Electric Cars

  • Chrome exhaust pipe

    It looks like lobbying pays off, at least in the case of EPA emission rules. According to numerous recent reports, the EPA is expected to reopen the commenting period for vehicle-emission rules it finalized in January, more than a year ahead of schedule. Automaker CEOs and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers had asked President Donald Trump and new EPA head Scott Pruitt numerous times to return to the original schedule for finalizing those rules. DON'T MISS: Auto lobby again asks to redo emission rule, to new EPA chief Pruitt this time In mid-February, executives of 18 automakers sent a...

  • Tesla Motors, Palo Alto, California
    Tesla exec turnover soars as Model 3 pressure builds

    Tesla says it will put its mass-priced Model 3 electric car into production by July, and ramp up production extremely quickly from there. CEO Elon Musk hopes to be building 5,000 cars each week by the end of the year; he previously set a goal of producing 500,000 cars across all model lines by the...

  • 2014 Opel Astra OPC Extreme
    GM sells Opel; is plan to switch to electric cars by 2030 now in limbo?

    GM said today it will sell its European Opel division to PSA Peugeot Citroën, the French parent of the Citroën, DS and Peugeot brands, for 2.2 billion euros (approximately $2.33 billion). Among the questions surrounding the sale—which includes the U.K.-market Vauxhall brand—is...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, Feb 2017: Bolt sprints to a speedy start

    The Chevy Bolt EV electric car got off to a fast start in its first full month of Canadian sales, selling 86 vehicles in February. Excluding its first week of availability in late January, the Bolt enjoyed the fourth-best debut month of any plug-in electric vehicle in the Canadian market. It...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Volt
    Plug-in electric car sales for Feb: Volt outsells Prius Prime, Bolt EV, Leaf (final update)

    Once again, it's the first day of the month following a weekday sales close, when the auto industry turns its eyes to the sales charts emerging from all automakers (except Tesla). For plug-in electric cars, the question this month remains the same as last month: how many Chevrolet Bolt EVs did GM...

  • John Goodenough, co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery
    Battery legend Goodenough not done yet: new solid-state chemistry introduced

    Lithium-ion battery-cell chemistry is currently dominant in electric cars, not to mention consumer electronics and other fields. But what seems to be an army of researchers thinks it can be improved. That includes one of the people who helped create lithium-ion batteries in the first place. CHECK...

  • Teaser for Techrules GT96 debuting at 2017 Geneva auto show

    The 2017 Geneva Motor Show marks the next stop on the annual auto-show circuit. With press days beginning March 7, we aren't expecting an overwhelming number of green cars at the Swiss show this year. A smattering of production and concept cars with some green elements will debut there, though. DON'T MISS: 2018 Lexus LS 500h hybrid luxury sedan to debut at Geneva show They run the gamut from the 1.0-liter 3-cylinder Ford Fiesta to the 4.0-liter V-8 Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid. This year's show will also feature quite a few concepts and prototypes from Asian startups...

  • Nissan e-NV200 taxis in Barcelona
    Fuel-cell range extender for Nissan e-NV200 electric taxis announced by Symbio

    Advocates of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars are often at odds over which powertrain technology is the more practical solution to reducing emissions. But French firm Symbio continues to experiment with ways to combine the two. It fits hydrogen fuel cells as range extenders for...

  • Tesla Model 3 design prototype  -  reveal event  -  March 2016
    Tesla Model 3 prices: reader makes his guesses, via spreadsheet

    Since more than 350,000 people around the world put down $1,000 deposits to reserve a place in line, the Tesla Model 3 electric car has assumed larger-than-life status. Its maker, Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors, recently reaffirmed that series production will start in July and that Model 3...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Premium
    Will plug-in hybrids catch on faster than electric cars? Poll results

    There are essentially two types of electric cars on sale today. Battery-electric vehicles are powered only by a battery, while plug-in hybrids have an engine to supplement a more limited battery range. Which type will ultimately predominate isn't clear; each has advantages and disadvantages. DON'T...

  • Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Daimler invests in ChargePoint to grow electric-car charging in Europe, joins BMW

    As automakers produce electric cars in greater numbers, public charging infrastructure will become even more crucial to lure new buyers and convince them the cars can be practical. Some automakers have already invested in charging infrastructure, while others are just starting to contemplate public...

  • Tesla Model S battery pack teardown: frame from YouTube video by JehuGarcia, Feb 2017
    Tearing down the Tesla Model S battery pack (video)

    The lithium-ion battery pack is at the heart of any electric car. Its cost, energy density, and safety features do as much as any other feature of an electric car to determine its success. And battery packs from Tesla Motors differ from those built by virtually any other electric-car maker in at...

  • Traffic in Atlanta, Georgia during rush hour (via Wikimedia)

    Even with aggressive promotion of battery-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell cars, hundreds of millions of internal-combustion vehicles will remain on the world's roads for decades to come. But estimates of exactly how many internal-combustion cars will be displaced by alternatives in a given period vary wildly. One alternative-fuels lobbying group thinks that even in 2050, the number of zero-emission vehicles won't be high enough to produce meaningful reduction of carbon emissions. DON'T MISS: Electric-car market share in 2020: estimates vary widely The Fuel Freedom Foundation predicts that...

  • Porsche Mission E concept electric car
    Six new electric cars coming for 2018 and 2019

    The next couple of years promise to be quite interesting for electric cars. A minimum of six new models are expected in that time period, all promising ranges of 200 miles or more—which until a few months ago had been the exclusive province of Tesla Motors. The list includes two affordable...

  • Tesla Model S at Supercharger site in Ventura, CA, with just one slot open  [photo: David Noland]
    Tesla plans major U.S. expansion of Supercharger fast-charging

    Tesla will undertake a major expansion of its Supercharger network of DC fast-charging stations this year. The Silicon Valley automaker is already one of the most committed to offering widespread DC fast charging, positioning the stations as a way for customers to complete longer journeys more...

  • 2016 Nissan Leaf SL fast-charging at NRG evGo Freedom Station, Hudson Valley, NY, Dec 2015
    Electric-car range: why Japanese needs differ so radically from the U.S.

    It was one of the new battery-electric vehicles anticipated for this year, a mid-size sedan from a global maker that remains the second highest-volume hybrid maker in the world. Then the news hit earlier this week: the all-electric Honda Clarity EV would have a rated battery range around ... 80...

  • 2016 Bentley Continental GT Speed
    Smaller Bentley SUV might be all-electric, competing with Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes

    The Tesla Model S may have upended the luxury-car establishment, but it's the Silicon Valley automaker's Model X crossover that most traditional luxury brands now seem to be targeting. Audi, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz will each launch a new all-electric SUV within the next two years. And those...

  • Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanol
    Biofuel, fossil-fuel lobbyists join to fight electric-car incentives

    As the old saying goes: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The biofuel and fossil-fuel lobbies have argued in the past over the blending of biofuels with the general fuel supply. But now the two groups have found something they can agree on. DON'T MISS: Sierra Club to sue EPA over failure to...

  • 2017 Ford Focus Electric

    As in other industries, "big data" is an increasingly common buzzword these days in discussions of electric cars. Last November, several research entities presented relevant data sets and advocated for their use at an electric-car "datathon" hosted by the White House. Putting theory into practice, Ford has now analyzed customer data to analyze how its electric cars and plug-in hybrids are used for the past few years. DON'T MISS: Real-world data more important than faith in boosting electric cars The Dearborn automaker believes cooperation with rivals is the next step in data utilization. Ford...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S
    Tesla has become a U.S. Big Three carmaker (by market value)

    Tesla Motors has spent more than 10 years beating the odds for startup automakers. Most new, independent makers barely survive long enough to produce a handful of vehicles, let alone sell more than 100,000 and garner praise from both customers and the media—as the electric-car startup has...

  • Record-breaking electric-car parade in Cupertino, California. Photo courtesy of Plug In America.
    California local governments share how to prepare for electric cars

    California leads the way when it comes to electric-car adoption in the U.S. That's due in large part to a zero-emission vehicle mandate that requires the largest-volume automakers to sell cars without tailpipes, combined with a generous state purchase incentive that encourages residents to buy...

  • Tesla factory, Fremont, California
    Musk responds to Tesla line workers on wages, injuries, confidentiality

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded vigorously to an employee's claims of low wages and commonplace on-the-job injuries. In an email to employees and statements to media outlets, Musk denied the claims and accused the employee who made them of being a paid union agitator. Earlier this month, Jose...

  • 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell
    Honda Clarity EV electric car to have only 80 miles of range: report

    One of the more eagerly awaited all-electric cars coming to market this year has been the 2018 Honda Clarity EV. It's a battery-electric version of the 2017 Clarity Fuel Cell already on sale in some regions of California, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. But unlike most of the pure electric cars on...

  • Chevrolet Bolt EV self-driving prototype
    'Thousands' of self-driving Bolt EVs to be deployed next year: report

    The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is a crucial car for General Motors in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and $37,495 base price (before federal, state, and local incentives), the Bolt EV considered a groundbreaking electric-car game changer. But the Chevy hatchback is also GM's main...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life