other benefits that aren't available to drivers of vehicles with combustion engines. Now we can add South Korea to the list of countries where electric cars are selling relatively well. DON'T MISS: 2015 Kia Soul EV Electric Car Unveiled At Chicago Auto Show And, again, a substantial part of the sales growth can be attributed to generous subsidies to get buyers "over the hump" and into cars...
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Korean Oil Company Helps Drivers Save Gas With...Parking Balloons?
Sometimes the best ideas are also the simplest. That was our first thought on seeing one gas-saving idea from nothing less than an oil company in South Korea. Called the HERE balloon, it's oil giant S-Oil's way of reducing the time drivers spend looking for a space in a large parking lot--and...
Antony Ingram -
Chevrolet Spark EV Electric Car For Korea As Well As U.S.
While it was announced a year ago, the Chevrolet Spark EV electric car still hasn't formally been shown by General Motors. That may change at a "GM Electrification" event to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area next month. The only nugget of news we've heard lately is that the Spark EV will be...
John Voelcker -
Where Will Chevy Spark EV Be Built? Maybe It's Michigan?
Two weeks ago, Chevrolet unveiled its 2013 Spark minicar and confirmed that it would offer a Spark EV all-electric model--a story GreenCarReports broke the night before. But within a few days, an intriguing question came up: Where does GM plan to build its first new all-electric car since the late...
John Voelcker -
GM's LG Electric-Car Deal Goals: Cheaper, Faster, Less Risky
General Motors has been on a roll with electric-car news of late. It said it would build the well-received Converj concept car as the Cadillac ELR; it cut a deal with A123 Systems to buy lithium-ion cells for a future (unspecified) electric car; and, just this morning, GM announced it would jointly...
John Voelcker -
GM, LG Group To Design, Engineer (Unspecified) Electric Cars Together
General Motors announced this morning that it would jointly design and engineer "future electric vehicles" with Korea's LG Group, in a statement that raised more questions than it answered. The announcement, the company said, will "help GM expand the number and types of electric vehicles it makes...
John Voelcker -
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... Actually, no--fairly recently and not so far from home, the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory patented a battery technology known as nickel manganese cobalt (NMC). Discovering and patenting new battery technology in an era so reliant on battery-powered goods is a serious business and can potentially be hugely profitable for any company using the tech. Realizing this, General Motors have put their foot in the door early and signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Argonne for the NMC technology, along with South Korea's...
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Kia Soul Flex Is Korea’s First Flex-Fuel Vehicle
At this week’s 2010 Sao Paulo Auto Show in Brazil Kia has taken the wraps off its new Soul Flex hatchback, which the automaker claims is the first vehicle of its kind to be launched by a South Korean brand. The Kia Soul Flex, if you haven’t already guessed, is a fully flex-fuel capable...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM To Test 100-Mile Chevrolet Cruze Electric Car in S Korea
For U.S. car buyers, GM is convinced that a range-extended electric vehicle--its 2011 Chevrolet Volt, to be specific--is the best solution to meeting the needs of drivers who may need to go further than the 40 miles a Volt will do on battery power. But elsewhere in the world, GM is quietly pursuing...
John Voelcker -
Korea's First EV: Hyundai Unveils BlueOn Subcompact
With the focus on big EV launches from Japan and the United States, South Korea has now joined the fray, with their largest car company, Hyundai, launching the BlueOn. The BlueOn is Hyundai and South Korea's first pure electric car. Based on the i10, the new subcompact EV carries a 16.4...
Antony Ingram -
Baby Dies While Parents Play Obsessively With Prius Online
We know that Prius owners love their cars. Sometimes they talk endlessly about them, their great fuel efficiency, how cool the all-electric mode is, and so forth. But could you get so enthusiastic about Prius that you'd let your own child starve to death? Good. We didn't think so. And, no, it's not...
John Voelcker -
2010 Detroit Auto Show: 2011 Chevrolet Aveo RS Concept
The current 2010 Chevrolet Aveo sedan and hatchback, the Korean-built subcompacts that are GM's contenders in that growing segment, are no longer competitive against upcoming entries like the 2011 Ford Fiesta, rated at 30 mpg city, 40 mpg highway. But that will change when a brand-new and entirely...
John Voelcker