John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Most people in the U.S. have probably never seen a Nissan Leaf electric car.
But Silicon Valley is different--it's crammed with plug-in electric cars, especially Teslas--and now it's got its own...
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3.3 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles By 2025? Eight Governors Pledge ActionLast Thursday, the governors of eight [blue] states pledged to cooperate toward a goal of putting 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on their roads by 2025. The cooperative programs are meant to make it easier for their citizens to buy and use zero-emission vehicles. While the steps cited so far in...
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Elon Musk Opens New Tesla Store In London Mall: Live PhotosLast Thursday evening, Tesla opened another retail location in its push to expand electric-car sales outside the U.S. This one was in London's Westfield Mall, built along the lines of high-end U.S. malls west of the Notting Hill neighborhood. According to our man on the scene, the lighting was...
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Chevy Spark EV Electric Car: No Retail Sales In Canada, EuropeIt's a frequently asked question: Will the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV be sold where I live? (Assuming you don't already live in California or Oregon, where the subcompact electric car has been on sale since June--or South Korea, where it's made.) General Motors had earlier announced that sales of the...
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2014 Fiat 500L: Gas Mileage Test Of New Tall WagonThere aren't many cars like the 2014 Fiat 500L on the market today. It's a tall wagon, not a crossover, because all-wheel drive isn't available. And it shares only a name and an engine with the much smaller Fiat 500 minicar that reintroduced the Fiat name to the U.S. market after a long hiatus...
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Ford Focus & Ford C-Max Hybrid: Is Now The Best Time To Buy?Dry announcements about temporary auto-plant shutdowns can sometimes offer hints to possible bargains on new cars. In this case, Ford said it will close the plant that makes the Ford C-Max Hybrid (and Energi plug-in hybrid) and the Ford Focus compact sedan and hatchback for two separate weeks in...
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The 2014 BMW i3 electric car, which we drove last week, is generating intense interest among both plug-in proponents and BMW fans.
Among other things, it's the first car in the world offered with an...
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How To Site Electric-Car Charging Stations? It's The Parking, StupidWith the recent bankruptcies of charging-station network Ecotality and Israeli electric-car service Better Place, plug-in advocates have quietly discussed whether any business model exists for public electric-car charging stations. But suppose it 's not about the charging at all? Suppose it's about...
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2014 BMW i3: First Drive Of BMW's Radical New Electric CarYou may have read stories lately that suggest the BMW i3 is the first luxury competition for the Tesla Model S electric car. It’s not. You may also have read that it’s the first range-extended car to go head to head with the Chevrolet Volt. It’s not. In building its first...
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2014 Mitsubishi Mirage: 40-MPG Minicar Gas Mileage TestDo you miss your old three-cylinder Geo Metro? If so, Mitsubishi has a new car just for you. The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage five-door hatchback minicar has the highest fuel-economy rating of any non-hybrid on the market. The EPA rates it at 40 mpg combined (37 mpg city, 44 mpg highway) when fitted with...
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What Do You Want To Know About The 2014 BMW i3 Electric Car?The 2014 BMW i3 electric car is one of the most radical new vehicles on the planet. And the innovation comes in many different facets of the car. There's its shape, which is tall and somewhat van-like--unusual for a BMW. Its styling introduces a new design language for BMW's 'i' series of plug-in...
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Lexus CT 200h Compact Hybrid Faces New Mercedes, Audi CompetitorsAs luxury brands expand their efforts to sell more fuel-efficient cars, Lexus will join Audi and Mercedes-Benz in offering a range of compact models in years to come. Reports say that the Lexus CT compact hybrid hatchback will likely be offered in a variety of body styles--including a four-door...
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To launch its Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, General Motors chose to build and expand its very own battery lab.
Crosstown rival Ford is taking a different route.
According to the Detroit...
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Should Public Quick-Charging Be A Marketing Cost For Businesses?Every so often, stories appear about new networks of charging stations for electric cars that have just opened. But if there's no business model to support public charging stations over the long term, who's going to pay for that infrastructure in the future? One possibility, observers suggest, is...
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Tesla Model S Desk Greets Visitors At Draper University Hero CityThe Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sedan is now close to ubiquitous on the streets of Silicon Valley. But you might not expect to see one walking into a building. Or at least part of one. But the side of a Model S, used as the front of a receptionist's desk--compete with two Tesla front...
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Nissan Offers $15,000 For New Electric-Car Quick Chargers By Dec 31With the long-term business model for public charging stations increasingly unclear, at least one carmaker beyond Tesla is boosting its efforts to promote the rollout of quick-charging stations for electric cars. Nissan's EV Advantage program offers $10,000 to companies, groups, and others who...
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2014 BMW i3 With Range Extender Priced At $46,125, Or $3,850 MoreAdding the small range-extending engine to the 2014 BMW i3 battery-electric minicar will increase the price by $3,950, the company announced this evening. The standard 2014 BMW i3 electric car starts at $42,275 including delivery, before any Federal, state, or local incentives. BMW had announced...
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NYC 'Taxi Of Tomorrow' Rule Deemed Unlawful; Fatal Blow?The power to contract and compel medallion owners to purchase the Nissan NV200 from Nissan for 10 years does not exist in the City Charter. And with that sentence, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler ruled yesterday that New York City's plan to standardize its 14,000 medallion taxis is...
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Last week, we were struck by a single photo that captured electric cars across two decades.
The image, showing a GM EV1 and a Tesla Model S on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute campus, was posted...
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The Next Big Emissions Battle Is Not Cars; It's About CoalThe rules for vehicle gas mileage are pretty much locked down from now through 2025. The math is complicated, but vehicles in 2025 will have to reach a fleet-wide average of 54.5 mpg by 2025--or about 42 mpg on their window stickers. So what's the next battleground over reducing emissions? It's...
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Is There Any Business Model For Public Electric-Car Charging? Plug-In 2013 ReportSuppose there's no way for businesses to make money on public electric-car charging stations--even with DC quick-charging? Then what? That was one sobering question that came up during the Plug-In 2013 conference, held in San Diego last Monday through Thursday. Almost three years after the first...
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Five Things To Know About Gas Mileage That Will Save You MoneyGas mileage has gotten far more important in new-car choices over the last 10 years, and that's not likely to change. But not everyone really understands automobile efficiency--or how to maximize their mileage--and which tactics will really save them money. Here's our cheat sheet. (1) Your driving...
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2015 Kia Soul EV To Be Sold In U.S.: First Korean Electric CarWe saw the Kia Soul EV spy shots almost three months ago, and now Kia has officially announced that its first battery-electric car will go on sale in the U.S. next year. It's an electric conversion of the new-for-2014 second generation of its "funky and iconic" Soul tall wagon, which Kia calls an...
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First Tesla Model S Fire Caused By Collision With Road DebrisIt had to happen sooner or later: a fire in a Tesla Model S. And indeed, as first covered by Jalopnik, Tuesday's fire in one example of the luxury electric sedan outside Seattle, Washington, generated a remarkable amount of media coverage. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] issued a statement on the accident...
John Voelcker