John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel went on sale this week at a handful of top Chevy dealers, and company executives said two of its first three buyers were new to diesel cars.
The new diesel Cruze,...
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Tesla Repays $465-Million DoE Loan, Chrysler Bites Back At ClaimAh, politics. Yesterday, Tesla paid off the balance of its U.S. government loan, using proceeds from its $1 billion-plus offering of stock and warrants last week, as CEO Elon Musk had said Monday it would in a tweet. The amount settled yesterday was $451.8 million, following installments paid by...
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Do Electric And Natural-Gas Cars Compete Against Each Other?We've been thinking a lot about natural-gas fueled vehicles, for reasons that will become clear in due course. Writing about green cars can occasionally be awkward, because there are different audiences for diesels versus hybrids, for plug-in electric cars, and for other types of alternative fuels...
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Electric-Car Charging Station Locator App Companies To MergeTwo companies that make apps to let electric-car drivers locate nearby charging stations will merge, they announced today. Recargo and Xatori will combine their communities and unify their apps, creating a single directory of more than 20,000 charging points across the country. Recargo currently...
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Audi Startled By Tesla Sales Success? Deleted Press Release Seems To Say SoIt may be that short sellers and naysayers aren't the only ones a bit surprised these days at the positive press received by electric-car maker Tesla. Yesterday, Germany luxury-car maker Audi issued a rather unusual press release in which it pointed out that it sells more cars than Tesla Motors...
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How Are Electric-Car Batteries Made? Photos From Nissan's New PlantMaking a battery for an electric car is more like assembling microelectronics than the kind of auto-plant scenes we think of, involving huge steel stamping presses and battalions of automated welding robots. Last month, in addition to driving a 2013 Nissan Leaf through the Tennessee countryside, we...
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For a long time, the Toyota Prius was the only game in town for high fuel-efficiency vehicles.
Starting with the 2004 model, it really came to define the public image of a hybrid car.
Now, though, as...
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100,000th Plug-In Electric Car In U.S. Sold Today (More Or Less)Sometime yesterday or today, the 100,000th modern plug-in electric car was delivered to a buyer somewhere in the U.S. The exact buyer and car will likely never be known. But any electric-car buyer taking delivery on either day can be forgiven for claiming a small share of the glory. The first...
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Can Tesla Raise More Than $1 Billion On Soaring Stock Price?Investors in startup electric-car maker Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] have had quite the wild ride lately. Following its first-ever profitable quarter, with its share price soaring above $80, Tesla announced last Wednesday that it would issue new stock and warrants. Now, Tesla has quietly increased its...
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Another Convert To Natural-Gas Fueling: Railroad Locomotives?The U.S. is increasingly awash in natural gas, so it's natural to consider it as a potential vehicle fuel. From passenger cars to long-haul trucks, both compressed natural gas (CNG) and refrigerated liquid natural gas (LNG) are being eyed as a replacement for diesel fuel and gasoline. Now, natural...
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Wyoming Lithium To Make U.S. Self-Sufficient In Electric-Car Batteries?It's a major threat to national security: A natural resource needed by one or many nations is controlled by only a few countries, which don't much like how the rest of the world runs itself. It applies to oil. It applies to rare-earth metals. Some worry it also applies to lithium, the element used...
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North Carolina Wants To Make It Illegal For Tesla To E-Mail CustomersHow far will state car-dealer associations go to prevent Tesla Motors from opening its electric-car showrooms and selling cars over the Internet? A long, long way. In North Carolina, a new law passed by the state Senate would apparently make it illegal for Tesla to e-mail its customers. In other...
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California is by far the leading state for adoption of plug-in electric cars, with one-third or more of all sales sited in the Golden State.
But how's everyone else doing?
A study of six Southwestern...
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Tesla To Issue More Stock, Pay Off Energy Dept With ProceedsSince Tesla issued its first-quarter financials last week, its stock has been on a tear. Not only did the company have its first profitable quarter ever, but the many investors who had shorted the stock of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] are now faced with the threat of expensive margin calls. So Tesla is...
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2013 Nissan Leaf Final Ratings Issued: 115 MPGe, 75 Miles Of RangeIt often takes awhile to get gas-mileage ratings onto the EPA's official website, and it's no different with electric-car efficiency numbers. Now we have the final ratings for the 2013 Nissan Leaf compact hatchback: It's rated at 115 MPGe, up from the 99 MPGe for 2011 and 2012 models. MPGe stands...
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Could Small 2015 Chevy City Express Van Offer All-Electric Model?This morning, Chevrolet announced that in the fall of 2014, it will start selling a small commercial van called the City Express in the U.S. and Canada. That van will be provided by Nissan, which already sells it as the NV200, with the substitution of a Chevrolet grille and badges. All-electric...
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Why Electric-Car Owners Should Be Happy For New Colorado TaxStories about new or proposed taxes on electric cars are generally viewed as negative, even punitive, by plug-in vehicle advocates. Now, there's one that likely shouldn't cause all that much ruckus: Colorado is about to levy a $50 annual fee on any car that plugs into the wall to recharge its...
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What Now For Fisker Karma Owners: Are V-8s Their Likely Fate?The 2012 Fisker Karma is one of the most striking vehicles on the road today. It's also on its way to becoming an orphan. With just 2,000 or so made, the low, sleek four-door luxury sport sedan and its range-extended electric drivetrain haven't been produced for 10 months. Some dealers have...
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For its second model year, Acura has added new features to the ILX compact sedan, which serves as its entry-level vehicle.
The 2014 Acura ILX will go on sale tomorrow at dealers for Honda's luxury...
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Electric Cars: Eight Important Things Everyone Should Know (But May Not)Sometime in the next few weeks, the 100,000th plug-in electric car will be sold in the U.S. But they're still mostly a mystery to the average new-car buyer, and there are a few key principles that get shared over and over again. Here they are, boiled down for easy consumption: eight things you need...
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Should Apple Buy Tesla? Or Would Ford Be A Better Buyer?Electric-car maker Tesla is on a roll--its first quarter was profitable, its stock price is soaring, and Consumer Reports gave its Model S a rave review. That has led many writers to compare the company to Apple Inc. [NSDQ:AAPL]. Now one analyst has taken it further: In a Bloomberg column, Chamath...
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2013 Nissan Leaf: Driven Through Tennessee CountrysideAfter our quick drive of a 2013 Nissan Leaf before the New York Auto Show in late March, we were finally able to spend some extended time with the updated electric car outside Nashville. Our initial impressions remain the same: The Leaf is a perfectly normal, competent compact five-door hatchback...
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Should EPA Gas-Mileage Ratings Tests Change? What You Need To KnowYour mileage may vary. We've heard it for years, we all know it's true, and yet we put our trust in the EPA's fuel-efficiency ratings as a guide to what kind of gas mileage a car will really get. Now, two cars--the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid and the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid--have brought the failings of...
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Is Belgian Granny Sex Rap The Key To Selling Electric Cars? (Video)Take one very small Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric minicar with a flower decal on the side. Fold in three severe Belgian elderly ladies with disapproving looks. Incorporate one blatantly obvious occurrence of plumber butt in public. Then add one young motorcycle police officer to the resulting mix...
John Voelcker