Electric Cars
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As Tesla has been working to ramp up assembly of its more affordable Model 3 sedan, the company has also been adding features to existing examples with its over the air software updates. We spoke with Tesla to learn the extent of updates and found five updates that have been rolled out to existing Model 3 owners. These features will be built in to new Model 3s the company is building now. In February, Tesla beamed out a feature to allow drivers to contact roadside assistance directly from the "T" screen on the center of the dash CHECK OUT: Tesla Model S electric car: software changes since...
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How often should Green Car Reports report plug-in sales numbers: Twitter poll resultsLast week in our Twitter poll, we asked a different kind of question: how often Green Car Reports readers would like to follow the horse-race of plug-in car sales. A surprisingly large 73 percent of of our Twitter followers said you would follow every month. Green Car Reports has been reporting the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Shoppers in Canada may wait nearly a year to buy new Chevy Bolt EVThe new Chevy Bolt EV was a long time coming, but interested buyers in some parts of Canada may have to wait longer. Kent Wallace reported to us last week that Toronto-area dealerships were quoting shoppers an 8- to 12-month wait for the 238-mile electric car. A GM spokeswoman in Canada confirmed...
Aaron Cole -
Nissan begins offering rebuilt Leaf battery packsStarting this month, Nissan has begun offering rebuilt battery packs for the older Leafs, filling a gap for drivers of older cars whose packs have begun to run down. The company built a new facility in Japan to rebuild the packs, and will sell them for about $2,850 (based on the price in Japan)...
Eric C. Evarts -
Will 20 percent of Americans buy an electric for their next car? Take our Twitter pollA new survey from AAA released last week reported that 20 percent of Americans say they plan to buy an electric car the next time they purchase a new car. That contrasts sharply with the less than one percent of Americans who buy electric cars today. It's not clear were the discrepancy lies...
Eric C. Evarts -
Electric car recalls and deals, another Tesla crash, how much range is enough: The Week in ReverseWhich electric car can California and Oregon buyers take home for less than $200 a month and get $1,000 for doing so? What electric car war recalled this week? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending May 11, 2018. Friday, we...
Eric C. Evarts -
We found some great deals on green cars and hybrids this month as automakers look toward changing over their stock to sell new models. Several new electric models, including the 2017 and 2018 Nissan Leaf, 2018 Chevy Bolt EV, and other upcoming models have more range than older models. If you've been in the market for an electric car, though, and the battery range of some long-standing models is enough for you, these deals could prove compelling. As usual, our list of monthly deals comes from our partners at CarsDirect. They include a variety of discounts, including low financing rates, cheap...
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Tesla teases something, Clarity Electric lease rates, and Bolt EV software updates: Today's Car NewsTesla has shown off a cloaked car, and we suppose it may be the Model Y crossover. Honda has released attractive lease rates for the Clarity Electric in California and Oregon. We round out the best deals on hybrid, electric, and fuel-efficient cars for May 2018. And Chevrolet's Bolt EV gets...
Sean Szymkowski -
2018 Chevy Bolts recalled to update battery software, prevent shutdownsA voluntary software recall on the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV has been extended to 2018 models, a General Motors spokesman told Green Car Reports on Thursday. Last month, we reported that some owners of early 2017 Chevy Bolt EVs had failed batteries and would receive new batteries from GM. The fix also...
Eric C. Evarts -
Unidentified Tesla Model flashes by in video, but Y?Tesla fans are agog over a teaser video released Thursday in which a cloaked car appears around the 15-second mark. Many are speculating that it could be a Model Y, with its high-ish roof and what look like four doors. And it could be. Then again, it "could be" almost anything, including a leftover...
Eric C. Evarts -
2018 Honda Clarity Electric hits dealerships in California and Oregon with $199 lease dealThe 2018 Honda Clarity Electric car rolled into California and Oregon dealerships this week, but nobody can buy it. It's only available for lease for $199 a month for 36 months with $1,499 due at signing. That figure reflects the $7,500 federal tax credit, which Honda finance will keep as part of...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model S Electric Car: Software Changes Since 2012 (UPDATED)Even though the Tesla Model S has retained its same basic shape since it went on sale in 2012, what's going on under the hood has been anything but stagnant. The automaker's over-the-air updates for the electric car have put the old guard on notice: People expect their cars to act like the...
David Noland -
At its annual meeting Wednesday, Audi announced an ambitious plan to build 20 new electrified cars by 2025, most of them battery electrics,. The company says it will invest $47.6 billion (40 billion euros) into these electrified cars, a new app platform for its cars, a new fleet of autonomous vehicles to be launched in 2021, and into creating sustainable factories. Audi said the investment represents about two years of revenue for the company. As a first step, the company announced that it will reveal the production version of its new e-tron electric SUV on Aug. 30. It is reported to have a...
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NTSB launches investigation into another Tesla crash after it caught fire and killed two teens in FloridaThe National Transportation Safety Board announced Wednesday that it is investigating a crash involving a Tesla that killed two teens and injured a third in Florida. A gray 2014 Model S reportedly ran off the road Tuesday and struck a concrete wall before catching on fire and killing the two teens...
Eric C. Evarts -
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn: 188 miles is enough for electric cars; now prices must be cutAt about 188 miles, the range of today's electric cars is enough. It's the price that needs to come down. So says Carlos Ghosn, an electric-car pioneer among CEOs of mainstream automakers. Ghosn made the statement at a Nissan event in Hong Kong, according to Nikkei Asian Review. The speech revealed...
Eric C. Evarts -
Ghosn on EVs, Honda Clarity PHEV driven, California emissions standards, GM talks CAFE changes, and Japanese solid-state batteries: Today's Car NewsCarlos Ghosn, chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, and a leading proponent of electric cars, believes the industry has found the electric-range sweet spot. It's the price that must drop to sway consumers. Green Car Reports takes another look at the 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV, with some...
Sean Szymkowski -
2018 Honda Clarity PHEV revisited: is this the car Bill Clinton wanted built?With new stewardship comes new perspective—sometimes on old things. Here at Green Car Reports, we have driven the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid a couple of times. New reviewers sometimes bring new context and background to subjects we've covered before. And that's the case with the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Japanese automakers team up to solidify next-gen batteriesFacing competition from American scientists, Japanese automakers are teaming up to develop solid-state lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, according to a Nikkei report. Some engineers see solid state batteries as the holy grail for cars because they are safer and have higher energy density...
Eric C. Evarts -
We haven't heard much news about new all-electric models, especially from independent carmakers in a while. Now tiny Canadian startup automaker Electra Meccanica has announced that their tiny electric 3-wheeler has been certified for sale in the United States, and the first one has been delivered. READ THIS: Teslas will start paying to drive in L.A.'s 'Lexus lanes' There was a day when a half-dozen or so startups were competing to make three-wheeled electric cars. They're easier to get certified, because they're considered motorcycles, and they're automatically eligible to drive in carpool...
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How often do you want to read about plug-in car sales? Take our Twitter PollLast week was our monthly sales extravaganza at Green Car Reports, where we endeavor to report the sales of every plug-in (and hydrogen fuel-cell) vehicle sold in the United States, and publish a separate report for Canada. It's an endeavor we've undertaken every month since production plug-in cars...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla lockout, Hyundai battery shortage, TDI update, Elio lives, credit disagreement: Today's Car NewsVolkswagen is returning recalled TDIs for sale at its dealerships, and we drive one that has had a software update to address emissions violations. Is it as good as we remember? Tesla makes good on a promise to reduce the number of its contractors by locking them out of facilities this morning...
Eric C. Evarts -
Battery shortage interrupts Hyundai Ioniq Electric salesJust when it looked like sales might take off for a variety of electric cars, a global battery shortage has put a damper on sales of models from Hyundai. We got a heads up from a Canadian reader that customer orders for the Ioniq Electric in Canada have been put on hold due to a global shortage of...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla reportedly locks out contractors in midst of Model 3 ramp upLast Wednesday, during Tesla's earnings call, we learned that CEO Elon Musk planned to restructure the company and to cut the number of contractors used at Tesla's factories. That day came suddenly this morning. Electrek reported this morning that it had obtained an internal memo from Musk noting...
Eric C. Evarts -
Conservative conference shows disagreement over purchase incentives for electric carsYou can’t always make assumptions about where people stand on any issue based on their political affiliation. You can tell a lot more by following the dollars that flow into their wallets. This fact burst into raw display at last month’s Spring Policy Summit of the secretive American...
Eric C. Evarts