Electric Cars
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It remains unclear whether Tesla will survive as an independent company, given that it's had exactly two profitable quarters in its 12-plus years of existence. And yet, last week, Tesla briefly passed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. automaker by market capitalization. It had passed Ford last week, and long ago surpassed the value of troubled Fiat Chrysler. DON'T MISS: Why Tesla's Elon Musk Must Sell 6 Million Electric Cars To Make History This fact has been endlessly perplexing both to some types of investors and to the Detroit-based auto companies and much of the media that...
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After Tesla, which automaker is best in electric cars? Poll resultsRegardless of the number of cars they've sold—fewer than the Renault-Nissan alliance—Tesla is undoubtedly the best-known electric-car maker in the world. It delivered 76,000 cars last year, against roughly 10 million each for Volkswagen Group, Toyota, and General Motors. But its sleek...
John Voelcker -
First impressions of Chevy Bolt EV by Nissan Leaf driverIf you're serious about driving a green car, but not happy with your local choices, you need to move to California. The Golden State has roughly two dozen battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale, not to mention three hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Electric-car advocate Kelly Olsen...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S at 36,000 miles: Car and Driver's long-term Midwest testWe're long past the days when car enthusiast publications sneered at electric cars as underpowered golf carts. Much of the credit for that goes to Tesla, the first all-electric carmaker, whose Model S won the hearts of 'buff-book' writers everywhere for its speed and shape. Now electric cars...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: first national lease deal starts at $329 monthlyAs the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV rolls out across the U.S. over a nine-month period, electric-car advocates have focused intently on its sales numbers. It's fair to say that in its first four months on sale, they haven't yet broken any records. But now, for the first time, there's a national lease...
John Voelcker -
Dyson walks away from (three) Sakti3 solid-state battery patents: updatedJust 18 months after its $90m acquisition of Sakti3, the British consumer-products company Dyson is taking a step back. Dyson has chosen to relinquish its rights to three patents co-owned by the company that were part of the core intellectual property of the Michigan based start-up company. Its...
Green Car Reports -
Last week, the California state legislature approved a $52 billion transportation-funding package. Unlike the practice in previous years, this one is to be used only for improvements to the transportation infrastructure, to begin cutting into an estimated $ 130 billion backlog of repairs and expansions. As a result of the new bill, owners of zero-emission vehicles will pay a new fee of $100, along with increased vehicle registration fees that apply to all cars. DON'T MISS: Barely reaching the minimum necessary number of votes, Governor Jerry Brown and the Democratic Legislature were able to...
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All-electric Bollinger heavy truck chassis revealed, July 27 debut to followUpstate New York-based startup Bollinger Motors is moving forward with the development of its very first vehicle. The yet-unnamed model will take the form of an all-electric sport utility truck for off-road use, and it will ride on an aluminum chassis that tips the scale at just 295 pounds. The...
Green Car Reports -
Is Chevy FNR-X concept the plug-in hybrid CrossVolt SUV?It's a single teaser shot, obviously of a Chevy front end, with unmistakable design nods to the Camaro muscle car. But the image of the Chevrolet FNR-X concept, to be unveiled at the Shanghai auto show less than two weeks hence, may be the first clue to some new GM plug-in hybrid offerings in the...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3 caught on video during daylight testingThe emergence of spy photos, and more recently video, has always been one of the standard indicators of a car nearing production. With production still said to start this July, pre-production versions of the Tesla Model 3 electric car should have been popping up in spy photos by now. Two weeks ago...
John Voelcker -
Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid: full production to start today for plug-in minivanIt's a well-reviewed new minivan design from the company that invented the modern minivan three decades ago. Unlike any other minivan, however, its large battery pack gives it 33 miles of EPA-rated electric range, and it can drive largely on battery alone despite its size, its seven seats, and its...
John Voelcker -
Four of 10 drivers globally would consider an electric carIt’s been merely six years since the first modern electric car hit the streets, and the segment looks ready to take off. Over 43,000 people residing in 52 countries all around the globe were asked whether they are considering buying an electric car in the next five years. On average, four out...
Green Car Reports -
Tesla has once again been denied permission to sell its cars directly to buyers in the battleground state of Utah. Via a unanimous decision, the Utah Supreme Court handed Tesla Motors another setback this week. The state’s top court upheld a 2015 decision that denied the electric-car maker a license to sell new cars, citing a state law that bans car manufacturers from owning dealerships. DON'T MISS: Tesla takes dealership fight in Utah to Supreme Court Although Tesla has continued to fight back against state sales bans, with more efforts focused on Utah over the last few months, Utah's...
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Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, March 2017: Chevy charges aheadThe Chevy Volt likely continued its winning ways atop the Canadian plug-in electric vehicle sales charts in March. Its 377 sales give it a comfortable margin over the Tesla Model S's high mark of 325, set in March 2016 before the Model X became available. The Chevy Bolt's 241 units were nearly...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Mazda's electric car gets patents for rotary range-extender engineRecent patent filings suggest Mazda’s next Wankel engine will equip a battery-powered car, not a rear-wheel drive heir to emblematic sports coupes like its RX-7 and RX-8. Mazda has invested more time and money into the rotary engine than any other automaker, so executives are reluctant to let...
Green Car Reports -
Putting plug-in electric car sales in perspective: they're still very lowVolume sales of plug-in cars, both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models, began more than six years ago. From a first-year total of about 17,000 in 2011, they rose tenfold over five years, to roughly 160,000 last year in the U.S. But it's important to understand that despite their growth rate...
John Voelcker -
Plug-in electric car sales for Mar: Leaf beats Bolt EV, plug-in hybrids beat electrics (updated)The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid again took the crown among plug-in electric cars whose makers report monthly sales. A total of 2,132 Volts were sold in March, bringing its three-month sales to 5,563 units, higher than any other car with a plug over the same period. Its stablemate, the Chevy Bolt...
John Voelcker -
Why electric bikes may deserve purchase incentives tooIf plug-in electric cars and trucks receive purchase incentives from national and state governments, what about electric bicycles? That's just what a recent report from the European Cyclists Federation suggests. It recommends directing purchase incentives and infrastructure subsidies towards...
Green Car Reports -
For a few years now, Tesla has shown what a nationwide network of DC fast-charging sites for long-range electric cars should look like. Its Supercharger network now covers virtually all of the lower 48 states, and until earlier this year, it was completely free to Tesla drivers. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, the first affordable battery-electric car with 200-plus miles of rated range, also offers DC fast charging as an option. DON'T MISS: Fast-charging a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car But Bolt EV fast charging is less capable than Tesla's in three crucial ways. First, there's no coherent...
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When will it be unacceptable to drive a car with a tailpipe? Poll resultsNo vehicle on earth is entirely free of emissions; even electric cars charged on renewable energy have emissions associated with their manufacturing. Those emissions, however, are a tiny fraction of the carbon dioxide and other substances emitted by gasoline or diesel cars when scientifically...
John Voelcker -
Hong Kong closed a tax loophole; is Tesla ancillary damage?Government officials in Hong Kong have eliminated a popular tax exemption that made electric vehicles much cheaper to buy than comparable gasoline-powered models. Now Tesla worries it could take the brunt of the blowback. The loophole helped make Hong Kong one of the biggest overseas markets for...
Green Car Reports -
Riding in prototype autonomous Nissan Leaf electric car: what it's like (video)It's been a vision of the future for decades now: self-driving cars that let you get in, specify your destination, and then curl up for a bit more sleep, waking when you arrive. That kind of anywhere-any-time autonomy remains some years in the future, most engineers suggest. Automakers are already...
John Voelcker -
Tesla delivered 25,000 electric cars in Q1 2017, plus or minusThe numbers are in, and Tesla says it delivered 25,000 electric cars globally in the first quarter of this year, from January through March. That's a new quarterly record for the Silicon Valley company, which delivered 76,230 cars last year. Analysts and Tesla fans had eagerly watched for this...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model X electric car vs Toyota Mirai fuel-cell car: CA road tripThe ability to travel long distances has long been a distinguishing feature of Tesla's luxury electric cars, whose Supercharger fast-charging network now offers access to essentially every part of the 48 continental states. But where hydrogen infrastructure exists, which can cover a long road trip...
Green Car Reports