Electric Cars
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With more than 100,000 electric cars on U.S. roads--and thousands more added each month--advocates and historians are turning their attention to the last time cars with plugs rolled out of U.S. factories, almost 100 years ago. But as far as we know, there's no single museum or entity in the U.S. whose sole mission is to present the history of plug-in electric cars. That may be about to change, if a post in electric-vehicle forum Electrifying Times by collector and historian Roderick Wilde is any indication. In late May, Wilde wrote: In January I founded a nonprofit corporation, titled the...
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Famous Bluebird Name To Grace New Electric Sports CarFew names evoke speed more than Bluebird, a moniker associated with a long string of vehicles faster than any other on the planet. It seems right then that the family with whom those vehicles are most associated is to launch an electric sports car of the same name, at this year's Sustainable...
Antony Ingram -
'World Record Drive' Around EU Draws 388 Electric CarsWhat do you call 388 electric cars and bikes driving from Vienna in Austria to Geneva in Switzerland? Answer: A world record. No, it's not funny, but then it wasn't a joke. Called WAVE 2013 (World Advanced Vehicle Expedition), a parade of hundreds of electric cars traveled between the two European...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan To Add Electric-Car Fast Charging At More Than 100 DealersWhile Nissan Leaf owners in Europe have enjoyed fast charging at Nissan dealerships for some time, the scheme has been slow to make its way to America. That's set to change soon, as Nissan announces the installation of 100 DC quick chargers at dealerships across the U.S. before April 1 next year...
Antony Ingram -
Honda, Fiat Stick To Minimal Numbers Of Popular Electric CarsWith a little price war on electric cars taking place in California, there are waiting lists for the Honda Fit EV, and this year's production of Fiat 500e may be sold out. That means that Fiat and Honda will boost production to meet demand, right? Wrong. We've now talked to both carmakers, and...
John Voelcker -
Do Tesla Model S And Porsche Panamera Plug-In Hybrid Compete?In less than a year, the Tesla Model S has created a new category of car: the electric luxury sport sedan. But with impending launches by two experienced, prestigious German luxury brands, will Tesla find the Model S facing new competition among wealthy buyers who like plugging in to drive? We just...
John Voelcker -
With half the year now gone, are plug-in electric cars on track to double their sales last year? Not quite. As of the end of June, roughly 41,000 plug-in cars had been sold in the U.S. That number would need to be closer to last year's total of 53,000 to keep sales on pace to double the 2012 total. Electric car sales might still pull it out, however, if the current price competition among makers continues. Nissan has aggressive plans for its 2013 Leaf--both the car and its battery pack are now made in Tennessee--and Chevrolet will likely use pricing incentives to keep pace. Tesla's sales are...
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Tesla Model S Early Orders In Hong Kong Strong, Says CompanyAn inordinate quantity of the internet's exotic car pictures seem to originate from Hong Kong. People certainly appreciate their fancy cars over there, that's for sure. That may explain why, despite the city's slow electric car sales up until now, orders for the Tesla Model S electric sedan are...
Antony Ingram -
Want To See A Tesla Model S Chasing A BMW i8? You're In Luck...The BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car has to be one of the most anticipated new vehicles of the next few years, for both green buyers and gearheads alike. It's quick, but for the moment at least, you need a Tesla Model S if you want a speedy electric vehicle. So what if you put both together on the...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Planning Electric City Car Rival To Renault's TwizyBuoyed by the quiet European success of the Renault Twizy electric city car, the French firm's Japanese partner Nissan is considering its own diminutive electric vehicle. That's according to Etienne Henry, Nissan's head of product strategy and planning. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, Henry...
Antony Ingram -
Petition For Tesla Motors Direct Sales Crosses 100,000 SignaturesThe fans have spoken: Over 100,000 people have now signed a White House petition asking for Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] to be allowed to sell its cars directly in all fifty states. Started by one Tesla supporter on June 5, support from across the electric car world piled in with signatures increasing...
Antony Ingram -
Pikes Peak Electric Car Contenders: How They FinishedNews at the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was dominated by nine-times World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb's domination in the Peugeot 208 T16, setting a stunning time of 8:13.878 up the fully-paved mountain course. But further down the field, a host of electric entrants were...
Antony Ingram -
The 2014 BMW i3 electric car is coming... but you knew that already. Still, it gives BMW a chance to release another video, albeit one that tells us absolutely nothing save for the car's official date of unveiling: July 29th. Luckily, previous videos, plenty of spy shots and numerous auto show appearances by i3 concepts means we've built up quite a knowledge base on the i3 already, so a video of depressingly beautiful people jumping up and down in a fashion shoot isn't all we have to go on. What we know is that the i3 is the first official mass-production electric car by BMW, using knowledge...
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Buy A House (For $1.3 Million), Get A Tesla Model S (Lease)Everyone loves a great deal. Just how many times have you bought an extra bottle of soda because it's on a "buy one, get another free" offer? Or shopped 'til you dropped in an "everything must go" sale? It's not often you're offered a free car though, even when buying a house. That's exactly what...
Antony Ingram -
Etiquette For Electric-Car Charging: Debates Heat Up Over Who Goes FirstPull up to an occupied gas pump, and chances are you'll have to wait five minutes max for the car in front to vacate the spot. Arrive at an occupied electric car charging space and you may be in for quite some wait--and debate on who should get priority at EV charging spots is beginning to...
Antony Ingram -
Will 100,000 Sign Petition For Tesla Motors Sales By Friday?On June 5, a Tesla Motors fan mounted what seemed like another quixotic effort to support Tesla in selling its electric cars directly to buyers. The petition at WhiteHouse.gov that he or she launched required 100,000 people to sign it within a month, by Friday, July 5. Suddenly, it seems that...
John Voelcker -
LA Metro Chooses Electric Buses From Chinese Company BYDYou might think that the 25 electric buses to be purchased by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be roundly applauded. That's not necessarily the case. LA Metro announced yesterday afternoon that it would spend $30 million to buy up to 25 of the battery-electric buses made...
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevrolet Volts--Just Four--Recalled For Brake Valve GlitchIt just may be the most minimal safety recall in history. General Motors said yesterday it would recall precisely four 2012 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric cars to fix a potential problem with a brake component that could have safety implications. As reported in The Detroit News, the company...
John Voelcker -
Removing equipment from a car isn't usually the way to make it more appealing, but a new variant of the Renault Twizy city car may have done just that. Called the Renault Twizy Cargo, the French automaker has removed the rear seat from the Twizy's normal tandem layout, replacing it with a larger storage area now accessible via a hatch at the rear of the vehicle. Not only does it now offer 6.3 cubic feet of storage volume--just 1.4 cu-ft less than that of the Smart Fortwo, and hugely greater than the Twizy's normal trunk space--it also costs less to buy and run. That's because, as a commercial...
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Anti-Tesla Bill Backed By North Carolina Car Dealers Is DeadTesla Motors has dodged two big bullets fired its way by New York and North Carolina legislatures and auto dealers. Last week, the New York State Senate and Assembly adjourned until January without acting on two bills pushed by state auto dealers that would have made it illegal to register a Tesla...
David Noland -
2013 Fiat 500e Electric Car 'Sold Out' In CaliforniaFiat has never hidden the fact that its 500e electric car had been developed primarily for compliance reasons, thus there was little surprise when it was announced that sales would be limited to the state of California, at least, initially. It looks like Fiat may have reason to speed up plans to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Drayson Racing Sets New Lightweight Electric-Car Speed Record: 204 MPHIt's been a good week for electric vehicles in motor sport. At the weekend, Audi's R18 e-tron, a diesel-electric hybrid race car, took victory at the Le Mans 24-hour race. Also at Le Mans, Nissan unveiled its 2014 competitor for the race, the ZEOD RC electric prototype. And on Tuesday, reports the...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Unveils ZEOD Electric Race Car Prototype At Le MansThe 24 Heures du Mans endurance race, held at Circuit de la Sarthe in France, is the world's most famous endurance car race. It's also a hotbed of automotive technology development. So while Audi's dominance and the sad loss of competitor Allan Simonsen in the weekend's race dominated the on-track...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Strikes Deal To Open Superchargers At Five High-End MallsTesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and CBL & Associates Properties Inc. have struck a deal to put Tesla's fast-charging technology at five malls across the U.S. Five Supercharger points stations will appear at CBL-owned malls at Gulf Coast Town Center in Fort Myers, FL; The Pavilion at Port Orange in...
Antony Ingram