Green Car News
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Tesla Motors, [NSDQ:TSLA] the company behind the Roadster electric vehicle, might look for additional funding from equity sales to help pay for development of its third electric car — the sport utility vehicle styled Model X — according to the company’s CEO Elon Musk. The company is working on another electric car model that’s geared toward car buyers interested in an SUV or a minivan. Details about the Model X have been scarce — one of the few facts known about it is that it will use the same power train as the Model S — and the car should be unveiled at...
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Move Over Ford: Nissan Plans All-Electric Future For NY TaxisFrom the iconic Ford Crown Victoria through to the Ford Escape Hybrids replacing many of them as part of air quality legislature coming into force in 2012, Ford’s relationship with the New York taxi is a long one. But Ford’s chance to electrify the humble New York City taxi with its...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The Father Of 'Christine' Likes His Chevy Volt Electric CarWho knew? Stephen King, creator of perhaps the most malevolent car ever envisioned--Christine, the homicidal 1958 Plymouth Fury of both novel and movie fame--is an electric car fan. In particular, he loves the family's 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the range-extended electric vehicle that plugs in to...
John Voelcker -
Struggling Saab Now Valued At Just One-Fifth Of Tesla MotorsSaab fans all over the world are looking anxiously at a company that says it's pulled itself back from the brink of death. Again. The latest rescuer is the little-known Chinese carmaker Hawtai Motor Group, which will invest 120 million euros ($177 million) in Spyker Cars NV, the Dutch company that...
John Voelcker -
Car-Sharing Services Like Zipcar Grow, But Is It Viable Business?With fuel prices going the way they are, and it getting harder and harder to find a parking spot in most congested cities these days, the increasing popularity of car-sharing schemes is hardly surprising. In fact, the industry is getting so popular that individuals and automakers alike are getting...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
British Utility Concludes Consumers Don’t Get Electric Cars (Yet)A study conducted by the British arm of european utility company nPower suggests that consumer ignorance is still holding back sales of all-electric cars. In a survey of 2,000 people, nPower discovered that many of those questioned were unaware of governmental grants to assist in the purchase of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
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 gas mileage is the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid, which Honda projects will achieve 44 mpg for all three EPA ratings: city, highway, and combined. There's the standard gasoline model, along with a special Civic HF high-efficiency model that Honda expects will represent about 2 percent of total sales. The...
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2011 Nissan Leaf Software Update: Easy, But Slow (4 Hours?)Nissan's new electric car, the 2011 Leaf, is rolling out slowly. Recently, it came to light that early-delivery vehicles are failing to start after the air conditioning has been used under certain circumstances. Nissan has developed a software update to fix the problem, and will install it in all...
George Parrott -
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...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
April Electric Car Sales: Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf SteadySales 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...
John Voelcker -
Chinese SUV Tries to Make it in U.S. Despite Taxi FireYesterday 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...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tough To Be Wheego: Germany Crushes Electric Car From 'Hand-To-Mouth' StartupIt's hard to start a car company. Really, really, really, really, really hard. Which is why little Wheego Electric Cars is having a tough time of it at the moment. Last week, CEO Mike McQuary told industry trade journal Automotive News that the company was "living hand-to-mouth" and that its first...
John Voelcker -
There’s nothing sales executives love more than seeing sales figures indicating that the latest product is attracting new buyers to their brand, so we’re sure Chevrolet board members must be pretty happy right now. Why? According to data collected from buyers of its 2011 Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric hybrid most have never owned a Chevrolet before. Of those who traded in a vehicle as part of buying their Volt, 90% were new to the brand Chevrolet revealed yesterday. While Chevrolet hasn’t listed which brands its new customers are moving from we’d like to guess that...
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Chevy Volt Goes North For 2012, Priced At C$41,545 In CanadaWith Chevrolet on track to complete its rollout of the 2011 Volt range-extended electric car to all 50 states by the end of this year, the carmaker is turning its sites to other countries. And it's starting next door in one of the two closest foreign countries to the U.S., one right on our border...
John Voelcker -
2012 Mitsubishi "i" VS 2011 Nissan LeafWhat is the basic purpose of the new electric cars? For most of us, it is as a city or local commuting vehicle. The basic commuting "appliance" might be optimized to: 1. cost as little as possible to acquire; 2. have decent functional range for the typical commute or errand, e.g. 50 miles?; and 3...
George Parrott -
Lexus Plans Performance CT 300h Hybrid For Sports Minded ConsumersLast year AllSmallCars.com took a little trip down to New Orleans to check out the prototype version of the Lexus CT 200h. Of course, we were pleasantly surprised with this entry-level luxury hybrid aimed at a younger market that is looking for upscale features with the hot-hatch image. At the time...
Jonathan McGrew -
Better Place Battery Swap Stations Head to ChinaWhat’s the best way to ensure that your electric vehicle technology gets adopted by as many consumers as possible? Take it to China, of course. That’s exactly what electric car infrastructure firm Better Place has done, with the announcement that it has signed a strategic agreement with...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
China In 2050: 350 Million Vehicles, Many Electric Cars...And Gasoline Exports?The big unknown in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions is China. It is industrializing at a rapid pace, and a burgeoning middle class has savings galore to spend on its first automobiles--including luxury European brands. By some estimates, the world's current 800 million vehicles will grow...
John Voelcker -
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...
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Porsche Panamera Diesel: The High-MPG Porsche You Can't HaveIntroduced for 2010, the Porsche Panamera horrified purists but lured buyers all over the world. It was Porsche's first-ever four-door sedan, built in part for the burgeoning Chinese market, and its humpbacked styling is ... well, let's just say ... polarizing. Now Porsche has unveiled the most...
John Voelcker -
Bill Uses California Traffic To Fuel EVs Instead Of Road RageIt's ironic that as the world becomes more interconnected, America is trying to become more independent. Nowhere is that more obvious than in our energy policy, where we talk a lot about the dangers of depending on foreign oil and the importance of generating our own energy. A new bill moving...
Richard Read -
2012 Nissan Versa On Video At New York Auto ShowWith 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...
John Voelcker -
Wheego CEO Says Electric-Car Company Survives “Hand to Mouth”Atlanta-based Wheego Electric Cars Inc may have just delivered its first all-electric two-seat LiFe, but it is also fighting for its life. Talking candidly to Lindsay Chappell from Automotive News, Wheego CEO Mike McQuary painted a bleak picture of the firm and its future. “My constraint is...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
IIHS Gives Volt and LEAF Top Safety Pick AwardSafety is a big concern when it comes to today’s modern automobiles and there has been a lot of interest around the subject when you add electric vehicles to the mix. A recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announcement may quell electric vehicle safety fears and help boost...
Jonathan McGrew