Electric Cars
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Fear is a powerful motivator. It has been used in the past to start wars, persuade kids to study at school and of course, sell life insurance. But now GM appears to be gearing up to use the fear of running out of electricity to give the extended-range 2011 Chevrolet Volt a competitive edge over purely electric cars. In a move which will not improve the company image among many electric vehicle advocates, GM has applied to trademark “range anxiety” in order to promote “public awareness of electric vehicle capabilities”. If granted trademark status, range anxiety could...
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Plug-In Electric Vehicle Sales To Top 3.2 Million By 2015With several big electric vehicle launches due over the next few years and order books filling up quickly, we're sure to start seeing more of them on the roads. Research agency Pike Research has announced that combined sales of full-electric (battery electric, or BEV) vehicles and plug-in hybrid...
Antony Ingram -
GM Moving To Own 'Range Anxiety' For Chevy Volt Campaign?Range anxiety—that's the worry that people feel as they approach an electric car's driving range—has long been a bit unbecoming to discuss among fierce electric-vehicle advocates; but looking out at the general market, it's one of the most significant barriers against widespread...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nissan Limits Initial Leaf Rollout To 200 Cars In Five StatesNissan is taking orders today for the Leaf, the first mass-produced, all-electric vehicle, but it’s only offering up 200 cars for December delivery. Those Leafs will go to five states in the initial rollout market – California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Tennessee — which...
John Voelcker -
2011 Chevrolet Volt Production Starting November 11, 2010While prototypes of the upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Volt have been running around the streets of America for the past several months, the first customer delivered car won’t be built until production officially kicks off on November 11, 2010. The information comes from people familiar with the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2010 Paris Motor Show: European-spec 2011 Mitsubishi i-MiEVDon't want a 2011 Chevrolet Volt or 2011 Nissan Leaf? Fear not - there are a raft of other EVs waiting in the wings to satisfy your desire for something different. If you live in the U.S. though, you'll have to wait until late 2011 to get your hands on Mitsubishi's 2012 i-MiEV. For EV fans in 14...
Antony Ingram -
In a week where many mainstream media outlets are claiming electric cars are prohibitively more expensive to own than gasoline counterparts, a team of Swiss researchers have released conclusive data showing that the environmental impact of the electric car is much less than most gas cars. As any EV advocate will tell you, electric vehicles are extremely green when fuelled from renewable energy such as solar or wind power. In fact, ignoring any carbon impact of manufacture, you can argue such electric cars can be zero emissions. Electric cars charged from non-clean power sources, such as gas...
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Toyota And SunHydro To Start Fuel Cell Vehicle Trials In U.S. This FallMany think the infrastructure for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles just isn’t there, and they’re mostly right. There have been a few advances in hydrogen production recently, but the distribution system is the weak point. However, there are companies, such as SunHydro, which are...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Fined $275,000 Over Emissions RegulationsWith electricity not always generated through renewable methods, it can be hard to claim that an EV is truly zero-emissions. It's generally accepted that you aren't pumping any gasses out the back as you drive along, though. Well, the car shouldn't be anyway... Despite this, electric vehicle...
Antony Ingram -
2011 Nissan Leaf Orders Commence. Fast Charge Option $700It's been the most anticipated all-electric car of 2010 with well over 13,000 pre-orders in the U.S. alone. We've driven one twice and loved the car's well-finished trim, impressive handling and accurate range calculations using the car's built-in GPS. Our very own Marty Padgett is one of the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
U.S. Army Goes Electric With Smart-Grid Enabled EVsThe U.S. military is hardly the first place you'd look to find an electric vehicle, but Canadian firm Rapid Electric Vehicles has just received a four-vehicle order from the U.S. Army for a test fleet of all-electric vehicles. The vehicles will be tested by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell Set For 2010 Paris Auto Show DebutAs reported earlier, Mercedes-Benz will be launching a new all-electric version of its entry-level A-Class model dubbed the A-Class E-Cell. This limited production model is being developed together with Tesla and will reportedly make its world debut next month at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. Daimler...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Land speed records have long been a integral part of motor racing, but for many years electric vehicles have been viewed as slow and cumbersome. With a 0-60 mph time of less than four seconds, the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport certainly puts the myth of slow vehicles to bed, but just how fast can an electric car go? On Tuesday this week, a team of enterprising engineering students from Ohio State University pushed the electric vehicle world speed record above the magic 300mph on the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Named the Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2.5, the sleek land-speed record car is more...
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Tomorrow's Power Today? New Battery Is Most Powerful EverThe electric motor is a great invention, but it's entirely limited by the power that the battery can feed to it, and that power is limited by the amount of energy the battery can store. Battery technology is in constant development behind the scenes, though, and the latest to emerge in research at...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Scores More From Toyota's Big Fremont Factory SaleIt's been almost three weeks since we published a Tesla story. We trust that means that the Silicon Valley electric-vehicle startup is working away feverishly on the designs, engineering, production plans, and manufacturing site for its Model S four-door sports sedan, which it is still promising...
John Voelcker -
Not All Nissan Dealers Will Initially Specialize In 2011 LeafRemember how we found out a few weeks ago that some Nissan dealers in the U.K. were blissfully unaware of specifics of Nissan's first publicly sold production electric car? According to the dealers we spoke to, the 2011 Nissan Leaf would charge to full in ten minutes, would not be eligible for...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Toyota Prius To Make Noise During Electric Running, in JapanIn another step toward making silent electric cars less so, Toyota Prius hybrids sold in Japan are to be offered with an optional system that broadcasts a "humming" noise outside the car whenever it operates solely on electricity. The system is Toyota's response to the fears of blind people that...
John Voelcker -
BYD Embroiled In Court Case, Puts Back Plans to Go PublicBuild Your Dreams, one of China's largest battery and electric vehicle companies, has been telling us for months that it plans to bring affordable, competitive and safe electric vehicles to the U.S. market very soon. But as the months roll on, BYD's claim to get a car to market sooner rather than...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
In news that will no doubt be music to the ears of any manufacturer planning to sell an electric vehicle, new research by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) finds that two fifths of US adults are interested in test driving an EV. The study reveals that consumers are interested in the improved environmental quality and potential cost savings of running an EV, though many people do still have concerns about battery life and the convenience of charging. Green Benefits As consumers become increasingly interested in green technology, the environmental benefits of EVs are the biggest...
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Report: Hyundai Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Coming In 2012Hyundai is determined to turn itself into a leader in the field of hybrid and electric vehicles, having already unveiled a number of production vehicles and concepts. One of these was the 2007 Hyundai i-Blue, a hydrogen powered, zero-emission concept powered by the automaker’s third generation...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Almost 1 Million Electric-Car Charging Points In U.S. By 2015, Analyst SaysWhile early adopters won't need many public charging points for their electric cars, conventional wisdom has it that the public at large probably will. And according to a May report by Pike Research, that's exactly what will happen. The clean-technology market research firm predicts that by 2015...
John Voelcker -
Electric Pot Car From Canada Creates Big Bong In EV WorldAs we're faced with an increasingly large world population and ever-dwindling resources the race is on to produce cars that not only produce zero tailpipe emissions, but ones that are green to manufacture too. But what is the ultimate material for cars? Steel is strong, but hardly light enough to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Chevrolet Volt Price Gouging Banned At AutoNationEarlier this month, sister-site Green Car Reports posted news about less-than-scrupulous dealers already telling potential customers for the upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Volt that there might be a significant markup--as much as $20,000--on the first batch of cars because of limited supply. And as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Around The World In 80 Days... On Renewable ElectricityElectric vehicles might not be the first mode of transport you'd think of to drive around the world, but that's what the five teams taking part in the Zero Race have just set off to achieve. Starting from the Swiss capital city Geneva, the teams will cover 30,000 kilometers (18,650 miles) on their...
Antony Ingram