Electric

When it comes to service costs and fuel, everyone knows that electric cars are far cheaper to run than gasoline cars. Even with a plug-in car, however, you still have to pay your local utility company for the electricity used to charge it. Like gas prices, electricity prices are on a steady, upward...

Ask owners to give you a list of fears associated with their electric cars, and a few charging concerns are bound to be on the list. Usually, they include not finding somewhere to charge, or that a charging station isn’t accessible for some reason. Now a new one can be added to the list: not...

How much does it cost to charge your electric car? Do you know? That might initially sound like a simple enough question to answer, but in some homes--especially ones signed up to time of use electricity metering--it’s often far from straightforward to find an answer. Now a new smartphone app...

It’s no secret that electric cars sales in the U.S.--and elsewhere in the world--aren’t as high as automakers and electric car advocates would like. The reasons given for this are many and varied: some commentators say plug-in cars are simply too expensive; others say that the lack of...

What Google can do with a Toyota Prius, someone else can do with a Nissan Leaf. At least, that’s the message NIssan wants to send after showcasing its own take on Google’s automated car at the 2012 Ceatec exhibition in Japan. As Engadget reports, the self-driving Nissan Leaf can move...

Last week, Tesla Motors [NADAQ: TSLA] officially switched on the first six of its planned network of Supercharger charging stations. Designed to offer current -- and future -- Tesla models the ability to recharge at a rate of around 150 miles in just 30 minutes, Tesla’s Superchargers are the...

With ongoing consumer concerns about battery longevity in hot climates, not to mention an all-new 2013 Leaf electric car just around the corner, NIssan has dropped the price of leasing a 2012 model. According to The Washington Post, Nissan started September with enough 2012 Leafs in its inventory...

Yesterday, at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, Volvo quietly announced that it had sold out of its first-year allocation of V60 diesel plug-in hybrid wagons, well before the model’s official showroom launch. While it won’t be making the trip to the U.S., the oil-burning plug-in hybrid wagon...

As far as plug-in cars go, the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) has to be one of the most important vehicles making its debut this year at the Paris Auto Show. The first vehicle to launch under Mitsubishi’s ambitious goals to offer plug-in hybrid or all-electric versions of...

A few years ago, Mercedes-Benz teased us with the possibility that it would be building an all-electric version of its iconic gullwing supercar, the SLS AMG. Today, on the opening day of the 2012 Paris Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz gave us the news we’d all been waiting for: the 2013 SLS AMG...

It’s been six days since results of an independent test were published showing that Nissan Leaf electric cars in hot climates were suffering from premature range loss, and four days since Nissan responded, saying the high mileage of affected cars was to blame. Since then, we’ve been...

Thanks to an increasing number of public charging stations, finding a place to recharge your electric car or plug-in hybrid is easier than ever before. With recharging of a fully empty car like a 2012 Nissan Leaf taking up to 8 hours at a public level 2 charging station however, how should access...

For the past few months, Nissan has been investigating cases of premature battery aging and lost range in its Leaf electric car, particularly in hot climates like Arizona. Amidst continuing pressure from Leaf owners, however, and with the results of an independent Leaf range test proving that some...

Over the past few years, we’ve seen lots of innovative ways designed to help electric car owners travel beyond the range of a single charge without waiting for hours to refuel. For example, owners of the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Mitsubishi i can recharge their car’s battery pack to 80...

Last month, Chevrolet sold a record-breaking 2,831 of its Volt plug-in hybrids, making it the top-selling plug-in car in the U.S. to date. No doubt helped by its recent ‘Happy Owner’ online ad campaign, as well as deals offering prices as low as $249 per month or less for a 24-month...

Have Nissan Leafs in hot states suffered premature battery aging, or is the apparent loss in capacity down to a malfunction in the Leaf’s dashboard display? That’s been the question on the lips of Nissan Leaf owners worldwide after some owners in Phoenix, Arizona, began reporting that...

As one of the most highly anticipated new electric cars of 2012, the Toyota RAV4 EV combines the practicality of an SUV with an all-electric, Tesla-engineered drivetrain for impressive performance. When we drove the 2012 RAV4 EV back in August, we already knew Toyota was planning on selling it in...

It’s a well-known fact that President Obama is a fan of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. In fact, Obama has pledged to buy his own Chevrolet Volt when he leaves office, whenever that takes place. As Commander in Chief however, Obama will be pleased to see that the U.S. military isn’t...

If you drive an electric or plug-in car and drive to work every day in it, you’ve probably given the topic of workplace charging stations some thought. Convincing your boss to shell out company cash for a charging station might not be that easy, but now charging station provider ChargePoint...

The Renault Nissan alliance might be known for all-electric cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2012 Renault Fluence Z.E. and quirky Renault Twizy, but that doesn’t mean the two automakers aren’t interested in other forms of zero emissions cars. At this year’s Paris Motor Show, Nissan...