Electric Cars

If you own a plug-in electric car, what's the best (and cheapest) way to get a second charging cable to supplement the one that came with your vehicle? Turns out there are several options--as electric-car owners and advocates suggested when we asked the question. MUST SEE: Decoding Toyota's...

While unveiling its fuel-cell vehicle last month–priced to undercut the Tesla Model S ever so slightly–Toyota's Global R&D Chief Mitsuhisa Kato offered some dismissive thoughts on battery-electric vehicles. As quoted in Automotive News, the 39-year veteran of the Toyota Motor...

Right-hand drive Tesla Model S electric cars have already begun to trickle out in the United Kingdom, but now they're hitting the Asian markets too. The first Asian right-hand drive Model S have now been delivered to the first eight customers in Hong Kong. MUST SEE: Decoding Toyota's Electric-Car...

All electric vehicles currently in production use some form of lithium-ion chemistry in their battery packs. Finding ways of improving that chemistry is therefore very important--the aim being to make future electric car batteries cheaper, more stable and more energy-dense for longer range. MUST...

Over the past few years, it's become clear that the German prestige makers are determined to offer plug-in electric vehicles across their various ranges. Some makers are more aggressive (BMW), some less so (Mercedes-Benz)--but by the end of next year, there will be a dozen or more vehicles with...

The 2014 Fiat 500e has far lower power and torque numbers than the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV; yet at city speeds, of below 40 mph or so, the 500E feels (and is) quicker. Given their nearly identical curb weights, the numbers would suggest the Spark being far quicker. The Chevrolet Spark EV is rated...

Last month, electric-car owners finally learned the price of a replacement battery pack for the Nissan Leaf: a surprisingly low $5,500 after the old pack is traded in. Many advocates and Leaf owners promptly seized on the price to "prove" that Nissan could now build batteries for less than $250 per...

Recent electric car news from China might lead you to believe things are finally on the up, after years of poor sales and uncertainty. There is still though one major hurdle the country needs to overcome before electric cars are fully viable--charging standards. It's an issue debated in every...

Out with the old, in with the new: It's hard to believe the Nissan Leaf is already entering its fifth model year. With the 2015 Nissan Leaf models that are already reaching dealerships, there's no boost in range or performance, but there are some minor feature improvements that might be cause to...

Tesla Motors has halted production of the Model S electric car while it upgrades the assembly line for its next vehicle--the Model X crossover. A two-week production hiatus will give the firm enough time to complete a full $100 million upgrade to the plant, before production restarts at increased...

With the introduction of the 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf late this year, VW will be the only automaker to offer (in the U.S.) both diesel and all-electric versions of the same model in the U.S. While we expected to plan a back-to-back drive of these two models at some point, we didn’t expect it to...

European buyers may soon have one fewer plug-in vehicle to choose from, with news that the Opel Ampera--European cousin to the Chevrolet Volt--could be dropped due to slow sales. The Ampera arrived to much critical acclaim, just as the Volt did in the U.S. While expensive--it hit the market at just...

Volkswagen has bet very heavily on diesel, with its TDI models; yet it's preparing to bring its all-electric Golf, called the e-Golf, to the U.S. later this year. And we took another short drive in it this past week—this time on U.S. shores. The e-Golf, as it will be sold beginning this...

China is continuing its march of electric car progress with the announcement that 30 percent of all government vehicles should be plug-ins. Battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell cars will all be eligible under the plan, set to be phased in over the next two years. According to...

The Tesla Model S is undoubtedly an excellent car. It's quick, efficient, looks good to most eyes and can compete with most fossil-fueled equivalents on even footing. READ: White House Responds To Tesla Direct-Sales Petition: Sorry, Talk To Congress But it's arguably not Tesla's, nor Silicon...

At the Geneva Motor Show in March, German firm Quant revealed a car powered by what it called 'nanoFLOWCELL' technology. Now, the flow-cell vehicle will make its road-going debut, as the car has been approved for real-world testing by the TÜV or Technischer Überwachungsverein, Germany's...

Aircraft--larger ones, at least--are surprisingly fuel-efficient ways of moving people around. They are however quite noisy, and aren't subject to nearly as many pollution controls as road vehicles, so there's still plenty room for improvement. The E-Fan light aircraft, designed by Airbus, looks...

The 2014 BMW i3 electric car has a unique feature offered by no other vehicle in the world: Buyers can choose to have it as a battery-electric vehicle, or add an optional range-extending engine that roughly doubles its rated electric range of 81 miles. With the i3 on sale now for two months, a mix...

Two years ago, we described the difference between high-volume electric cars and "compliance cars"--those built in very limited numbers solely to meet California rules that require a certain number of zero-emission vehicles to be sold each year. Now it appears that manufacturers don't want new...

Last month, electric car maker Tesla Motors took the unusual step of opening up its patents to other automakers. Automakers usually guard their patents very closely, ensuring them as much competitive advantage as they can get away with before someone builds something better. Open Tesla's patents...