compliance car
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It appears that the 2015 Ford Focus Electric will get a major price cut of $6,000, bringing the suggested retail price to $29,995--more in line with the best-selling Nissan Leaf. The battery-electric Focus is now in its fourth model year, and only about 4,000 have been sold since it first went on sale in December 2011. That's roughly one-fifteenth the number of Nissan Leaf electric cars that have been sold (over a period one year longer). Both the Focus Electric and the Leaf are five-door hatchbacks the size of conventional compact cars, with rated ranges between 80 and 85 miles. The report...
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2017 Chevrolet Sonic EV: More Electric-Car Details Trickle Out
A few more details on the upcoming 2017 Chevrolet Sonic EV electric car are starting to come into focus, including its production date and a second version to be sold in Europe. Based on information from two separate sources in the auto industry, here's what we now know about Chevy's next...
John Voelcker -
GM's 200-Mile Electric Sonic EV For 2017: What We Know So Far: UPDATED
The arrival of a moderately-priced battery electric car with a rated range of 200 miles will change the entire market for plug-in vehicles. When that will happen, and from which maker, remains open--though the likely suspects are Nissan, Tesla, and General Motors, with BMW as a long-shot outsider...
John Voelcker -
To Get Hydrogen Competitive With Gasoline: $1 Billion, Cheap Natural Gas Needed
While battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars have had much of the spotlight to themselves for the past four years, we're going to be hearing a lot more about hydrogen fuel-cell cars over the next few. And a new study just released by the University of California--Davis suggests that we are...
John Voelcker -
Toyota, Honda, Hyundai Fuel-Cell Cars: How Many Will Be Sold?
With almost 250,000 plug-in electric cars on U.S. roads--and double that number globally--electric vehicles are starting to establish a small foothold in the market. More than 10,000 a month were sold this past May, June, and July. But with hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles now offered by Hyundai, and...
John Voelcker -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In July: Leaf, Volt Both Do Well
Sales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. continued their rise in July, as Nissan delivered more than 3,000 Leaf battery electric cars and Chevy more than 2,000 Volt range-extended electrics. It's was only the second time that the two cars together have sold more than 5,000 units in a single...
John Voelcker -
With the new and more fuel-efficient Honda Fit hatchback now on sale, the Japanese carmaker is slimming down its lineup a bit. For 2015, it has eliminated three low-selling green cars: the Honda Insight hybrid subcompact, the Honda Fit EV electric car, and the very low-volume Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. DON'T MISS: 2015 Honda Fit: Quick Gas Mileage Drive Of All-New Hatchback The new subcompact 2015 Fit, rated at 36 mpg combined, carries a starting price of $16,315 including delivery--which would have made the smaller 42-mpg Insight an even tougher sell at $3,000 more. In...
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Audi A3 e-Tron Plug-In Hybrid: Not A Compliance Car, Exec Says
Two years ago, we described the difference between high-volume electric cars and "compliance cars"--those built in very limited numbers solely to meet California rules that require a certain number of zero-emission vehicles to be sold each year. Now it appears that manufacturers don't want new...
John Voelcker -
Why California Pushes Hydrogen Compliance Cars Over Electric Ones
We're starting to hear a lot about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles from Hyundai, Toyota, and Honda--and we're going to hear a great deal more about them in the years to come. The first 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell was leased last month, and Toyota will bring its own hydrogen-powered vehicle into...
John Voelcker -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales In June: Leaf's Best-Ever June, Volt Up On May (FINAL UPDATE)
It hasn't reached the heady heights of May's record-breaking sales tally, but Nissan still has the highest-selling mainstream electric vehicle on the market. Nissan rounds off the month's sales having moved 2,347 Leafs. That's 770 fewer than May's best-ever Leaf sales total, but it's still a record...
Antony Ingram -
2013-2014 Fiat 500e Electric Cars Recalled For Possible Coolant Leak
A large recall of Fiat 500e electric cars addresses possible coolant leaks.
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales In May: Highest-Ever Leaf Total, First BMW i3 Numbers: FINAL UPDATE
Well, chalk up another first for Nissan: It sold 3,117 Leaf electric cars in the U.S. last month. That's not only its best-ever one-month sales performance, but it's the first time any carmaker has sold more than 3,000 battery plug-in electric cars in a month in this country--ever. (August 2013...
John Voelcker -
OK, clearly he shouldn't have said, "I hope you don't buy it." But last week's little media explosion over Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne's negative comments on the 2014 Fiat 500e electric car his company sells--in limited numbers, in California only--shouldn't be a surprise. To summarize his comments in a Reuters article that appeared last Thursday, Marchionne said of the 500e that the company loses $14,000 on each one, that the sole carmaker turning a profit on selling electric cars is Tesla Motors, and that he hoped to sell only the minimum number required. The refreshingly outspoken...
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2015 Chevrolet Spark EV Switches Battery Cells; 82-Mile Range Remains
The Chevrolet Spark EV has been on the market for only a year, but already it's being updated. And in this case, the update is major: The 2015 Chevy Spark EV will have an entirely new battery pack. General Motors announced yesterday that it will bring assembly of the electric Spark's battery...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Deal To Supply Toyota RAV4 EV Powertrain To End This Year
Several news reports over the weekend noted that Tesla's contract to supply Toyota with electric powertrains for its RAV4 EV crossover would end next year. In the words of Tesla's latest quarterly report, cited by Bloomberg in a Saturday news story, “Toyota is expected to end the current RAV4...
John Voelcker -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales In April: Leaf Widens Lead, Volt Flat Again: FINAL UPDATE
Sales of plug-in electric cars last month stayed about level with last month's, based on the reports from all makers of plug-in electric cars sold in the U.S. (except for two that refuse to provide sales data). With all data now in, it was a steady month for plug-in sales, but not a spectacular...
John Voelcker -
2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive: First Drive
Can electric cars be sexy? Look at the exclusive Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive gullwing sports car, and that question has been answered. But put your sensible cap on for the moment, have a look at the 2014 Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive, and you'll find little of such flirtation. That's...
Bengt Halvorson -
In Effort To Sell RAV4 Electric SUVs, Toyota Puts 'Cash On Hood'
The all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, even with its Tesla-designed powertrain, isn't exactly flying out of dealerships. While it's a low-volume compliance car sold to meet California regulations, Toyota still has to move 2,600 of them over a three-year period that began in September 2012. So Toyota is...
John Voelcker -
The Fiat 500e will soon be sold in a second U.S. state.
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2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Now In Production
The 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive will be the first Mercedes-badged electric car sold in the U.S.
Stephen Edelstein -
Compliance Car Update: Which Electric Cars Are Loss Leaders?
The Fiat 500e is perhaps the most critically lauded new all-electric vehicle that arrived in 2013. It's received rave reviews from unlikely sources, like buff-book magazines—even from Consumer Reports. There's reportedly been a long waiting list for these cars, with a $199/month lease deal...
Bengt Halvorson -
Buying An Electric 'Compliance Car'? Think Hard About Servicing First
There are now more than a dozen plug-in electric cars for sale in the U.S., but not all electric cars are created equal. And a pair of recent articles about service challenges experienced by owners of the Toyota RAV4 EV underscores that buyers should be fully aware of the context in which their...
John Voelcker -
2014 Honda Fit EV: Model Year Ends Early As Last Cars Are Built
Honda has announced through its EV sales division that the Fit EV model year production will end early, with production of the last of the 2014 Fit EVs this fall. [UPDATE: Honda North America subsequently clarified that Fit EV production will end on schedule this fall, not "early." Honda added that...
Antony Ingram -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales For November: Down On October
As the year winds toward a close, U.S. car sales are at their highest levels in years. And modern plug-in electric cars will set a new sales record too. With one month left, November deliveries of cars with plugs looked like they'll hold steady with last month's--but as the final numbers came in...
John Voelcker