Range-Extended Electric Vehicle

The first electric car from Mazda is mere months away, although a U.S. timeline hasn't yet been confirmed.

The Wankel rotary, the peculiar pistonless internal combustion engine design that Mazda built so much of its heritage around, may see a resurgence after all. Earlier reports and remarks from Mazda executives have suggested that while the rotary will make a comeback, it will be relegated to...

Electric trucks are getting more attention now than they did eight years ago, as the world prepared for the launch of the first modern electric cars to be sold in volume. The Tesla Semi tends to draw enormous amounts of attention, while less glamorous fleet buyers are ever more favorable toward...

How badly do you want to buy a BMW i3 electric car? Initially, it looked like you'd have to move to areas of California where Southern California Edison would be your electric utility. But soon enough, those areas expanded to other parts of California, some areas of New Jersey where PSE&G...

Mazda's famed rotary engine may spin once again. The automaker confirmed the development of a range-extending rotary engine with Toyota for use in a shared future project. Toyota revealed the e-Palette concept on Monday at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The vehicle, a...

As European countries continue to crack down on emissions from road vehicles, automakers are stepping up with solutions to reduce levels of smog-causing nitrogen oxides, especially in city centers. Ford identified the commercial vehicle segment as one it believes is ripe for electrification, and...

As more battery-electric cars are sold and more drivers become aware of them, the question of battery life recurs among pretty much every potential buyer. How long will the battery last? Will I have to replace it every 18 months as I do in my smartphone? Data on the liquid-cooled battery packs of...

While the 2018 BMW i3 will formally debut next week at the Frankfurt auto show, the company has released details ahead of time on the updates to the lineup of its compact electric car. While battery range stays the same as last year, a new i3s model (for Sport) has been added, with revised...

The 2018 Karma Revero remains as much of a head-turner today as the low, sleek four-door sedan was when it debuted a decade ago under another name. It also happens to be a range-extended electric luxury sedan, though we tend to think that the Karma would sell just as well if it ran on coal dust and...

This week, my 2014 i3 REx turned three years old; I picked it up on May 21, 2014. For the most part I’ve been very pleased with the car. It’s definitely not perfect, but then again no car is. It has fit my needs and driving demands perfectly and I only needed to drive on the range...

Unlike conventional hybrids and many plug-in hybrids, the first-generation Chevrolet Volt makes extensive use of both electric and gasoline power. With a fully-charged battery pack, it will drive on electric power alone until the charge is depleted, at which point the onboard gasoline engine...

Advocates of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars are often at odds over which powertrain technology is the more practical solution to reducing emissions. But French firm Symbio continues to experiment with ways to combine the two. It fits hydrogen fuel cells as range extenders for...

This year's updated BMW i3 electric car is only just arriving at U.S. dealerships after a battery-capacity boost that gives it longer range. But already some details of the 2018 BMW i3 have leaked out, in the form of spy photos and further rumors about more battery capacity yet. Unlike our usual...

The Chevrolet Volt may be sold in China as the Buick Velite.

The 2017 BMW i3 gets a larger battery pack and estimated 114-mile maximum range.

The 2017 Karma Revero (nee Fisker Karma) was formally unveiled to the public and to Fisker owners tonight at an event in the canyons of Laguna Beach, south of Los Angeles. Executives of the company formed from the bankrupt wreckage of Fisker Automotive pledged that they've fixed the car's 2012...

The BMW i3 electric car may be the most ambitious small car of recent years, bristling with new technology and innovation. Its carbon-fiber reinforced plastic body shell rides on an aluminum platform, and its all-electric powertrain may include an optional small engine. The battery-electric i3 also...

The 2017 BMW i3 may be offered with two battery-pack options.

The BMW i3 is the only electric car in the world sold with an optional range-extending engine to increase driving capability beyond the range provided by the battery. The "REx" option adds a small, 34-horsepower 650cc two-cylinder engine, derived from one used in BMW motorcycles, that powers a...

After a long and tortured development process and a short life, GM has quietly euthanized its Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe. The derivative of the first-generation Chevrolet Volt was intended to sell at a higher price, to help recoup some of the development costs of the Voltec...