Electric Cars
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In the midst of a government shutdown, President Donald Trump formally nominated Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to head the agency on Wednesday. Wheeler is a former lobbyist for coal mining company Murray Energy when the Obama administration was working to pass new restrictions on power plants that burn coal. Wheeler was confirmed as Deputy Administrator of the EPA in April 2018, and quickly ascended to run the agency when former Administrator Scott Priutt resigned in the face of ethical and financial scandals in July. DON'T MISS: Trump administration releases proposal to weaken fuel...
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2019 Nissan Leaf Plus vs Leaf: A first look at the differencesEarlier this week, at an event coordinated with the Consumer Electronics Show, Nissan introduced the Leaf Plus, a new longer-range of Nissan’s compact electric car. The 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus, which will reach dealerships this spring, finally offers more than the 200 miles that many Americans...
Bengt Halvorson -
Was 2018 the peak for internal-combustion car sales?Electric-car sales are growing. Total car sales around the world are shrinking. Put the two together, and the conclusion from many analysts is that sales of cars powered by internal combustion engines around the world have already peaked. From 2019 onward, they're likely to do nothing but shrink...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Nissan Leaf Plus, 2020 Mini Cooper S E, more fuel-cell semis: Today's Car NewsMini plans to revive its electric hatchback as a sporty electric model for the 60th anniversary of the original. New charging agreements aim to make charging easier and greener. And Toyota will build 10 more hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi-trucks for Los Angeles. All this and more on Green Car...
Eric C. Evarts -
eMotorWerks lays groundwork for vehicle-to-grid chargingAt first glance, a new business agreement between home charger manufacturer eMotorWerks and utility software provider LO3 Energy sounds strictly like the stuff of dull business contract lawyers. Dig a little deeper, though, and it could be the kernel of the next generation electrical system, long...
Eric C. Evarts -
2020 Mini Cooper S E: Speedy electric hatchback due for Mini's 60th birthdayAs one of the pioneers of electric cars, Mini isn't content to build a more efficient, emissions-free version of its basic hatchback when it develops its first production electric car. Instead, it hopes to reimagine the electric car as a life-sized slot car that takes advantage of the electric...
Eric C. Evarts -
It's easy to plug in an electric car. What trips up many new electric-car drivers is paying to charge. At some charging stations, drivers pay by the kilowatt-hour. At others, they pay for the time they park their car in the space, or pay a base rate for parking plus a smaller amount for the charge. Some charging stations take credit cards. Others can only be activated with a special RFID tag associated with an account on a particular network. Electrify America thinks it has a better way. It calls it Plug&Charge. READ THIS: Blink charging network joins interoperability push In partnership...
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2019 Nissan Leaf Plus revealed: 226-mile range, quicker accelerationNissan unveiled Tuesday a new version of the 2019 Leaf electric car, called the Leaf Plus or Leaf e+, that can go well over 200 miles on a charge. Although such a model has been a long time coming, the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus stands as strong evidence that in the eight years since the first...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla sales, VW tech, electric Harley-Davidson: Today's Car NewsWith final sales reports out from the whole auto industry, we built some context around Tesla's end-of-the-year sales numbers. The Model 3 is setting the pace among luxury cars. Volkswagen buys wireless tech from Volvo. Harley-Davidson announces pricing and a date for buyers interested in...
Eric C. Evarts -
What effect will lower tax credits on Tesla and GM plug-ins have? Twitter poll resultsFor a bunch of electric-car owning acolytes, our readers are surprisingly sanguine about the reduction and eventual expiration of plug-in tax credits on electric-car sales. We've reported extensively on the expiring tax credits, which will affect models from Tesla and GM in 2019. When Congress set...
Eric C. Evarts -
Leading the way: Tesla trounces luxury competitors in year-end sales tallyNow that Tesla has released its final sales numbers for the end of last year, we finally have a yardstick to measure the company’s sales success. In the third quarter, Tesla made a point of noting that, with the Model 3 approaching full production, it became the fifth...
Eric C. Evarts -
Volkswagen buys wireless car service from VolvoIn automotive electronics news that doesn't come from this week's CES, Volkswagen announced late last month that it is buying wireless automotive technology from Volvo. The technology is expected to enable VW's upcoming We car sharing program as well as to allow drivers to control some vehicle...
Eric C. Evarts -
Patent filings show new features that may be coming to updated Model S and Model X cars later this year. Chinese startup automaker Byton makes another appearance at CES. And our latest Twitter poll asks readers which electric pickup they think may hit the roads first. All this and more on Green Car Reports. On Sunday night, Musk took to Twitter to announce that the company would break ground on its much-needed second factory on Monday. The new plant in China will produce "affordable" Model 3s and Model Ys for the Chinese and surrounding markets. A patent filing late last year shows a new...
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Tesla breaks ground on China factory for Model 3 and Model YTesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter Sunday night that the company would break ground on its new Chinese factory on Monday. Musk said the plant, known as Gigafactory 3, will produce up to 500,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles for China and other nearby markets when it is completed in 2020...
Eric C. Evarts -
Which company will sell the first personal-use electric pickup? Take our Twitter pollIf electric cars are going to take over from internal combustion machines, they will need to be offered in the most popular types of vehicles—and that means pickups. Electric-car fans seem to be clamoring for electric pickups, and some startup automakers—along with Tesla—are...
Eric C. Evarts -
Patent shows new Tesla "windows" operating systemTesla is known for having the Apple of car user interfaces on its big center displays. A recent patent filing shows Tesla may not be finished up dating the system, either for the Model 3 or the Model S or X. The latest filing, last month, shows the company may expand the number of windows Tesla...
Eric C. Evarts -
Byton brings its big-screen electric SUV back to CES, a step closer to productionThe China-based electric vehicle maker Byton brought a close-to-production prototype version of its M-Byte SUV to the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show this week. The debut of the vehicle, still headed for a starting price of around $45,000 and an available driving range of up to 325 miles, marks...
Bengt Halvorson -
Here are the electric-car models on the way for 2019Regular readers of Green Car Reports know we have been saying for a year now that 2019 is the year of the electric SUV. Now the year is finally here, and we thought we'd give our readers a peek at what we know about all the upcoming models. Most are SUVs, with a couple of hatchbacks thrown in. In...
Eric C. Evarts -
Which new fuel-cell car just went to its first customer in California? What emissions rule did the EPA loosen this week? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Jan. 4, 2018. In this short New Year's week, the news seemed like it was all about Tesla, albeit in most cases in incremental changes. First, at the end of the year, the company appointed two new independent directors as required under the SEC settlement with CEO Elon Musk regarding his tweet in August about taking the company private. The company named Kathleen...
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Volvo Polestar 2, Tesla Model 3 range, self-driving Lexus: Today's Car NewsTesla bumps up the range of its Mid Range Model 3, slightly and announces it will start delivering Model 3s to China in March. Volvo teases a look at its first electric model, the Polestar 2. Faraday Future flutters its eyes open, looking for its future, as it agrees to a mutual cease-fire...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla plans to begin Model 3 deliveries to China in MarchTesla has confirmed that it plans to start making deliveries of its Model 3 sedan to China in March. That will complement an export strategy that’s ramping up in multiple ways. With the volume of U.S. deliveries potentially falling due to the reduced federal plug-in tax credit on Teslas in...
Bengt Halvorson -
With cease-fire agreement, spark flickers toward Faraday's FutureLike a prizefighter listening to counts of "eight" and "nine," Chinese electric-car startup Faraday Future, has started groaning, sputtering, and trying to stand. The company, which sputtered to a start building prototype electric luxury cars last year, then was abruptly knocked out when its new...
Eric C. Evarts -
Future Model 3 rival: Volvo Polestar 2 electric performance car teasedVolvo’s Polestar sub-brand has released a teaser picture and revealed a little more about its first electric car, to be called the Polestar 2. And the fledgling tech-performance brand doesn’t miss a beat in mentioning the Tesla Model 3. The Polestar 2, which will be the first fully...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla Model 3 price, Hyundai Nexo, used electrics, poll: Today's Car NewsFor the first time, values on used electric cars have begun to recover. Hyundai delivered its first hydrogen fuel-cell Nexo to a customer in Southern California. And our readers tell us what their electric priorities are for 2019. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Tesla Model 3 buyers look to...
Eric C. Evarts