Electric Cars
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Last week the Trump administration unveiled a broad drawdown of fuel-economy regulations that had been aimed at cutting emissions from passenger vehicles. In the 978-page proposal, administration officials argued those rules implemented by the Obama administration would create lighter, potentially more fuel-efficient vehicles that would be less safe and more expensive than today’s fleet. “Moreover, assuming that manufacturers try to pass the costs of those technologies on to consumers in the form of higher new vehicle prices, rather than absorbing them and hurting profitability...
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2019 Land Rover releases pricing for Range Rover P400e plug-in hybridBy 2024, Land Rover will have a whole new lineup of hybrid and electric luxury SUVs. As we learned yesterday, that lineup will include plug-in hybrid and electric versions of its small Evoque crossover SUV. Now the company has released pricing for its largest, most luxurious plug-in hybrid, the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Report: SEC investigating Musk tweet about taking Tesla privateThe Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that federal financial regulators may be investigating a series of tweets sent by Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggesting that the automaker was considering a large-scale stock buyback to take the company private. SEC investigators may be considering a range of...
Aaron Cole -
Tesla board confirms it will consider Musk's privatization planSix of Tesla's board members issued a statement Wednesday morning confirming that they have been in discussions with CEO Elon Musk about taking the company private. On Tuesday, Musk revealed on Twitter that he was considering privatizing the company after taking it public in 2010. He set a target...
Eric C. Evarts -
Sono Sion solar car starts testing in GermanySolar cars are like sunny days—always waiting for tomorrow. Now the dawn may be breaking on that tomorrow with the small, crowd-funded Sono Sion solar car in Germany. The company has raised enough online funding to begin testing, according to a Reuters report carried by Autoblog. The car is...
Eric C. Evarts -
Zero emissions vs. "Hybrid": When is a Nissan Leaf not "green?"Dedicated reader John Briggs wrote in to Green Car Reports share his unfortunate experience with the airport police in Boston. We found his story so compelling, instructive—and dare we say entertaining?—that we felt it worthy of sharing. The following are his words, lightly edited for...
John Briggs -
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday he is considering taking the electric car company private. The executive posted on Twitter, "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420 a share." Tesla's stock bounced 7.3 percent Tuesday immediately after the news. Trading was halted for well over an hour on Tuesday. Shareholders could either to sell at 420 or hold shares & go private — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018 Shortly after that news, Musk tweeted again that current shareholders would have the option of selling their shares at $420 or holding them privately. The company issued a...
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Refreshed Land Rover lineup to include new plug-in hybridLand Rover and its sister company Jaguar each are planning new lineups by 2024 and 2025 respectively. We've heard a lot about Jaguar's plans to launch a gas, hybrid, and electric version of everything it sells by 2025. Land Rover's plans have been more opaque. Now British car magazine Autocar...
Eric C. Evarts -
Which modern electric car will be the first classic? Twitter poll resultsElectric cars are changing the automotive landscape, technologically and culturally. Those factors are what often make things classic, whether it's in music, architecture, or automobiles. Various people have weighed in recently on which of today's green cars will become tomorrow's classics, from...
Eric C. Evarts -
The 7 best plug-in cars for students going back to schoolToday's environmentally conscious students are thinking more about the environment in the choices they make. They still need to get around, but they may be less likely to accept the price of doing so in a car with a tailpipe spewing pollution and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Many may need...
Eric C. Evarts -
Nissan gets new batteries, Tesla lawsuit, Canadian sales, Twitter poll: Today's Car NewsNissan announced Friday that it sold its in-house battery division in a business deal that has been a long time in the making. Electric car sales drop off in Canada after purchase incentives were canceled in Ontario. We look at how Tesla's lawsuit in Michigan could open its ability to sell cars...
Eric C. Evarts -
Why Tesla's court battle to sell cars in Michigan could set national templateIn a case that could be a bellwether for Tesla, the car company has won some opening skirmishes in its 2016 lawsuit against the state of Michigan, which forbids the company from operating stores or selling cars in the state. If Tesla wins the big prize in its Michigan court battle—the right...
Green Car Reports -
Sales data for plug-in cars in Canada in June and July show the effect of large purchase incentives. In its first full month of availability in Canada in June, the Tesla Model 3 racked up 2,329 sales, shattering the country’s monthly record for electric-car sales and making it the 16th bestselling car in the country overall. According to data compiled by GoodCarBadCar.net, the Model 3 ranked between the Dodge Caravan (with 2,403 sales) and the Jeep Cherokee (with 2,296) in June. Two-thirds of Model 3 sales in May and June came in Ontario, suggesting the manufacturer prioritized...
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How often do you encounter a public electric-car charger that is out of order? Take our Twitter pollSpreading electric car chargers will do little good if they don't work. Studies repeatedly show that one of the most important things needed to spread adoption of electric cars is to install more public chargers for them. Expanding public charging infrastructure makes it more convenient to own an...
Eric C. Evarts -
Nissan sells its battery business, 225-mile Leaf e-Plus to get LG Chem batteriesWhen it comes to electric-car batteries, Nissan is no longer going its own way. The company that launched the first modern, mass-market all-electric car has sold its electric-car battery subsidiary, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) to Envision Group, a Chinese renewable energy company...
Eric C. Evarts -
The first Volt from GM was also a plug-in hybrid, but it was built in 1980Chevrolet's Volt wasn't the original, or even the first Volt from GM. Electric Auto Corporation receives that distinction for their car built in 1980, at the height of America's second gas crisis. It built the Silver Volt, a plug-in hybrid based on a contemporary Buick station wagon—16 years...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla updates, EPA plans, Porsche specs, and Faraday Future progress: The Week in ReverseWhat cars were Tesla Model 3 buyers most likely to trade in? Which company just announced the largest diesel emissions recall in history? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Aug. 3, 2018. Friday, we learned that Teslas will...
Eric C. Evarts -
Analysis: Did Tesla's earnings call and stock surge save Musk and skip skeptics?Investors Wednesday heard enough good news from Tesla to ignore worries about the company's appetite for cash and hurried production pace to rally the stock to its biggest one-day gain in roughly 5 years. By Friday morning the stock had surged above $350 from $300 on Wednesday afternoon. That led...
Aaron Cole -
Apparently the problem with the Tesla Model S and Model X was that they're too normal. They have a separate instrument cluster—a digital one—behind the steering wheel and a few solid controls. Tesla must think that's too much. The company is designing a new interior for them that looks a lot like the one in the Model 3, first reported by Electrek. Electrek reported it had received internal company documents and photos that show drawings of the new interior with a large, horizontal touchscreen mounted in the center of the dash and a band of hidden climate-control vents running the...
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Tesla will roll out new Autopilot later this monthTesla announced Wednesday that it would release a complete update to its Autopilot system later this month, including new self-driving capabilities. The new version, which Tesla owners and fans have long-awaited, will update the system with faster hardware as well as new optical software that CEO...
Eric C. Evarts -
Study: Jump in electric vehicles may not stress California's power grid (Update)Electric-car critics have said that more EVs on the road could stress already overburdened electric power grids past the breaking point. Now, a study released this week by a California nonprofit suggests that may not be true. San Francisco-based think tank Next 10 published reports this week that...
Aaron Cole -
What Tesla Model 3 buyers trade in says something about themBuyers driving home Tesla Model 3s are moving up. In its second-quarter earnings call Wednesday, Tesla executives revealed the top five cars they have taken in on trade for new Model 3s and the results were unexpected. Rather than other entry-level luxury sedans that form the Model 3s competition...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla cuts losses on Model 3 sales, Musk promises profits next quarterAs it ramps up production of the Tesla Model 3, Tesla announced Wednesday that it reduced its financial losses in the second quarter—barely. The result is significant, because Tesla is racing against the clock to keep from running out of money before it can build enough of its new, more...
Eric C. Evarts -
Mercedes-Benz EQS caught in spy shotsFor decades, Mercedes-Benz sold only two passenger cars. Now, the automaker is promising 10 different electric cars. Although the Mercedes has not revealed plans for all of them, spy photographers have recently captured a large electric sedan from Mercedes-Benz testing at Mercedes's headquarters in...
Eric C. Evarts