Electric Cars

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric Microsite

    It might seem a long while since Ford unveiled its 2012 all-electric Ford Focus at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, but in reality we’ve only known about Ford’s five seat electric hatchback for four months. But with the car due to launch some time before the end of 2011 Ford has brought its Ford Focus Electric marketing campaign to a new level with a brand new website designed to inform consumers about Ford’s first mainstream electric car. Heavy on performance Visiting the Ford Focus Electric microsite we noticed immediately that Ford is keen to...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt using Level 2 240-Volt charging station in Vacaville, California
    San Francisco Will Juice Your Electric Car For Free

    The city of San Francisco, California, will install electric vehicle charging stations in publicly-owned garages and at San Francisco International Airport by the end of the year that drivers can use for free until 2013. The plan involves dropping around 90 charging stations across the city in the...

  • "Pimped" 2002 Lido Runabout
    (NEVer) Pimp My Ride: $25k Custom Electric ‘Car’ Fails To Sell

    What can $25,000 buy you? If you’re in the market for a new electric car it’s unlikely to get you much, although we’ve pointed out before those who live in just the right state and have just the right job can pay just $12,280 for a 2011 Nissan Leaf or purchase a 2011 Think City...

  • Axeon All-Electric Land Rover Defender
    Land Rover Greens Up Savannah Safaris With All-Electric Defender

    Going on safari to one of the many game parks found in Africa is a once in a lifetime experience for most. But trundling around in a gas-guzzling SUV to shoot some memorable holiday snaps of everything from lions and tigers to gazelles and rhinoceros is hardly very green is it? Enter european...

  • Earth Day: Eager Electric-Car Advocates Meet Unaware Public

    Three weeks ago, in a suburban park in Roseville, California--just outside the state capital, Sacramento--a community celebration of Earth Day served as a gathering of the greenest cars now available. Both participants and random park-goers were drawn to the cars, providing a chance for eager...

  • 2010 Jaguar C-X75 Concept live photos
    The Fastest, Coolest, Sexiest Supercars Now Come With Plugs

    Supercars: sleek, blindingly fast, ultra-expensive objects of lust for 14-year-old boys and sober-suited executives alike. For decades, supercars were powered solely by gasoline. But now there's a new gang in town, and they've upended all the rules. The newest, coolest, most jaw-dropping supercars...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf, Nashville, October 2010

    You’d hardly expect Mark Reuss, the North American President of General Motors, to be a fan of the primary rival to the company's 2011 Chevrolet Volt. But in a recent interview with the Nashville Business Journal, the man responsible for starting the GM Performance Division took his dislike to a whole new level. Reuss was so brutal we can’t help but wonder if he's feeling just a little worried about the Volt’s Japanese rival. He called the Leaf a “single purpose” car and said he wouldn’t even rely on it to get his children to and from high school safely...

  • Delta Motorsport E4 Electric Coupe, launch event at Silverstone race course, U.K., May 2011
    Delta Motorsport E4 Electric Coupe: LIVE PHOTOS From U.K. Launch

    It's not every day that a brand-new electric sports coupe is launched, much less at a fabled race course. So we're delighted to bring you these live photos from Silverstone race track in the U.K., where the Delta Motorsport E4 Electric Coupe is about to take to the tarmac. The sleek electric...

  • Think City $17,995 ad campaign
    Theory Meets Reality: How Expensive IS The 2011 Think City?

    It’s well known that any sales material always uses the most attractive pricing option as a way of enticing customers to buy a product. But is it helpful, confusing or downright misleading for an electric automaker to advertise an electric car for sale at more than $17,500 less than its own...

  • Nissan Leaf ad campagin power outlet art.
    In Brazil, Even Humble Power Outlets Love The Nissan Leaf

    Over the years we’ve seen a whole load of electric vehicle ad campaigns, ranging from the clichéd to the quirky and from the aspirational to the downright bizarre. Some companies have even created electric car adverts aimed directly at children. But one Brazilian ad agency has gone a...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf Software Update
    2011 Nissan Leaf Software Update: What Exactly Happens?

    Earlier this week our contributor George Parrott shared his own experiences of having the main operating software on his 2011 Nissan Leaf updated. In his case, the update took longer than expected, requiring him to leave his car at the dealer for four hours, but didn’t get to see exactly what...

  • 2009 Mercedes-Benz S Class 5.5L V8 AWD
    Five Reasons Why Mercedes Should Make an All-Electric S-Class

    Earlier this week Motor Authority reported that bosses at German automaker Mercedes-Benz were unwilling to confirm or deny the rumors that it was considering an all-electric version of its luxury S-Class sedan. The automaker has confirmed that a facelifted 2013 S-Class will hit the streets late in...

  • Sign on Vacaville, California, DC fast charger for electric cars, May 2011

    Vacaville, California, has the distinction of the very first public Level 3 or DC quick charging station for electric cars to be installed in the United States. It was first activated in late May 2010, and was used very soon after for a small fleet of Mitsubishi i-MIEV models to make a trip from San Francisco to Sacramento, a distance of 88 miles. The DC quick charge station uses the CHAdeMO interface which is standardized in Japan but not yet been confirmed as a U.S. standard. However, this is the connector that is being installed in the U.S. right now. Vacaville has more 45 electric vehicle...

  • Elon Musk
    Tesla Motors might seek additional funding for third electric car

    Tesla Motors, [NSDQ:TSLA] the company behind the Roadster electric vehicle, might look for additional funding from equity sales to help pay for development of its third electric car — the sport utility vehicle styled Model X — according to the company’s CEO Elon Musk. The company...

  • Nissan NV200 Taxi
    Move Over Ford: Nissan Plans All-Electric Future For NY Taxis

    From the iconic Ford Crown Victoria through to the Ford Escape Hybrids replacing many of them as part of air quality legislature coming into force in 2012, Ford’s relationship with the New York taxi is a long one. But Ford’s chance to electrify the humble New York City taxi with its...

  • Fast Charging 2011 Nissan Leaf
    British Utility Concludes Consumers Don’t Get Electric Cars (Yet)

    A study conducted by the British arm of european utility company nPower suggests that consumer ignorance is still holding back sales of all-electric cars. In a survey of 2,000 people, nPower discovered that many of those questioned were unaware of governmental grants to assist in the purchase of...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf at dealership after software upgrade, May 2011, photo by George Parrott
    2011 Nissan Leaf Software Update: Easy, But Slow (4 Hours?)

    Nissan's new electric car, the 2011 Leaf, is rolling out slowly. Recently, it came to light that early-delivery vehicles are failing to start after the air conditioning has been used under certain circumstances. Nissan has developed a software update to fix the problem, and will install it in all...

  • Brammo Engage SMS prototype electric motorcycle
    Breaking: Brammo Announces Geared Electric Motorcycles (Video)

    Brammo Inc., the Oregonian firm responsible for the all-electric Brammo Enertia, Enertia + and Empulse motorcycles has just announced four new electric motorcycles to be sold alongside its current range. But unlike nearly every other electric vehicle on the market today the new motorcycles will...

  • John Duncan takes delivery of one of the first 2011 Nissan LEAF EVs, near Portland OR, 12/15/2010

    Sales of plug-in electric cars continued at a steady pace in April, with 493 Chevrolet Volts and 573 Nissan Leafs sold during the month. That brings yearly totals of the cars to 1,703 and 1,025 respectively. There were also 326 Volts and 19 Leafs sold last December, the month in which each car first went on sale. The first Leaf was delivered on December 12, followed three days later by the first Volt. Each month since then, Chevy has sold more Volts than Nissan has Leafs. This is the first month in which Leaf sales, at 573, slightly exceeded Volt sales, at 493. Chevrolet had warned that its...

  • GAC Zoyte Electric SUV
    Chinese SUV Tries to Make it in U.S. Despite Taxi Fire

    Yesterday Dallas-based electric vehicle firm Green Automotive Company announced it was sending two of its all-electric Zotye electric SUVs to be tested for compliance with Federal Motor Safety Standards at independent engineering firm Roush Industries. But while GAC’s website promises it is...

  • 2011 Wheego Whip LiFe at 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
    Tough To Be Wheego: Germany Crushes Electric Car From 'Hand-To-Mouth' Startup

    It's hard to start a car company. Really, really, really, really, really hard. Which is why little Wheego Electric Cars is having a tough time of it at the moment. Last week, CEO Mike McQuary told industry trade journal Automotive News that the company was "living hand-to-mouth" and that its first...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt drive test, March 2011
    90% of Chevy Volt Plug-In Hybrid Customers New to Brand

    There’s nothing sales executives love more than seeing sales figures indicating that the latest product is attracting new buyers to their brand, so we’re sure Chevrolet board members must be pretty happy right now. Why? According to data collected from buyers of its 2011 Chevrolet Volt...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt drive test, March 2011
    Chevy Volt Goes North For 2012, Priced At C$41,545 In Canada

    With Chevrolet on track to complete its rollout of the 2011 Volt range-extended electric car to all 50 states by the end of this year, the carmaker is turning its sites to other countries. And it's starting next door in one of the two closest foreign countries to the U.S., one right on our border...

  • 2011 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, E.U. spec
    2012 Mitsubishi "i" VS 2011 Nissan Leaf

    What is the basic purpose of the new electric cars? For most of us, it is as a city or local commuting vehicle. The basic commuting "appliance" might be optimized to: 1. cost as little as possible to acquire; 2. have decent functional range for the typical commute or errand, e.g. 50 miles?; and 3...

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