Electric Cars

Vehicle tours, the de facto way of getting a new electric car in front of the people most likely to buy it, are pretty much an accepted stage in any electric car rollout from a major automaker. So why is General Electric, a company which doesn’t even make an electric car embarking on its own...

by Robert Llewellyn I was only there for one day, and I'm still recovering; car shows are fairly energy sapping events. Everyone I met in Halle 7 said the same thing, "Oh, Geneva is the best one. It's not too big, you can get around and see everything." Remind me never to go to the really big ones...

Competition is heating up in the electric car sector, and the next few years will be a challenging testing ground for startups looking to gain a foothold among consumers as more and more major automakers launch electric and hybrid cars. Some startups have lofty ambitions. Electric car startup Coda...

Chevrolet's Volt has only been on sale for a short while but sales are respectable and Chevrolet have pulled out all the stops to build a quality product and bridge the technology gap between the vehicles that everyone is used to and the new generation of electric cars. In Europe, General Motors'...

Battle of the Titans it ain't. But for the third month in a row, Chevrolet sold more Volt range-extended electric cars than Nissan delivered Leaf plug-ins. During February, Nissan delivered 67 Leaf battery electric hatchbacks, bringing its two-month total to 154. Adding in the 19 delivered in...

There are very few vehicles so instantly recognisable world-wide as Volkswagen’s iconic VW microbus. But while examples of the rear-engined classic have unofficially been receiving electric drivetrain transplants for decades courtesy of electric vehicle devotees, we haven’t seen an...

An all-electric Rolls-Royce Phantom. Just think about it: If the engineers do their jobs properly, the occupants should sense absolutely no difference in the near-silent, creamy smooth surge of power that wafts them from estate to yacht, or factory to mansion. And now we have video, courtesy of...

BMW are developing some of the world's most anticipated electric cars at the moment with the i3 and i8 spearheading the launch of BMW's 'i' brand. The 1-Series based ActiveE is the first pure electric car to eminate from Bavaria since the MINI E, and the production car makes its world debut at the...

Imagine the scenario. You want to ride an electric motorcycle but your apartment is on the 28th floor, there are no power sockets or reserved parking in your apartment garage and the idea of dragging your ride up to your apartment in the lift isn’t an option. So just how do you get to run...

Ford has been burning the midnight oil for several years now, and its hard work is paying off. The automaker's One Ford philosophy has resulted in a slimmer product lineup, two fewer brands, and a healthy bottom line. Ford also boasts a much spiffier brand image among shoppers these days, thanks in...

Toyota, maker of the hybrid Prius and the upcoming plug-in version of the Prius, will launch its own home electric car charger, jumping into what is shaping up to be a crowded market. Major companies and startups alike have surged into the electric car charging segment. GE launched the WattStation...

The Geneva motor show has always been known for its green vehicles, but electric cars played a greater part than ever this year. French marque Renault was one of the main players with its range of four production electric vehicles. As part of the "Papillon Vert" (Green Butterfly) exhibition...

The automotive world is, it seems, a very strange place. Less than a month after Hyundai admitted it had delayed the 2011 Sonata Hybrid launch in the U.S. to remove a feature that let the driver disable its virtual engine sound at speeds below 12 miles per hour, Nissan Europe has confirmed that it...

Google said today it had invested in a startup called Transphorm, whose power-conversion efficiency technology could some day help create more efficient electric cars. The company’s technology can reduce by up to 90 percent the power lost when one form of energy is converted to the other...

It costs more than most of us earn in a year and comes from a company which only sold 2,711 cars last year, but the Rolls-Royce 102 EX Phantom Experimental Electric unveiled earlier today at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show has taken luxury electric vehicles to a whole new level. Resplendent with a tan...

While Nissan and Chevrolet have slogged it out to become the champion of the plug-in vehicle sales in the U.S., Mitsubishi Motors is gearing up to join in the fight, with the imminent launch of a new customer reservation website for its 2012 Mitsubishi i. A fatter, wider version of the 2011...

Dozens, even hundreds, of different models get recalled each year by their makers to address defects or potential problems. Most pass unnoticed, except to the owners who get letters in the mail asking them to bring their vehicle back to the dealer. But three recalls in as many months isn't a...

While the majority of its vehicles will be gasoline powered for the foreseeable future, Nissan North America has taken more steps towards zero emissions motoring for its headquarters in Franklin, TN with an 18 vehicle solar charging station to supplement the already existing electric vehicle...

Volvo is well known in the automotive world for its safety record. In fact, Volvo is so concerned with safety that it is driving towards a future goal of having no fatalities or casualties in any of its cars by 2050. So what happens when you combine Volvo’s legendary safety record with its...

It’s the end of February, which means that winter is almost over for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and Geneva’s prestigious autoshow is just days away. This year we’ve been given unprecedented access to many of the cars due to debut at this year’s show, but in case...