plug-in cars
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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...
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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...
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla updates maintenance plans; higher fees now include hardware updatesElectric 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Hyundai Ioniq to have lifetime battery-failure warrantyHyundai 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
'Near-zero' diesel cheaper way to cut NOx than electric cars, says diesel lobbying groupA 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
One third of new transit buses will be electric in 2020, all by 2030: Proterra CEOWhile 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
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...
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Big energy hugely underestimates electric cars, renewable powerMass 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
2018 Nissan Leaf spy shots: our question on electric car updateIt'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...
John Voelcker -
China's BYD built more plug-in cars than any other maker last yearTime 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...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car charging station safety: what you need to knowLike 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-in hybrid price guide: every 2017 model, with specsThe 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
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...
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California goal: eliminate gasoline, diesel light vehicles altogetherWhat 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
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...
Stephen Edelstein -
Pilot production of Tesla Model 3 to start Feb 20: reportTesla 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...
John Voelcker -
With Mitsubishi, Renault-Nissan is world's largest maker of all-electric carsThe 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
Bowing to inevitable, Faraday Future scales back plant plansDuring 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
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...
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What will a fully-loaded Tesla Model 3 cost? Poll resultsNow 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...
John Voelcker -
Faraday has 64,000 reservations: why they're different from Tesla'sFaraday 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
Much faster electric-car charging: on a fast trackRelatively 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...
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, Jan 2017: Volt on top againThe 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...
Matthew Klippenstein -
2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: new owner's first impressionsAs 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...
John Voelcker