Bengt Halvorson, Senior Editor
Articles
-
Take any number of electric cars from different automakers for a brief test drive, and one thing will be abundantly clear: There’s not yet a norm for how EV powertrains are expected to behave.
... -
Tesla Model 3: 215-mile, $35,000 electric car revealedAt a launch event held in Hawthorne, California, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk introduced the Model 3 sedan, the company's highest-volume, lowest-priced effort yet. The Model 3 quite closely follows the style of the Model S sedan and Model X crossover, and it’s unmistakably a Tesla. Yet at a far...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla Model 3: video of first ride in prototype $35k electric carThe Tesla Model 3 electric car has been revealed. And we’ve been among the first fortunate few to have been allowed a ride in one. While our ride (from the back seat) was less than five minutes in all, and the car, thus far, is only in design prototype form, we managed to notice a few more...
Bengt Halvorson -
2017 Kia Niro hybrid SUV: are electric, AWD versions in the works?The 2017 Kia Niro, slated to go on sale late this year, will be Kia’s first dedicated hybrid, for which there's an entirely unique body style. Yet compared to other such hybrid-exclusive vehicles, like the Toyota Prius family, the former Honda Insight, and the upcoming Hyundai...
Bengt Halvorson -
2017 Mitsubishi Outlander: delayed for U.S. again, specs may changeAmericans who want an SUV combined with a plug-in hybrid powertrain have had a very long wait. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV—the plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander now on sale—has been promised for several years, and it’s already a sales success in Europe. Despite being the...
Bengt Halvorson -
2016 Toyota Prius Prime: details on 120 MPGe plug-in hybrid, all-electric modeThe 2017 Toyota Prius Prime replaces the Prius Plug-In, and it directly addresses nearly everything that current owners of that model have wanted. There’s a longer, 22-mile electric driving range, better drivability, and exceptional 120+ MPGe fuel efficiency. It even has one driving detail...
Bengt Halvorson -
Volkswagen has released some limited shots of a concept-vehicle debut for the upcoming 2016 Geneva Motor Show.
The concept is almost certainly a refined version of the Golf-sized crossover utility...
-
Revised Volkswagen Up Minicar Gets Turbo Engine, Geneva Motor Show DebutVolkswagen’s Up! city-car lineup is one of the coolest high-mpg small cars we can’t have, as we described it a few years ago. Now with a host of improvements just announced in advance of the Geneva Motor Show, held early next month, it looks poised to earn its keep as “forbidden...
Bengt Halvorson -
Aston Martin Electric, Fuel-Cell Lightweight, Tesla Restricts Summon: The Week In ReverseLate this week, we brought you some new technical details for the ultra-lightweight Riversimple Rasa, a carbon-fiber two-seater with a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain. Although its underpinnings remind us a bit of the ultra-exotic Volkswagen XL1 hypercar, Riversimple plans not to sell this car but to...
Bengt Halvorson -
EPA Aiming To Target 'Defeat Device' Workarounds, Not RacingLast week, alarm bells were sounding for large portions of the enthusiast, motorsport, and racing community, over new regulatory language that, from the sound of it, could result in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) crackdown for weekend racers. Now the EPA’s effectively saying...
Bengt Halvorson -
VW CEO Tipped Off About U.S. Diesel Probe Earlier Than Previously KnownDid Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn know about the company’s “defeat device” built into its diesel vehicles, and the impending scandal, as early as May 2014? Based on some information recently leaked to a German newspaper, Bild-Zeitung, it’s become a possibility he might...
Bengt Halvorson -
Aston Martin Electric Car To Be Co-Developed With ‘The Netflix Of China’Aston Martin, the British ultraluxury performance-car maker, has turned to an unlikely firm for help with its upcoming RapidE electric car: one of China’s top video-streaming companies. To be fair, Aston’s new partner in the project, LeEco, is a lot more than that, including smart TVs...
Bengt Halvorson -
Ssangyong is unknown to most Americans as a vehicle brand; yet at least a couple of this Korean automaker's new compact crossover models—the Tivoli, and a second upcoming model previewed in a...
-
How Tesla Techs Service Model S Electric Cars: Software Screens RevealedTesla Motors [NASDAQ:TSLA] handles pretty much every step of the sales and service process differently. In addition to that, it’s also conceived its Model S and Model X vehicles with a different approach to firmware, software, and updates—allowing periodic “over the air”...
Bengt Halvorson -
2018 Lexus LC 500h: Geneva Debut For Hybrid Performance CoupeOne of the most pulse-quickening debuts from the Detroit Auto Show last month was that of the lusty Lexus LC 500 Coupe, a model that takes aim at the Mercedes-Benz SL. And while the LC 500’s gas mileage—almost certainly well below 20 mpg in the city, from its big, raucous, naturally...
Bengt Halvorson -
Oregon Debates EV Charging Stations: Cost Or Benefit For Utility Customers?Electric-car ownership allows you to break free from petroleum dependence—and to instead plug in and spend your energy dollars locally and regionally, on energy from the grid. Yet in Oregon, a proposal that would let utility companies invest in regional charging infrastructure—and make...
Bengt Halvorson -
2017 Kia Optima Hybrids: Details On 27-Mile Plug-In Hybrid, Live Photos And VideoKia aims for a 25-percent increase in its U.S. fleet-wide fuel efficiency by 2020; and the new 2017 Optima Hybrid and Optima Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV), introduced today at the Chicago Auto Show and due later this year, are key additions to the brand’s lineup to achieve that. Although the new...
Bengt Halvorson -
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid: More Details On 30-Mile Plug-InChrysler last week revealed the completely new sixth-generation version of its minivans—including, at long last, the first full-hybrid minivan for the U.S. market. That model, to be called the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, is slated to go on sale around September 2016. And while it’s...
Bengt Halvorson -
The Volkswagen Budd-e Concept that was revealed at CES this week marks several firsts. While there are some radically different design and interface approaches (like expanded gesture controls),...
-
Volkswagen Microbus EV To Use 800V CCS Charging From Porsche?Volkswagen has already received a lot of attention for the driving range claimed for its Budd-e all-electric van concept at CES—373 miles on a charge, based on the new European driving cycle, or an anticipated 233 miles by U.S. EPA standards. That’s close to the driving range offered by...
Bengt Halvorson -
Volkswagen Budd-e Concept: 373-Mile, All-Electric Van Signals The Future
On the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Volkswagen has revealed the Budd-e concept, a vehicle that follows up on some of the purpose and utility of the Microbus, yet looks to the next decade, as a compelling template for an all-electric family vehicle. The Budd-e Concept, in many ways...
Bengt Halvorson -
2015 Mercedes-Benz S550e Plug-In Hybrid: Quick DriveThe Mercedes-Benz S550e Plug-In Hybrid is packed with some of the best safety technology and creature comforts you can get in any new car today, regardless of price. It also moves smartly, with an advanced plug-in hybrid system that lets you plug in overnight—or even for a few hours—and...
Bengt Halvorson -
VW e-Golf: Staying Connected With Car-Net Services, Smartphone AppIncreasingly, buying or leasing a new car includes connectivity that extends well beyond the driver’s seat and the car’s cabin—to one’s smartphone and possibly even smartwatch. And electric cars are the type of vehicles for which these capabilities can be especially well put...
Bengt Halvorson -
West Coast Mayors Form EV Consortium, Pledge Carbon ReductionsAs world leaders met this past week in Paris to discuss carbon reductions on a global scale, mayors of four large West Coast cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland—met in Portland for a two-day summit and united to reduce carbon emissions on a regional level. The...
Bengt Halvorson