Electric Cars
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Want to move around the city with minimal stress? If you live in Portland, you'll now be able to do so in the back of a Tesla Model S, thanks to Tesla Trips. The company, which normally organizes road trips around Oregon in the cars, applied back in April for a license to serve Portland as an executive limo service. The City of Portland has now granted that license, the company now enjoying Executive Sedan status. Tesla Trips majors on wine and beer tours in the state, with routes organized to pass some of Oregon's top vineyards and watering holes. As a limo service they'll be serving a...
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Plug-In Electric Car Buyers Very Satisfied With Cars: ReportA new report issued today on the current status of plug-in electric cars suggests that buyers are very happy with their cars, and plug-in sales are rising faster than hybrids sales did after they were launched. "Customer experiences have typically been extremely positive," says the report, citing...
John Voelcker -
Entrant In World Solar Car Challenge Is 'Family Sedan,' Sort OfWe're always interested in following the progress of competitors in the World Solar Challenge--a solar-powered race across Australia--but as our readers regularly point out, not immediately useful for the average electric car buyer on the street. Solar Team Eindhoven, from the Eindhoven University...
Antony Ingram -
2014 BMW i3 Electric Car Revealed In Leaked ImagesBMW's long-awaited i3 electric car and range-extended electric car aren't officially unveiled until next Monday--but leaked images finally reveal the production car's form. Unsurprisingly, the pictures of the production i3, spotted by Autocar, show a car that doesn't differ too greatly from the...
Antony Ingram -
Certified Used Nissan Leaf Program Details Out--But Only In JapanBuying used cars is always a little bit of a risk--you can never quite be sure what condition the previous owner has left the car in. That's where manufacturer-certified used car programs come in, and Nissan is launching just such a thing for used examples of its Leaf electric car. While we still...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Zero S: Proof That Electric Motorcycles Have Grown Up At LastAs any parent will tell you, watching children grow up and mature is a powerful, life-changing experience. We’re not sure the same can be said watching a car or a motorcycle grow and evolve from one generation to the next--but if the 2013 Zero S were to have parents, we think they’d be...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Above is a graph comparing the relative sales volumes of hybrids (starting in 2000) to those of plug-in electric cars (starting in 2011). It comes from the U.S. Department of Energy, which tweeted the image last Friday. (We're not sure why the units on the vertical axis say "USD," which stands for U.S. Dollars--the data is clearly total sales.) 14 models, 9 makers The cars include battery-electric, range-extended electric, and plug-in hybrid cars sold by all makers (14 different models from nine auto brands as of June). It's not the first such...
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100,000 Electric Cars Sold By Nissan, Renault...And CountingAs more electric cars hit the roads it's only natural a few milestones will fall here and there--and the latest is for the Franco-Japanese duo Renault-Nissan. The companies have now sold over 100,000 electric vehicles between them--the milestone car a Nissan Leaf, sold to American grad student...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid Caught Testing In CA ('Spy Shot')The 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid will be the first-ever plug-in electric car sold by the German brand. And the company's engineers are still testing the car in driving tests through the heart of Silicon Valley, where the luxury four-door plug-in hybrid sedan will compete with the Tesla Model S...
John Voelcker -
More Chrysler Electric Cars Coming, Lots Of Catching Up NeededNow that Chrysler-Fiat reluctantly has the surprising good 2013 Fiat 500e--its first electric car--on the market, what's next for the smallest of the Detroit Three? There will be more plug-in vehicles, according to an interview in the Detroit Free Press with Mike Duhaime, the company's global...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric On The Way, More FWD Models In A Few YearsMercedes-Benz is best known for its big sedans, but lately the German automaker has been looking into smaller and more efficient vehicles. That lineup is expected to increase over the next few years, reports Automotive News. Mercedes will expand its roster of front-wheel drive models when a new...
Antony Ingram -
2014 BMW i3 Finally Priced in U.S: $42,275 Pre-IncentivesWith just a week to go before the production version of BMW's i3 electric car is revealed, the German automaker has announced pricing for the car. The 2014 BMW i3 has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $41,350, before BMW's $925 destination fee--for a starting price of $42,275. That's also...
Antony Ingram -
America's wide open spaces have never been conducive for small car sales success, but the story is quite different elsewhere. We already know how popular the tiny kei-class cars are in Japan, for example--but some automakers are exploring even smaller vehicles to meet future transportation needs. Honda is the latest carmaker to confirm testing of an urban minicar according to Autocar, based on the Micro Commuter concept shown last year. Like the Renault Twizy minicar, Honda's concept is an electric vehicle, a 15 kW electric motor powering the rear wheels and a small lithium-ion battery pack...
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Tesla Model S: Canada's 2nd-Best-Selling Plug-In Electric CarReaders of our monthly analysis of the Canadian plug-in electric car market know two things well: a) the Chevy Volt dominates, with sixteen consecutive months of sales leadership; and b) Canadian plug-in figures are hard to come by. Our posts on June plug-in sales in the United States and Canada...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Yet Another Chinese Suitor For Fisker: BAIC Kicks The TiresWe haven't heard much about Fisker Automotive in the last few months. The company still hasn't declared bankruptcy, it hasn't yet been bought, and it is still apparently in default on its Department of Energy loans. But now there's a new suitor who's at least kicking the tires. According to China...
John Voelcker -
Razor Launches New, All-Electric Performance ... Ummmm ... VehicleThe trouble with kids is that they just don't have enough ways to injure themselves these days. If you're a parent who thinks this should change, then we can't think of anything with better arm-breaking potential than the Crazy Cart from Razor. What the Crazy Cart is, is a shrunken electric go-kart...
Antony Ingram -
GM To Test Utility-Controlled Solar Charging For Electric CarsIf there's one thing that most people agree on when it comes to electric cars, it's that powering them with electricity generated by renewable energy is generally the greenest thing to do. Solar is a popular choice with those in warmer climates, but even that endless nuclear furnace we call the sun...
Antony Ingram -
Electric Race Cars, From The Dragstrip To Pikes Peak (Photo Gallery)Electric cars are certainly becoming a more familiar sight on the roads these days, but in the ultra-competitive world of professional motor sport they're also beginning to get a foot-hold. Regular readers will be no stranger to many of these vehicles, tackling disciplines as diverse as crossing...
Antony Ingram -
"History is littered with big companies that ignored innovation that was coming their way because you didn’t know where you could be disrupted." General Motors will be hoping those words, from vice chairman Steve Girksy as the automaker begins to study electric upstart Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], don't become too prophetic. They're a clear indication that major automakers are starting to worry about the startup electric automaker, as GM CEO Dan Akerson looks into how Tesla may affect the 104-year old GM's business. According to Bloomberg, studying Tesla is just one way that Akerson is...
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2015 Kia Soul EV: Electric Car Spy Shots, But Compliance Car Only?Ten days ago, spy shots of a new battery-electric car--from a maker that hasn't yet offered one yet--burst onto the scene. Electric-car fan Lee Colleton shot the 2015 Kia Soul EV prototype test cars connected to CHAdeMO quick-charging stations at a Residence Inn in the California coastal town of...
John Voelcker -
What Happens If You Add Google Glass To A Tesla Electric Car?Wearable computers and electric cars. Two things you might not think have much in common--but one app developer is exploring ways of linking the two cutting-edge technologies. Glasstesla is the brainchild of software engineer Sahas Katta, and pairs certain car functions with the abilities of...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Chevrolet Spark EV: First Drive ReportAspire, Sprint, Swift, and Esteem: They’re among the most ironically inappropriate car names. But in its new EV guise, the Chevy Spark has the perfect name, on many levels. This car certainly has more than a spark of personality; it's all-electric (forget about those spark plugs); and...
Bengt Halvorson -
Better Place Lives On? 15 Battery-Swap Stations To Stay OpenWhen companies like Tesla Motors start talking battery-swapping technology, you get the feeling Israeli firm Better Place just hit the market too soon. Although Better Place (BP) filed for bankruptcy back in May, some companies have shown an interest in keeping its battery-swapping stations...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Model S, Roadster Break Electric-Car Lap Record At Laguna SecaIn just a few years, the Re:Fuel racing event has become legendary among those who like their electric cars really, really fast. Two years ago, Joe Nuxoll set a new lap record for electric cars there (1:50.888), driving a completely standard Tesla Roadster. At this year's event, held at...
John Voelcker