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The 2011 Chevrolet Volt may soon have a new sibling in the form of a range-extended plug-in hybrid SUV, according to plugincars.com Talking to Dave Barthmuss, General Motors’ western region group manager for environmental and energy communications, plugincars’ Brad Berman broached the subject of a possible plug-in SUV based on the Volt drivetrain - and got given the best hint so far that GM was bring such a vehicle to the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Berman’s question was straightforward and direct, asking if the automaker had any further news on a plug-in crossover SUV the firm...
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Should Detroit Dial Down The Doom & Gloom Over High-Mileage Rules?We've heard this script before. Some agency of the Federal Government proposes a new rule that will affect the design and performance of cars in some way, sometime in the future. Instinctively, reflexively, automatically, viscerally, the industry lashes out. Horror, catastrophe, misery, bankruptcy!...
John Voelcker -
Clipper Creek Unveils Smallest Electric Car Charging Station yetWell-established charging station manufacturer Clipper Creek has just unveiled what it claims is the smallest electric vehicle charging station currently available on the market. Costing $995 and weighing in at 7 pounds, the Clipper Creek LCS-25 unit looks like the portable 110V level 1charging...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Greenlighting: Lantern Ryan Reynolds to Promote Nissan LeafNissan has always been particular in who it choses to associate with its all-electric Leaf, but its latest superstar signing is quite literally a shining example of what it means to be a leader in the world of green cars. Enter Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds. The 34-year old star of Green Lantern -...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Hey Leaf Owners! Afraid of Big Brother? There’s a Simple FixIn the modern world of smart grids, smart phones and even smart cars, the Internet can connect two seemingly unrelated objects together. Take Nissan’s 2011 Leaf. Thanks to a built-in wireless modem, the all-electric car can both receive and send data through Nissan’s Carwings portal...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Buying a Nissan Leaf? The Wait Could Be Longer Than You'd LikeThere’s no mistaking the fact that Nissan is rapidly increasing its production volumes for its 2011 Nissan Leaf in order to clear its order books and get 12,000 Leafs delivered in the U.S. by the end of 2011. You’d think that by the start of next year, a Nissan Leaf might be easy and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The all-new, entirely redesigned 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan may be rated by the EPA as high as 47 or 48 mpg on the city cycle, according to reports on a website that follows Ford news. The redesigned Ford Fusion sedan will be largely identical to the next Ford Mondeo sedan for Europe under the "One Ford" plan that entails selling the same models worldwide. But sales of the hybrid model will likely be highest in North America, where this year's model is rated at 41 mpg city, 36 mpg highway, for a combined rating of 39 mpg. European buyers will be offered the choice of a turbocharged...
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Five Top Electric Car Themed Gifts for Fathers' DayWe’re less than a week away from Father’s Day - the annual celebration of what our Fathers mean to us - and sometimes an excuse for presents, trips and surprises. If your Father is an electric vehicle fan but you haven’t yet got him a present don’t worry: here’s just...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Leaf Gets Ready for Winter, Gets More HeatingThe 2011 Nissan Leaf may have been the first all-electric mass-produced electric car from a major automaker to hit the roads, but in the first few months following its launch Nissan came under a lot of criticism for not having a more sophisticated thermally managed battery pack inside the Leaf. Now...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BREAKING: Chevrolet 2012 Volt $1,005 Cheaper, More OptionsWant to buy a Chevrolet Volt but missed out on getting a 2011 model? Don’t worry. Next year’s car will offer more options and a lower sticker price, Chevrolet revealed today. Unlike Nissan, which was forced to raise the price of its 2011 Nissan Leaf in Europe shortly before it went on...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Many More Minis: BMW Plans Up To 10 Different High-MPG ModelsWe know that the Mini lineup will expand into several sizes, Now an executive at BMW (which owns the iconic British brand) has said there may be as many as 10 different Mini models in future. The Mini lineup for 2011 already includes four models: There's the Mini Cooper three-door hatchback and...
John Voelcker -
Volvo Listens to Fans, Brings V60 Plug-in Hybrid to U.S. for 2013Ever since we told you all about the 2012 Volvo V60 Plug-in Hyrbid Station Wagon after we were invited to Volvo’s Swedish headquarters to get a sneak peak before its 2011 Geneva Motor Show debut, most of you have been telling us one thing. You wanted it to be available in the U.S. Someone at...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
For the first time in 80 years or so, major automakers are building and selling plug-in electric cars in the U.S. How are they letting people know about their new cars? Advertising, of course. Our colleague Richard Read looked at four electric-car TV ads, analyzing what made them work and what messages they tried to convey. Gas bad, electrons good Remarkably, three of the ads, from three different carmakers, conveyed identical messages: Gasoline is bad and dirty, electricity is clean and better...and wouldn't you want a car that plugged in rather than burning nasty, filthy petroleum? That...
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Exclusive: Black Current III Electric Drag Champion - What's Really Under the HoodDrag racing has long been perceived the preserve of gas-guzzling street-legal and hot rod cars, modified motorcycles, and highly-expensive, custom-built rail dragsters, but for years now a team of dedicated electric vehicle drag racing enthusiasts have shown the world that electric vehicles have...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Hyper-ranging: Nissan Leaf Owners Take on Mileage ChallengeHow far can a 2011 Nissan Leaf really go on a single charge? It’s a question we’re often asked, but one which is particularly difficult to answer since it relies on many different variables ranging from how fast the car is being driven to the temperature of the battery pack, the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Why Buy Electric Cars? Iraq Vet Says: For National SecurityMost Nissan Leaf owners are passionate about their electric cars, especially the earliest ones who've already taken delivery. But not all of them have served three tours of military duty, including service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tim Goodrich was posted to Afghanistan as an avionics technician...
John Voelcker -
Warning: Californian Electric Car Rebates Running Out of ChargeThe California Air Resources Board (CARB) - the state department charged with reducing air pollution and improving the quality of air that Californians breathe - has announced that the California state electric vehicle rebate program will soon run out of money, meaning that electric car buyers may...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
'Flow Cells' May Let Electric Cars Recharge With Liquid RefillsJust two months ago, we published an April Fool's piece about a fictional new BP cell research project that would allow battery packs to be refilled at fuel station pumps. Truth is stranger than fiction, truly. Yesterday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described a nascent research...
John Voelcker -
The CEO of General Motors, Dan Akerson, told a Detroit newspaper that the Federal tax on gasoline should be raised by 50 cents or $1 a gallon to encourage consumers to buy more fuel efficient vehicles.. In an interview last week with the Detroit News, Akerson said a higher gas tax should be part of a comprehensive energy policy set by the U.S. government--a notable omission thus far from the policies issued by the Obama Administration. A higher gas tax makes more sense, Akerson argued, than proposals to increase corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations to as much as 62 miles per...
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U.K. Team to Attempt Electric Car Land Speed Record in 2013Pendine Sands, a 7-mile long beach on the south coast of Wales went down in history in 1924 when a journalist and motor racer by the name of Malcolm Campbell broke the world land speed record at a heady 146.16 mph in the Sunbeam 350HP car he called Blue Bird. Since then the U.K. equivalent to the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Roving Recharge Truck from Nissan to Aid Dead Electric CarsJapanese electric car owners in eastern Prefecture of Kanagawa can now drive easy without the fear of being stranded with a flat battery pack thanks to a new pilot project being run between Nissan Japan and the Japan Automobile Federation - the Japanese equivalent of the AAA. Stranded owners of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
New Chrysler Engine To Burn Gas And Diesel--At The Same TimeYou probably drive a gasoline car. And surely you've heard of cars with diesel engines. But how about a car with an engine that burns both fuels, at the same time? That's what Chrysler is working on, it turns out, funded in part with research dollars from the U.S. Department of Energy. Author Mike...
John Voelcker -
What Really Killed The Cadillac SRX Plug-In? It's ComplicatedWhen a major automaker cancels an innovative plug-in hybrid vehicle program, that's big news. If it's General Motors, that goes double, given the politics that continue to swirl around GM's bankruptcy and the U.S. government's ongoing ownership of part of the company. So it was news when...
John Voelcker -
Exclusive: Top Gear's Spoof Electric-Car Episode Leaked (Video)It doesn’t take a scientist to tell you that the team behind BBC’s Top Gear really don’t like electric cars. Everything from the humble G-Wiz through to the mighty Tesla Roadster and the fresh-faced Nissan Leaf have fallen foul of their comical but factually inept portrayal of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield