Plug-In Hybrids

  • U.S. Capitol Building

    Rather to the surprise of electric-car advocates, the massive tax bill passed by the U.S. Congress in December did not eliminate the federal tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. That credit lets buyers take a credit of $2,500 to $7,500 on their income-tax filing in the year of purchase. Now, financial columnist James Stewart has suggested that improving that tax credit might possibly be an area of bipartisan agreement. CHECK OUT: Electric-car tax credit survives in Congressional tax reform bill It's notable that Congress has spared federal funds for renewable energy from...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016
    GM promises it can make money on all-electric cars by 2021

    Radically new powertrains are widely assumed to lose money for the companies that launch them. Toyota's hybrid-electric system, launched in Japan in 1997, likely didn't break even until sometime after the 2004 launch of the second-generation Prius. Long-range battery-electric vehicles are the same...

  • Tesla Supercharger for city centers
    Electric cars will fail, but we'll build them anyway, say global auto execs: KPMG

    Juxtaposed against a growing electric-vehicle market in China and increasingly stringent global carbon-emission limits, a survey by KPMG has revealed a majority of global auto executives believe electric vehicles are a fool's errand. Those executives believe electric cars will eventually be...

  • Workhorse W-15 extended-range electric pickup truck
    Workhorse expands $1,000 preorders for plug-in hybrid pickup from fleets to public for $1,000

    After $300 million in claimed fleet preorders for its plug-in hybrid pickup truck, Workhorse will open its order books for everyone to claim a spot in the production schedule. The Workhorse W-15 will be the first publicly available vehicle from a company that began its electrification journey more...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for January 2018

    Is one of your New Year's resolutions to go green? We're here to help with this month's deals on electric, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, and other efficient vehicles. Against last month, the cars offering the best incentives haven't changed—but the incentives themselves have. Click ahead to find...

  • 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e
    2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid SUV: first drive review

    No doubt the hoi polloi are prepared for emissions-free vehicle zones, what with their bicycles and their little electric cars. But what is the aristocracy to do when its high-end luxury SUVs are banned from city streets in central London? Enter the 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid...

  • Handing over car keys

    Seven years after the first mass-priced modern electric car was sold in the U.S., more car buyers than ever are at least dimly aware that such vehicles exist. Sales of cars that plug in have risen every year, with one slight dip in 2015, but they were still just 1 percent of the U.S. market of 17.5 million light vehicles last year. One reason for that is that most owners only replace a vehicle every five years or so. DON'T MISS: When will major buyer demand for electric cars arrive? Poll results The average car on U.S. roads is still more than a decade old, but most car buyers are naturally...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid drive, Napa Valley, Caifornia, Dec 2017
    Plug-in electric car sales in Canada for 2017: two Dec debuts before ZEV rules

    Plug-in electric vehicles topped 1 percent of Canadian new-car sales in the second half of 2017, but will fall just short of that milestone for the full year. They’ll probably end around 0.95 percent when final registration data arrives, easily surpassing their 0.57-percent market share of...

  • BYD Qin EV300
    China extended tax breaks on hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles through 2020

    As China stares down climate change and smog alerts in numerous cities, the central government has extended its tax rebates for hybrid and electric vehicles for another three years. Announced on December 27, the move is one of many recently that will eventually see traditional internal-combustion...

  • 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    Plug-in electric car sales in Dec: 2017 set new record, Bolt EV ends strong (final update)

    It was clear late last year that the number of plug-in electric cars sold in the U.S. during 2017 would set a new record. December is always a strong sales month for all vehicles, and dealerships across the country have rushed to deliver new cars, crossovers, and trucks to hit their year-end...

  • Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland   [photo: Forth]
    No, electric cars (still) aren't crashing the grid. Again.

    Remember all those brownouts we experienced last week because everyone plugged in their electric cars? No? Oh right, that didn't happen. It still isn't happening. And it's unlikely to ever happen. That's the conclusion of a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), using infrastructure...

  • Smart crash test
    Insurance claims on electric cars vary hugely, though perhaps predictably

    When buying a car, one point to consider during the process should be insurance costs. Aside from any finance or lease payment, and fuel costs if you cover lots of miles in a not-very-efficient vehicle, insurance is likely your biggest car-related expense. Thankfully, the Insurance Institute for...

  • 2018 Mercedes-Benz C350e, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2017

    It's been two and a half years since we drove the plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan at its San Francisco launch event. It took a while for the car to go on sale in the U.S., which it did in January 2017. Now we've had a chance to spend a weekend with the Mercedes-Benz C350e and get a sense of what it's like to live with in the real world. DON'T MISS: Mercedes-Benz C350e Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive (Jun 2015) When we got the car, a 2018 model, in late November, its electric range and fuel-economy ratings still hadn't been finalized on the window sticker by the EPA. That...

  • 2016 Tesla Model X on the street in Vancouver, BC, Canada  [photo: Matthew Klippenstein]
    Canadian electric-car news: apartment charging, electric trucks, Electra Meccanica Solo

    Of all the Canadian electric-car news that rounds out 2017, the Vancouver suburb of Richmond’s new requirement that 100 percent of apartments and condominiums be ready for plug-in vehicles may be the most significant. Access to charging in multi-unit residential buildings, or MURBs, has long...

  • 2018 Ford Fusion Energi
    Ford: China will lead our electric-car effort, 300-mile electric SUV to be built in Mexico

    As we start to look toward the 2019 model year, it's worth noting that Ford hasn't introduced a single new hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric vehicle since 2013. In fact, the company is now clearing the decks and killing off old models. The C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid tall hatchback went out of...

  • 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid charging at Paso Robles Inn, Paso Robles, California, Dec 2017
    Electric car charging on the road has to be way, way better than it is today

    A couple of weeks ago, we charged a 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid 15 times within two days. It was part of a contest during a two-day press drive for the car—though we were beaten by the team that charged their Niro a stunning 31 times in little more than 30 hours. But our experience...

  • 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, Dec 2017
    2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid first drive review (pricing from $28,840)

    Some plug-in hybrid models are easily distinguishable from the rest of the cars their maker sells. Others, like the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, are all but invisible. It takes a sharp eye to see the charging port door on the left-front fender or the trim and badging differences that distinguish...

  • 2018 Chevrolet Volt
    Which plug-in hybrid would you buy today if you had to? Twitter poll results

    The Chevrolet Volt, now in its second generation, has long been the king of mass-market plug-in hybrids. With 53 miles of battery range, its electric performance is exceeded only by the BMW i3 REx range-extended electric hatchback. But the BMW's starting price is close to $50,000, taking it well...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid   [photo: owner 'Viking79']

    We only published our first-drive report on the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid last week, and the car is just now showing up at Honda dealers across the country. But that means the first examples are already been bought and driven. A couple of readers indicated that they were among the buyers, so we asked for their first impressions. DON'T MISS: 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive Lo and behold, a reader known only as "Viking79" pointed us to a page on his personal blog, Cars With Plugs. It contains a long and thoughtful set of first impressions of his 2017 Honda Clarity Plug-In...

  • 2015 Nissan Leaf
    Buyers still think used electric cars cost more than gas cars; they're wrong

    Some of us are perpetually on the hunt for a bargain, yet sometimes our preconceived notions get in the way of saving money on big purchases. Take car buying for instance. Many buyers will opt for a used car because we believe a new car is too expensive, but the truth is many new cars can be had...

  • Renault Fluence ZE charging at Better Place pubic charge spots in Israel [photo: Brian of London]
    How electric-car owners in condos can get their HOAs to OK charging stations

    It's no surprise the majority of electric-car owners today own their own homes. When you own your property, it's much easier to install a changing station in your garage, car port, or even on the wall of your home by the driveway. You only need to get permission from yourself, and possibly your...

  • BMW Group headquarters transformed into batteries in Munich
    BMW sold 100,000 plug-in cars this year: more than GM, probably Nissan too (Tesla TBD)

    You have to hand it to BMW. When the German automaker set out to eclipse last year's sales of plug-in cars by delivering 100,000 electrified vehicles globally this year, it was an ambitious goal. But as of the end of November, the automaker has achieved its goal—and in so doing has sold...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJ
    In an ideal world, this is how electric-car tax credits should work

    The tax reform bill likely to be voted on by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives retained a number of provisions originally slated to be cut from the tax code. Among them was the federal income-tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. Three carmakers—General Motors...

  • Electricity grid substation (Image: FirstEnergy Corp on Flickr, used under CC license)
    Under Paris agreement, electric cars will hurt oil demand well before power supply: report

    Electric vehicles have the potential to upend energy markets as their adoption becomes more widespread. But how much of an effect will they have? And on which specific markets? According to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie, the global power grids are likely safe for quite a while, but another...

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