Electric Cars

Plug-in cars are catching on in the Netherlands, and it isn't hard to see why. It's a relatively small country, with high gas prices, heavy taxes on gas-guzzlers, and particularly flat land--no range-sapping hills for short-range electric vehicles. It's also largely pro-environmental, while cycling...

Solar power and electric cars go hand-in-hand, and many owners equip their homes with solar panels to ensure the electricity they're charging with is as green as possible. That isn't always the case when charging away from home, but it would be if your local parking spot had a 'V-Tent' system. The...

Remember the world's first all-electric monster truck? If you're at the AutoRama Car Show in Kansas City, Missouri this weekend, you'll be able to see it in action. We're told it'll be "participating in two car-crush demonstrations per day", which sounds like a polite way of saying it'll be causing...

The right car can inspire people. Whether it's the poetic beauty of an Italian sports car or the noise of the race track, that inspiration takes many forms. For some, the all-electric Tesla Model S is their inspiration. The sleek electric sedan has certainly attracted attention far beyond that of...

Electric cars are often described as "zero emission vehicles". That's true, to an extent - you won't find a drop of any substance eminating from their non-existent tailpipes. But naturally, they get their energy from somewhere, and that somewhere is a country's electricity grid. Those can be less...

If you're trying to get your hands on a plug-in Ford, it should soon get a little easier. Ford will more than quadrouple the number of dealers able to sell its plug-in models, the Ford Focus Electric, C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid this year. According to The Detroit...

After just about four years of waiting, my 2013 Tesla Model S has arrived. Almost. The call from the Tesla delivery rep came on February 4, the last day of the two-week delivery window promised back in December. My car, with metallic green paint, 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack, black leather...

Electric car owners coming out of winter will know just how much of a drain a car's accessories can put on their range. That makes energy-efficient accessories like the Bose Energy Efficient Series audio system available with the 2013 Nissan Leaf an easy option to understand. With no engine roar to...

If you've been following our reports on battery-swapping company Better Place, the news probably won't come as much of a surprise. The company has decided to shut down its operations in the U.S. and Australia, to concentrate on its original markets of Denmark and Israel. Loss-making Better Place...

If you were a car dealer, would you decide not to sell a plug-in electric car because you had to buy a $5,000 tool to service it? We didn't think so. Late last year, trade journal Automotive News wrote a story saying that a few Chevrolet dealers have stopped selling the Chevy Volt range-extended...

Analyzing electric-car sales numbers and prognosticating on them is somewhere between a parlor game and a black art. Now one blogger has applied some Nate Silver-like statistical analysis to try to divine predictive patterns in sales of the Chevrolet Volt, the range-extended electric car that's...

A select few drivers on the U.S. West Coast have already been enjoying Honda's token contribution to the electric car market, the Fit EV. Now their counterparts in some East Coast markets will be able to lease the small EV too. Drivers in California and Oregon have had access to the 118 MPGe...

If you're reading this, you probably already know a little bit about Tesla. Brainchild of entrepreneur Elon Musk, producer of electric vehicles, and upstart in the automotive market, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has been one of the highest-profile new brands of recent years. That high profile has done...

It happens every so often: a spate of media reports with gloom-and-doom headlines about what a dismal failure electric cars are. Take, for instance, this morning's in Reuters--"Electric Cars Head Toward Another Dead End"--or a weekend report in The Detroit News entitled "Electric Vehicle Sales...

Last week, the Chinese company Wanxiang got U.S. government approval to buy bankrupt lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems. With that underway, will China's largest auto-parts company now turn its sights toward one of A123's biggest customers, Fisker Automotive? That seemed to be the implication from...

We’re going to let you in on a little insider’s secret: when manufacturers are shilling their wares, they tend to favor statistics that illustrate their own version of the truth. As any politician (or car company) will tell you, you can always find a set of numbers to work in your...

Sales of plug-in electric cars tripled last year, so how's the New Year looking? Based on January sales, being reported throughout the day by automakers, the year is starting slowly. General Motors said it delivered 1,140 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric cars last month. That's more than the...

Whatever car you drive, whether powered by fossil fuels or electricity, range will vary depending on weather conditions. Typically, the average gasoline or diesel vehicle will be more economical in warmer weather, and less so when it's cold, where the dense air is matched by larger quantities of...

Car rental firm Hertz got in there early with electric cars, saying as far back as 2010 it would put the Nissan Leaf on its fleet. Several plug-in models have followed, and for its newest initiative, Hertz is targeting younger drivers. A Chevrolet Volt has joined the University of Connecticut's...

Unless you follow green cars fairly closely--or perhaps live in California--you may not know that the Golden State now requires the sale of certain number of battery electric cars. Between 2012 and 2014, the six highest-selling carmakers in the state must sell a combined 7,500 zero-emission...