EVs

  • 2012 Mitsubishi i electric car x-ray image

    Here's a view of a car you've probably not seen before, though it may be familiar to you if you've ever been in the hospital. The image above shows the 2012 Mitsubishi i electric vehicle after an X-ray scan, allowing you to see many of the vehicle's key components. X-rays pass cleanly through fabrics, plastics and thin sheets of metal such as the vehicle's roof, allowing you to see the denser objects below. You can't fail to notice the i's major electrical components. The big blue rectangle sitting in the center of the vehicle between the chassis rails is the Lithium-ion battery pack. It's...

  • Fast Charging 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Walgreens Promises To Install 800 EV Chargers At Its Stores

    Cracker Barrel did it at all its Tennessee stores, and Best Buy is doing it at stores all around the country. Now pharmaceuticals giant Walgreens is getting in on the action as well. If you hadn’t guessed, we’re talking about installing electric car charging stations, a trend that's...

  • Portland CHAdeMO quick-charging station (publicly accessible)
    Portland, Oregon: Why Is It A Leading Electric Vehicle Market?

    Portland was chosen as one of the first markets for both the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt—and at least for the Leaf, the density of charging stations and the presence of that CHAdeMO quick-charger probably had something to do with it.

  • Better Place battery-swap demonstration
    Better Place Shows Off Europe's First Battery Switch Station

    Better Place has moved a bit further down the road in its quest to corner the electric vehicle market. In Denmark, the company has just unveiled Europe's first Battery Switch Station, which will serve as the cornerstone of Better Place's biggest real-world test to date. The grand event was held at...

  • Volvo C30 Electric
    2012 Volvo C30 Electric: 250 Available In Europe This Fall

    If you're one of our European readers who's had his or her sights set on leasing a Volvo C30 Electric, we have good news and bad news. First the good news: Volvo has announced plans to start producing the C30 Electric for European customers this fall. The bad news? The company is only making 250 of...

  • Porsche Boxster E electric car prototype
    Porsche Boxster E Electric Sports Car A Hit At 2011 Michelin Challenge Bibendum

    The Michelin Challenge Bibendum is an annual event run by the French tire company aimed at promoting the development of sustainable mobility. At this year’s event in the German capital of Berlin Porsche rolled out its Boxster E electric car prototype, revealing a few more saucy details about...

  • Accenture 2011 survey, 'Plug-in Electric Vehicles: Changing Perceptions, Hedging Bets'

    If you plan to shop for a new car this year, there will be a range of plug-in hybrids and EVs competing for your attention. But according to a new survey, only about 30% of you feel comfortable considering them -- and some of you are downright offended by their presence. The news comes from consulting firm (and former Tiger Woods employer) Accenture, which recently issued a report entitled, Plug-in electric vehicles: Changing perceptions, hedging bets. It's a compilation of several thousand surveys conducted with consumers around the world, gauging their understanding of electric vehicles and...

  • Porsche Boxster E electric prototype
    Porsche Wants High-Performance Electric Cars, Testing Plug-In Panamera

    Porsche recently took the wraps off its second hybrid model, the new 2012 Panamera S Hybrid, as well as confirming development of an electric sports car and the announcement that a number of zero-emission ‘Boxster E’ prototypes are already running around Germany. Add to that the...

  • Smart ForTwo Electric Drive at Urban Stage, London
    2011 Smart Electric Drive On The Streets Of London: Driven

    What makes the perfect city car? Compact dimensions are a good place to start, so you can sneak into small parking spaces on a crowded street and squeeze through gaps that would leave other traffic impatiently waiting. Nippy acceleration is useful too, so you aren't left lagging at the lights...

  • BMW Megacity Vehicle official teaser
    BMW i3 Electric Car Coming With 100-Mile Range And $35,000 Sticker: Report

    The upcoming BMW i3, the car formerly known as the Megacity Vehicle and the first production all-electric car from BMW, is set to revolutionize the way mainstream cars are engineered and built, with most of its internal structure and body being composed of lightweight composite materials such as...

  • Audi e-tron Neckarsulm Development Center
    Behind The Scenes At Audi e-tron Electric Car Development Center

    As we reportedly recently, the next-generation of super sports cars won’t be nitrous-snorting, quad-turbocharged, gas swilling beasts, but rather they will offer ultra-high mileage and in some cases no emissions whatsoever. Yes, they will still be stupendously fast, but almost all will come...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric Microsite
    2012 Ford Focus Electric Edges Closer To Production With New Microsite

    The 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt had better watch out. The Blue Oval’s contender in the zero-emissions segment, the upcoming 2012 Ford Focus Electric, is edging closer to production. This week it gained a new microsite on the official Ford website. We already had a look at the car...

  • James Cameron, Suzy Amis with 2011 Chevy Volt at Global Green Pre-Oscar Party, Feb 2011

    With gas prices barreling toward $4 per gallon, there's lots of talk on the evening news about consumers shopping for fuel-efficient cars. In fact, many theorists see $4 as the tipping point at which car buyers prioritize fuel economy above all other criteria. But a new survey indicates that people aren't just interested in greener cars to save money; they're buying them because they're morally superior to other products. The data comes from an online survey of U.S. adults sponsored by NBC Universal -- a follow-up to a similar poll carried out in 2009. The 2011 stats for the "Green is...

  • 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV Prototype
    Toyota: No Plans For Quick Charging In RAV4 EV

    When the RAV4 EV reaches its Phase One stage next year, and a limited-production vehicle goes on sale, it will have one key difference versus the Phase Zero prototype we drove in the San Diego area this past week. While the RAV4 EV prototypes have a proprietary charge connector from Tesla Motors...

  • 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV Prototype
    2012 Toyota RAV4 EV Prototype: First Drive

    Just a year ago, seeing the 'RAV4, Powered by Tesla' startup greeting would have been almost unthinkable. Yet last May, Toyota and Tesla inked a deal that took the industry by surprise—and left a lot of observers scratching their heads. And nearly eleven months since that deal—and nine...

  • 2011 Kia Naimo Concept
    Kia Reveals Naimo Electric Crossover Concept, Announces Real-World Tests

    Kia has taken the wraps off its third electrified concept car in the space of a year (the previous being the Pop and Ray), strongly suggesting that we’re at the start of what could eventuate into an electric car revolution within the South Korean automaker. The latest concept is the 2011 Kia...

  • Tesla versus Top Gear
    Tesla Sues Top Gear For Libel Against All-Electric Roadster

    About two years ago BBC’s Top Gear aired a test drive of the then relatively new Tesla Roadster. While this was seen as a major boon for Tesla, the light shone on its all-electric sports car by the popular show was somewhat less than flattering. In fact, it was rather downbeat. What makes the...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    2011 Chevrolet Volt: Quick Drive Impressions

    The 2011 Geneva Motor Show has come and gone and was a real treat for electric car fans. Not only could you get close to cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf and smart fortwo electric drive, but some were even available to test. One of the cars attracting a lot of attention was the 2011 Chevrolet Volt...

  • Volvo C30 Electric

    Would you pay more than two grand a month to drive an electric Volvo? Apparently, the automaker thinks that there are at least a few people or businesses that will. Volvo Cars Special Vehicles president Lennart Stegland said that Volvo plans to offer the C30 Electric for lease—at a price of 1,500 euros (more than $2,100) per month. While pricing hasn't yet been finalized, the executive provided the figure at an event near Indianapolis, where EnerDel will assemble the C30 Electric's battery pack. This past November, our John Voelcker spent 20 minutes behind the wheel of what was then...

  • First factory-built Fisker Karma live photos
    2011 Fisker Karma Production Begins In Finland, U.S. Deliveries In April

    The best-looking (for now, anyway) electric-powered vehicle on the market is finally, well, on the market--or nearly so. Fisker's Karma extended-range EV entered production at Valmet's plant in Finland today. U.S. deliveries of the car are expected to begin next month. That jibes surprisingly well...

  • Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid prototype, tested in November 2010
    2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Impressions: Why It Needs An EV Button

    For those who travel very short distances, the Toyota Prius Plug-In could almost be thought of as an electric car. With a battery pack that's about 5 kW-hr—many times that of the standard Prius—it can, within reason travel at highway speeds on electric power alone, or up to 14 miles or...

  • Nils Ferber EX electric drill-powered trike
    Screw Gas, Drive A Drill-Powered Electric Suicide Trike

    We're all familiar with alternative lifestyles, but the EX electric tricycle looks like an attempt at an alternative deathstyle. Concocted in the mind of Nils Ferber and realized with the aid of a pair of Bosch drill/drivers, this is an EV for the motorist with a Rube Goldberg fetish and a death...

  • tesla model s prototype 004
    Tesla Model S Update: Alpha Testing On Track, Deliveries Mid-2012

    The recent opening of a new Tesla store in Milan provided a forum for current Roadster owners to ask Elon Musk exactly what's going on with the Tesla Model S. The answers? Pretty much everything is going according to plan. According to Tesla: Testing of the Alpha models is ramping up to full speed...

  • 2011 Smart electric drive
    Report: Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Available For Sale In 2012

    The Smart brand has enjoyed modest success in the U.S. since its launch here back in 2007 but with a lack of any new models or updates, the oddly-designed minicar brand has fallen largely off the radar of late. Furthermore, even with all the hoopla surrounding electric vehicles at the moment...

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