Toyota RAV4 News
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In 2011 a crack task force was sent to the United States by a Japanese manufacturer for a car that's making headlines. These men were promptly trained to be experts in their field. Today, wanted by thousands of owners, they survive as a rapid response unit. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire The N-Team. ...cue the music. We suspect that if you were to call out Nissan's new rapid-response task force to fix a problem with your new LEAF electric car their entrance probably wouldn't be anything like as dramatic as everyone's favourite...
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2012 Mitsubishi 'i', Urban Electric Car: Blessing Or Curse?After several years of taunting and many months of speculation, the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show is finally the venue chosen for Mitsubishi to show off their U.S.-specification 'i' electric car to an expecting public. We've featured the Japanese-spec 'i' several times, as the company has shipped...
Antony Ingram -
2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: Guide To Electric VehiclesWe took a look a few weeks ago at the five electric cars we reckoned you should do your best to see at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. Our list included the 2011 Nissan Leaf, 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Coda Sedan, the 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV and the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Our opinion hasn't changed -...
Antony Ingram -
Cheap Insurance For EVs? LEAF May Benefit, Will Others?With all the talk of purchase price, charging costs, tax incentives, congestion charging exemptions and maintenance costs for EVs, there's one financial area which often gets overlooked - insuring them. With so few EVs on the road it's been difficult to gauge whether they'll cost more or less than...
Antony Ingram -
2010 LA Auto Show: Toyota-Tesla RAV4 EV, Under the HoodThere's a lot we don't know about the 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV that Japan's largest automaker is prototyping with Silicon Valley startup Tesla Motors. That includes the battery pack size, traction motor power, and stated range--although 100 miles is the goal, according to Jim Lentz, president of Toyota...
John Voelcker -
2010 LA Auto Show: 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV Powered By TeslaAs they say, everything old is new again. Fourteen years after it launched its very first RAV4 crossover at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Toyota returned to LA to launch an all-electric version of its latest RAV4. And this one is, as the logos in a teaser photo released earlier said, "powered by...
John Voelcker -
The 2010 Los Angles Auto Show is nearly upon us, and we're getting excited for the wealth of new electric cars on display at the show. It's not just about the cars themselves though - equally imporant are the companies displaying EV-related technology. One such company is Southern California Edison, who are set to launch a new consumer electric vehicle website at the show. In collaboration with the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), SoCal Edison will be launching GoElectricDrive.com. The site is intended to be a comprehensive guide providing consumers with information about...
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Revenge Of The Electric Car Trailer Release To Facebook FansWho killed the electric car? Chances are that if you've watched the film that poses this question, you'll have some idea of how the electric car fizzled out and died before its 21st-Century re-birth. 2011 will bring a sequel to the original documentary titled "Revenge Of The Electric Car". As with...
Antony Ingram -
Opel Ampera News - Euro Volt Price Revealed, 42,900 EurosIf you're familiar with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt range-extended EV, then you're already familar with the Opel Ampera, since it's essentially the same car. The Ampera will be sold under General Motors' other brands, the Germany-based Opel and in the U.K. as the Vauxhall Ampera. It's not uncommon for...
Antony Ingram -
Magnetic Induction Technology: Charging Without Wires & PlugsThe world of EVs is a strange business. The jump from gasoline and diesel cars to EVs is akin to the jump at the end of the 19th Century from horse and carriage to motor vehicles, in the change in mindset and widespread adoption of infrastructure required. Charging in particular is an area that...
Antony Ingram -
2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: Toyota Shows Teaser PicturesYesterday, with just one week to go before the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, Toyota released a few teaser pictures of the much-anticipated love-child of Toyota and Tesla - and told us when it will be unveiled. The Toyota 2013 RAV4 Electric Vehicle is based upon Toyota’s popular compact...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tesla-Powered Electric RAV4: Initially Just "A Few Thousand"One of the more eagerly awaited green vehicles at next week's 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show is the electric RAV4 crossover that Toyota will launch in partnership with Tesla Motors. Now we learn that the initial order is for little more than a test fleet of perhaps 2,000 vehicles, according to Tesla...
John Voelcker -
We've covered Plug In America before on AllCarsElectric. The group is at the forefront of the EV movement in the U.S. and aims to promote usage of electric vehicles and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Now, the group has released a series of humorous "Public Service Announcements" (PSAs) written and performed by a cast and crew of sixty individuals, many of whom are long term EV owners - some have driven EVs for as long as nine years. The 30-second shorts are an interesting and amusing way of educating viewers on the benefits of plug-in vehicles, some of whom might have been turned off to...
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EV Vs Gas Vs Diesel: Breaking Down The CostsThanks to the limited availability of electric cars on the market thus far and lack of parity between EV models and their gasoline or diesel counterparts, comparing the relative costs of the three isn't the easiest of tasks. The human race wouldn't have got very far if we'd only ever done what was...
Antony Ingram -
First Ride: 2013 VW Golf Blue-E-Motion PrototypeIt’s a little-known fact that between the late 1970s and mid 1990s Volkswagen made a series of limited-run electric cars based on the VW Golf platform. Thirty years later, VW’s latest offering, the 2013 Golf Blue-e-motion made its first appearance in the U.K, winning an eco-driving...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Top 10 Cities For Commuting By Electric CarWe've taken a look recently at the five EVs we're most looking forward to driving, and another look at the five EVs you should do your best to see at the upcoming 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. We're clearly at the beginning of something big for personal transportation, an age where electric travel is...
Antony Ingram -
EVs All The Way Down: EV Tractors At Ford's Michigan PlantCar assembly will never be the cleanest of processes, despite the efforts of people like Gordon Murray whose i-Stream production method for his T25 and T27 microcars is said to reduce the energy of car production by as much as 80 percent. Still, some companies do make the effort to bring down the...
Antony Ingram -
If EVs Kill Japan's Autopart Shops, Is The U.S. Far Behind?Shop owners in the sprawling Japanese industrial town of Hamamatsu are worried: They see a future where their day jobs are under threat, and even worse, by the very companies they are in business to support. What is this great thread? Globalisation? Copyright infringement? Neither - their business...
Antony Ingram -
As we rapidly approach the end of 2010 there are really only two mainstream plug-in cars stealing the limelight - the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. But while there will only be a few choices for those wishing to go electric at the end of 2010 in a few years’ time there will be a veritable cornucopia of all-electric, plug-in hybrid and range-extended electric cars for a consumer to choose from. Some are due to hit showrooms soon, some are test-fleet vehicles, some have no confirmed release date, and others are cars we know a little about but think you should keep an eye...
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Five New Electric Cars We'll See At The 2010 L.A. Auto ShowOne of the biggest motoring events of the year is just around the corner - the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. Manufacturers will be out in force with the best of their product lineup and a combination of glitzy stands and glitzy girls to make the metal seem that little bit more appealing. What we're...
Antony Ingram -
Five Electric Cars We Can't Wait To DriveIn recent months we've been lucky enough to get our hands on several different and important electric cars, be they range-extended EVs such as the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, electric family cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf or even the 2011 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, a compact electric microcar most at...
Antony Ingram -
Is Demand For Electric Cars Overhyped? J.D. Power Thinks SoWith a fanfare going up for every new electric car that hits the market at the moment, you'd be forgiven for thinking we're only a few short steps away from widespread EV adoption. According to marketing information services firm J.D. Power though, this might not be the case. According to the...
Antony Ingram -
Recharge As You Revere: Charge At Church, It Pays To PraiseThink of all the places you might go in a week that would give your electric car enough time for a top-up. The mall? The cinema? Restaurants? How about church? EV networking company Coulomb Technologies has revealed that Wooden Cross Lutheran church in Woodinville, Washington will be the first...
Antony Ingram -
Video: 2011 Nissan Leaf - How It's MadeWith the first Leafs now rolling off the production line, Nissan has given us an insight into how the car is produced with a short video. The video shows different aspects of production, such as how the battery is produced and installed, how the inverter is made and how the motor is made and...
Antony Ingram