Electric Cars

Electric cars provide a zero-emission driving experience, but one of the most important raw materials for their batteries—cobalt—has a supply chain that needs some work. About half of the world's cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country with high rates...

The dominant duo of the Chevy Volt and Bolt EV continued their winning ways in the Canadian market for new plug-in electric cars during October. Chevrolet sold 424 Volts to start the fourth quarter, down slightly from 483 in September. The vehicle’s 3,431 sales through October all but tied...

Both Hyundai and Kia planned to approach the electric and plug-in car market aggressively, but now the Korean siblings plan to boost production even over totals announced earlier this year. This past summer, both brands said they would increase their electrified car production to 50,000 units next...

Luxury and sports car maker Porsche isn't concerned with the sweeping changes vehicle electrification will bring. In fact, the brand believes it will maintain its steady profit and 15-percent operating margin into the future, despite the major investments in electric and plug-in cars it plans to...

Chevy did it again. More specifically, GM delivered 2,781 Chevrolet Bolt EVs to buyers during October, a new high for its 238-mile electric car, and the highest reported sales of any plug-in electric vehicle last month. That brings the total number of Bolt EVs sold in 11 months to 17,083 (plus an...

The United States tax code hasn't seen a major overhaul in decades, and the current Congress—along with the Trump administration—may be learning, or re-learning, why. Numerous opponents have moved swiftly to condemn various aspects of the draft Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR1) proposed in...

Utility vehicles are hot. There's no denying it. The best-selling passenger cars in the U.S. have been mid-size sedans like the Toyota Camry for a couple of decades, but now they're likely to be eclipsed by compact crossover utility models like the Toyota RAV4. Of course, the Ford F-Series line of...

When electric cars first arrived in 2011, it was a reasonable question: Aren't you just shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack? The answer is yes, but the carbon emissions per mile of an electric car—properly measured on a wells-to-wheels basis—are virtually always lower...

One way for electric-car charging networks to make the public charging experience more user-friendly is through the use of smartphone apps to replace the RFID cards that identify members and let them initiate charge sessions. Not only do they provide electric-car drivers a host of capabilities, but...

A group of automakers in Europe announced on Friday they will launch "Ionity," a network of high-power fast-charging stations to build out the continent's infrastructure for electric-car travel. When it's finished in 2020, Ionity will include 400 charging stations across multiple countries...

The process of drafting a so-called tax reform bill has been shrouded in mystery, with even Republican congressmembers admitting they didn't know what provisions it would contain. But according to a report on Thursday, the draft of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act proposed in the House of Representatives...

Less than two years from now, barring action by the Trump administration, a National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration rule will require hybrid and electric cars to produce an audible noise under 19 mph. Alongside its Nissan IMx self-driving electric SUV concept it launched at the recent...

Only one topic really mattered in the Tesla third-quarter financial results call for analysts held Wednesday afternoon: Model 3. In light of far lower September deliveries than promised as late as July by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, all interest focused on the more-affordable, higher-volume electric car...

With sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car rising every month, shoppers are inevitably curious about any changes to the Bolt for the 2018 model year, its second. Now the information is out, and buyers will find the 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV is virtually the same car as the 2017 model—with...

Although electric cars offer numerous benefits in engineering, design, and zero-emission operation, their overall weight remains a hurdle for automakers, especially as bigger batteries with longer ranges become more important. It now appears that Toyota may look to airless tires as a way to cut...

As automakers commit to more electric and electrified cars in the near future, many hurdles remain that can make owning an electric car more difficult than a conventional vehicle. Meanwhile, as electrified cars become more common, automakers and brands will also continue to introduce new models for...

Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, also owns the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation—which it used last week to preview major shifts coming to its Daimler Trucks business. It all took place at the reveal of E-Fuso, a new sub-brand of Daimler's Fuso operation that will...

The United States Department of Energy has announced a new funding initiative to accelerate the development of what it calls "Extreme Fast Charging" (XFC) systems. In total, the DoE will award $15 million for the development of electric-car charging systems as well as batteries capable of very fast...

Everyone knows what a gallon of gasoline is, or what they paid the last time they put fuel in their car. But trying asking your friends, relatives, and neighbors how much they paid per kilowatt-hour in their last electric bill. Or even what a kilowatt-hour is. We guarantee you that 19 out of 20 of...

Relatively few auto-company CEOs would publicly mention sleeping on the roof of one of their factory buildings. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not like most other chief executives of auto companies. Most also don't break news via tweet, for instance. A tweet by Musk Thursday evening referred to the...