Electric Cars
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Electric cars are getting the attention of oil companies. On Wednesday, one of the largest fast-charging networks in the U.S., Greenlots, announced that it had been bought by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell—via the subsidiary Shell New Energies US LLC. Greenlots supports mainly DC fast charge stations across the U.S., the kind electric cars drivers are meant to visit occasionally when they need a quick charge to complete a long trip—kind of like using a gas station. CHECK OUT: Shell buys its first electric car charging station firm in Europe For now, that doesn't mean that DC fast...
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Volkswagen confirms electric dune buggy concept for Geneva auto showA VW beach buggy made for blasting over the sand may ride again. Volkswagen confirmed Wednesday that it will show a concept electric dune buggy at the Geneva auto show in March. Rumors circulated in December that the brand was considering such a move. READ MORE: Fun revival: Electric dune buggy...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Nissan Leaf Plus, GM EV investments, electric Ford F-150, coal power: Today's Car NewsCalifornia documents show that higher-trim versions of the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus won't achieve the estimated 226-mile range. GM will double its investment in engineering new electric and self-driving cars. A new study shows that electric cars are cleaner than gas, even when using electricity from...
Eric C. Evarts -
Don't worry about coal, electric cars are still cleanerOne of the easiest ways for electric-car drivers to get in an argument is discussing how much coal-fired electricity contributes to pollution. Now a new study by BNEF (a Bloomberg spinoff) can help give electric-car drivers some peace of mind in these arguments. It shows that electric cars are...
Eric C. Evarts -
Barra blogs again: GM plans to double EV, self-driving investmentsFollowing a round of layoffs late last year, GM is planning to renew its focus on creating electric cars and autonomous vehicles. For the second time in four months, CEO Mary Barra took to LinkedIn to reiterate that the company is shifting its focus to electric cars. The first time preceded...
Eric C. Evarts -
How soon do you expect an electric Ford F-150 to arrive? Twitter poll resultsWe've called this year the year of the electric SUV, for the number of such vehicles expected to hit the streets in 2019. So far, though, the news seems recently seems to be all about electric pickups. After Michigan startup automaker Rivian debuted its concept R1T electric pickup at the LA auto...
Eric C. Evarts -
New California regulatory compliance documents hint that lower trim levels of the upcoming 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus will be the ones with the longest range. To get the maximum range of 226 miles that Nissan estimates, buyers will likely have to stick to the base S trim level, according to documents, based on California emissions tests and obtained by Automotive News. Higher-trim SL and SV models are likely to have shorter range estimates, which Nissan estimates at 215 miles. READ MORE: 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus revealed: 226-mile range, quicker acceleration In the tests, the base 62-kwh Leaf Plus...
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Some of the fastest electric-car chargers were down: Would anyone have noticed yet? (Updated)UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning Electrify America said that it is "restoring full capacity to its entire network" after the potentially affected charging cables cleared extensive testing, and it called the original incident spurring the shutdown "an isolated event" at a private facility with a...
Bengt Halvorson -
Porsche Taycan, Electrify America shutdown, Mazda plans: Today's Car NewsPorsche plans to include three years of free DC fast charging from Electrify America with its new Taycan electric car. For now, it's a good thing the car isn't arriving too soon, as Electrify America has had to shut down many of its CCS Combo fast charge plugs over safety concerns. Mazda balances...
Eric C. Evarts -
Mazda rotary range-extended EV and diesel engine both coming, but no US hybrids for nowA look under the hood of Mazda’s future includes a patchwork of “what if” possibilities and a series of juggled timelines. Mazda is in a tough spot right now with regulators and in finding its place across many global markets. Part of the issue is that Mazda is considered an...
Bengt Halvorson -
Road-trip mission: 2020 Porsche Taycan charging is free and very fastAs Porsche is finding out with its Taycan electric car, it’s not always easy being the first—or the fastest. The 2020 Porsche Taycan will be the first production model built on an entirely new 800-volt architecture that helps allow much faster road-trip charging than any other electric...
Bengt Halvorson -
US has world's second highest electric-car populationThe race is on to see which countries can sell the most electric cars in an effort to reduce global warming. As with many things counted in raw numbers, China is far ahead, with 1.28 million electric cars on the road. As with most things Chinese, however, the population numbers—of people or...
Eric C. Evarts -
Wind power is expected become America's top renewable energy source in 2019. The recent government shutdown may have held up the sale of some new fuel-efficient cars—and another one may hold up even more. Our latest Twitter poll asks how important it is to our readers for electric cars to be made in America. All this and more on Green Car Reports. New patent filings from Ford show a hybrid system that looks tailor-made for the upcoming 2020 Mustang Hybrid or F-150 Hybrid that the company has promised. It shows a design planned for rear-wheel drive cars, with electric motors driving the...
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How important is it that your next electric car be made in the U.S.? Take our Twitter pollThus far, the vast majority of the electric cars sold in the U.S. have been made here. Now that the market is expanding, with new competitors arriving from both Europe and Asia this year, that may no longer be true. Hyundai and Kia, plan to import new electric models, the HyundaI Kona Electric, and...
Eric C. Evarts -
Blowing away dirty energy: Wind to pass hydro as top renewable in 2019For electric-car drivers looking to emit less pollution as the drive, 2019 could be a banner year. The U.S. electric grid has been getting gradually greener as utilities replace coal fired powerplants with primarily wind and natural gas. That trend is due to reach a tipping point in 2019, according...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 vs Model S: Tighter dragstrip times, sharper traction systemTesla claims some astonishingly quick acceleration times, and for some of us, testing and verifying those times are part of the fun. To do that, the drag strip is the only safe and fully reliable source for accurate numbers. In February of 2015, I migrated to a Model S Performance, after owning a...
George Parrott -
Electric pickups, Byton tech, battery business, EV affordability: The Week in ReverseWhich company is looking for new battery suppliers outside the U.S.? What upcoming electric car is not designed to drive but to ride in? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending January 25, 2019. This week included much news about...
Eric C. Evarts -
GMC electric pickup, Silverado mileage, best deals, EPA enforcement: Today's Car NewsWhat our corner of the world seems to be waiting for is electric pickups. We check out the best deals on hybrid, plug-in, and electric cars for this month. And a new report shows how much enforcement efforts have slacked off at the EPA under President Trump. All this and more on Green Car Reports...
Eric C. Evarts -
The new year brings new deals, and our partners at CarsDirect.com have found deals on some new models that have never made our list before for the beginning of 2019. While the new year often isn't the very best time to find a great deal on a new car, winter weather keeps many buyers at home, which often makes car dealers ready to bargain. Here we've rounded up the best deals on electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid cars for this month. The list focuses on green cars that are widely available and skip over deals on relatively scarce "compliance cars" sold only in a few areas to meet regulatory...
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GMC could join electric-pickup tailgate partyGeneral Motors has remained mum on its plans for making its pickups all-electric—until now. It's something of a fait accompli, really, since GM's CEO Marry Barra has said the company plans to move to a 100 percent electric lineup, eventually. READ THIS: Cadillac to become “lead electric...
Eric C. Evarts -
Dyson gets serious, charging with AI, Ghosn resigns: Today's Car NewsAmericans are taking climate change more seriously, and a majority think the government should do something about it, two new studies show. A startup company thinks it has a software hack to help electric-car batteries charge faster. And Nissan's Carlos Ghosn has resigned as Chairman and CEO of...
Eric C. Evarts -
Carlos Ghosn, electric-car proponent and embattled executive, quit as Renault bossThe past two months haven't been kind to Carlos Ghosn. The former auto executive was arrested late last year in Japan on charges that he bilked Nissan for millions in unauthorized pay and perks, including financial dealings with business partners that weren't formally disclosed. Shortly after his...
Aaron Cole -
Company claims to harness AI for quicker electric-car DC fast chargingAt CES earlier this month, GBatteries demonstrated that it could charge a 60-kwh battery pack, made up of off-the-shelf lithium-ion automotive cells, to half capacity in just 5 minutes, or to a full charge in 10 minutes. Further, the company is aiming, with a technology that employs AI elements, to...
Bengt Halvorson -
Vacuum-maker Dyson hires Infiniti exec to get serious about making carsDyson, famous for reinventing vacuum cleaners, looks to be getting serious about building electric cars. The company announced on Tuesday it has hired former Infiniti President Roland Krueger to head its automotive operations. Under Krueger's tenure, Infiniti, Nissan's luxury brand, announced that...
Eric C. Evarts