Startups

  • Elio Motors 84 mpg 3-wheeler [Image: Elio Motors]

    Startups making small, economical vehicles come and go, but one company offering a high-efficiency vehicle has big plans, buying a former General Motors assembly plant. Elio Motors is the company behind a three-wheeled car capable of 84 mpg highway, on nothing more complicated than gasoline. Reuters reports the company has bought an old GM plant near Shreveport, Louisiana, and Elio expects to begin production of its fuel-sipping vehicle in mid-2014. It will then begin "significant hiring", building up to a workforce of 1,500 by late 2015. Renovation of the old plant will begin later this...

  • Nissan Qashqai
    Nissan Qashqai Electric Conversion: The Struggle Of The Electric Startup

    Those of us who follow the world of electric cars are all too aware how difficult it is to start up an electric car company. Even the larger companies like Tesla Motors, Coda Automotive and Fisker Automotive aren't out of the woods just yet, though some are in a better position than others. One...

  • Ford Escape Hybrid Taxi
    UberX Service Offers Hybrid Cars, Lower Fares In NY, San Francisco

    A car service, not for the rich, but for the rest of us. It’s a novel idea, and its time has come, thanks to on-demand car service startup Uber, which will soon start offering patrons a hybrid vehicle option for more affordable come-and-fetch-me rides. Uber is the San Francisco-based startup...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    2012 Tesla Model S Electric Sedan: Industry Analyst Weighs In

    After a flurry of press events last October that included rides in 2012 Tesla Model S prototypes, Tesla Motors went mostly silent until it unveiled its Model X crossover last month. But the electric crossover won't generate any cash for the Silicon Valley startup carmaker over the next year or two...

  • Bright_Idea_2
    Startup Bright Automotive Shuts Down, Slams DoE Loan Process

    Startup plug-in vehicle maker Bright Automotive announced today that it is closing down. While General Motors had invested $5 million in the company, Bright had relied on the hope that the U.S. Department of Energy would grant it low-interest loans under the advanced-technology vehicle...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma during road test, Los Angeles, Feb 2012
    2012 Fisker Karma Plug-In Is Real, But Will Company Survive?

    After four years, an economic crisis, an industry meltdown, and plug-in cars becoming politically problematic, the 2012 Fisker Karma is on the streets at last. And it's a real car. We've driven it, shot video behind the wheel, and now we've formally reviewed it. We're still sorting out what we...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf at quick-charging station

    Yep, it's almost the end of the year, which means reams of roundup stories from all your favorite auto websites. Nope, we're not that different: We've got one too. Here's our take on the five most important stories--or perhaps themes--of 2011 in the growing world of green cars. New fuel economy rules: 54.5 mpg CAFE by 2025 The biggest story of the year is the new gas-mileage requirements jointly issued by the NHTSA and EPA--under the encouragement of the Obama White House, and with signoff from most if not all of the major automakers. (Auto dealers are still fighting the rules.) The new...

  • Green Vehicles Triac 2.0
    Lesson Learned As Salinas Sues Bankrupt Electric Car Maker?

    It's a sad fact of business that many start-up companies fail within the first few years of trading. Electric car fans are quite used to this and even the most promising new companies can struggle. One such company is Green Vehicles, an electric start-up that folded back in July. Green Vehicles had...

  • Aptera 2e development prototype at company offices in Vista, California
    Futuristic Electric-Car Dream Dead? Aptera To Refund Deposits

    It was great while it lasted, but the dream of being able to buy a sleek, three-wheeled Aptera 2e electric car seems to be receding into the distance. A month ago, the company stopped taking deposits for new Apteras, blaming an issue with the escrow account in which they were held. Now, the company...

  • Green Vehicles Triac 2.0
    Start-Up Electric Car Company Green Vehicles Folds, Costs City $500,000

    Consider today's collapse of electric car company Green Vehicles an object lesson in why it's a bad idea for cities to invest in the risky business of start-up car companies--perhaps especially start-up electric car companies. The city of Salinas, California learned that lesson today as Green...

  • Assembly of Think City electric cars, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
    Think Went Thunk: What Does Electric-Car Bankruptcy Teach Us?

    A little more than three weeks ago, Norwegian electric-car maker Think Global declared bankruptcy--for the fourth time, actually. In a pithy piece published a week later, Pike Research analyst Dave Hurst suggested a few lessons that can be learned from Think's latest collapse. The entire article...

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