Electric Cars
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In June last year, Norwegian electric automaker Think filed for bankruptcy for the third time in its 20-year life. Since then, Think’s misfortunes have caused battery maker Ener1 to also declare bankruptcy while its own future is now in the automotive equivalent of limbo. In one small part of Chicago however, Think is alive and well -- and being sold on a dealer forecourt alongside Toyota Priuses, Honda Insights... and an as-yet uncertified BYD e6. Enter Green Wheels Chicago, an independent dealer who is still advertising its 2011 Think City cars for sale. Discovered by a member of the...
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Get A Bullfrog With Your Volt? In Canada, It's Not What It SeemsIf you think that the Chevrolet Volt Bullfrog Power Edition sounds like a rather odd limited edition model, we can understand the confusion. It's nothing to do with the green, hopping creature though, nor is Bullfrog Power an aesthetically-challenged superhero. Instead, it's a 100 percent green...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Tesla Model X 'Falcon Doors' May Limit Crossover UtilityLess than twenty-four hours ago, Tesla Motors unveiled its enigmatic 2014 Model X Crossover SUV to the world, becoming the first automaker to promise a crossover utility with doors you’d normally find on a sports car. But while its ostentatious falcon doors might gain it some design kudos, it...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2015 VW Golf Plug-in Hybrid To Debut At 2012 Paris Motor ShowBack in the 1980s, Volkswagen worked on producing both fully-electric and plug-in hybrid versions of its Mk II Rabbit -- also known as the Mk II VW Golf. It’s been no secret that Volkswagen has been working on resurrecting an all-electric Golf in the form of its 2013 VW Blue E-Motion, but now...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Morgan Plus E Electric Roadster: Modern Battery In Classic CarMorgan Motor Company is now the largest UK-owned car company in Britain. Its Plus 4 "classic" model, the latest evolution of a 1930s roadster design, is still built with ash body framing and the century-old "sliding pillar" front suspension. Nonetheless, the quirky family-owned British maker of...
John Voelcker -
Eric Bolling Doesn't Know How The Volt Works, Even After Driving OneImagine the horror. There you are, driving your electric car through the Lincoln Tunnel to Manhattan from New Jersey. Your battery pack gives up its last few electrons, so your car slows to a halt in the narrow tube, blocking traffic, causing a cacophony of curses and horn-honking. That's the...
John Voelcker -
“We’ve got a rocketship next door, and you know as Governor Moonbeam that I like rocketships,” quipped California Governor Jerry Brown, at the introduction of the upcoming 2014 Tesla Model S, gesturing toward the big SpaceX facility next door to Tesla’s Southern California Design Center. “But I also like electric cars.” Just as Brown has (especially in earlier days) been a political idealist and outlier, Tesla is boldly forging itself a following (and a market), and plenty of interest from the affluent green set, whether or not the mainstream is ready to...
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2014 Tesla Model X: Watch All-Electric Crossover's Live DebutElectric-car fans have waited eagerly for more details—or even a picture—of the third vehicle from EV maker Tesla [NSDQ: TSLA]. Aand now the time has arrived. Tonight, at 8 p.m. PST, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to pull the wraps off the Model X, the company’s upcoming...
Bengt Halvorson -
Drive a Solar-Charged Electric Car, Save $263,000 On Fuel Over 50 Years?Critics of plug-in cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Mitsubishi i often say their high sticker prices are just too expensive to make a sound economic case for making the switch from gasoline to electric. Not so, says electric car advocate and BMW ActiveE driver Peder Norby. In fact, Norby...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Friendly Fire: Chevrolet's Cruze Stunting Volt Sales?Is the Chevrolet Volt being outshone by its own little brother? The Wall Street Journal suggests that - just like millions of Americans - the Volt is a victim of some good, old-fashioned sibling rivalry - at the hands of the Chevrolet Cruze. On the face of it, there's not a lot of reason that the...
Antony Ingram -
Hertz Tests Wireless Charging For Electric-Car RentalsOver the past year we’ve seen car rental firms like Hertz and Enterprise launch new schemes designed to give customers a hassle-free way of renting a plug-in car instead of a gasoline one if they so wish. Now Hertz is helping Virginia-based Evatran test its wireless charging technology -- a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
All-Electric Mercedes Isn't What You Think: It's A Small VanGerman luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz is no stranger to electric vehicles. We've driven two of them here at GreenCarReports, in the form of the Europe-only Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell, and the ForTwo Electric Drive, under Mercedes' sub-brand Smart. A third vehicle will join that stable, according...
Antony Ingram -
There are many reasons to choose an electric vehicle - saving money on gas, to reduce dependency on foreign oil, or maybe simply because you like the way they drive - but one of the main reasons has to be green appeal. To prove the theory, the Mitsubishi i electric car has just topped the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)'s "Greenest" list, for the most environmentally-friendly vehicles. Now in its 14th year, the electric Mitsubishi has toppled the 8-year reign of the 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas as America's greenest vehicle. That backs up the i's status as the...
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2012 Volt Cheaper To Own Than 2012 Leaf, Says Kelley Blue BookThe 2012 Chevrolet Volt might cost nearly $5,000 cheaper more than the 2012 Nissan Leaf, but over the next five years, it might cost you less to run. At least, that’s the verdict of Kelley Blue Book (KBB) which crowned the 2012 Chevy Volt the electric choice in its inaugral Total Cost of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Fisker Loan Woes: Bump In The Road, Or A Big Pothole?On Monday, we told you that California-based Fisker Automotive had announced it was laying off employees and contractors after it missed deadlines associated with its $529 million low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy. But while Fisker’s cull of employees has totaled at least...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Want To Race A Tesla, Prius, Leaf? You Can In Gran Turismo 5While we can all appreciate the low running costs and environmental credentials of hybrids and electric cars, they also have plenty of other benefits. Strong torque, for example, and good balance from the low-mounted batteries. It can make some hybrids and electric cars quite good fun to drive...
Antony Ingram -
What's Wrong With Chevy Volt Ads & How To Fix ThemPeople are rarely lukewarm about the Chevrolet Volt. Like health-care reform or pajama jeans, the Volt inspires love, loathing, and little in-between. That hasn't exactly helped Volt sales, which aren't yet living up to expectations, but fans insist that the car itself isn't the problem. They blame...
Richard Read -
Tesla Keeps Roadster Owner Happy, Rebuilds Car Before Warranty EndsWhen you buy any new car, it comes with a warranty which guarantees the automaker will replace or fix any defects in the car for a set period of time. Generally, warranty repairs are carried out when the car’s buyer notices something wrong with their car, but for one Tesla Roadster owner, his...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
When California-based electric automaker Coda Automotive announced it would be opening showrooms in shopping malls, you might have assumed each showroom would have some way of helping customers order its all-electric 2012 Sedan. You’d be wrong. They won’t, according to Coda CEO Phil Murtaugh. Instead, interested parties will have to make the trip from a Coda-owned “experience center” to whichever Coda appointed dealers exist locally. “Their purpose is to educate people on electric vehicles,” Murtaugh said. “We’re not pushing sales out of the...
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Fisker Lays Off Workers, Seeks New Government-Loan TermsThe bad news just keeps on coming from electric-car startup Fisker Automotive. The company said today that it has laid off employees and contractors at both its new Anaheim, California, headquarters and its assembly facility in Wilmington, Delaware. Layoffs by car companies are hardly new, but...
John Voelcker -
Indiana Think Electric-Car Plant Stilled, Owners Quiet On FutureA year ago, we visited the Think electric-car plant in Elkhart, Indiana. At the time, several dozen workers were turning out a trickle of Think City electric vehicles assembled from kits shipped in from Finland--with big plans for ramping up production. That never happened. Instead, last June...
John Voelcker -
Arizona Considers Charging Electric Cars Tax At 1.43¢ Per MileFor many years, Arizona was considered an electric-car friendly state, thanks to California-style tailpipe emissions and mandates which required automakers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions cars in order to sell in the state. But less than a month after the Arizona Governor’s...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2014 Tesla Model X: Mysterious “Falcon Doors” May Lift Up, FoldOver the past few months, we’ve started to hear more and more about Tesla’s 2014 Model X -- the all-electric crossover SUV that will follow the 2012 Model S into production in year’s time. So far, everything has been positively enigmatic, but now clean tech specialist Theo...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Video Proves 2012 Nissan Leaf Can Tackle Even Tough CommutesAccording to recent research, 95 percent of all trips could be made by electric cars -- but that doesn’t stop the majority of consumers from suffering electric car range anxiety. So when automotive journalists Roman Mica and Nathan Adlen from TFLcar.com decided to put a 2012 Nissan Leaf...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield