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Electric-car maker Tesla Motors, and more specifically its CEO Elon Musk, has been dropping hints for a while now that it proposes to open up the specifications of its Supercharger DC fast-charging standard for use by other manufacturers. An article yesterday in Engadget claimed Tesla was planning...

Tesla Motors has some busy years ahead of it. There's the continued roll-out of the Model S in global markets, such as China and Europe. There are two new models on the horizon. And there's the enormous battery gigafactory. To that long list, Tesla has added U.K. sales--as the first cars made their...

You read a lot about hybrids and electric cars these days, but fuel-efficient diesel engines will be coming in certain classes of cars this year and in the future. The most recent crop of diesel launches has been in the crossover utility vehicle class, of which we've now driven three different...

Many entrepreneurs have tried to start car companies in the U.S. over the past century, but the last person to do so from the ground up with a brand that survives to this day was Walter P. Chrysler. He started his company in December 1924--which indicates the magnitude of the challenge faced by...

Well, chalk up another first for Nissan: It sold 3,117 Leaf electric cars in the U.S. last month. That's not only its best-ever one-month sales performance, but it's the first time any carmaker has sold more than 3,000 battery plug-in electric cars in a month in this country--ever. (August 2013...

Aerodynamics are a vital component of automotive efficiency. The more air you have to push out of the way to reach or maintain a certain speed, the more energy you're using. And the more energy you use, the less efficient your journey will be. ALSO SEE: Solar Roadways Smashes Crowdfunding Target...

Driving the world's highest-volume battery-electric car in New York's Hudson Valley.

Within the next year and a half, three different plug-in hybrid SUVs or crossovers will arrive on the U.S. market, or at least some parts of it. And one of them will be the 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, whose limited launch is set for sometime in autumn 2015--despite quite recent...

This past Wednesday, May 21, I picked up my shiny new 2014 BMW i3 REx range-extended electric car from JMK BMW in Springfield, New Jersey. The car, in Laurel Grey, was the first range-extended i3 delivered in North America, and I will always appreciate that BMW gave me the honor of being the first...

Just two weeks ago, drivers of the BMW ActiveE fleet of electric test vehicles were delighted to see that their cars would have a second life. BMW announced that it would redeploy 80 ActiveE electric cars to its DriveNow car-sharing program in San Francisco. MUST READ: 2014 BMW i3 Test Drive: No...

Aside from the all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, there's a distinct lack of plug-in crossovers and SUVs on the market right now. Mitsubishi was hoping to change that with its Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, but battery issues and legislative delays mean it could be early 2016 before the car hits American...

Yesterday we reported on the delay getting range-extended versions of BMW's 2014 i3 electric car to the market, pending the confirmation and fitment of their EPA-approved window stickers. That wait may not be much longer--and now we know the car's official EPA-rated mileage. The 2014 BMW i3 REx is...

The design for EZ-Charge, an access card that would let new Nissan Leaf electric-car drivers use multiple charging networks, was unveiled yesterday at the EDTA convention. Unfortunately, one of the four partners pulled out of the program--seemingly just an hour or so before the lunch event at which...

What’s it like to drive on pure ethanol, known as E100, without a drop of gasoline in the car? In the case of the Brazilian Volkswagen Gol, it’s quite unremarkable. Brazil’s most popular small car for 27 years starts, performs, and otherwise behaves just like a gasoline-fueled...

Nissan has announced the recall of a number of 2014 model year Leaf electric cars, regarding a front structural member assembly. According to the recall report, the front structural member on affected vehicles may be missing welds, affecting its structural integrity in a crash, in turn increasing...

In the search for better electric-car batteries, lots of lab research has to happen before anything can be announced. Today, a company called Power Japan Plus came out of stealth mode to unveil a new battery chemistry, with both electrodes--anode and cathode--made of carbon. The new cell, known as...

The Nissan Leaf is by far the highest-volume electric car ever built, with 110,000-plus on the roads now. And three and a half years after its launch, Nissan is pushing hard to boost its sales all over the world. But what about the next Nissan Leaf, one designed with several years of battery...

Several news reports over the weekend noted that Tesla's contract to supply Toyota with electric powertrains for its RAV4 EV crossover would end next year. In the words of Tesla's latest quarterly report, cited by Bloomberg in a Saturday news story, “Toyota is expected to end the current RAV4...

With the 2014 BMW i3 battery-electric car now being delivered to its first buyers, and the range-extended i3 REx version to follow within several weeks, BMW is at last in the business of selling electric cars in volume. And that, argues one financial analyst, may pose the most direct threat yet to...

The Dodge Dart compact sedan launched as a 2013 model hasn't sold as well as hoped. One thing that hurt its debut was the unfamiliar feel of its dual-clutch automatic gear gearbox, brought over from Europe to boost the fuel economy of versions fitted with the 160-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter...