synd-vehicle-history

  • 2018 Ford Fusion Energi

    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 production a few months ago, and its Hybrid sibling will follow this spring or summer. DON'T MISS: Ford plans 300-mile electric SUV, hybrid F-150 and Mustang (Jan 2017) That will leave Ford with just the Fusion Hybrid and Energi plug-in hybrid sedans, the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid (without a plug-in...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S
    All-wheel drive now standard on all Tesla Model S, Model X cars

    Tesla now offers roughly the same percentage of its model lineup with standard all-wheel-drive configuration as famed AWD proponent Subaru. The Silicon Valley electric-car maker has completely ditched rear-wheel drive in its Model S hatchback sedans and Model X crossover utility vehicles. Only its...

  • 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...

  • Jaguar I-Pace Concept, 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show
    First Euro prices for Jaguar I-Pace electric car released; US $70K to $80K?

    While prices for the Jaguar I-Pace electric car that launches next year haven't been announced for the U.S., figures appearing across the pond provide a good starting point for some guesstimation. According to Dutch website Autoblog.nl, the I-Pace electric SUV will get a starting price of 82,000...

  • 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...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJ

    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, Nissan, and Tesla—have now used more than half the 200,000 full credits allowed to each electric-car maker before the credit starts to sunset. DON'T MISS: Electric-car tax credit retained in Congressional tax reform bill: confirmed The federal incentive is a credit taken against U.S. income...

  • Tesla Semi
    Wal-Mart, Anheuser-Busch, DHL to test Tesla Semi; now UPS, Pepsi too (more updates)

    An Instagram post by an "outdoor living design and construction firm serving the Chicago Southland" seems to confirm at least several hundred reservations for Tesla's new all-electric truck. Elemental Landscapes of Illinois posted a screenshot of its reservation for three Tesla Semi trucks, showing...

  • Production of first NEVS 9-3 at plant in Tianjin, China is celebrated
    First all-electric NEVS 9-3 sedans (nee Saab) built in China two weeks ago

    The company that bought the remains of Swedish carmaker Saab, known as National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), finally celebrated the start of car production in China two weeks ago. NEVS first production vehicle is the 9-3 electric, of which it plans to produce 50,000 copies annually during phase...

  • Coal-fired Nanticoke Generating Station, Ontario, Canada, now being converted to 44-MW solar farm
    World Bank will stop funding oil, gas exploration in 2019

    It's not just the world automotive industry that's grappling with rapid changes brought about by the need to reduce the effects of climate change. The world's fossil-fuel extraction, refining, and delivery industries are also faced with the reality that two centuries of burning their core products...

  • Weltmeister EX5
    Weltmeister EX5: first electric car from $1 billion Chinese company you've never heard of

    After numerous positions with BorgWarner, Fiat Group, Volvo, and China's largest automaker Geely, an executive named Freeman Shen has finally rolled out his own creation. That is the Weltmeiser EX5, the product of $1 billion in first-round funding from some of the largest players in Chinese tech...

  • Bollare BlueCar electric cars will be used in Singapore's new car sharing service, BlueSG
    Singapore launches electric-car sharing program using Bollore BlueCars

    Some of us take for granted the difficulty and cost of owning a car, but more alternatives exist today than did 10 years ago. While many view car ownership as a monthly lease or financing payment, owning a car for others requires finding a place to keep it and perhaps the need to keep moving it...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius Prime, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2016

    Sales of plug-in electric cars are rising steadily in North America, Europe, and Asia, with roughly 2 million now on the world's roads. China is debating when it will ban sales of new vehicles with combustion engines. Meanwhile, Toyota—one of the four largest global automakers—is only reluctantly planning to launch its own battery-electric car for 2020, the first it will have designed for mass production. DON'T MISS: Toyota, Panasonic agree to study prismatic battery cells for electric cars On Monday, Toyota's Japanese headquarters released a plan for the "popularization of...

  • Greenlots electric-car charging mobile app for use at charging station
    Electrify America contracts with Greenlots for electric-car charging sites, installations

    The $2 billion electric-vehicle infrastructure program funded by Volkswagen as part of its diesel-emission scandal settlement has picked an installer to roll out some of the first phase of its electric-car charging network. Electrify America said on Monday it would contract with the Greenlots...

  • 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
    Four of Wards' Top 10 Engines are actually electric or electrified powertrains

    The industry trade journal WardsAuto has been giving out "Best Engine" awards for 24 years now, and this year's list includes some interesting choices. For starters, there are no engines from German manufacturers on the list: The sole luxury recipients this year are Infiniti and Jaguar. But more...

  • 2018 BMW i3, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show
    BMW partners with Solid Power to develop solid-state cells for electric cars

    While lithium-ion cells have powered all but a handful of plug-in electric cars since 2008, carmakers have looked further down the road toward solid-state battery cells with an eye toward launching them sometime during the 2020s. On Monday, BMW Group and Solid Power announced that the two companies...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric (European spec), 2016 Geneva Motor Show
    Hyundai believes electric-car battery prices will stop falling by 2020

    The automotive business is one that turns raw materials into highly complex finished goods. When the prices of key commodities—especially raw materials—rise, everything downstream in that process becomes more expensive. That's Hyundai's concern over battery prices from 2020 onward, as...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    22 mayors join letter urging electric-car tax credit retention by Congress

    Two bills from the Senate and House of Representatives that would radically reform U.S. tax policy for the first time in three decades are now being reconciled by a joint committee from both houses of Congress. No public hearings on those bills have been held in either chamber, and the legislation...

  • Non-ethanol gasoline pump

    As they say, the best compromise is usually the one that leaves all parties equally dissatisfied. When it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency's renewable-fuel mandate, it seems regulators have reached equilibrium. The latest skirmish in the long-running battle over the U.S. renewable-fuel standard appears to have been settled, at least for the moment. DON'T MISS: Trump EPA: less enforcement of laws, more leeway for polluters As oil producers pushed for changes to the standard, EPA head Scott Pruitt appears to have caved to pressure from corn-state Republican legislators. Accordingly...

  • President Donald Trump (Photo courtesy DoD)
    Trump EPA: less enforcement of laws, more leeway for polluters

    In grade school, students commonly ran through the halls when teachers or other school staff weren't looking. Signs forbidding the act of sprinting past lockers did little to deter the practice, since there was no incentive not to run unless someone present was enforcing the rule. The same can be...

  • ChargePoint Express Plus modular DC fast-charging system for electric cars, launched at 2017 CES
    Do cities have enough electric-car charging stations; are highways the 'last hurdle'?

    The availability of charging stations for electric cars, or lack of it, is often cited as one of the primary reasons holding back widespread adoption. After all, if you're going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a brand-new automobile, you want to be sure it'll get you where you want to go...

  • Frame from 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid "Beyond the Battery" ad
    Can Honda break through buyer confusion about plug-in hybrids?

    With the launch of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid sedan, the Chevrolet Volt now has its first serious competition among long-range plug-in hybrids. About 25,000 second-generation Volts were sold last year, and this year's number will be about 20,000. Honda says it may sell about the same...

  • 2017 Kia Soul EV
    Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for December 2017

    If you're looking to give the gift of efficient motoring this holiday season, numerous manufacturer incentives are available this month that'll save you from breaking the bank. For December, CarsDirect has uncovered leases as cheap as $159/month and discounts as much as $18,100 on fuel-efficient...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    These six states have the highest electric-car adoption rates in the country

    By now, many people would likely produce the correct answer when asked, Where in the U.S. are electric cars most popular? That would be California, which last year had almost seven battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars registered per 1,000 people. But five other states have more than two plug-in...

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