Electric Cars
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Among the Detroit Three automakers, General Motors has a quarter of a century of electric-car experience, from the legendary EV1 to the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV. Ford launched hybrids in 2004, before any other maker, but its battery-electric efforts thus far have been strictly compliance cars. Chrysler, however, was by far the most pessimistic: CEO Sergio Marchionne spent several years telling consumers not to buy the company's Fiat 500e electric car, because each one lost more than $10,000 for the company. DON'T MISS: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid plug-in minivan recalled for faulty diode...
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Porsche prototype 350-kw electric car fast-charging station installedPorsche has big plans to expand the capability of the Combined Charging System (CCS) DC standard into much higher voltages to allow much faster electric-car charging. Now, it's completed a first step: at the brand's new branch office in Berlin-Adlershof, Porsche has installed a prototype...
Sean Szymkowski -
Green4U electric race car revealed; targets Le Mans, may spawn street-legal variantThe name Green4U is likely not well-known by many, but the company aims to change that with the introduction of an all-electric race car. The company is the latest project by Don Panoz, best known as the founder of Panoz Motorsport and the sports-car brand which bears his name. Most importantly...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model 3 drive reports, reviews: raves for sporty electric carThe first, earliest production versions of the Tesla Model 3 electric car were delivered to their owners in a splashy "Handover Party" late last week. A few journalists got short drives at the event, but only one outlet was granted a Model 3 before the party to enable a more comprehensive review...
John Voelcker -
All-electric Buick small SUV to be based on Bolt EV: reportThe Chevrolet Bolt EV, initially intended to be adapted from the next-generation Chevy Sonic subcompact, ended up with unique underpinnings designed solely for use as a battery-electric vehicle. Carmakers virtually never limit dedicated architectures to a single vehicle—they're simply too...
John Voelcker -
2017 Tesla Model 3 prices, features, details, specifications from Handover PartyThirty of the earliest Tesla Model 3 buyers took delivery of their electric cars last night in a gala event for owners, investors, and friends the company had dubbed the Handover Party. The highly anticipated Model 3, the vehicle Tesla hopes will boost its production to hundreds of thousands of...
John Voelcker -
The purchase of an electric car that plugs into the power grid to recharge its battery often gets drivers thinking about the source of their energy. We haven't seen data from recent years looking at the overlap between electric-car drivers and home solar panels. But early analyses in California indicated as many as four in 10 electric-car drivers were already using or considering the addition of home solar panels to generate electricity. DON'T MISS: Montana solar-power law rigging caught on live video, regrettably California has been at the forefront of emission reduction and renewable energy...
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Will electric cars take over as quickly as cars displaced horses from 1900 to 1925?So here's a question for you: when was the last time you traveled by horse to ... well, to anywhere other than the stable you started from? In 1900, horses were the de facto way for Americans to travel, whether riding them or in horse-drawn carts. By 1925, that had changed: 15 years of the Ford...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes, Porsche to join Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Renault in Formula E racingThe changing of the guards in motor racing is underway: both Porsche and Mercedes-Benz have announced they will join the FIA Formula E electric-car racing series in 2019. To make that possible, both German teams will end their tenures in respected motorsport; Porsche will end its World Endurance...
Sean Szymkowski -
Bollinger B1 all-electric utility truck revealedIt's square-edged, with flat body panels, large knobbly tires, and a simple interior that can easily be hosed out when dirty. The Bollinger B1 electric utility truck revealed tonight at the Classic Car Club on New York City's Hudson River was designed out in the country, where trucks have to be...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car battery progress: incremental improvements, not revolutionary leapsThe report that Toyota is planning an electric car with a solid-state battery for 2022 has led some fans and advocates to suggest huge new leaps in electric cars are imminent. The 2011 Nissan Leaf had an EPA-rated range of 75 miles combined; the comparable figure for a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is 238...
John Voelcker -
UK to ban diesel, gasoline car sales by 2040; follows France, Norway, Holland bansThe United Kingdom will follow in the footsteps of some European countries as it announced plans to ban the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by the year 2040. The initiative closely follows a similar announcement from France, which also declared 2040 as the year it will phase out...
Sean Szymkowski -
For years, electric-car skeptics raised concerns about what was cleverly dubbed "The Coal Tailpipe": the idea that plug-in vehicles produced just as many harmful emissions as gasoline cars, but in a different place. That's not remotely true for carbon dioxide, as multiple studies over the years have shown, though it is in limited cases for a small number of individual pollutants emitted by certain types of powerplants. In due course, scientific analysis largely overcame the scare tactics. Now, a new theme for anti-electric-car propaganda has begun to make the rounds. DON'T MISS: The Five Most...
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Chinese maker BYD plans U.S. expansion into other electric industrial vehiclesIt's been several years since Chinese electric-car maker BYD retreated from plans to sell cars in the United States, but now it may be ready to get more serious about the market. BYD has found success in building and selling electric buses for public transportation agencies, but it has not yet...
Sean Szymkowski -
2022 Toyota electric car to use solid-state batteries: updated reportToyota has long claimed battery-electric cars are suitable only for limited uses, and promoted hydrogen fuel cells as the best zero-emission vehicle technology. Pushed by China's increasingly tough emission rules, the company recently—and reluctantly—committed to building all-electric...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S climbs back to top of Consumer Reports safety ratingsThe Tesla Model S has retaken its spot as the luxury sedan that gets the highest ratings from Consumer Reports after the electric car gained back automatic emergency braking that works at all legal road speeds. Some may remember Tesla restored the automatic braking during an update to vehicles...
Sean Szymkowski -
Electric Mini to be made in U.K., despite BMW's Brexit worries (updated)Mini, despite being owned by BMW since 1994, has long been a decidedly British brand. But both employees and fans worried that its British roots might be overlooked as a decision on where Mini's electric car is to be built closed in. Most Mini production takes place at the brand's Oxford plant in...
Sean Szymkowski -
Note to (a few) electric-car advocates: get off your high horsesAny movement produces passionate advocates and angry detractors, even as the vast mass of people pay it little or no attention. When that movement involves most people's second most-expensive purchase, and plays a role in reducing manmade carbon emissions to alleviate the worst effects of climate...
John Voelcker -
It's now clear that much greater numbers of plug-in electric cars will be sold in coming years and decades than have found buyers to date. With battery costs falling faster than expected, and toughening regulations in China requiring higher volumes of electric cars, the onus is on the world's carmakers to step up and sell them at a profit. But how fast will the transition take place? DON'T MISS: When will major buyer demand for electric cars arrive? Poll results Cars with plugs today make up roughly 1 percent of the global auto market, which is closing in on 100 million new vehicles a year...
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Fisker: about those graphene electric-car batteries? Never mindFisker's promise to bring advanced, solid-state graphene cells to the battery pack of its upcoming Emotion electric car is officially dead. Automotive-grade graphene batteries have yet to be perfected, but Fisker was poised to become the first company to utilize the technology. The batteries...
Sean Szymkowski -
Volkswagen's 5 electric cars start in 2019: what we know so farAs Volkswagen works to look toward the future, following its damaging diesel deceit, electric cars and plug-in vehicles will be front and center in its product publicity. The German automaker has already hinted at its future electric cars with a handful of concepts, but its first high-volume...
Sean Szymkowski -
California should approve VW 'Electrify America' plan for electric-car charging: CARB analysisThis Thursday, the California Air Resources Board will meet to consider what action it will take on an important plan that could bring many more electric-car charging sites to the state. That document is the first 30-month investment plan submitted by Volkswagen for its "Electrify America" program...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Volt may be replaced in 2022 with plug-in hybrid crossover: CrossVolt at last?Small SUVs are all the rage, steadily eating into sales of passenger sedans and hatchbacks of pretty much every size. It's not just limited to North America, either: the trend is global, which is why several makers have jacked up perfectly standard front-wheel-drive hatchbacks and turned them into...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Bolt EV plant shutdown extended, due to slow Sonic sales (updated)One of the biggest tests of an automaker's discipline is what it does when sales start to ebb and inventories of unsold cars swell. Does it keep the production lines churning, and dial up its incentives to keep new-vehicle deliveries flowing? Or does it prioritize profitability and suspend...
John Voelcker