John Voelcker, Contributor
Articles
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Quick! List all the car factories in the U.S. that produce only electric vehicles.
It’s a trick question, really, because today, there’s only one. That’s the Tesla assembly plant in...
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Toyota vs. electric cars: Smart strategy, or Innovator’s Dilemma?Over the years, Toyota's caution to focus on hybrids and fuel cells over electric cars has been replaced by recalcitrance.
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How many Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs will Ford build? We’ve got numbersBased on numbers from executives and production forecasts, Ford could make the Mach-E at far more than compliance-car numbers.
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2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E preview: Electric SUV targeting 300-mile rangeThe fully electric Mach-E gives Ford a jump with a non-compliance EV that helps keep the Mustang name relevant.
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Five things we didn’t expect in the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUVThe first dedicated, widely available electric vehicle from Ford holds some surprises.
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We rode in the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E: Here’s what it felt likeThe Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV doesn't reach dealerships until fall 2020, but a small ride-along told us a bit more about this upcoming all-electric vehicle.
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At almost twice the volume of the U.S., China is the world’s largest car market. Its government has aggressive plans to put the country at the forefront of global electric-car development,...
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2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV: How GM’s only electric car stacks up after 3 yearsIt might be another three years—or more—before the vehicles on GM's BEV platform arrive. Where does that leave the Bolt EV?
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2020 Porsche Taycan electric car: Seven things we didn't expectThe production car developed from Mission E follows through on many of the specs Porsche has teased all along, albeit with a few peculiar choices.
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2020 Porsche Taycan preview: Fast, electric, expensivePorsche unlocks all the secrets of its new all-electric Taycan battery vehicle.
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1,000-mile electric car unveiled: Aptera returns 10 years laterOne of the early electric-car hopefuls, Aptera, is back a decade later with a reconstituted version of its car and the team behind it.
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VW diesel mitigation: PIRG rates state plans, lacks reality check on EVsThe Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal has fallen out of the news, but VW Group recently boosted its allowance for the total costs to 30 billion euros ($33 billion). In the U.S., VW has bought back hundreds of thousands of TDI diesel vehicles and is paying two distinct 10-figure penalties. The...
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Ah, yes, forwarded emails with subject lines like, “The real story behind …” or “Things you haven’t been told about ….”
They can contain much...
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Step aside, Boomers: New electric-car buyers in Northeast may be MillennialsA new survey of Northeastern drivers suggests the demographics of future electric-car buyers in that region may evolve from the Baby Boomers who’ve bought most of them so far to Millennial buyers who see them as an inevitable part of a tech-focused lifestyle. Released Thursday at the New York...
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Genesis Mint Concept: luxury urban electric two-seater debuts in New YorkGenesis is the newest brand trying to take a piece of a global luxury-vehicle market still dominated by German makers. Last night, in New York City, the Korean brand revealed its first-ever electric car concept. Unusually these days, the Genesis Mint Concept isn’t a crossover utility vehicle...
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10 lessons from the short life of the Chevy Volt, 2011-2019On February 15, GM ended production of the innovative Chevrolet Volt with little fanfare. Over two generations and nine model years, the company sold more than 150,000 of the compact plug-in hybrid hatchbacks. In automotive time, nine model years isn’t that long. The best brand names live for...
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2019 Nissan Leaf Plus vs. 2011 Nissan Leaf: 5 takeaways over 8 yearsWhen a completely new vehicle is introduced, it's generally around for five to seven years before an entirely redesigned generation of that vehicle is launched. By that measure, the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus we reviewed earlier this week is ancient, with a basic structure in its ninth model...
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First drive review: The 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus delivers more power, 226-mile range at lastAt the moment, there are more Nissan Leafs on the world’s roads than any other electric car in history—closing in on 400,000. As of Jan 1, Nissan had delivered 380,000 Leafs globally, 130,000 of them in the United States. Nissan is entirely aware that honor may not last long. It all...
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On Sunday night, General Motors showed renderings of a future long-range, all-electric SUV to be offered roughly three years hence by its Cadillac luxury brand.
The look at the brand's first...
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2019 CES: Quiet year for green-car and self-driving news
As always, the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show held this week in Las Vegas was massive. Hundreds of thousands of attendees, workers, and support staff converged at multiple venues to show off their latest wares, meet with clients, partners, and the media and try to break through the news clutter...
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Toyota and Kenworth to build 10 fuel-cell semis for LA port dutyThe word "drayage" isn't commonly used, even among green-car fans, but it's used by the shipping and logistics industries to refer to the transport of goods over short distances. Drayage turns out to be the sweet spot for early efforts to put zero-emission heavy trucks on the road, including a...
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Toyota's newest self-driving test car is a Lexus LS luxury sedanIf you're going to develop a self-driving test vehicle, why not make it one that passengers would enjoy riding in? Perhaps that's the logic behind Toyota's choice of its new Lexus LS large luxury sedan as the basis for the P4, its latest automated-driving test vehicle—unveiled yesterday by...
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How Nissan hopes to market its future electric carsThe Nissan Leaf with a roughly 60-kilowatt-hour battery was expected to make its public debut at the LA Auto Show earlier this month. It didn’t. That car is expected to appear “very soon,” perhaps at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show to be held in Las Vegas next month. DON'T...
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Electric cars from Audi, Porsche: Explaining platform magicIt would be unthinkable for any automaker but Porsche to introduce a new car with a flat-6 engine hung out behind the rear axle. At this week’s 2018 LA Auto Show, the 2020 Porsche 911 duly made its debut in the hallowed configuration that has persisted since 1964. But with underpinnings...
John Voelcker