Electric Cars
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Despite protestations that electric vehicles are compromised by short battery range, most owners find the vast majority of driving is achievable on the modest 80-100 miles offered by most vehicles. Many drivers need to do a longer trip at some point, though. Do you then make that compromise buying a non-electric vehicle--or find another solution? According to Ecomento, German firm Ebuggy believes it has the answer in the form of a tow-along battery trailer. ALSO SEE: 2015 BMW i8: Sexy Plug-In Hybrid Sport Coupe, Our First Drive Yes, we've seen those before. We've seen Ebuggy before, in...
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Chevy Volt: How It Really Works Vs Common Myths & Misconceptions
How badly does the public misunderstand the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car? Pretty badly indeed, if the comments received by Volt owners are any indication. DON'T MISS: Three Years Later, Most Consumers Don't Understand The Chevy Volt Last week, we wrote that Chevrolet admits most...
John Voelcker -
The Epic Failure Of Better Place, As Covered By Fast Company
The remarkable scope, overwhelming ambition, and epic failure of the Better Place electric-car service in Israel is worthy of a book, or several. But until one appears, Fast Company magazine has produced the most comprehensive article yet on the founding--and foundering--of the great Better Place...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Hiring At Second California Facility, Ex-Chrysler Plant
Tesla is seeking workers for a new facility, a former Chrysler parts-distribution plant in Lathrop, California.
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Ready Second Acts (Video)
The Nissan Leaf electric car and Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid went on sale within days of each other back in December 2010. Now, we're expecting second-generation versions of both cars for 2016--and each will have significant upgrades. The most significant upgrade to the Nissan Leaf will be a choice...
John Voelcker -
2014 BMW i3: What Staff Training Ride & Drives Revealed
With deliveries of the first 2014 BMW i3 battery-electric cars now just days away, BMW has busily been training service personnel and dealership staff on its new and radical design. And an informed post on BMWBlog by a dealership employee who went through the multi-day course offers some new...
John Voelcker -
Meet the Norwegian opthalmologist who owns a Tesla Model S and six Roadsters.
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Daimler, BYD's Denza Brand Reveals First Electric Car In China
As Tesla has confirmed with its recent decision to set up production in China, the Chinese market is impossible to ignore. Most major automakers already have operations out there, and electric and hybrid vehicles are on the list for many of them. One of those is Daimler, the company behind...
Antony Ingram -
Riding Peugeot's Hybrid Bicycles: Electric Two-Wheelers Tested
Auto writing can be quite a sedentary pursuit. You spend much of the day sat immobile at a desk. When you aren't doing that, you're sitting in a car. Or on a plane. Sometimes, you're sat at a table in a fancy restaurant being plied with food and drink, watching your gut grow. It was nice then, on a...
Antony Ingram -
Why Electric-Car Charging At Work Matters: Explaining The 'Duck Curve'
For many electric car owners, charging at work is a nice bonus, but not a necessity. For others, it's the difference between choosing an electric vehicle, and not doing so--the extra charge at work makes all the difference. But there's another reason charging at work is important, and it's all to...
Antony Ingram -
Electric-Car Buyers Vs Hybrid Buyers: Younger, Wealthier, And More Options
If you were to make assumptions about hybrid and electric vehicle owners--and we're sure many do, for good or bad--how do you see them? Perhaps technology-savvy, of reasonable income and a little older and wiser. Generally though, you'd expect electric and hybrid vehicle buyers to be fairly...
Antony Ingram -
Easier Electric-Car Charging: BMW ChargeNow, Nissan EZ Charge
Both BMW and Nissan are set to roll out electric-car charging programs for their customers.
Stephen Edelstein -
The all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, even with its Tesla-designed powertrain, isn't exactly flying out of dealerships. While it's a low-volume compliance car sold to meet California regulations, Toyota still has to move 2,600 of them over a three-year period that began in September 2012. So Toyota is doing what all carmakers do when sales wane: putting "cash on the hood," in this case a total of $16,500 in lease incentives. DON'T MISS: Toyota RAV4 EV: First Drive Of Tesla-Powered Crossover The goal is to boost the number of electric RAV4s delivered to keep Toyota on track to meet that total of...
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2014 BMW i3 Electric-Car Production Rises To Meet Strong Demand
BMW is on track to build twice as many i3 electric cars in 2014 as it originally planned.
Stephen Edelstein -
'Tree Huggers Don't Buy Luxury Cars,' Says Cadillac Exec On Electric Cars
So what IS a "tree hugger," anyway? According to a Cadillac executive quoted in The Detroit News a week ago, it's someone who never buys luxury cars. That phrase leaped out at us from an otherwise pro forma article in which General Motors executives said the company's sales hadn't been affected by...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's 100th Supercharger Electric-Car Charging Site Now Open
The audacious plan by electric-car maker Tesla Motors to install its own network of free, high-speed charging stations for owners of Tesla cars is starting to pay off. This morning, it announced that its 100th Supercharger site is now open, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey--east of the state...
John Voelcker -
Three Years Later, Most Consumers Don't Understand The Chevy Volt
Chevrolet's range-extended electric vehicle, the Volt, has been on sale for more than three years now. Its sales of 58,000 units so far are still small compared to more conventional vehicles, but many people will have seen one on the road by now--and seen TV ads or information on the internet. Even...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Leaf Likely To Offer Larger Battery For Longer Range
Every electric-car owner wants more range; it's practically an immutable law. Now Nissan executive Andy Palmer has come close to confirming that a longer-range Nissan Leaf is in the cards, though likely not until 2016 or even 2017. In an interview at last week's New York Auto Show with Palmer, who...
John Voelcker -
We've expected it for some time, but now it's been confirmed: Tesla will build electric cars in China in the next three to four years. While Chinese production won't replace the company's facilities in the U.S, it will give Tesla a foothold in an ever-growing market--and help it avoid China's hefty 25 percent import tariff. According to Bloomberg, Tesla's plans also include building a network of battery charging stations in the country--both Tesla's dedicated Supercharger stations and others too. Tesla CEO Elon Musk described China as "very important" to the future of the company, speaking at...
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Audi TT Offroad Concept: Plug-In Hybrid Crossover In Beijing Debut
Audi's TT may not be as distinctive as it once was, but still appeals to style-conscious consumers. Its popularity has led the company to suggest further TT-based models could be on the way--and the TT Offroad Concept shown at the Beijing Auto Show hints as a possible direction for the brand. It...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Gigafactory Seeks North American Raw Materials To Cut Pollution
There is no such thing as a truly green car. All cars require raw materials and energy to produce, use energy during their time as transport, and require energy to recycle--the components that can be recycled, at least. To mitigate such pollution issues and increase supply chain transparency, Tesla...
Antony Ingram -
New World Record In Canada: 431 Plug-In Electric Vehicles In One Place
It appears that a Québec electric-car group has set a new world record for plug-in electric cars gathered in one place. Yesterday, 431 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars gathered in a long parking lot on the Île Sainte-Hélène, just south of the Jacques Cartier...
John Voelcker -
Fiat 500e Electric Car Sales To Expand Into Oregon This Summer
The Fiat 500e will soon be sold in a second U.S. state.
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevrolet Volt: Range-Extended Electric Car Ultimate Guide
The Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car has been on sale since December 2010--but it's still one of the most popular electric vehicles on sale. At the moment, the Chevy Volt is fairly unique in the plug-in car market, in that it's neither a traditional hybrid vehicle, nor a full...
Antony Ingram