John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Well, chalk one up for basic economic theory: If you lower the price of a good, more people will want to own it.
In the case of the 2013 Honda Fit EV, the low-volume battery-electric version of the...
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Elon Musk Hangs Up As Writer Questions Battery-Cost DeclinesReporters interview CEOs all the time, but it's rare for those CEOs to end interviews abruptly. Which is what makes an article in Barron's about Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and its current high stock price so entertaining. In "Recharge Now!", author Bill Alpert opens with a comparison between Tesla...
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Best Mileage Non-Hybrid Car In 2014: From Ford Or Mitsubishi?You want a four-seat car with the highest EPA combined gas-mileage rating you can get--but you've decided you don't want a hybrid. For 2014, two new competitors are joining the fray--and they seem likely to offer considerably better fuel efficiency than today's best-of-the-pack. This year, your...
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Are Electric Cars A Sales Failure, Or Sold Out Due To Demand?You see it all over: the meme that "electric cars are a sales failure." Yet California is experiencing shortages of electric cars, with many dealers saying they've entirely sold out of plug-in electric cars. Some Nissan dealers in Portland, Oregon, even say the Leaf electric car is now their...
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk Will Drive Electric Model S From LA To NYThe problem with battery electric cars is that you can't take them on long trips, because they take so long to recharge. Or so goes the common wisdom, anyhow. Would a trip from Los Angeles to New York City in an electric car perhaps refute that statement? That's the idea discussed by CEO Elon Musk...
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New 2014 Toyota Corolla Unveiled, Eco Model Aims At 40 MPG HighwayThe Toyota Corolla has been the most popular compact car in the U.S. for more years than we can count. But this year's model is the oldest model in a category that has seen every one of its competitors refreshed in the last three years. The new 2014 Toyota Corolla, the 11th generation of a...
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Win some, lose some.
Tesla's had a very good year thus far, but it was recently dealt legislative defeats in two states where it had hoped to sell its electric cars.
In Texas, the state legislature...
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Mitsubishi Issues Second Recall For Outlander Plug-In Hybrid In JapanMitsubishi has recalled 4,313 of its Outlander Plug-In Hybrids in Japan to fix a potential defect that it identified last month. The company resumed production of the plug-in hybrid Outlander after discovering the cause of a fire in one lithium-ion battery pack at a dealership in Japan. The first...
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Recall For Some 2010 Toyota Prius, Lexus HS 250h ModelsToyota said today it would recall some 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid cars in the U.S. due to a potentially faulty brake-pressure accumulator. The component, said the company, may develop an internal crack due to metal fatigue caused by vibrations over the course of the vehicle...
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Want To Ask Obama About Electric Cars? Don't Tell The PressPaul Scott may be one of the most dedicated electric-car advocates around. He sells Nissan Leafs for a living, and helped found advocacy group Plug-In America. A few weeks ago, he had a brilliant idea. Scott used a significant chunk of his life savings for a ticket to a pricey Barack Obama...
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May Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Nissan Leaf Passes Chevy VoltPlug-in car sales continued at a steady pace in May, with early estimates of perhaps 6,500 to 7,000 sold overall. As always, precise figures are impossible because Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] does not report monthly sales as every other carmaker does. We'll refine our totals as more reports come in...
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Is Right Now The Very Best Time To Buy A Car? DiscussSlowly, the economic recession is winding down and consumer moods are improving. Plus, today's new cars get better gas mileage than they did just a few years ago. Is this year the best time to buy a new car? According to several industry analysts quoted in The Detroit News, the answer is...
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Among the 100,000 or so U.S. drivers with plug-in electric cars, it's widely noted that a lot of them charge their cars using photovoltaic solar arrays.
But which comes first, using solar power or...
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2015 Infiniti LE 'Luxury Leaf' Sedan Put On Hold IndefinitelyRemember the 2015 Infiniti LE, the first all-electric mid-size sedan from Nissan's luxury brand? If you're waiting to see the first LEs on the roads, don't hold your breath. Unveiled as a concept at the 2012 New York Auto Show, to rave reviews, the battery-electric LE was to be produced in the U.S...
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Gaming The EPA Gas-Mileage Tests: How It Really WorksEvery now and then, EPA gas-mileage ratings--and cars that notably fail to achieve them in real-world use--burst into public awareness. Hyundai and Kia had to agree to reduced ratings and send refunds to buyers after admitting to testing-procedure errors following an EPA investigation. But do...
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Electric Car Price War? Sorta, But California Has Most Options
If you live in California right now, it's a great time to buy a plug-in electric car. Elsewhere in the country, your choices will be more limited. Three small battery-electric cars are competing on lease pricing in the Golden State, with the default monthly price seemingly $199 or close to it...
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All-New 2016 Toyota Prius: What We Know So FarThe next-generation Toyota Prius hybrid may retain the same shape as its predecessors, but it's likely to be different in several important ways. With spy shots of 2016 Prius prototypes now emerging, it's time to follow up on a piece we did six months ago. So, let's look at all the confirmed facts...
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Delays At Detroit Electric Postpone Electric Sports Car By A MonthForgive the cynicism, but color us not all that surprised at the news that startup automaker Detroit Electric is postponing production of its SP:01 electric sports car by "at least a month." Launched in a flurry of media attention in early April, the plug-in electric SP:01 sports coupe is...
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The mobile phone has quietly become a remarkable device, fully integrated into social media and content sharing among millions of people.
If you haven't already heard of the photo-sharing app...
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Tesla Didn't Make A Profit On Its Cars In Q1: Let's Be ClearTesla Motors has accomplished many remarkable things in its short life as a startup maker of electric cars. But, to clear up a common misperception, its supporters should understand that it has not--yet--made a profit in its core business: designing, building, and selling the Model S all-electric...
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2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel: First DriveIt’s not every day Chevrolet executives talk about launching at car that competes directly with … a Volkswagen. The new 2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel, however, aims directly at the only affordable compact four-door sedan with a diesel engine sold in the U.S. until now: the Volkswagen Jetta...
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Better Place Electric-Car Service Files For BankruptcyBetter Place, the electric-car service that pioneered battery swapping for passenger cars, filed for bankruptcy yesterday in Israel. A statement on the Better Place website said it had applied to a court for an orderly dissolution of the company to protect "the rights of its employees, customers...
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2014 Chevrolet Impala 2.5-Liter Four-Cylinder: Quick DriveThe new 2014 Chevrolet Impala is a big five-passenger family sedan, the largest one Chevy sells. While it was launched earlier this year with a 303-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 engine, it can now also be ordered with a 196-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder Ecotec engine that produces 186 lb-ft of torque...
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Tesla Supercharger Coming To Midwest Too, Not Just CoastsThe long-promised announcement from Tesla Motors on expansion of its Supercharger network has been delayed by the company's billion-dollar fundraising, and this week's payoff of its entire Department of Energy loan. But Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] still plans a rapid expansion of the network of...
John Voelcker