Electric Cars
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The electric-car revolution may give new life to an old gas engine. On Tuesday, timed to coincide with the Paris auto show, Mazda announced it will add plug-in capability and electric power to all of its models by 2030. Some will be plug-in hybrids or range-extended electric cars—with a twist. The company formally confirmed what it had previously suggested was under development: a new, small version of its signature rotary engine to use as a range extender in an eventual series of plug-in hybrids. DON'T MISS: Mazda exec details plans for rotary range-extended EV coming in 2019 Mazda was...
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How fast is fast enough for charging? Take our Twitter pollAutomakers are launching a race to build electric cars that can charge as fast filling a gas tank. When the first electric cars launched in 2011, buyers and fans were clamoring for CHAdeMO fast charging that operates at about 50 kilowatts and could recharge a short-range electric car (to 80 percent...
Eric C. Evarts -
Pininfarina announces Rimac electric hypercar's powertrain, new Munich headquartersAutomobili Pininfarina, which is developing a multi-million-dollar electric hypercar under the classic Italian designer name, announced a deal to develop its cars' electric powertrain, as well as a new headquarters and executive team on Friday. The new company will partner with Croatian electric...
Eric C. Evarts -
Audi to expand plug-in hybrid range alongside e-tron electricThe Audi e-tron electric crossover won't be the only new model with a plug coming soon. The company plans up to 12 new plug-in models by 2025, Audi revealed at the launch event for the e-tron quattro SUV in California last month, according to a report in British magazine Autocar. In addition to the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Report: Utility survey shows overwhelming support for renewable powerAmericans want renewable electricity, and they want it now. That's the conclusion of a new study that has large power providers buzzing with nerves, according to a recent report on Vox. The report, done for the Edison Electric Institute and presented at a recent meeting of the utility trade group...
Eric C. Evarts -
Volkswagen electrics, Musk sued, BMW i3 range increase, California incentives: The Week in ReverseWhich electric car will get access to a fast charger network much like Teslas? What was the result of the SEC's investigation into Tesla chief Elon Musk? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Sept. 28, 2018. Friday, Volkswagen...
Eric C. Evarts -
Volkswagen last week laid out the basics for its set of electric-car components that plans to use to underpin a million new all-electric vehicles each year by 2025. With those components on the Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB), VW claims that it has the first pure-EV platform designed for high-volume production. It’s a claim that may be contested. The Nissan Leaf probably comes the closest; it was certainly designed for high volume, but its platform was adapted from other Nissan compact cars. And at this point, many in the industry might argue with Tesla’s earlier assertions that...
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2019 BMW i3 to get bigger battery with 153-mile rangeThe 2019 BMW i3 will get a larger battery, good for 153 miles of range, up from 115 miles for the 2018 model, the automaker announced Friday. BMW refers to the new battery in the 2019 model as the 120 amp-hour battery, which delivers total energy storage of 42.2 kilowatt-hours with the i3's...
Eric C. Evarts -
SEC sues Tesla CEO Elon Musk over going-private tweetThe Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk for securities fraud Thursday over his Aug. 7 tweet when he announced he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. In the complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC said Musk made "'false and misleading public...
Eric C. Evarts -
California considers boosting electric-car rebate to $4,500The California Air Resources Board will discuss Thursday and Friday raising the state's electric vehicle rebate to offset the expiration of federal tax credits for the two largest electric-carmakers, Tesla and GM. The state offers a $2,500 subsidy for electric-car purchases. CARB is considering...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Jaguar I-Pace real-world review: 3 days with the sexy electric crossoverTo the world’s surprise, the first all-electric luxury utility vehicle to follow the Tesla Model X into production did not come from the German makes of Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz. Instead, it arrived from that trio’s smaller, scrappier British rival, Jaguar Land Rover. The 2019 Jaguar...
John Voelcker -
Illegal parking in charging spots: The culprit? Electric carsA whole Hatfields and McCoys culture has grown up around parking in electric-car charging spaces, with electric-car drivers who need juice facing off against conventional cars—and sometimes other electrics who park there and don't plug in or stay longer than they need to. Now a study...
Eric C. Evarts -
With its first electric car, Audi plans to change more than what powers the car. Ripping another page from Tesla's playbook, the traditional car company plans to reserve its new electric 2019 Audi e-tron SUV for special orders. Instead of selecting among a wide variety of cars on a local dealer's lot, customers will have to put down a deposit and wait for their car to be built, Automotive News reported. DON'T MISS: Audi e-tron electric crossover debuts to battle Tesla "I think it would be a beautiful world if you can go to a dealer—and we'd like to find that beautiful world—with...
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Would you buy into a Volkswagen EV subscription plan? Twitter poll resultsSeveral automakers are experimenting with electric-car sharing programs as they look to an autonomous future when cars are more about providing rides than being purchased. Volkswagen is going whole hog, launching an electric-only car sharing program in Europe that it also plans to bring to North...
Eric C. Evarts -
Lucid owners will get access to Electrify America's chargers, another jab at TeslaLucid owners will get prepaid access to Electrify America's growing number of fast-charging stations when their cars arrive sometime after 2020, both companies announced Tuesday. Electrify America didn't provide details about the program for Lucid owners, including how much charging owners would...
Aaron Cole -
Renault plans Europe's largest battery storage networkEuropean electric-carmaker Renault plans to build the continent's largest stationary battery storage network next year using old electric-car batteries. Renault announced on Tuesday that it will install used (and some new) electric car batteries in three locations: two Renault factories in France...
Eric C. Evarts -
Here's the battery pack behind VW's global electric-vehicle pushNo single core component in an electric vehicle costs more—or probably matters more for the acceptance of EVs—than the battery pack. Many would argue that one of the best decisions Tesla ever made was going with the Panasonic 18650 cells in the Model S (and later, Model X). Thanks in...
Bengt Halvorson -
Old electric car batteries, VW battery pack, and Volvo XC60 T8 plug-in: Today's Car NewsTake a closer look at what happens to older electric car batteries. VW shares the first details about the battery pack behind its global electric-car strategy. Volvo recalls the XC60 T8 plug-in's charging cable. And we provide an answer to the question: What happens when electric cars are flooded?...
Sean Szymkowski -
A certain charging cord included in a small number of 2019 Volvo XC60 crossover SUVs may overheat and shock owners, or start a fire, the automaker said this month. Volvo announced a recall for 35 Volvo XC60 T8 crossover SUVs earlier this month to replace the charging cords. The small number of affected owners should have already received a notification, or will receive notice soon. Owners should not use the cord until Volvo has replaced it. DON'T MISS: Volvo's electrification push expanding to every corner of the market At issue are XC60 crossover SUVs that included certain AeroVironment...
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What happens to electric cars that have been flooded?With all the floods from Hurricane Florence, what happens to electric cars? That's the question many electric car owners may be asking after the 100-year hurricane dropped more than two feet of rain in North Carolina, where a burgeoning electric car movement was springing up. The answer is: It...
Eric C. Evarts -
(Reverse) Engineering Explained: What happens to old electric car batteries?Reduce, reuse, recycle. It's the same philosophy for electric-car batteries as for plastic grocery bags—almost. Knowing what happens to lithium-ion batteries from phones, cameras, and other electronic devices, many electric-car critics express a reasonable concern about what might happen to...
Eric C. Evarts -
Porsche kills diesels, BMW iX3 electric car orders, and Kia Soul EV: Today's Car NewsPorsche declares it's done building diesel-powered cars. The BMW iX3 electric car tallies 1,000 reservations in Norway. Kia drops the most affordable Soul EV variant. We ask which electric SUV has readers most interested in a new Twitter poll. And will VW build any of its electric cars in the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Orders in: 1,000 buyers in Norway reserve coming all-electric BMW iX3 crossover SUVBMW opened order books for its upcoming electric iX3 in Europe at the beginning of September, and the company already has deposits for 1,000 in Norway. In a page out of the Tesla playbook, the Norwegian buyers each put down deposits of almost $1,900 (1,600 Euros.) News of the deposits was first...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Kia Soul EV drops most affordable trimThe effective price of a Kia Soul EV has gone up dramatically for 2019, in what is likely to be the model's last year of production. The company dropped the bottom Soul EVe trim from the lineup. The EVe listed for $1,700 less than the version officially called "base," according to our partners at...
Eric C. Evarts