Polls
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Much of the electric-car world is waiting to see how quickly production of the Tesla Model 3 will ramp up over the balance of this year. Will it reach the remarkable level of 5,000 cars per week by December 31 that CEO Elon Musk has set as a goal? Analysts and industry commentators are skeptical, owners and advocates are hopeful, and now at least 30 Model 3s are in owners' hands. Stay tuned. DON'T MISS: Does Tesla Model 3 compete with Bolt EV and Leaf, or BMW 3-Series? With at least some Model 3s coming out of the assembly plant in Fremont, California, a longer-term question rises to the...
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When will ads for cars with tailpipes be banned as health hazards? Poll results
Just 30 years ago, people could smoke anywhere, including offices, malls, and restaurants. The 1987 opening of a New York City restaurant called "Nosmo King" (read it again) was considered a bizarre, if amusing, idea that restauranteurs said would bankrupt the place because no one would give up...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3 electric car: what's your take? Poll results
With the Tesla Model 3 electric car now in early production and an aggressive ramp rate targeted, it's getting lots of media attention. Part of that is due to the allure of the Tesla brand and fascination with company CEO Elon Musk. Some more may be due to the widespread misapprehension that the...
John Voelcker -
What will happen to diesels for U.S. cars, light trucks by 2025? Poll results
With electric-car battery prices falling faster than predicted even five years ago, carmakers face tough and costly choices in choosing powertrains for the lineups in 2020 and after. Pressed by stiff carbon-emission reduction laws in Europe and heavy regulations to encourage electric cars in China...
John Voelcker -
When will sales of of electric and gas cars be equal, globally? Poll results
It's now clear that much greater numbers of plug-in electric cars will be sold in coming years and decades than have found buyers to date. With battery costs falling faster than expected, and toughening regulations in China requiring higher volumes of electric cars, the onus is on the world's...
John Voelcker -
When will Tesla Model Y crossover to go into production? Poll results
The Tesla Model 3, the first mass-market electric car from the Silicon Valley carmaker, is now nominally in production. Scaling up from a trickle of hand-assembled cars to 10,000 units a month is Job One to keep Tesla afloat by letting it sell cars to hundreds of thousands of hand-raisers globally...
John Voelcker -
At the moment, the Tesla Model 3 is getting lots of media attention and electric-car buzz now that the company says its first production car has rolled out of the factory—even if features, specs, and pricing isn't yet known. Meanwhile, the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV is at roughly 9,000 cars sold in North America over the past six months, with higher totals anticipated for the balance of the year. But a third 200-plus-mile mass-market electric car is now imminent, even if its maker is only teasing us with photos until its September 6th global launch. DON'T MISS: 2018 Nissan Leaf electric...
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When will major buyer demand for electric cars arrive? Poll results
With modern electric cars about to enter their eighth year on sale, they remain a tiny fraction of the North American and global markets. While plug-in models now make up almost 1 of every 20 vehicles sold in California, in the U.S. overall and globally it's more like 1 percent. The hurdles to...
John Voelcker -
How many Tesla Model 3s will be delivered by Dec 31? Poll results
With photos of Tesla Model 3 test cars now popping up regularly, it seems likely that some number of Tesla's lower-priced all-electric sedan will roll off the production lines within the next few months. The big question is when the company will start delivering them beyond the board members...
John Voelcker -
How much would relaxing U.S. fuel-economy rules matter? Poll results
One of the earliest acts of the Trump Administration was to announce that it would re-examine emission rules finalized by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration. Making good on that promise, EPA administrator (and climate-science denier) Scott Pruitt reopened the commenting period...
John Voelcker -
Will VW Group's electric cars "leapfrog" Tesla by 2025? Poll results
Looking back from the 2020s or 2030s, it's entirely likely that the unexpected arrival of Tesla Motors was a major force—along with legislation, perhaps the major force—in getting legacy automakers to produce electric cars. Competition has always spurred innovation, and German makers in...
John Voelcker -
What's the lowest acceptable gas mileage for a compact SUV? Poll results
We've driven a lot of compact crossover utility vehicles in recent months. It's a hot category in the new-car market, with all light trucks getting better fuel economy than in past years—and gasoline prices continuing below $3 per gallon in most of the U.S. So we wondered what readers felt...
John Voelcker -
Many U.S. car buyers still aren't aware that the Chinese market surpassed North America in volume and importance fully a decade ago. Similarly, in advanced automotive technology, a case can be made that China is more important than the U.S. Nowhere is that more evident than in plug-in electric cars. DON'T MISS: Shanghai auto show roundup: China plugs into electric cars in a big way Through a combination of carrots (financial incentives, quicker registration, and other preferential treatment) and sticks (government mandates for sales and technology development), China is on track to be the...
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How likely is it China will outpace the U.S. in electric-car adoption? Poll results
China is the biggest new-car market in the world, and has been since 2010. The world's largest country also has some of the smoggiest cities on the planet, and that's a source of increasing public agitation. So at national, state, and local levels, a variety of Chinese government entities are using...
John Voelcker -
Is the science of climate change open to debate? Poll results
It's mixed news these days for those concerned about continuing manmade climate change. On the one hand, global carbon emissions were flat for the third year in a row, increasing numbers of global corporations have lined up to support climate-change reduction efforts, and electric power is getting...
John Voelcker -
After Tesla, which automaker is best in electric cars? Poll results
Regardless of the number of cars they've sold—fewer than the Renault-Nissan alliance—Tesla is undoubtedly the best-known electric-car maker in the world. It delivered 76,000 cars last year, against roughly 10 million each for Volkswagen Group, Toyota, and General Motors. But its sleek...
John Voelcker -
When will it be unacceptable to drive a car with a tailpipe? Poll results
No vehicle on earth is entirely free of emissions; even electric cars charged on renewable energy have emissions associated with their manufacturing. Those emissions, however, are a tiny fraction of the carbon dioxide and other substances emitted by gasoline or diesel cars when scientifically...
John Voelcker -
Which electric car will sell best during 2018? Poll results
Next year should be a record year for sales of plug-in electric cars. A new crop of affordable electric cars with 200 miles of range or more will be available, joining this year's Chevrolet Bolt EV, including the next-generation Nissan Leaf and the mass-market Tesla Model 3. So our thoughts...
John Voelcker -
About 600,000 plug-in electric cars have been sold in the U.S. in the past 10 years. The number for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles is lower: as of the end of last month, it's below 1,600. Nonetheless, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota today offer zero-emission vehicles powered by hydrogen in limited areas of California, and other makers are likely to launch theirs in years to come. DON'T MISS: 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell: Hydrogen Crossover First Drive (Dec 2013) We were curious to see how our Twitter followers felt about the three entries now on the market. Those are the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell...
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Which luxury brand will do best in electric cars? Poll results
Within the next two years we will see new all-electric luxury cars from Audi, BMW, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz appear in actual showrooms. All four of those makes have shown concepts for their pricey, 200-mile-plus electric cars, and most of them are expected to go on sale in the second half of next...
John Voelcker -
Will plug-in hybrids catch on faster than electric cars? Poll results
There are essentially two types of electric cars on sale today. Battery-electric vehicles are powered only by a battery, while plug-in hybrids have an engine to supplement a more limited battery range. Which type will ultimately predominate isn't clear; each has advantages and disadvantages. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
Which type of car will go all-electric the fastest? Poll results
One reason cited for the slow, if growing, penetration of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. is that they're not available in all segments and body styles. With the exception of the pricey Tesla Model X and the discontinued Toyota RAV4 EV, for example, there are no battery-electric SUVs or...
John Voelcker -
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...
John Voelcker -
How important is fast-charging to sell electric cars? Poll results
Those unfamiliar with electric cars often don't know that several different types of battery charging exist. Overnight recharging at home can be done either with 120-volt household current or, for longer-range cars, with a 240-volt charging station installed by the car owner. Then there's DC fast...
John Voelcker