Electric Cars

Are you mulling the purchase of an electric car? Or maybe wondering about wiring in your garage, and whether it would handle a plug-in car charging station? Do we have a webinar for you! This Thursday, May 24, electric-car advocates Plug-In America are holding a free webinar titled, "Everything You...

They’re large, hardly pretty, and serve just one function, but Nissan Australia has managed to turn the humble gas pump into art in order to promote its all-electric 2012 Leaf. Unlike its U.S. ad from last year, which asked us to imagine a world where everything was powered by gasoline...

Last week, we told you about a house fire in Texas on May 3 involving a 2012 Fisker Karma luxury Sedan, which fire investigators believed to be the cause of the blaze. Shortly after the story broke, Fisker Automotive released an official statement stating that it had “not ruled out possible...

There's no getting around it: Hybrids cost more than gasoline models, and plug-in electric cars cost a lot more than gas vehicles. Each type of green car cuts operating costs, either by raising gas mileage substantially or replacing gas costs with grid electricity that generally cuts the...

For the past five years or more, the iconic Tesla Roadster has been the poster child for electric cars. Produced between 2008 and 2011, the two-seat Tesla Roadster combines the desirability of a luxury sports car with race-car performance, while its massive 53 kilowatt-hour battery pack gives...

Comedian and television host Jay Leno comes away quite impressed with the 2012 Ford Focus Electric after taking one for a quick spin.

You’ve taken the plunge and shelled out anything from $33,000 upwards for an all-electric 2012 Nissan Leaf. Quiet, efficient and full of gadgets, you’ve discovered that it has quickly relegated your gas car to the garage, carrying out the weekend chores, work commutes and maybe even...

Some electric-car makers (they know who they are) tend to quote base prices after subtracting the U.S. Federal income tax credit of $7,500. We don't do that here, but that practice would be even more tempting in Estonia--which gives a whopping $22,900 (18,000-euro) incentive on every electric car...

Los Angeles is well known for being at the forefront of electric car adoption, spurred on in part by large numbers of Hollywood A-list electric car drivers, enthusiastic advocacy groups and chronic air quality. But Los Angeles isn’t just the place where you’re more likely to see an...

If you've seen the animated Pixar film WALL-E, you'll remember a scene where humanity, after generations of being on a space ship where everything is done for them, are hugely overweight and never get out of their hovering chairs to interact with the world. That was the scene that came to mind when...

It isn't just big manufacturers like Nissan and Mitsubishi that enter the famous Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado--plenty of individuals and independent teams take part each year too. This year, Electric Vehicle West, or EV West, is entering a converted electric car into the event, based on a...

It had to happen some time, just not perhaps as quickly as this. Since Nissan’s all-electric Leaf hatchback launched in late 2010, many have been watching with interest to see how long it would be before the car’s 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack showed the gradual reduction in range and...

Electric motorcycle manufacturer Brammo has revealed two brand new motorcycles, the Empulse and Empulse R. Each motorcycle offers both a 100 mph top speed, and 100 miles of range. The company has incorporated features suggested from research on its previous products, to ensure the Empulse and...

Last week, we shared with you our first-hand experience of driving an electric car through a Better Place battery swap station in Israel. Publicly, especially outside of Israel, Better Place’s concept of switching out depleted electric car battery packs for fully charged ones at its...

Garages in single-family homes are relatively easy to wire for electric-car charging; shared garages in multifamily residences often aren't. Therein lies much frustration, not only for plug-in car drivers but also their landlords. The latest episode hit the airwaves last Wednesday, when KGO-TV in...

Smart's eBike electric bicycle has been attracting a lot of attention recently, but it's not the only electric bike to emerge from Germany. Audi has teased its own electric bike in a short video, featuring French freestyle trials rider Julien Dupont. Where Smart's bike is very much a commuting...

Remember the early days of mobile phones, when lots of small carriers competed and roaming was just a far-distant dream? Welcome to the wild world of electric-car charging, folks. Right now, more than a dozen networks--some local, some regional, some national--operate Level 2 charging stations for...

Oh dear. This could get ugly. The owner of a new 2012 Fisker Karma that burned to the ground in Sugar Land, Texas, is trading accusations with Fisker. The fire destroyed two other cars and damaged the garage it was stored in and other parts of the house. The owner reported a smell of burning rubber...

After revealing more details about the Tesla Model S just last week, Tesla Motors said it expected to use the last of its Department of Energy loan by the end of this year. The company now confirms it also has plans to start paying back the loan this year too--and will be the first company to do...

Put most people behind the wheel of an electric car, and you can guarantee one of the first things they'll talk about is the silence. Unfortunately, that silence has led some legislators to require EVs to emit a sound in order to warn pedestrians of their presence, stifling one of the genre's...