EVs
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When it launches its 2019 Volvo S60 T8 Polestar Engineered next year, the Swedish automaker will nearly complete a startling turn toward electrification in less than a decade that began with a small-volume wagon in 2011 and will soon incorporate a full battery electric vehicle and every model in showrooms. Later in 2019, for buyers in the U.S., the transformation will go further. According to Volvo, all of its models will be available with either hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or battery electric options in 2019. Although Volvo's model range is relatively small compared to other luxury and...
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West Coast Mayors Form EV Consortium, Pledge Carbon Reductions
As world leaders met this past week in Paris to discuss carbon reductions on a global scale, mayors of four large West Coast cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland—met in Portland for a two-day summit and united to reduce carbon emissions on a regional level. The...
Bengt Halvorson -
Sight Unseen: Pros And Cons Of Driving A 'Stealth' EV
If you drive a Tesla Model S or a Nissan Leaf, then a certain image follows: Plain and simple, you’re an electric-vehicle early adopter. Just as the Toyota Prius has always shouted out that you’re in a environmentally sound, very fuel-efficient hybrid, these models push your decision to...
Bengt Halvorson -
Concepts Preview Shared Platform For Porsche, Audi Premium EVs?
To those who want a luxury vehicle with an all-electric powertrain, California’s Tesla Motors has had the market under wraps for many years. But that’s slated to change quite soon, as each of the German automakers prepare all-electric vehicles. And there are some strong hints in the...
Bengt Halvorson -
Supplier ZF: Intriguing EV Ideas, But No Plans To Get In The Battery Business
The supplier ZF has designed and engineered a city-sized EV. Yet it has no plans to build such a model; the one-off prototype is just a means for the German supplier, touting its combined capabilities with TRW Automotive, which it finished acquiring earlier this spring, to flex its muscle on safety...
Bengt Halvorson -
Volkswagen e-Golf Climate Control: How Much Does A/C Impact Range?
In Portland, Oregon, where we’re putting our long-term Volkswagen e-Golf to the test, it’s been one of the hottest summers on record. So far in the summer of 2015, Portland has had more than 25 days reaching 90 degrees or more, as well as multiple 100-degree days—in all, some...
Bengt Halvorson -
Today you’re far more likely to see an all-electric vehicle like the Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model S on your way to work or to the store, versus just a couple of years ago. That much is almost certainly true. But that doesn’t mean that EVs are past a market tipping point just yet. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and full battery-electric cars—combined—represent only about three percent of the market. And that percentage hasn’t changed significantly since 2012. One surprising indicator—especially to those who love electric cars in their varied forms and...
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BMW i3: How Far Can You Go Without Touching The Brake Pedal?
The regenerative braking system in the BMW i3 electric car is quite extreme. If you plan ahead and allow enough stopping distance, by lifting off the accelerator, this little electric car will come to a complete stop, without ever requiring a touch of the brake pedal. That behavior recently led...
Bengt Halvorson -
Little i-MiEV Electric Car: How Does It Compare To VW e-Golf?
The 2016 Mitsubishi i-MiEV is an outlier—in design, in layout, and in the way it drives. Yet our long-term 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf is nearly the polar opposite—a full battery-electric model wearing the look, feel, and functionality of one of the world’s best-selling cars of all...
Bengt Halvorson -
2016 Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Drive Report Of 62-Mile Electric Minicar
It’s been nearly four years since the tiny Mitsubishi i-MiEV hit the market. And considering the rapid evolution and transformation of the electric-car market that’s occurred over the past several times the earth has gone around the sun, that’s really light years. So when we...
Bengt Halvorson -
California Helps Low-Income Drivers Switch To Electric Cars
California is introducing a new ‘Plus-Up’ pilot project that should make plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles a lot more affordable. Considering recent news that prices on used electric cars are on a downward spiral, and with families potentially eligible to receive as much as $12,000...
Bengt Halvorson -
Used Electric Cars: About To Get Big, What You Need To Know
Think electric-car ownership is priced out of your league? It’s simply not. Even if leasing isn’t for you, or you don’t have the stellar credit required to get some of those deals, prices are plummeting on used electric vehicles—and that makes it a buyers’ market...
Bengt Halvorson -
Attracted by the new look, much-improved feature set, and better fuel economy ratings of the all-new 2016 Smart Fortwo? You’ll have to wait another six to eight months before you’ll find it at U.S. dealerships. On the other hand, if it’s the next generation of the all-electric Smart Fortwo Electric Drive (ED), you might not want to hold out for the new body style. A redesigned electric version in the new body style isn’t coming this year, and it might not arrive until near the end of 2016. And in the meantime, Smart will continue to sell the Electric Drive, in the...
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2018 Nissan Leaf: Will Less 'EVness' Make It More Appealing?
What will the next-generation 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car look like? No actual photos, or even teasers, have yet been released. Despite that, we're gradually getting a better picture: It'll still be a five-door hatchback, and it'll still be around the same size. But expect its 'EVness' to be...
Bengt Halvorson -
BMW i3 Coupe Concept Live Shots: Los Angeles Auto Show
BMW is committed to creating a full line of electric and advanced plug-in hybrid models—so much so that it's establishing them apart from BMW (and MINI), as an 'i' sub-brand, revolving in part around the idea that 'premium' and 'sustainable' aren't mutually exclusive. But design will have to...
Bengt Halvorson -
Electric-Car Charging: Why Some Households Are Paying Too Much
Owners of plug-in vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, and even the new Tesla Model S may be paying too much when they charge their car. Why? Because they haven’t signed up with the right utility plan. According to a recent survey from the California Center for Sustainable Energy...
Bengt Halvorson -
Fast-Charging Adds Appeal To Electric Cars—Especially In Portland
If you plan to get a Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i (or already have one), and you live in Portland, Oregon, consider yourself fortunate. Because all of these places have at least one DC fast charger reported as currently in operation.
Bengt Halvorson -
Is China Backing Away From Electric Vehicles?
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article offers another look at China's evolving plans for electric cars, also covered last week: China's Electric Car Plans Unrealistic, Focus Now On Hybrids) China's ambitious goals for electrification of its automotive fleet call for 10 percent of the cars expected to be...
IEEE Spectrum -
Back in the 1990s, when it seemed like electric vehicles were gaining traction with consumers, Costco did something unusual: the big-box retailer installed charging stations at many of its California locations. Now, however, those stations are being removed, and electric car fans aren't happy. According to Plug In America, Costco has offered no official explanation for removing the charging stations other than the Xeroxed signs taped to each that read, "Please be advised that this electric charger will be removed on August 15th, 2011. Sorry for the inconvenience." Costco's move seems curious...
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Electric Cars In "No Benefit For Poor Communities" Shocker
Presumably following studies on whether bears really do defecate in the woods and to which religion the Pope actually pertains, The Greenling Institute in California has released a new report suggesting that expensive electric vehicles aren't benefitting communities of low income. The new study...
Antony Ingram -
Single-Malt Powered Electric Car Offers Travel Sans Hangover
You might feel a little "green around the gills" the following morning, but a night of drinking Bruichladdich whisky from the UK helps to do your bit for green transportation. Mark Reynier is managing director of the whisky distillery in Scotland, and every day drives to work in his recently...
Antony Ingram -
BMW's UK MINI E Test Ends: Drivers Happy, But...
A few months after BMW and MINI's electric car study ended in the United States, a similar scheme run in the U.K. has also come to a close, and the results are in... ...and if you've read the results of the American tests, the figures coming from the U.K. will all look very familiar. Basically, all...
Antony Ingram -
BMW i3 Electric And i8 Plug-In, Under The Hood: Live Photos
BMW revealed two new electric, hybrid, and range-extended models--the BMW i3 electric car and the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid
Bengt Halvorson -
Electric Cars Dirtier Than Gasoline Equivalents In China
EV fans are probably sick of arguing the case for electric cars whenever someone brings up the old "well to wheels" scenario. "Well, where does the electricity come from?" they ask. Familiar with it? Most of us have pre-prepared figures as to why EVs are cleaner, even considering the fuel burned to...
Antony Ingram