Electric Cars

Audi E2   While BMW's Mini E is garnering all sorts of attention Audi is quietly planning a full line of alternative fuel vehicles ranging from a tiny city car to a speedy sportback. There are five potential vehicles in the works, currently referred to with ambiguous monikers E1 through E5...

Toyota RAV4 EV What better place for a parade of electric vehicles than Santa Monica, California, the city that introduced a sustainability plan fifteen years ago, long before "going green" meant anything. On Saturday, a few hundred spectators came out for the EV procession which featured 74...

Of the 50 MINI Es that MINI USA is making available for fleet use testing, today New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that ten of them will be prowling his streets, looking for graffitti, potholes, and other unsightly blemishes as part of the city's Street Condition Observation Unit...

What do Chrysler, Lotus and Russian race car driver/singer/TV anchor/actor, Nikolay Fomenko, have in common? They all want to make electric sports cars to compete with Tesla. Enter the Marussia. The Russian supercar pairs some front end styling cues from the Lamborghini Revention with an interior...

Ford made an especially strong jump on the EV scene at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show announcing that they will begin mass production of a battery-electric vehicle, yet unnamed, in 2011. I was invited by Ford to actually test drive a prototype. At this point the vehicle is based on the Ford Focus body...

Back in November, we reported on the 2010 Fusion hybrid unveiling at the L.A. Auto Show. Yesterday, we drove it at the EcoXperience test track at the NAIAS. I had driven hybrids before, so I wasn't completely shocked by the Fusion's ultra-quiet idling and low-speed driving. After all, we were only...

In a word: WOW. There was so much speculation and excitement about this reveal that it was impossible, even twenty minutes from the unveiling, to get a good view of the staging area. Photographers were perched in the KIA exhibit across the aisle, hoping for a better shot. The Karma S "Sunset" is a...

When I heard Mitsubishi was offering their right-side drive iMiEV concept for testing at the EcoXperience track at the North American International Auto Show, I immediately headed for the basement at the Cobo Center, signed an injury release form, submitted to a breathalyzer, and got in line...

Today, in a dark ballroom packed with eager journalists and pushy photographers, Bob Carter, Toyota Division Group VP and General Manager, unveiled the third generation Prius. It's immediately recognizable as a Prius, with the same iconic, streamlined shape. Upon closer examination, the edges at...

Surprise! There's a new potential Chrysler ENVI product at the Detroit Auto Show. It's called the Chrysler 200C and it might use the same fake range-extending powertrain employed in the Wrangler, Patriot and Town and Country EVs. It's also apparently the American born Hyundai Genesis love-child...

Honda's Insight hybrid was revealed at NAIAS today and is expected to arrive at a dealership near you in April. The Insight uses a 1.3-liter SOHC aluminum-alloy i-VTEC engine, a continuously variable automatic transmission and integrated motor assist hybrid technology to achieve a U.S. EPA...

Chrysler's line of imaginary electric vehicles keeps growing. It started with the iconic Wrangler, the Town and Country minivan and the newly named Dodge Circuit sports car. Today the Jeep Patriot will join the ranks of the eco-friendly lineup. The Patriot, which will be unveiled at the Detroit...

Ford decided to get into the electric car game six months ago, being pushed into it by the wave of enthusiasm from the Chevy Volt and other concepts. They called the plan Project M. On Sunday the vehicle will be demonstrated in the body of a Ford Focus compact car. Powered by lithium-ion batteries...

Toyota has released more details about its electric city car concept that will be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show tomorrow. They will displaying a concept car called the FT-EV that is based on the 4-seat IQ urban vehicle already on sale in Japan. The automaker stated they intend to produce a 50...

Remember the whole Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATPMIV) that was supposed to encourage automakers to develop more technologically advanced, fuel efficient vehicles? This is the same pool of money that the Detroit Three were salivating over until the government decided...

Kate Walsh may be driving something altogether different in her future Cadillac commercials, but it could be just as sexy (the car, that is) as her CTS. Cadillac is expected to unveil an E-flex concept coupe at the upcoming auto show in Detroit. The concept is expected to look "bolder" than...

This year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit will feature dozens of new eco-friendly vehicles, and a recently-announced nature-themed 70,000 square-foot exhibit on which to test-drive the greenest of the green: the zero-emission vehicles. This ride-and-drive track, sponsored by...

Protoscar Lampo Protoscar, the self-proclaimed Swiss "CleanCar Shapers," plan to introduce an electric sports car at the Geneva Motor Show. The 268 horsepower convertible LAMPO concept will be unveiled at the show on March 2nd. The LAMPO uses an electric motor for each axle (the front for...

Aptera plans to make a 3-wheeled electric vehicle called the 2e which exists in working prototype form. The company has taken orders and planned to deliver its first production car by the end of 2008. Since that date passed, letter went out to those on the waiting list. Per the letter, "Our most...

India's popular REVA G-Wiz is getting an upgrade option: a new lithium-ion battery that will extend the vehicle's range from 50 to 75 miles, boast a shorter charge time, and function better in cold climates. The upgrade will be available as a kit in late 2009, or as a newly badged G-Wiz L-ion as...