John Voelcker, Contributing Editor

John Voelcker is an accomplished automotive journalist with a diverse background in the industry. As a cofounder of Tempting Fate Tours, he has delved into the world of adventurous car experiences, providing enthusiasts with unforgettable journeys for a year and a half. With a passion for automotive journalism, Voelcker's expertise extends to his tenure as a Contributing Editor at Internet Brands. During his stint, he has contributed valuable insights and engaging content to one of the most respected automotive publications in the industry. Previously, Voelcker served as the inaugural Editor of Green Car Reports under the Internet Brands Automotive Group. For over nine years, starting in 2009, he played a vital role in reporting, editing, and providing news coverage and new-car reviews. His contributions also extended to sister sites, including The Car Connection and Motor Authority, solidifying his reputation as a trusted source in the automotive community. In addition to his editorial work, Voelcker has actively covered advanced auto technologies and energy policy for a multitude of esteemed publications. Wired, Popular Science, Tech Review, IEEE Spectrum, and HybridCars.com are among the platforms that have featured his articles. Recognized for his expertise, he was appointed as one of the jurors for the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards in 2015. With a wealth of experience behind the wheel, Voelcker has driven electric and hybrid cars from dozens of automakers, along with countless other vehicles. His firsthand experiences provide a valuable perspective in his automotive reporting. Voelcker's editorial journey has taken him through various notable magazines, including This Old House, Metropolis, Psychology Today, Exposure, Mother Earth News, Budget Living, and IEEE Spectrum. His diverse background showcases his versatility and ability to cover a wide range of topics. Voelcker holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, which adds a unique analytical lens to his automotive reporting. Splitting his time between the picturesque Catskill Mountains and vibrant New York City, he finds inspiration in both the tranquility of nature and the dynamic urban environment.

Articles

Predicting Chevy Volt Sales: Is California Inventory The Key? John Voelcker February 5, 2013

Analyzing electric-car sales numbers and prognosticating on them is somewhere between a parlor game and a black art.

Now one blogger has applied some Nate Silver-like statistical analysis to try to...
Gas Mileage Of New Cars Sold In Jan: 24.5 MPG, Highest Ever
Every month, the University of Michigan sends out its weighted average of the gas mileage of all new cars sold the previous month. And for January, the news is good. The new vehicles sold in the U.S. during January scored a sales-weighted average fuel efficiency of 24.5 mpg. That's up 0.4 mpg from...
John Voelcker February 4, 2013

Will 2013 Nissan Leaf Price Cut Cause Sales To Soar?
It happens every so often: a spate of media reports with gloom-and-doom headlines about what a dismal failure electric cars are. Take, for instance, this morning's in Reuters--"Electric Cars Head Toward Another Dead End"--or a weekend report in The Detroit News entitled "Electric Vehicle Sales...
John Voelcker February 4, 2013
Will Fisker Get Help From Wanxiang, New A123 Systems Owner?
Last week, the Chinese company Wanxiang got U.S. government approval to buy bankrupt lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems. With that underway, will China's largest auto-parts company now turn its sights toward one of A123's biggest customers, Fisker Automotive? That seemed to be the implication from...
John Voelcker February 4, 2013
Jan Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Volt Falls, Leaf Supply Woes
Sales of plug-in electric cars tripled last year, so how's the New Year looking? Based on January sales, being reported throughout the day by automakers, the year is starting slowly. General Motors said it delivered 1,140 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric cars last month. That's more than the...
John Voelcker February 1, 2013
CA Will Stay The Course On Electric-Car Sales Requirements
Unless you follow green cars fairly closely--or perhaps live in California--you may not know that the Golden State now requires the sale of certain number of battery electric cars. Between 2012 and 2014, the six highest-selling carmakers in the state must sell a combined 7,500 zero-emission...
John Voelcker January 31, 2013
Nissan To Triple Quick-Charging Stations For Electric Cars Over 18 Months John Voelcker January 31, 2013

Nissan announced today that it would provide 40 quick-charging stations to NRG, which will use them to expand its eVgo electric-car charging network into the Washington, D.C., region.

Working with...

Tesla Now Delivering 60-kWh Versions Of Model S Electric Car
It's now clear: Volume deliveries of the second version of the 2013 Tesla Model S began this month. That would be the version fitted with the middle of three battery-pack sizes, with a stated energy capacity of 60 kilowatt-hours. The news does not come from Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], a company that...
John Voelcker January 31, 2013
Electric Cars In Winter: Six Steps To Maximize Driving Range
We get asked a lot whether winter weather makes electric cars impractical. Short answer: No. We even rounded up some of the best electric-cars-in-winter stories last month. But it's a fact of physics that a plug-in electric car will have a longer range in temperate Southern California than in the...
John Voelcker January 30, 2013
Tesla CEO Musk: Boeing 787 Batteries 'Inherently Unsafe'
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is hardly shy and retiring. He tweets out random financial results, states as fact things that haven't quite happened yet, and regularly speaks his mind. Yesterday, he described the troubled Boeing 787 Dreamliner's battery pack design as 'inherently unsafe,' which could...
John Voelcker January 30, 2013
2013 Chevrolet Spark: Gas Mileage Test
We tend to like small cars, as a personal preference. But the very smallest of cars often don't get the best gas mileage, and they can feel subjectively unsafe in some driving conditions. So how did our 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar do on gas mileage? We've concluded that--depending how you use...
John Voelcker January 29, 2013
EPA Quota For Cellulosic Fuels Tossed Out By Court As 'Wish'
Whatever the merits of ethanol as a fuel or a gasoline additive--and it's taken some hits lately--it's still in the running. The same cannot be said, however, for cellulosic biofuels, those derived from advanced crops or waste products. On Friday, a Federal appeals court ruled that an EPA mandate...
John Voelcker January 28, 2013

Down To The Wire: Fisker Wants Partner By Next Month John Voelcker January 28, 2013

The clock continues to tick for Fisker Automotive, which hasn't built any cars for roughly six months now.

The company's new CEO, Tony Posawatz, has said Fisker is seeking a partner--some might say...
Tesla Model S To Be Evaluated By Consumer Reports
Let's hope that the Tesla Model S fares better than the Fisker Karma did. That's the first thought that sprang to mind when we heard the news that Consumer Reports had bought its very own Model S all-electric sport sedan to test. The respected consumer testing magazine notoriously savaged the...
John Voelcker January 25, 2013
Right Electric Range For A Plug-In Hybrid: Is Lower Better?
How much electric range is the "right" amount in a plug-in hybrid or range-extended electric car? If you're a fan of battery electric vehicles, the answer is "all of it." But if you want to drive most of your miles on electricity, and still have the security of a combustion engine as a backup for...
John Voelcker January 25, 2013
Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars? Daimler Delays, Seeks Nissan, Ford As Partners
While gasoline engines will be with us for many years, and plug-in electric cars are coming slowly, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles remain in the background. Four makers have said they will launch production cars powered by hydrogen between 2015 and 2018. Now, one of those companies has slammed on the...
John Voelcker January 25, 2013
Why The Renault Zoe Is Europe's Most Important Electric Car
You may never have heard of Europe's most important electric car. It's the Renault Zoe, an all-electric subcompact that won't be sold in the United States. It comes from French Renault, a company that shares technology with Japan's Nissan--which introduced the Leaf compact electric hatchback here...
John Voelcker January 24, 2013
Chevy Volt And Opel Ampera: Europe And China Sales Too
The Chevrolet Volt is by far the best-selling plug-in car in the United States. Last year, it represented almost 45 percent of all plug-in electric cars sold during 2012. But how's it doing outside the U.S., compared to the Nissan Leaf--which is sold globally in North America, Asia, and Europe?...
John Voelcker January 24, 2013

Volkswagen Installs Huge Solar Array At Chattanooga Plant John Voelcker January 23, 2013

Volkswagen flipped a large ceremonial switch yesterday that signaled the official launch of a huge array of photovoltaic solar cells at its Chattanooga assembly plant, which builds the Volkswagen...
Tesla Model S Production Line Now Running At Full Capacity
For fans of the Tesla Model S all-electric sport sedan, the past few weeks have been full of good news. Deliveries of top-of-the-line 85-kilowatt-hour models now number in the thousands, the 60-kWh model will go into production this month--and has been rated at 208 miles of range--and no major...
John Voelcker January 23, 2013
What Cars Get Traded In For The Electric BMW ActiveE?
Much of the discussion around electric cars centers on their cost: high initial purchase price, low per-mile running costs. But electric cars don't just compete against economy cars with high fuel efficiency. As last week's unveiling of the 2014 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe...
John Voelcker January 22, 2013
Ethanol Is Nothing New; E10 Gasoline Was Sold In 1930s
Back in the 1930s, the United States produced the vast bulk of the oil it burned. It wasn't until the 1973 oil crisis that things like OPEC and fuel efficiency entered the U.S. consciousness. And it took a while longer for the phrase "energy security" to come along. That's what led to the concept...
John Voelcker January 18, 2013
GM States The Obvious: 'The Electric Car Is Not Dead'
Well, duh. The day after it unveiled the 2014 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe, GM's North America chief Mark Reuss told attendees at a trade event that "the electric car is not dead." “That’s despite what you might hear, and despite what you might read about Americans...
John Voelcker January 18, 2013
Fake 'Shifting' For Electric Cars: Dumbest Idea Of The Year
Gosh, those crazy electric cars. They're so different and confusing, eh? We've now come across a new and thus-far unparalleled example of just how far people will go to avoid dealing with the realities of electric cars. Which are, of course, smooth, quiet, and torquey, meaning they're fast off the...
John Voelcker January 17, 2013