Featured (was)

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf Software Update

    Earlier this week our contributor George Parrott shared his own experiences of having the main operating software on his 2011 Nissan Leaf updated. In his case, the update took longer than expected, requiring him to leave his car at the dealer for four hours, but didn’t get to see exactly what happens when the update is applied. Curious, we asked Nissan Europe to show us just what happens when Nissan technicians apply an update to the Leaf’s onboard computer to rectify a rare software issue which could cause affected cars to stop working. They obliged and let us watch as our very...

  • 2009 Mercedes-Benz S Class 5.5L V8 AWD
    Five Reasons Why Mercedes Should Make an All-Electric S-Class

    Earlier this week Motor Authority reported that bosses at German automaker Mercedes-Benz were unwilling to confirm or deny the rumors that it was considering an all-electric version of its luxury S-Class sedan. The automaker has confirmed that a facelifted 2013 S-Class will hit the streets late in...

  • 2012 Honda Civic launch, New York Auto Show, April 2011
    2012 Honda Civic: Video Rundown Of The Complete 5-Car Lineup

    Even in the sixth year of its life, the old 2011 Honda Civic frequently topped the chart in retail sales--meaning individual buyers--in the compact car segment. Now, there's a new 2012 Honda Civic lineup, launched to the world at the New York Auto Show two weeks ago. The version with the highest...

  • Brammo Engage SMS prototype electric motorcycle
    Breaking: Brammo Announces Geared Electric Motorcycles (Video)

    Brammo Inc., the Oregonian firm responsible for the all-electric Brammo Enertia, Enertia + and Empulse motorcycles has just announced four new electric motorcycles to be sold alongside its current range. But unlike nearly every other electric vehicle on the market today the new motorcycles will...

  • John Duncan takes delivery of one of the first 2011 Nissan LEAF EVs, near Portland OR, 12/15/2010
    April Electric Car Sales: Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Steady

    Sales of plug-in electric cars continued at a steady pace in April, with 493 Chevrolet Volts and 573 Nissan Leafs sold during the month. That brings yearly totals of the cars to 1,703 and 1,025 respectively. There were also 326 Volts and 19 Leafs sold last December, the month in which each car...

  • GAC Zoyte Electric SUV
    Chinese SUV Tries to Make it in U.S. Despite Taxi Fire

    Yesterday Dallas-based electric vehicle firm Green Automotive Company announced it was sending two of its all-electric Zotye electric SUVs to be tested for compliance with Federal Motor Safety Standards at independent engineering firm Roush Industries. But while GAC’s website promises it is...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf for Sale on eBay

    On the face of it, buying or selling a used electric car could seem like a great idea if you either need to make more room in your garage for your shiny new plug-in ride or you just can’t afford the sticker shock associated with buying new. However, we’ve been watching Internet auction site eBay over the past six months and have noticed a couple of trends in the sales of used electric cars. To help you make the right decisions, here are a few pointers we think will help you buy or sell those plug-in vehicles which may not be quite as new and shiny as cars like the 2011 Chevrolet...

  • 2012 Nissan Versa after debut at 2011 New York Auto Show
    2012 Nissan Versa On Video At New York Auto Show

    With gas prices approaching $4 a gallon and the effects of the recession still very much in evidence, a high-mileage, inexpensive compact car with better-than-average interior room sounds like an appealing offer. That's what emerged at the New York Auto Show 10 days ago, as Nissan officially...

  • Scenes from dedication of electric-car charging station at Creekside Inn, Palo Alto, CA
    Electric-Car Warning: Check Your Utility Bill Carefully!

    It is apparently quite possible that the local utility company that provides the power to charge your new electric vehicle may not have "all its ducks in a row" when it comes to charging you properly for that electricity. I recently bought both a 2011 Nissan Leaf and a 2011 Chevy Volt, and well...

  • Laser beams on a car windshield, photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
    Will Igniting Fuel With Lasers Make Spark Plugs Obsolete?

    You may have other plans for Sunday than attending the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics in Baltimore. But if you were to sit in, you would hear a paper by a research team in Japan and Romania that offers a fascinating new avenue for increasing engine efficiency and reducing gas consumption...

  • Tesla Branded Kids Clothing
    Tesla Morphs into GAP With Branded Clothes for Kids

    Here’s a question. Would you put your kids in branded clothes for a $109,000 sports car? If you answered yes, then we think that’s the answer Silicon-Valley electric car firm Tesla Motors is hoping for after it has quietly launched a new line of clothing aimed specifically at those way...

  • J1772 Tesla Mobile Connector
    The Price of Conformity: Tesla’s $750 J1772 Charge Adaptor

    As those who purchased Betamax when everyone else was choosing VHS will tell you, being at the cutting edge of technology is sometimes very, very expensive. The latest victims of “early-adopter light-wallet syndrome” aren’t buying a new video collection though: they’re...

  • 2012 Nissan Versa sedan launch, New York Auto Show, April 2011

    If you've been paying any attention at all, you'll see new-car ads touting the magical "40 mpg highway" number in big print. You'll see a whole lot of car ads, in fact, for vehicles that include the 2011 Ford Fiesta SFE, 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco (with six-speed manual), 2011 Hyundai Elantra (all versions)--and, soon, the 2012 Hyundai Accent that was just launched at the New York Auto Show. Another 40-mpg entry will be the HF version of the 2012 Honda Civic, that model's highest-mileage non-hybrid gasoline vehicle. And none of them are hybrids either. Hyundai has been hammering its 40-mpg...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco at New York Auto Show with High Gear Media's Joel Feder
    2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco: Video Tour At New York Auto Show

    First came the news that the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu would have only four-cylinder engines, following the path set by the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and other midsize entries. Then came the official unveiling of the line at last week's New York Auto Show, complete with projected gas mileage numbers. The...

  • 2011 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, E.U. spec
    Mitsubishi ‘i’, Chevrolet Volt or Nissan Leaf? We Compare the Basics

    As our sister site GreenCarReports covered last week, the online pre-ordering process is now live for the 2012 Mitsubishi ‘i’, with the car due to hit the roads of California in January 2012. The 2012 Mitsubishi ‘i’ is now the third all-electric car from a major automaker to...

  • U.S.-spec 2012 Fiat 500c
    2012 Fiat 500 Cabriolet: Best Gas-Mileage 4-Seat Convertible You Can Buy

    It's springtime, which means tornadoes for some of us, showers and muggy weather for others. It also means putting the roof down on convertibles after the long winter hiatus. Which led us to wonder: What's the best gas mileage you can get in a new drop-top car with four seats (or at least four...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    How Many Consumers Are Really Ready to Switch to Electric Cars?

    A study conducted by the energy research and advisory firm E Source has revealed that as much as 85 percent of consumers could be ready to buy plug-in electric cars, provided the conditions were right. The data for the report was collected from the Nielsen Energy Survey, which asked 3,200 energy...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt during IIHS crash testing
    Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt Get Highest IIHS Crash-Safety Ratings

    Spend much time looking into electric cars online and you’ll come across the old chestnut that suggests that battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars just aren’t as safe as their gasoline-engined counterparts. But the two best-selling mainstream electric cars of the year have just put...

  • Coulomb electric-car charger, Madison, WI

    Ask any electric car owner to list their favorite benefits of driving an electric car and the chances are that not queuing for gasoline is among them. With relatively few electric cars on the road and public charging stations still hardly oversubscribed, finding a place to plug in is relatively easy. But what happens as more electric cars hit the roads? Will you find yourself queuing for a place to plug in? Not necessarily, thanks to the company behind the ChargePoint website. Announced today by electric vehicle charging equipment manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, registered ChargePoint...

  • 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid
    44-MPG 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid At NY Auto Show: Drive Review

    The Honda Civic Hybrid was only the third hybrid model sold in the U.S., starting way back in 2003, and it was the brand's first mainstream hybrid. It's been a solid member of Honda's Civic lineup ever since, consistently returning the best gas mileage of any Civic model. Now in its third...

  • Electric Cars: How They Work, What You Need To Know (Video)

    Driving the 2011 Chevrolet Volt leads all sorts of people to ask you questions: passers-by, the guy at the parking garage...and sometimes, even museums. A few weeks ago, we had a Chevy Volt for review. At the time, we were asked by the Forward Thinking Museum in Manhattan not only to show its staff...

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' premiere: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk on red carpet
    Elon Musk, Bob Lutz On Red Carpet At 'Revenge of Electric Car' Premiere

    Every movie has to have a premiere, and every premiere has to have a red carpet. When the red carpet is on a Manhattan sidewalk, with plenty of passers-by stopping to gawk, and many of the celebs are arriving in electric cars, things get a little more complicated. Still, last night's premiere of...

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' movie: Elon Musk and Bob Lutz
    Review: 'Revenge Of The Electric Car' Optimistic, Accurate, Lacks A Villain

    From Michael Moore's Roger And Me in 1989 to Chris Paine's 2006 Who Killed The Electric Car?, there's no shortage of documentaries that portray auto-industry executives as incompetent, bumbling, short-sighted, arrogant fools. So it may be a surprise that merely five years later, two global...

  • Long-Distance Electric Car Trips by Night
    Range Anxiety or Stupidity? Pushing an Electric Car to its Limits

    Yesterday we told you about our generally hassle-free, two-day, 520 mile round trip in a 2011 Nissan Leaf. Thanks to a succession of available rapid charging stations, a little measured driving and a few strategic detours we were able to arrive at both destination and start point without little...

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