2017

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid

    The issue first came to light in a question from a reader. It boiled down to this: "What's going on with the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, and why can't I get one at my local dealer in California?" The e-mail even included a link to a Korean business-news article, which is unusual for reader queries. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage review The story in Business Korea, published three weeks ago, suggested that a shortage of lithium-ion battery cells was holding up production of the entire lineup of Ioniq models. That lineup, remember, already consists of hybrid and battery-electric...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV newspaper ad, The Washington Post, June 16, 2017
    Yes, ads for the Chevy Bolt EV electric car do actually exist; here's one

    The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV isn't yet available in all states, but it's been on sale in California for six months now. While Chevy has said all along it will market the 238-mile electric car in a very targeted way, specifically trying to reach people similar to existing owners, it may have expanded...

  • 2017 Honda Clarity Electric
    Electric-car leases in California: Leaf, Volt, Focus vs Clarity

    The state of California is undeniably the United States' premier market for electric vehicles. It's also a market where automakers actually need to sell certain volumes of zero-emission cars, which means some of the nation's best lease deals on electric cars can be found in the Golden State. There...

  • Driving a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV from Virginia to Missouri, June 2017  [photo: Bill Massmann]
    Driving a Chevy Bolt EV electric car halfway across the U.S.: what it takes

    How badly do you want a new, affordable, long-range electric car? Badly enough to drive it more than 800 miles without a unified fast-charging infrastructure? That's exactly what Bill Massmann, a professional land surveyor in St. Louis, Missouri, did to become the proud owner of a new 2017...

  • One of 130 second-generation self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars, with GM CEO Mary Barra
    Self-driving Chevy Bolt EV electric test cars to be deployed

    It's widely acknowledged that most, if not all, of the autonomous vehicles expected to reach our roads in volume will be electric cars. Without the complexity of a combustion engine and transmission that must be electromechanically controlled, the task of automating the driving of a vehicle is...

  • 2017 Ford Fusion Energi
    2017 Ford Fusion Energi: low electric range, no public charging frustrating

    Electric-car charging infrastructure in the United States is getting better, but still has a very long way to go. While anyone that's given even a passing glance to plug-in vehicles would likely tell you the same thing, I experienced the impact of a charging-free society first-hand while driving a...

  • 2017 Honda Clarity Electric

    What would you pay to lease a smooth, quiet, comfortable, relatively luxurious mid-size electric sedan with only about 90 miles of range? Honda hopes the answer is $269 a month with $1,730 down, on a three-year lease that takes advantage of the federal income-tax credit for electric-car purchase. Pricing is now out for the 2017 Honda Clarity Electric, the battery-electric entry in the Clarity range that already includes a hydrogen fuel-cell model and will add a plug-in hybrid for 2018. DON'T MISS: Honda Clarity Electric, Plug-In Hybrid: first drives, impressions The all-electric Clarity is...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016
    Chevy Bolt EV: nationwide sales moved up to August for electric car

    A slow Chevrolet Bolt EV rollout across the U.S. has frustrated electric-car advocates in many states toward the end of the list. While the first Bolt EVs were delivered in California last December, the last group wasn't scheduled to receive their cars until September. Now GM has moved that up by a...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    How much is a replacement Chevy Bolt EV electric-car battery?

    It's one of the most common questions among electric-car buyers: what happens if the battery fails? The answer is that all electric-car batteries are warranted against failure for either 8 years/100,000 miles or 10 years/150,000 miles, depending on which state you live in. The followup is often...

  • 2017 Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid, New York City and Westchester County, NY, May 2017
    2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In: first drive of hybrid luxury sedan

    The 2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In will be a rare beast in the U.S.; fewer than 1,000 are likely to be sold each year. In many ways, that's a shame. This version of the CT6 large sedan is a worthy competitor among plug-in hybrid luxury cars, the rest of which will come from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf
    Lots of ways to get $10K off 2017 Nissan Leaf electric car by end of June

    The 2017 Nissan Leaf might well be the hottest electric car deal on the market right now, with a slew of potential discounts. Nissan is working with numerous partners to provide $10,000 off a 2017 Leaf lease, which adds to the $7,500 federal income-tax credit, giving a total of $17,500 in...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric battery depleted
    Hyundai Ioniq Electric: what happens when battery is run down to the end?

    One owner has now run his 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric's battery down all the way to "empty" so other owners know what to expect. The Ioniq Electric is EPA-rated at 124 miles of range from the 28-kwh battery pack that powers an 88-kilowatt (118-horsepower) electric motor. The driver in the video...

  • 2017 Kia Niro Touring, Catskill Mountains, NY, March 2017

    A chatbot would never lie to you, right? That’s what I wanted to find out when I tested a Facebook Messenger chatbot for the 2017 Kia Niro crossover, which recently won the Guinness Book of World Records for the lowest fuel consumption for a hybrid vehicle. (It was an interesting competition, because two people drove across the United States using only around four tanks of fuel or 48.5 gallons.) DON'T MISS: 2017 Kia Niro hybrid: first drive report Surprisingly, the chatbot is pretty smart. I asked it some basic questions about features and how the hybrid tech works. It quickly provided...

  • John and Mimi Porter of San Diego, California, with their new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, in Feb 2017
    2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car at 6 months: owner's likes, recommendations

    The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car with a range of more than 200 miles, and it's already had a big impact on the California market. While it continues to trickle into dealerships in other states, a few lucky Californians now have six months in the 238-mile electric...

  • 2017 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - first drive, Miami, Nov 2016   [photo: Jeff Jablansky]
    2017 Smart ForTwo electric cars priced from $24,550

    The market for electric vehicles normally comes with a high price of entry, though Smart is proposing that its new two-seat battery-powered minicar is a value proposition. Prices for the 2017 Smart ForTwo electric coupe and cabriolet begin at $24,550 and $28,750 respectively. If you've followed...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016
    Chevy Bolt EV costs $28,700 to build, Tesla Model 3 a bit higher: analysis

    The costs and prices of electric cars are endlessly debated, not only among owners and advocates but within the industry itself. The cost per kilowatt-hour of electric-car batteries is closely held, with a few notable exceptions. One of those was the statement by GM product chief Mark Reuss that...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid
    Hyundai Ioniqs: pitting hybrid vs electric on video

    Road trips have been a staple of automobile culture for decades, but with the rise of electric vehicles, charging infrastructure has thrown them a curve ball. Unlike gasoline-powered vehicles, which can refuel almost anywhere in a populated area, electric vehicles require a little more planning to...

  • Honda Clarity lineup: Electric, Plug-In Hybrid, Fuel Cell, at 2017 New York auto show
    Assessing the Honda Clarity range: how electric cars fit in, and why

    The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell is the only model of Honda's newest sedan presently on sale, though an all-electric version will arrive later this year. The hydrogen-powered mid-size sedan with a rated 366 miles of range is the one that's gotten by far the most publicity from Honda, as its...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Limited, Catskill Mountains, NY, May 2017

    The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq comes in two versions: a nationally distributed hybrid-electric version, and an all-electric model that will be sold mostly in California and a handful of other states. There'll also be a plug-in hybrid version coming for 2018. We liked the Ioniq Hybrid when we first drove it at the launch event in February, and now we've had the chance to spend almost a week and 565 miles with it. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: first drive review The hybrid Ioniq is the first dedicated hybrid to pose a serious challenge to the Toyota Prius Liftback that's now in its fourth...

  • Image from 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric-car ad by Ourisman Chevrolet, Rockville, Maryland
    Low-budget Chevy Bolt EV dealer ad normalizes electric cars

    Ah, local car-dealer ads on television. You've likely seen them, usually during the local ad minute on national shows, often late at night or in the cheaper slots. They're mostly formulaic, but each one mixes several elements for its own unique blend of attention-grabbing pitch. DON'T MISS: This...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars outside dealership    [photo: Patrick Reid]
    This family has two Chevy Bolt EV electric cars, uses no gas at all

    The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car to offer a range of more than 200 miles, something previously offered only by pricey Tesla luxury cars. Initially put on sale last December in California, the 238-mile Bolt EV is slowly rolling out across the country and will be on...

  • 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4Matic, Finger Lakes region, NY, April 2017
    2017 Mercedes-Benz E300: gas mileage review

    The Mercedes-Benz E-Class luxury sedan is hardly viewed as green, even if it'll soon have a plug-in hybrid version offered in small numbers. But driving the most recent generation provides a nice case study of the improvement in gas mileage over three decades of updates to the core product that...

  • 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, first drive, New York City, April 2017
    2017 Volkswagen e-Golf: first drive of updated 125-mile electric car

    The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, the only battery-electric car sold by VW in the U.S., got a large range boost for its third year on the market. While the current model year is winding to a close, 2017 e-Golfs are just now reaching dealers in the handful of states where the compact electric car is...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
    2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric: how 'Unlimited' subscription really works

    To dig its teeth into California's crowded electric vehicle market, its Korean maker has rolled out an "Unlimited+" lease program for the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric. The plan mimics a subscription service, and adds unlimited mileage allowance, vehicle-charging reimbursement, and a cohesive...

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