Electric Cars
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BMW plans to launch perhaps its most mainstream electric car, the i4, in 2021, about a year after the iX3 electric crossover utility goes on sale. BMW chairman Harald Krüger told British auto magazine Auto Express that the long-awaited i4 will be treated as a variant of the company's 4-series Gran Coupe, a mid-size 4-door hatchback similar in size to the company's mainstay 3-series. Company insiders told Auto Express that the car may sit a little higher than the standard i4 to allow room for the large battery pack to sit above the axles as well as under the floor. DON'T MISS...
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Documents: 60-kwh Nissan Leaf pricing aligned with Chevy Bolt EVEven before the second-generation Leaf was introduced last year, it was an open secret that Nissan planned an extended-range, 60-kwh version of the Leaf. Now our friends CarsDirect have found some documents—U.S. order guides that dealerships plan their orders and marketing...
Bengt Halvorson -
ChargePoint users can now access networks in Canada, EuropePlugging in an electric car should be as easy as making a call on a cell phone—only it isn't always. Now a series of new agreements—similar to cell-phone roaming agreements that let users make calls on other networks—are beginning to make that easier. The latest, announced Tuesday...
Eric C. Evarts -
Where would you like to see more public chargers installed? Twitter poll resultsOur readers seem to think charging networks are doing just fine with their plans to build out additional public charging stations. Several networks have recently announced expansion plans, focusing on putting more DC fast chargers in cities to help bring new drivers to the electric-car fold who may...
Eric C. Evarts -
Teslas to get new self-driving, Autopilot chip in spring 2019Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk took to Twitter Tuesday to announce that owners will get a new Autopilot chip in about six months that will be much more powerful and enable the company's long-awaited Full-Self Driving Mode. In a series of tweets, Musk said that owners who have prepaid for...
Eric C. Evarts -
Judge approves Tesla SEC settlementA federal judge in New York gave final approval Tuesday to the $40 million settlement between Tesla, its chief executive officer Elon Musk, and the SEC over Musk's tweets about plans to take the company private. The approval comes following Musk's tentative settlement on Sept. 29, in which he...
Eric C. Evarts -
Jaguar confirmed its first retail delivery of the I-Pace electric crossover Monday, a few weeks ahead of the company’s early November target for retail sales. The I-Pace isn’t late, but a vehicle like it has been a long time coming. It’s the first of what we can rightfully call a rival to the Tesla Model S fastback sedan and Model X crossover, more than six years since deliveries of the Tesla Model S began, and about three years since an overdue Model X, Falcon-wing doors and all, reached first customers. Along with the first sale, Jaguar finally released an official EPA...
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Britain cuts incentives for electrics, hybridsBritain will end purchase incentives for plug-in hybrids and reduce them for pure electric cars after November 9. In a move that looks like replacing carrots with sticks, the announcement comes two months after the country launched its "Road to Zero" plan to ban sales of gasoline and diesel cars by...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric, Tesla board, long-range Mercedes plug-in: Today's Car NewsWe got a chance drove the 238-mile Hyundai Kona Electric and came away mostly impressed. Mercedes-Benz announced a truly long-range plug-in hybrid. Hot seats lead to a recall for the Kia Niro hybrid. And we explore who should replace Elon Musk as chairman of Tesla's board in our latest Twitter...
Eric C. Evarts -
2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid to have 60 miles of electric range?Mercedes's new line of more capable plug-in hybrids will start with the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid that the company says has more electric driving range than previous efforts. It will arrive late next year and will be based on a redesigned version of the mid-size GLE SUV arriving with...
Eric C. Evarts -
Who should lead Tesla's board after Musk steps down? Take our Twitter pollAs Elon Musk prepares to step aside from Tesla's board in an expected settlement with the SEC, speculation has erupted over who might replace him. According to the SEC settlement, the new chairman must be an independent board member—not one tied to Musk. Tesla's board currently has two...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric: first drive of affordable 258-mile crossoverOur first test-drive time with the Hyundai Kona Electric included plenty of what’s very familiar to Los Angelenos: plodding along to the next stoplight on wide boulevards, waiting another few minutes, and repeating—with occasional squirts into traffic gaps and quick merges into the...
Bengt Halvorson -
First, it was the Porsche 911, then the Jaguar E-Type. Now it's the MGB. Converting classic old cars into electrics has become the rage across Europe. The latest comes from RBW Classic Electric Cars in the UK, which isn't taking classic MGBs and modifying them, but recreating new classic MGBs with electric powertrains. READ MORE: Royal couple's electric Jaguar E-type Zero coupe will go into production The bodies will come from British Motoring Heritage, which builds replacement parts and body shells for classic British cars. The powertrain will come from Zytek Automotive, a division of...
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Tesla tax credits, BMW charger recall, and Israel to ban internal-combustion engines: Today's Car NewsTesla tells buyers the final date to order a car before federal tax credits expire. BMW recalls charge cords for its electric cars. Israel plans to stop the sale of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2030. And we round up the best deals on green cars this month. All of this and more on Green...
Sean Szymkowski -
BMW recalls chargers for 2018, 2019 plug-in modelsBMW issued a recall for the charge cords of virtually all the 2018 and 2019 plug-in vehicles it has built for sale in the U.S. According to the recall notice on the NHTSA's website, capacitors in the charge cords could fail, resulting in a shock hazard or a fire. DON'T MISS: Ford recalls Focus...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla sets Monday deadline for full tax creditTesla has given buyers a deadline of Monday to order a car if they want the full $7,500 federal tax credit. That's 2-1/2 months before the credit officially expires, but since most Teslas are built to order, the company needs some lead time for orders. A notice on Tesla's website reads: "All orders...
Eric C. Evarts -
Best deals on green cars for October 2018One of the best ways to get people to buy green cars is the same way automakers get consumers to buy any car—by making deals. Looking at October sales, among plug in cars other than Teslas, the bestsellers were those that offer the best deals from month to month. This month, many of the same...
Eric C. Evarts -
Israel plans to end internal combustion car sales by 2030Add Israel to the list of countries planning to ban sales of cars that run on gasoline and diesel fuel. The Jewish state, however, has put internal combustion engines on a shorter leash than most other countries that have announced such plans. By 2030, the Israeli Energy Ministry announced on...
Eric C. Evarts -
Faraday's Future has hit another snag, in a dispute with the company's latest investors. The development of the luxury electric Faraday Future FF91, has been a roller-coaster ride of winning financing, running into disputes, delaying the car, and finding new investors. DON'T MISS: Faraday Future gets a $2 billion lifeline to build expensive crossover The latest round of $2 billion in financing announced in June by a Hong Kong investment company, allowed the company to produce its first production prototype of the FF91 luxury electric SUV. Now that financing is in doubt after Faraday filed an...
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Mercedes-Benz plans to expand lineup of more capable plug-in hybridsMercedes-Benz announced plans Wednesday improve the range and capability of its plug-in hybrids and to bring the flexible powertrain to more models. It also introduced a new brand name to designate its plug-in hybrid models: EQ Power. The EQ Power designation will appear alongside the company's new...
Eric C. Evarts -
Europe commits to 35 percent CO2 cut by 2030, after dire UN climate reportFollowing a U.N. report on Monday that concluded world leaders have only two decades to end emissions of greenhouse gases or suffer catastrophic climate change, the European Union took just 13 hours to announce plans to cut emissions from cars and trucks a further 35 percent by 2030. Transportation...
Eric C. Evarts -
Bollinger Motors announces B2 electric pickup alongside SUVBollinger Motors has already generated a lot of interest in its B1 electric SUV. And on Wednesday it released images and some details of its long awaited second model, a pickup. The American startup electric truckmaker is one of several to announce an electric pickup. Tesla has said it is...
Eric C. Evarts -
Mercedes breaks ground on US battery factory (Updated)Mercedes-Benz broke ground Friday on a new battery factory in the U.S.—right next door to its SUV factory in Alabama. The move is an indication that the company plans to build its upcoming all-electric EQC electric SUV in Alabama. The EQC is expected to go on sale in the U.S. as a 2021 model...
Eric C. Evarts -
Subsidy's swansong: Canadian plug-in sales take a dipAfter generous tax credits expired in Canada’s largest province of Ontario, September, not April, turned out to be the coldest month for electric-car sales North of the Border. The tax credit was worth up to $10,000 ($14,000 Canadian.) British Columbia was a bright spot, with the provincial...
Matthew Klippenstein