Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, Contributing Writer
Articles
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The MotorTrend editorial team must have spent more time behind the wheel of the 2012 Tesla Model S than any other automotive journalists to date.
Not only did MotorTrend get to borrow the personal...
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Quick-Charging Your Electric Car? It Could Be Less Full Than You Think
Chademo-specification DC quick chargers make it possible for owners of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i to travel well beyond the range of a single charge in a day without waiting for hours every time their car needs charging. But while quick DC charging stations can charge the...
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2013 Ford Escape Recalled Again For Engine Bay Fire Risk
It has only been on sale a few months, but the popular 2013 Ford (NYSE:F) Escape has just received its second recall relating to potential engine-bay fires. According to official recall documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, the recall involves replacing a...
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New Site For SF Bay Area Makes Buying Electric, Plug-In Cars Easy
Researching a new car can be hard work, especially with niche market vehicles like electric cars and plug-in hybrids. With test-drives, news reports and general information, we provide buyers with a nationwide view of plug-in and green cars, but now a new website is offering car buyers in the San...
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What I Did This Summer: Electric Cars & Owners Go On Vacation
Now we’ve entered the start of September, it’s officially no-longer summer. For many Americans that means no more road-trips, balmy summer evenings or family camping trips. So while you prepare for falling leaves, finding your winter sweaters and working through until Thanksgiving, we...
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Gas Prices Hit Labor Day Peak Yesterday. What Did You Pay?
Did you make a road-trip this weekend? Did you have to buy gas? If the answer is yes, then the chances are you found yourself paying the highest price for gas since May, and the highest you’ve ever had to pay for a Labor Day travel. Highest ever According to the AAA (via FoxNews), the average...
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Back in July, we told you about Frenchman Rafael de Mestre, and his Verne-inspired attempt to travel around the world in just 80 days in his all-electric Tesla Roadster.
Using some clever social...
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2013 Nissan Sentra Compact Sedan Unveiled: 34 MPG Combined
On Friday, just before the Labor Day weekend started, Nissan quietly released details of the much-needed update to its Sentra compact sedan. Last redesigned some six years ago, the new, leaner 2013 Sentra has undergone a complete redesign in the name of improving its gas mileage, and is essentially...
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2013 Chevrolet Volt: The Ideal Retirement Car?
Imagine the following scenario: you and your partner are rapidly approaching retirement, looking to downsize your car, and trying to plan for your financial future. You’re ready to buy a new car, but you want something that’s relatively green and cheap to run. Could the 2013 Chevrolet...
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Nissan Leaf Joins Drivers’ Ed, Passes No-Gas Student
Do you remember learning to drive? The chances are, like us, you learned to drive in a gasoline car, even if you drive an electric car today. Last month however, Norwegian Solveig Marie Ødegård became the first person in the world to learn to drive and pass her test in an all-electric...
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NASCAR Star Builds Racing Prius In Toyota Charity Challenge
Think of the high-gas mileage Toyota Prius, and you’re unlikely to make the jump to the high-octane, big-buck world of NASCAR racing. But thanks to the $50,000 charity Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge event being sponsored by Toyota ahead of the 2012 SEMA show, the two worlds will collide...
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Portland, Dallas Have Most Electric Car Charging Stations Per Head
Ask most Americans to name the cities with the most public charging stations for electric cars per head of population, and they’ll likely mention Los Angeles and perhaps San Francisco. According to PlugShare (via good.is), however, Portland, Oregon and Dallas, Texas top the list. PlugShare...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
On Tuesday this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced new gas mileage targets that will require the average fuel economy of all new cars and...
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2013 Ford Escape: Why You Need To Look Beyond Gas Mileage
Ford’s all-new 2013 Escape compact crossover may have only been on sale for a few months, but it is already proving a strong seller at Ford dealerships across the U.S. On paper, there’s little difference between the gas mileage figures of the entry-level 2.5-liter, four-cylinder Ford...
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Could Range-Extended Cars Save The Rotary Engine? Mazda Says Yes
While the Wankel rotary engine, Mazda’s power plant of choice for many years, has a fantastic power to weight ratio, it isn’t exactly what you’d call a green engine. As a consequence, since the Mazda RX-8 ended its production in June this year, you won’t find a rotary engine...
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Landlords Vs Tenants With Electric Cars: Study Proposes Solutions
If you live in an apartment or condo, you’ll know that gaining permission to charge an electric car in your shared parking lot isn’t always that easy. Often, miscommunication, legal worries and plain old ignorance come into play, preventing plug-in owners from charging their car, but...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
GM Recalls 2012 Chevrolet Sonic For Faulty Windshield Washer System
The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, General Motors’ popular subcompact car, is being recalled to fix a potential fault with the windshield wiper hose. According to the official recall posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s SaferCar website, the recall affects 44,668 cars...
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Prototype 2014 Volkswagen XL1 Ultra-Efficient Car Spied Testing
Last year at the 2011 Qatar Motor Show, Volkswagen wooed the audience with its XL1 plug-in hybrid concept car, a vehicle it said would get an amazing 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, or 260 mpg. Now, a road-going prototype version of the gas-sipping two-seater has been spotted undergoing extensive...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
As with many other cars sold around the world, there are small differences between the 2012 Nissan Leaf sold in the U.S. and the 2012 Nissan Leaf found in other countries.
While Leaf owners in other...
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U.S. EPA Sets Gas Mileage Standards: 54.5 MPG By 2025
After a long, political battle, both on Capitol Hill and in Detroit, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Obama administration have confirmed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for all cars made between 2017 and 2025. The final ruling, originally due two weeks ago but delayed...
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Formula E Electric Racing: Inaugural Season Set For 2014
Just over a year ago, we told you about a call for entrants to formally apply to take part in a potential all-electric race car series called Formula E. Yesterday, the Federation Internatonale de l’Automobile confirmed the race series would go ahead, with the inaugural race season now...
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Want To Track Your Real-World Gas Mileage? Here’s How
With ever-tougher fuel economy regulations and the rising price of gasoline, more Americans than ever before want to know what the gas mileage of their car really is. Keeping records of your car’s gas mileage may sound like a bore, but it will help you figure out where and how you’re...
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Keeping An Eye On Your Electric Car? You’re Not The Only One
If you drive an electric car, the chances are you’ve experienced at some point the fear that your car will run out of charge before you reach your destination, otherwise known as range anxiety. But what about the fear that the battery pack in your new electric car will suffer rapid...
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2013 Chevy Volt Production To Halt For 4 Weeks From Mid-September
Yesterday, Automotive News (subscription required) reported the news that the Detroit Hamtramck facility, where the 2013 Chevrolet Volt is made, is to pause production of the plug-in hybrid for four weeks. The second time General Motors has temporarily halted production of the plug-in car, the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield