charging cord
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When the first few thousand electric cars went on sale in California in the mid- to late 1990s, they used various different charging methods, each with its own dedicated charging stations. Given the high cost of installing different infrastructure for different makes of car, that proved a not-inconsiderable impediment. When electric cars returned to the market in 2011, that mistake was largely avoided. DON'T MISS: Chargeway: the best electric-car idea you've never heard of All plug-in vehicles sold in the U.S. except Teslas now use the familiar round charging connector, known as J-1772. Even...
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Electric car charging: the basics you need to know (updated)
The number of plug-in electric cars on North American roads grows every year, and with them come new buyers. Each new electric-car driver will have a few things to learn, so we've rounded up some tips on how, where, and when how to charge up that new plug-in vehicle. Whether you're already an...
John Voelcker -
All The Electric-Car Charging Connectors In One Great Big Poster
A reference guide to all of the electric-car charging connectors.
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-In Electric Cars: How To Buy A Second Charging Cable
If you own a plug-in electric car, what's the best (and cheapest) way to get a second charging cable to supplement the one that came with your vehicle? Turns out there are several options--as electric-car owners and advocates suggested when we asked the question. MUST SEE: Decoding Toyota's...
John Voelcker -
Photo Contest: Most Unusual Place To Charge An Electric Car? (WINNER)
Ten weeks ago, we asked you to send us photos of the most unusual place you'd ever charged a plug-in electric car. And, wow, were there some unusual photos indeed among the several dozen entries submitted to our photo contest by readers from around the world. Now, we've finally chosen a winner--and...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Volt Charging Cord Cut: Angry Neighbor, Electric-Car Hater?
Owning a plug-in electric car, as buyers learn, is a process of educating the public at large. Mostly, people are curious when they see a car plugged in to recharge. But occasionally, uglier emotions come into play. That's apparently what happened to Matthew Cummings and Jennifer Brown. The couple...
John Voelcker -
We know electric-car owners will go to extraordinary lengths to plug in and recharge wherever the opportunity presents itself. It may be for just a few minutes--a kilowatt-hour here and there--or it may be overnight. Sometimes even longer. MORE: Electric-Car Drivers Charge Anywhere; Check Out These Photos! Take the photo above, which shows a Chevy Volt driver who ran a cord from the charging port on the left-front fender, through the car's interior (held in place by the windows), up a light pole, over the sidewalk above pedestrian level, then back down into the yard of an adjacent house...
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New TurboCord Electric-Car Charging Cord Can Use 120 Or 240 Volts
Electric car owners may not have to get their hands dirty at gas stations, but they do have to carry around an extra essential item not found in their internal combustion counterparts--a charging cord. This is little hardship of course, provided your car has somewhere to store it. But depending on...
Antony Ingram -
Electric-Car Drivers Charge Anywhere; Check Out These Photos!
Plugging in your electric car to recharge the battery is simple if you have your own garage, carport, or driveway. If you park on the street, it's a little harder; there just aren't that many curbside charging stations yet. So electric-car owners can get very, very resourceful. We said it more than...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's 2012 Model S Charging Equipment. Redesign For Redesign's Sake?
Last weekend, Tesla released more details about its up-coming 2012 Model S all-electric luxury sedan at an exclusive reservation-holder and media Model S event in Fremont, California. While some of the new information -- like the sub-4.5 second 0-60 time of the new Model S Sport variant -- got us...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
European Carmakers Propose Single Electric-Car Charging Plug
Within a few years, it may be possible to drive an electric car from northern Germany to the south of Spain after all. Worries over the possibility of incompatible European electric-car charging standards are starting to abate, after a proposal by several European automakers for a single European...
John Voelcker -
Security Breach: iPhone App Releases Private Data of Electric Car Owners
For as long as electric cars have been on the roads of the world, people have needed to find a place to plug in. So what happens when a company obtains and publishes details of several hundred addresses and contact details for a privately-run and moderated peer-to-peer charging network?...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Here at GreenCarReports we like to cover every aspect of owning and driving an electric car -- from choosing the right model for you through to learning how to get the best range and buying a dedicated charging station. But what about getting your electric car charging station installed? Do you know what steps need to be carried out to safely install a level 2, 240-volt charging station in your garage? Unless you’re a professional electrician or a committed electric car enthusiast who has fitted their own do-it-yourself charging station, the answer is probably ‘No’ -- but...
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BREAKING: Nissan Leaf To Get Faster Charger 'In a Year Or So'
You just never know what you'll hear at conferences. You might, for instance, hear Nissan America's director of product planning, Mark Perry, casually mention that the Nissan Leaf electric car now permits Level II 240-Volt charging at 3.3 kilowatts--"and we'll raise that in a year or so." In other...
John Voelcker -
2012 Ford Focus Electric: 120-Volt Charging 'Convenience Cord'
Electric cars need to be recharged, obviously. How car companies choose to provide the all-new equipment to do that varies significantly among makers. For its upcoming 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Ford just jumped out ahead of the car to announce that it will provide what it calls a "convenience cord"...
John Voelcker