Electric Cars

His party may be under increasing pressure from the Tea Party movement as it fights conservative attempts to stifle everything from healthcare reform to government spending, but President Obama is still keen to push the electric car revolution. Speaking at last night’s State of the Union...

Last night, in his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama reiterated his support for expanding U.S. production and sales of plug-in cars that run on grid power. Today, according to the Detroit News, a slew of policy changes will be unveiled by Vice President Joe Biden to advance that...

We know it may seem like an age since pre-reservations started for the 2011 Nissan LEAF, but unless you’re one of the lucky few who already either has a car or knows when to expect you probably don't know what should be happening after your first $99 has been taken to secure you a place in...

Every good spy film has a smattering of illicit love, sexy cars and covert operations. Suspending disbelief, such films make for good entertainment. But for one former Renault employee the real world has taken a turn towards the covert world of James Bond or 24 with accusations that he had an...

If you’re one of the many thousands of would-be Nissan LEAF customers that have had their orders delayed due to a surprising lack of cars then you’ll be pleased to hear that Nissan has a plan to remedy the backlog. So far, around 3,000 LEAFs have been built at Nissan’s Oppama...

If you haven't been keeping an eye on Best Buy, you may have been stunned by their recent announcements at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). First, on January 6, Best Buy announced that it will offer General Motors' OnStar system (conveniently packaged within a rear-view...

The all-electric Tesla Roadster is probably the world's best advertisement for electric cars. While crude, cramped, and expensive, its 0-to-60-mph time of 3.9 seconds will make a convert out of any electric skeptic. But thus far, Tesla Motors has built only 1,500 Roadsters, and the car was always...

We first heard about Mazda’s plans to develop a battery-powered electric version of its Mazda2 hatchback back in 2009, with the automaker finally starting real-world trials of prototypes last year. Now Mazda has announced that its electric Mazda2 (a Demio in Japan) is scheduled to commence...

Coda Automotive, the electric-car startup that last fall delayed the launch of its all-electric Sedan, announced this afternoon that it had hired Phil Murtaugh as its new CEO. It also revealed that it plans to launch its Coda Sedan electric car into the domestic Chinese market once the car has been...

Range is one of those recurring talking points with electric cars, used by EV critics whenever they want a cheap shot. Keen to make sure safety doesn't become another, the manufacturers are fighting back by proving their electric cars can be just as safe as their gasoline counterparts. Mitsubishi...

After initially appearing skeptical about the electric car, Audi has been busy over the past few years with a selection of plugin hybrid and fully electric-powered concepts, showing them off at prestigious events such as the Le Mans 24 hour race. But unlike the R8 e-tron, R4 e-tron spyder and A1...

Another in our irregular series of answering questions from readers, this one from John Q of Eugene, Oregon: Question: I was wondering how an electric car provides heat and defrosting. Using batteries to generate the heat will drain them pretty fast. Maybe with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the internal...

Build a $30,000 electric car in under four years. That’s the promise made last night by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Speaking at the Cleantech Investor Summit in Palm Springs, California, the 39-year old businessman shared his plans for the venture-backed automaker. In addition to bringing the 2012...

In case you didn’t know, Mitsubishi is in the midst of a dramatic corporate change of direction. While it may be more known for its pickup trucks, SUVs and rally cars, the automaker is planning to build on the success of its 2011 i-Miev electric car by unveiling at least six more plug-in...

Smart's current range, just like its sole product, the ForTwo, is short and sweet. The lineup consists of the Pure and Passion specifications, and convertible versions of each. A Ford Fiesta rival is expected in the fall, based on the new Nissan March/Micra subcompact. And although it's not...

It was announced nearly 3 years ago and we’ll not see it on the roads for another year, but Tesla’s Model S has made another important step towards production: the obligatory drive-by road video. As our John Voelcker reported yesterday over at GreenCarReports, the all-electric...

Hot on the heels of its appearance at last week's Detroit Auto Show as a body-in-white, the 2012 Tesla Model S sedan also clearly moves under its own power. Tesla Motors just posted a beautiful, scenic video on the company's blog showing about 90 seconds worth of a Model S "alpha" prototype...

2011 has been touted as the year when electric cars will well and truly break into the public consciousness. Unfortunately for Renault, the story making all the headlines so far hasn't been the launch of one of its upcoming Z.E. models, but the news of industrial espionage and selling technical...

If you listened to countless futurists of days gone by, we should all be living in little space pods by now, with electric cars, robotic servants and self-cleaning homes. But as with many promises for the future, many of these predictions from long ago seem rather laughable today. Except of course...

The converted Audi A2 electric car which hit the headlines back in October last year by apparently driving 375 miles on a single charge has been destroyed in a warehouse fire in Berlin. While the German police investigate the cause of the fire, no official statements have been made about the fire...