Electric Cars

How far can a 2011 Nissan Leaf really go on a single charge? It’s a question we’re often asked, but one which is particularly difficult to answer since it relies on many different variables ranging from how fast the car is being driven to the temperature of the battery pack, the...

If you're one of our European readers who's had his or her sights set on leasing a Volvo C30 Electric, we have good news and bad news. First the good news: Volvo has announced plans to start producing the C30 Electric for European customers this fall. The bad news? The company is only making 250 of...

We don't envy the makers of electric cars. They have to deliver vehicles that look as great as their gas-powered counterparts, and they have to explain those vehicles, too -- how they work, battery range, and so on. They've got a long, tough battle to win over consumers. But while we wouldn't...

Volvo has just announced that it is about to start the second phase of its all-electric C30 test program with a 250 strong fleet later this summer. The Swedish automaker has been working on the electric version of its C30 coupe for some time now, and already has a small test-fleet of 50 cars...

Most Nissan Leaf owners are passionate about their electric cars, especially the earliest ones who've already taken delivery. But not all of them have served three tours of military duty, including service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tim Goodrich was posted to Afghanistan as an avionics technician...

Just two months ago, we published an April Fool's piece about a fictional new BP cell research project that would allow battery packs to be refilled at fuel station pumps. Truth is stranger than fiction, truly. Yesterday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described a nascent research...

Back in April we heard that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety had awarded both the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt its highest possible award for safety - the IIHS Top Safety Pick. Now Chevrolet's plug-in hybrid has passed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)...

Forgive us for saying so, but most electric car owners live in urban or suburban areas, using their cars to get themselves and their family to work or school, or perhaps running errands throughout the day. Most days, the car will end the day with charge to spare. But what if you could use your...

Pendine Sands, a 7-mile long beach on the south coast of Wales went down in history in 1924 when a journalist and motor racer by the name of Malcolm Campbell broke the world land speed record at a heady 146.16 mph in the Sunbeam 350HP car he called Blue Bird. Since then the U.K. equivalent to the...

It seems that people just can't get enough of the 2012 Tesla Model S, the all-electric luxury sports sedan that SIlicon Valley startup Tesla Motors says it will put on sale in little more than a year from now. The factory has now released a whole set of new images, showing slight tweaks to the...

Japanese electric car owners in eastern Prefecture of Kanagawa can now drive easy without the fear of being stranded with a flat battery pack thanks to a new pilot project being run between Nissan Japan and the Japan Automobile Federation - the Japanese equivalent of the AAA. Stranded owners of...

It may still be well over a year away from launch, but Tesla’s latest press photographs are certainly getting the automotive world talking. Released over the weekend, the photographs show a Model S which looks good enough to take on mainstream automotive giants on the showroom floor head-on...

A few weeks ago we were invited to the Challenge Bibendum - an auto-industry event devoted to fuel economy and green vehicles - in order to drive the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid Station Wagon. We’ve already shared our own first drive report with you, but now it’s time to share our video...

It doesn’t take a scientist to tell you that the team behind BBC’s Top Gear really don’t like electric cars. Everything from the humble G-Wiz through to the mighty Tesla Roadster and the fresh-faced Nissan Leaf have fallen foul of their comical but factually inept portrayal of...

Ask most electric vehicle fans to name an electric car best suited to the race track and the chance are the super sexy Tesla Roadster will get mentioned long before the 2011 Nissan Leaf. But a few months ago NIssan’s motorsport division unveiled its own electric racing car concept based on...

You told us that you enjoyed our 2011 Nissan Leaf: Ultimate Reference Guide so much that we’re back again with AllCarElectric’s ultimate guide to the 2011 Nissan Leaf’s closest rival, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Below is our list of must-read articles on Chevrolet’s...

Yesterday the monthly sales figures for the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt were released, giving rise to the usual slew of articles picking apart the buying decisions of U.S. car buyers. But behind the traditional media frenzy on the first of every month as plug-in vehicle sales figures...

It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is in high demand right now--despite its May sales numbers, which are behind those of the 2011 Nissan Leaf. But despite General Motors’ planned increase in production, buying the plug-in hybrid is a little more...

Sigh. Here we go again. It's the first of the month, which means that auto journalists are scrambling to put together their monthly sales reports. Sales in May weren't great, for a variety of reasons: higher prices and shortages of some Japanese models, among others. Unusual scrutiny But the most...

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) isn’t a new concept, and is the name given to technology which gives plug-in vehicles the ability to feed power stored in their battery packs back to the utility company at points of peak electrical demand. But we’ve yet to see the technology being implemented in...