plug-in cars

  • 2017 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - first drive, Miami, Nov 2016   [photo: Jeff Jablansky]

    When the tiny Smart ForTwo launched in the U.S. a decade ago, it got a huge boost in sales from both novelty and soaring gas prices. While its EPA ratings never approached those of the larger Toyota Prius hybrid, the little two-seater found buyers who liked its cheeky character and the ease of parking a car less than 9 feet long. Its first-year sales of 24,000 proved to be its high point, however. DON'T MISS: 2017 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive: first drive of electric two-seat car Last year, only 6,200 Smarts were sold, despite an all-new model that represented the first clean-sheet design for...

  • Bollinger Motors
    Bollinger Motors promises all-electric off-road 'sport utility truck'

    There seems to be no shortage of startups planning to build new battery-electric vehicles from the ground up. While companies like Lucid Motors and Faraday Future are focusing on high-end luxury models, a newer company named Bollinger Motors is taking a different approach. It aims to launch what it...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S
    Tesla updates maintenance plans; higher fees now include hardware updates

    Electric cars may require significantly less maintenance than internal-combustion cars, but even they will break down eventually. So the Silicon Valley automaker offers maintenance plans, which allow owners to prepay for annual inspections and other routine work. Early in the life of the Model S...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
    2017 Hyundai Ioniq to have lifetime battery-failure warranty

    Hyundai is extending the lifetime battery warranty offered on previous electrified models to the 2017 Ioniq lineup as well. The warranty applies to all versions of Hyundai's first dedicated green car, including the Ioniq Hybrid, Ioniq Electric, and Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid. As with previous Hyundai...

  • 2014 Peterbilt 579
    'Near-zero' diesel cheaper way to cut NOx than electric cars, says diesel lobbying group

    A prominent lobbying group believes environmental remediation funds from Volkswagen diesel settlements should be spent on new "clean" diesel vehicles. The settlement for 2.0-liter TDI cars approved last year requires VW to pay $2.7 billion into a trust, managed by a third party. Volkswagen agreed...

  • Proterra Catalyst electric bus
    One third of new transit buses will be electric in 2020, all by 2030: Proterra CEO

    While electric cars continue to establish a beachhead in the consumer market, electric buses are making quick inroads with U.S. city transit authorities. Several companies already manufacture electric buses, which now operate in several cities around the country. But the CEO of electric-bus maker...

  • Chevrolet Bolt EV Cruise Automation test mule in San Francisco

    The Chevrolet Bolt EV may very well turn out to be a game-changing electric car in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and a base price of $37,495, the Bolt EV has the potential to appeal to a much broader range of customers than previous electric cars. At the same time, it's also the car General Motors is using as its primary autonomous-driving testbed. DON'T MISS: Electric Chevy Bolt EV will be GM's first autonomous car (Dec 2016) GM subsidiary Cruise Automation began testing autonomous Bolt EV prototypes on public roads last year. Now, it's released the second in a series...

  • 2016 BMW i3
    Big energy hugely underestimates electric cars, renewable power

    Mass adoption of electric cars and renewable energy could significantly decrease global consumption of fossil fuels. But does the established energy industry view these new developments as a threat? In a recent report, ExxonMobil said coal could continue to provide the majority of the world's...

  • Section of 2018 Nissan Leaf spy shot  [image via S. Baldauf/SB-Medien, as used on Motor Authority]
    2018 Nissan Leaf spy shots: our question on electric car update

    It's the long-missing member of the trio, the last of three affordable electric cars with 200-plus miles of range expected to go into production this year. But until now, we've heard almost nothing about the 2018 Nissan Leaf. All we knew was that the second generation of the world's highest-volume...

  • 2016 BYD Tang plug-in hybrid SUV, made in China
    China's BYD built more plug-in cars than any other maker last year

    Time for a quick quiz: which carmaker sold more plug-in electric vehicles last year—both battery electrics and plug-in hybrids—than any other? If you're a reader in North America or Europe who managed to miss our headline, odds are you may answer "Tesla" or "Nissan," based on media...

  • Size comparison of electric-car charging stations (EVSEs) on sale today, March 2016
    Electric-car charging station safety: what you need to know

    Like any consumer product, it's important to consider safety when buying a charging station for an electric car. While plugging the vehicle into a station is straightforward, the large amount of current carried over the cord from the power source to the car makes caution worthwhile. Even...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Volt
    Plug-in hybrid price guide: every 2017 model, with specs

    The number of plug-in hybrid cars has expanded greatly over the past few years. If you've had trouble keeping track of all of these new plug-in cars, fear not. A couple of weeks ago, we gathered the relevant data for every battery-electric car on sale today, and presented it to you in one place...

  • Nikola Tesla drives a Tesla Model S in fan-made video

    As an auto company that exclusively produces electric cars, Tesla Motors has a very appropriate name. It is, of course, named after Nikola Tesla, a famed engineer who pioneered technologies related to electricity. So what might Nikola Tesla think of his namesake? DON'T MISS: Pilot production of Tesla Model 3 to start Feb 20: report That's the question a new video created by a Tesla fan seeks to answer. Titled "Step into the Future," the 60-second video takes the form of a commercial, in which Nikola Tesla takes a spin in a Tesla Model S. Tucker S. Elliott, the video's creator, clearly feels...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf
    California goal: eliminate gasoline, diesel light vehicles altogether

    What if gasoline and diesel cars and light trucks were simply eliminated altogether from the new vehicles sold in a state? Residents of one state in the U.S. may, eventually, find out. California already leads the nation in promoting zero-emission vehicles, but the Golden State may soon take that...

  • Lithium-ion cell and battery pack assembly for Nissan Leaf electric car in Sunderland, U.K., plant
    Electric-car batteries: $100 per kwh before 2020, $80 soon after?

    Modern electric cars have developed to the point where range itself may become less of an issue than the cost of providing it. Automakers can create longer-range electric cars simply by installing larger battery packs, but that adds significant cost to the car's single priciest component. Just ask...

  • Tesla Model 3 Driving on a Public Road
    Pilot production of Tesla Model 3 to start Feb 20: report

    Tesla said yesterday it would shut down its production lines for one week this month to prepare for the launch of its upcoming Model 3 electric sedan. The Silicon Valley carmaker said the "brief, planned pause" was to add paint-shop capacity and do general maintenance at its assembly plant in...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf
    With Mitsubishi, Renault-Nissan is world's largest maker of all-electric cars

    The controlling interest in carmaker Mitsubishi it acquired last year has helped the Renault-Nissan Alliance to solidify its position as the global leader in sales of battery-electric cars. The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling all-electric car in history, while the Renault Zoe has achieved...

  • Faraday Future FF 91
    Bowing to inevitable, Faraday Future scales back plant plans

    During a press conference at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, Faraday Future announced plans to build its first electric car within two years. Later in 2016, it selected a site for what it claimed would be a $1 billion electric-car factory to be built in North Las Vegas, Nevada. But work at the...

  • Lucid Air

    Lucid Motors, the California automotive startup formerly known as Atieva, unveiled its Air electric car in December 2016. But so far, the car hasn't been seen on public roads. Lucid has now rectified that by releasing a video that shows its luxury sedan driving around the San Francisco Bay Area. DON'T MISS: Lucid reveals design for its luxury Air sedan, a Tesla competitor (Dec 2016) In the video, the electric sedan glides over the Golden Gate Bridge and into downtown San Francisco, while rear-seat passengers keep themselves occupied by poking at a rear-mounted touchscreen infotainment...

  • Tesla Model 3
    What will a fully-loaded Tesla Model 3 cost? Poll results

    Now that the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV is arriving in more dealers each month, anticipation fever has turned to the Tesla Model 3. (There's a new generation of the Nissan Leaf coming too, but so far not a lot of people seem to be focusing on that.) The Silicon Valley carmaker's Model 3 electric...

  • Faraday Future FF 91
    Faraday has 64,000 reservations: why they're different from Tesla's

    Faraday Future unveiled its first production electric car, the FF 91, last month at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The public debut of the much-hyped luxury utility vehicle generated considerable interest from potential customers. At least, that's how it looks at first glance...

  • ChargePoint Express Plus modular DC fast-charging system for electric cars, launched at 2017 CES
    Much faster electric-car charging: on a fast track

    Relatively short ranges and long charging times are two of the main factors restraining more widespread electric-car adoption. To address the range issue, automakers are expected to launch a batch of more-affordable long-range electric cars over the next few years, a shift heralded by the 2017...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Volt 5dr HB Premier Grille
    Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, Jan 2017: Volt on top again

    The Chevrolet Volt continued its reign on top of the Canadian electric-vehicle sales charts for the tenth consecutive month in January. The plug-in hybrid Volt's 256 sales obliterated the prior January record of 99 Tesla Model Ses from two years ago this month. Chevy Bolt EV sales began at the end...

  • John and Mimi Porter of San Diego, California, with their new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, in Feb 2017
    2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: new owner's first impressions

    As the first mass-priced electric car with more than 200 miles of range to hit the market, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has attracted a great deal of attention. It's won numerous awards, including the Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy title, and received rave reviews from a wide variety of media...

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