charging
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They call it being ICEd--the practice of Internal Combustion Engine vehicles parking in spaces set aside for electric cars. It's the bane of many an electric vehicle owner's existance, pulling into their local parking lot to find the only charging spot occupied by some klutz in a regular car. And in Washington state, it's a practice that'll cost said klutz $124 from now on. According to the Associated Press, the state House approved a bill Friday that would see gas-vehicle drivers fined for parking in electric vehicle spaces. The state's law requires electric spaces be marked with appropriate...
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Conquering Electric-Car Range Anxiety: A Complete GuideRange Anxiety. Two very familiar words, but their coming together is more recent. It's the fear of running out of electricity in an electric car, compounded by typically short ranges and long recharging times. And it's contagious: A potential customer could drive under 30 miles per day and use a...
Antony Ingram -
Find An Electric-Car Charging Station: How Do I Do It?Here's the situation: You've bought, or are planning to buy an electric car. You've done the math, figured out the vehicle you want, and know that 80 percent of your charging will be done at home. But what about the other 20 percent? Luckily, finding those electric car charging stations isn't as...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla To Expand Supercharger Network In Northwest, TX, FL, and NortheastOne of the features associated with the 2013 Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sport sedan is the dedicated Supercharger network of DC quick-charge locations. Since the first stations went live last September, there have been only eight locations in California and the Northeast Corridor. Now Tesla...
John Voelcker -
Charging At Work? Electric-Car Drivers Will Pay More Per kWh, Study SaysMost electric car owners charge their vehicles at home--it's one of the real perks of owning a plug-in. Some drivers may also charge at work, for most owners the second-longest stop their vehicles are likely to make. It's particularly important if your car is running low on range, or if you want to...
Antony Ingram -
Charging Etiquette Fail: Why Electric-Car Owners Resent Plug-In HybridsWith almost 100,000 plug-in electric cars on U.S. roads now, congestion at charging stations is starting to crop up. And that has brought to light an issue of electric-car charging etiquette that may prove challenging: Should battery-electric cars get precedence over plug-in hybrids? The question...
John Voelcker -
While we're nearing 100,000 plug-in electric cars on U.S. roads, they're not evenly distributed--and the largest group of them is in California. This has led to occasional congestion at charging stations, and now it turns out that happens at workplaces too. Venture-funded startup Nest Labs, a media darling for its high-design smart thermostat, is headquartered in Palo Alto, California--the heart of Silicon Valley. The company had installed an electric car charger in January, partnering with the ChargePoint network to do so, as part of an initiative to help its 200 employees make their...
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2012 Tax Credits For Electric Cars And Charging StationsOne month from today is Tax Day, April 15. Let us repeat that: Your Federal income taxes (and your state and local taxes too, if you live in places with their own income taxes) must be filed 31 days from today. So consider this our friendly reminder to start getting your paperwork in order if you...
John Voelcker -
EV Project Tells Us How Drivers Use Electric CarsJust how do electric car owners use their cars? It's the question everyone is trying to answer, as it could shape how electric cars of the future are developed. Virtually every manufacturer with an electric car runs its own field trials or keeps data on its users' driving habits, but the EV Project...
Antony Ingram -
It Took Time To Build Gas Stations Too, Says 97-Year-Old Driver (Video)"I love to drive," says the 97-year-old driver. "And that's, to me, part of my longevity." But Charlie Yaeger is old enough to remember when gas stations were so sparse that drivers had to memorize where every one was located. In a new video issued by Nissan, he draws parallels between that...
John Voelcker -
Collaboratev Project: 'Roaming' For Electric-Car Charging StationsElectric-car charging stations are being added to more and more public parking lots, curbsides, corporate garages, and a host of other locations. But as any electric-car driver can tell you, many of them are operated by specific networks. They often require drivers to have set up an account...
John Voelcker -
Life With 2013 Tesla Model S: Getting Supercharged In WinterAs the brand-new owner of a 60-kWh Tesla Model S, I was eager to try out a Supercharger, the ultrafast 90-kilowatt DC fast-charging stations that Tesla is establishing along Interstate highways across the country. Model S owners--and nobody else--will be able to plug in and grab up to 150 miles of...
David Noland -
It's a standard fitting on most plug-in electric cars: a visible light to show when it's recharging, often with a different indicator for when it's done. Those lights, often on top of the dashboard and visible through the windshield, aren't yet standardized. They come in red, orange, and green; some flash, some are solid. And some other plug-in cars--the Tesla Model S and Ford Focus Electric among them--have a ring of colored lights around the charge port itself, rather than on the dash. Now the low-volume 2014 Fiat 500e has a new wrinkle: an externally visible state-of-charge indicator that...
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Electric-Car Charger Congestion...At Least In CaliforniaElectric cars aren't evenly distributed across the U.S. By far the largest single market for them is California. And in a sign of increasing adoption rates--there are now roughly 75,000 plug-in cars on the nation's roads--some electric-car drivers are facing a new problem. Charging stations in...
John Voelcker -
One DC Quick-Charge Station For Every Four Electric Cars! But, Where?Imagine a paradise for electric-car drivers, where half the car's cost is subsidized and there's a nationwide network of DC quick-charging stations so plentiful that there's one for every four cars. Such a place exists, actually. It's called Estonia. The tiny country of 1.2 million people, nestled...
John Voelcker -
How To Do Electric-Car Chargers Right: New Target Store In CAElectric-car drivers know the problem all too well. It's called "getting ICEd"--when a gasoline car parks in the spot for reserved for electric cars to use a public charging station. Now a new Target store, sited in a conventional suburban mall in Fremont, California, offers an example of how to...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's Elon Musk & NY Times: Disturbing Discrepancies On Model S Range ReportingGolly. Turns out nothing ignites the Internet quite like a rapid-fire online spat between Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and The New York Times, the Grey Lady of establishment journalism. Like many such controversies, common ground turns out to be easier to find than you might think: It's a fact that...
John Voelcker -
To Sell Electric Cars In Northeast, Is More Charging Needed? Some ThoughtsCalifornia is a largely temperate state with a longstanding history of working to curb vehicle emissions. That makes it a perfect place for plug-in electric cars. The Northeastern states, on the other hand, are in the Snow Belt, meaning electric cars can lose as much as one third of their battery...
John Voelcker -
Nissan announced today that it would provide 40 quick-charging stations to NRG, which will use them to expand its eVgo electric-car charging network into the Washington, D.C., region. Working with its dealers, local authorities, and charging-station partners. Nissan hopes to triple the number of quick-charging stations available in the U.S. There are now about 160 quick-charge stations, mostly on the West Coast and in Texas; Nissan hopes to add another 500 new stations over the next 18 months. The company envisions "a quick-charging network that links communities and neighborhoods where...
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Reminder: Tax Credit For Electric-Car Charging Station Is BackAs part of the recent fiscal cliff deal passed by Congress, many green energy programs saw renewed focus and deadline extensions, allowing people to benefit from them for a little longer. Included in these programs is the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property credit. This allows eligible...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Model S To Have CHAdeMO Quick-Charge Adaptor In JapanThe Tesla Model S electric sedan is set to get a CHAdeMO quick-charge adaptor when it arrives on the market in Japan. CHAdeMO is the leading quick-charge standard in Japan, and drivers have access to almost 1,900 charging stations across the country. It's standard equipment on Nissan Leafs and...
Antony Ingram -
U.S. Grid May Handle Electric Cars, But India's Can'tIt goes without saying, but the Indian market for bikes and automobiles is very different to that in the U.S. Rather than energy concerns, global warming and owning the latest technology, India's priority is reducing the air pollution responsible for millions of deaths a year. Electric vehicles...
Antony Ingram -
Pike's 10 Electric-Car Predictions For 2013: Right Or Wrong?It is, as we've pointed out on many occasions, exceedingly difficult to predict exactly where the market for electric cars will go. Most are confident it will continue to grow, though the pace at which it does so is likely to be slow--a stark reality confirmed by virtually every electric...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Supercharger Network Expands Into East CoastThe 2013 Tesla Model S comes with one feature no other electric car can match: free quick-charging at an expanding network of Supercharger stations, usable only by Tesla owners. Following its October launch between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, the network now includes a station along...
John Voelcker