Electric Cars

It hasn't been on sale for long, but the 2013 Fiat 500e is already subject to its first recall. Chrysler has announced it's to recall more than 270 examples of the battery-electric 500 to replace bolts securing the car's half-shafts. Detroit News reports the recall was initiated following an...

Ask the average NASCAR fan whether they think the sport should go electric, and the response probably wouldn't be repeatable in polite company. Fans of electric cars already know they can be fast and with success at events like Pikes Peak, they can win against gasoline vehicles too. But NASCAR is...

Electric car charging network provider Ecotality announced Monday it had suspended trading due to "material adverse developments". The company, which sells charging equipment and runs the Blink network of charging stations, filed an 8-K report advising of several factors preventing it from meeting...

Due to the very specific processes by which the universe works, it isn't really possible to power a modern electric car via on-board solar panels. Current photovoltaic cells simply don't produce enough power over a specific area to supply the needs of a power-hungry electric road car. It's why...

Different vehicles appeal to different markets. More than half of all Chevrolet Suburban extra-long full-size sport utility vehicles, for instance, are sold in the state of Texas. So where do plug-in electric cars tend to cluster? Not surprisingly, in progressive regions with activist governments...

Electric charging and technology company ECOtality has suspended trading, as what it calls "material adverse developments" see it struggling to meet expected operating losses. The company, which sells charging equipment and runs the Blink network of charging stations, filed an 8-K report this...

If you want an electric car, there are now 14 different models with plugs to choose from. But if you want an electric convertible, there's just one: The 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabrio. The little two-seat battery electric vehicle with the roll-back cloth roof is now on sale along with the...

The rear-view mirror has now been with us exactly 100 years, having first been introduced in 1914, and it hasn't changed much in all that time. It's a small area of mirrored glass--three of them now, actually--for the purpose of seeing through the rear window or along each side of the car without...

One of the long-standing concerns over electric cars is just how much demand the electricity grid would have to cope with should millions of people start plugging in every night. California will be a good test-bed for such concerns, with as many as 350,000 electric cars expected on the state's...

One of the most prominent manufacturers of electric motorcycles, Zero Motorcycles, is recalling a number of 2011-2012 motorcycles due to corroding brake bolts. Affected motorcycles may be susceptible to corrosion of bolts in the front brake caliper mounting assembly. This corrosion could cause...

When we first drove Renault's tiny Twizy electric car on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, we got the impression it'd be at its best in some of Europe's warmer climates. In fact, it could be the ideal vacation island rental car. Simple to operate, economical to use, that wind-in-your-hair...

The late and much lamented GM EV1 electric car is by now a mythical creature. It's been the subject of a much-discussed documentary, and is still cause for blind loathing of General Motors in some quarters. Designed, engineered, and offered for lease in California and a few other locations from...

It's now been more than five months and 5,000 miles since I took delivery of my 2013 Tesla Model S. The four-year wait after I put down my deposit in 2009 created a huge burden of pent-up hopes and expectations. With the initial glow of ownership now dulled by the daily routine of real-world...

For the last few weeks, only one electric car has displaced the Tesla Model S from the top of news stories--the 2014 BMW i3. That's an impressive feat considering Tesla's news-making abilities, but not without good reason: BMW has a reputation for pleasing driving enthusiasts and the badge-obsessed...

It's dangerous to assume, as the saying goes. And a lot of assumptions about why people buy electric cars are wrong--including that they only do so because they're "green," meaning to help the environment. Now a new attitudinal survey shows this isn't much true for Tesla owners and fans. A study by...

The Tesla Model S electric sedan has become the latest car to be awarded a full five star crash test rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While it's no surprise for modern cars to score highly in such tests, it's still an impressive feat for a young automaker like Tesla...

Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] slightly increased its profit in the second quarter, and delivered more Model S electric cars than last quarter. The company released its Q2 financial results this afternoon, with net income of $26 million compared to $15 million for Q1. The company said it delivered 5,150...

It's been out in the U.S. for over a year now, but today marked the first delivery for a Telsa Model S on European soil. The first 2013 Tesla Model S delivered in Europe rolled out of a Tesla Store in Norwegian capital Oslo, according to the Tesla Motors twitter feed. Norway is Europe's most...

The prices just keep falling on plug-in electric cars. The latest to announce a new, lower lease price is Smart, which cut the monthly cost of a three-year lease on its 2013 ForTwo Electric Drive Coupe from $199 to just $139. That's not the lowest single electric-car lease we're aware of in the...

Electric-car advocates spend a lot of time grumbling about compliance cars. But it turns out that even in low volumes, limited mostly to sales in one state, they've unexpectedly produced a benefit for all electric-car buyers: lower prices. Recent price reductions to "move the metal," as Detroit...