Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, Contributing Writer

Articles

• 
  High MPG Meets 16 Passengers In Latest Volkswagen Publicity Stunt Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 28, 2011

  Producing a vehicle that can accommodate a high number of passengers whilst retaining great gas mileage is becoming a much-prized target in the automakers, with increasingly clever methods being used...

• 
  Audi Launches Pilot Project In Munich With A1 E-tron Electric Car

  Earlier today, Audi launched the latest part of its plug-in electric vehicle program, commencing a public trail of its A1 e-tron range-extended electric car in Munich. Announced in September 2010 after Audi unveiled the A1 E-Tron concept car at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, the 20-strong test car...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 28, 2011
• 
  RIP Bob Beaumont: Creator Of 1970s CitiCar Electric Dies

  Ask most people how long electric cars have been driving on the roads of the U.S. and they might give you an answer of a few years. If they’ve seen Chris Paine’s 2006 film Who Killed The Electric Car, or knows someone in the know, they may give you the real answer: about as long as...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 27, 2011
• 
  More Delays For 2012 Toyota Prius Hybrid: Thai Floods Force Toyota To Slow Production

  The latest disaster to hit Asia this year may have centered on Thailand rather than Japan, but Japanese automaker Toyota has announced that production volumes of its 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid will be directly impacted as its supply chains suffer the effect of the worst floods to hit Thailand for 50...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 27, 2011
• 
  Tesla: We’re Making a New 2015 Roadster, Plus 3-Series Beaters

  Tesla’s first electric car, the 2007-2011 Roadster, may have ceased production after its planned 2,500 (ish) car production run, but the Tesla Roadster will live on in an all-new car for 2014, Tesla has confirmed. In an interview with Autocar, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed what we already...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 27, 2011
• 
  Want Better Gas Mileage? Get To Know Your Car First

  Earlier this month, we attended an event at the Stowe circuit at Silverstone Race Course dedicated to greener driving. Setup to reward green driving styles and drivers who got high gas mileage throughout the day, the driver named official 2011 Green Grand Prix champion had never even driven a green...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 26, 2011
• 
  Great Scott! Here’s How The 2013 All-Electric DeLorean Drives Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 26, 2011

  Let’s face it. If it hadn’t been for the highly popular Back To The Future film trilogy of the 1980s, the stainless-steel, gullwing-doored DeLeorean DMC-12 would probably have been...

• 
  Aptera: There’s Something Coming, But We Can’t Tell You What

  In the electric auto industry there are three types of car companies: Those who bring a successful electric car to market, those who bring an unsuccessful electric car to market, and those who perpetually claim their ground-breaking electric car is “coming soon”. California-based Aptera...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 26, 2011
• 
  Here’s How To Save $5,000 On A 2012 Nissan Leaf In North Carolina

  NASCAR-loving North Carolina may not be the first place you’d think of as being particularly pro-electric car, but for 40-lucky residents the cost of buying a 2012 Nissan Leaf there just dropped by $5,000 thanks to a time-limited scheme being run by Advanced Energy. As part of its latest...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 24, 2011
• 
  BYD To California: You Don't Have Enough Electric Car Charging Stations

  Over the years, we’ve heard lots of excuses from electric car companies as to why they’ve had to delay the launch of a car. Ranging from delays in the part supply through to last-minute improvements and modifications to comply with new regulations, we think we’ve heard them all...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 24, 2011
• 
  Nissan Building Plug-in Hybrid For 2015, 1.5 Million Electric Cars By 2017

  It might be celebrating a global total of 15,000 all-electric Nissan Leafs since the model was launched last year, but Nissan isn’t planning to keep its plug-in technology inside pure electric cars, it has revealed today. Talking at an event in Yokohama, Japan earlier, Renault-Nissan CEO...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 24, 2011
• 
  Fisker: Affordable “Project Nina” Plug-in Hybrids Due By 2013

  Its first mass-produced car may have won the acrimonious title of being the plug-in car with the worst fuel efficiency to date, but Californian automaker Fisker is trying to remain upbeat about its planned range of plug-in hybrid cars. So much so, the Californian automaker is keen to let everyone...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 21, 2011
• 
  Is This What The Electric Car Love-Child Of Daimler, BYD Looks Like? Apparently So Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 21, 2011

  Since July, the Internet has been home to serval renderings claiming to be of the new electric car being developed by German automaker Daimler and its Chinese auto partner BYD.

  So far, no-one within...

• 
  Police Spotted In Electric Car Charging Space: Nobody Charged

  Many town and city councils across the U.S. are introducing legislation to enable electric car owners to park for free as a way of encouraging more people to make the switch from gasoline to plug-in cars. Normally, these free parking spaces include access to a suitable level 2 charging station...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 21, 2011
• 
  Mitsubishi Boss Confirms Hybrid Diesel Drivetrain Option For 2014 Evo XI

  Mitsubishi has already hit the headlines today after it announced an update to its engine technology to improve fuel economy across its range, but now U.K.-based Autocar says Mitsubishi Boss Osamu Masuko has confirmed that the next Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution will be powered by a diesel-electric...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 21, 2011
• 
  Revenge Of The Electric Car Director Joins Live Webchat As Film Is Released

  Back in April, our own John Voelcker was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of Chris Paine’s much-anticipated sequel to Who Killed The Electric Car? Called Revenge Of The Electric Car, the second film continues where the first left off, telling the story of how the electric car was...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 21, 2011
• 
  Got a 2011 Nissan Leaf? Here’s What Your 6 Month Service Is Like

  While some lucky 2011 Nissan Leaf owners have had their cars now for nearly 8 months, most are in the magic six-month honeymoon period of owning their new electric hatchback. But what happens when you get to six months of ownership and it’s time for your first Nissan Leaf service? As...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 20, 2011
• 
  Chrysler: “We’re Making Hybrids, But Only Because We Have To”

  Sergio Marchionne, the head of the Chrysler Group and Fiat Motors, has never been a fan of hybrid electric or pure electric vehicles. But in a recent interview with autonews.com, the boss of both car firms said that the only way Chrysler will reach fuel economy goals set in place by the Obama...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 20, 2011
• 
  2011 Vectrix VX-1 Maxi Scooter: First Ride Report Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 20, 2011

  Over the past month we’ve covered reviews of every major electric motorcycle available on the market today, including reviews of the 2011 Brammo Enertia, 2011 Zero S and 2011 Zero DS.

  Now...

• 
  Chrysler: 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee To Get Diesel Option, Others To Follow

  Earlier this year, our colleagues over at Motor Authority told you that Chrysler was planning on bringing a Diesel option to its U.S. spec Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV some time before 2013. Now in an interview with Automotive News, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler Fiat has confirmed that the 2013...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 20, 2011
• 
  Which Cars Are Getting Traded In For Electric Cars? We Find Out

  In the last nine months, we’ve seen over 10,000 plug-in cars sold in the U.S. alone, with Nissan taking the lion’s share of new plug-in car sales with its 2011/12 Nissan Leaf. Mass-produced electric cars still very much a niche market, so anyone buying one can be legitimately thought of...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 20, 2011
• 
  Electric-Car Charging Networks: Don't Use 'Em To Travel Far, Says Company

  Lately, we’ve seen a lot of new charging networks spring up around the world devoted to getting electric car owners the power they need to keep their cars charged up. But a U.K. based, government-backed charging infrastructure company has outraged electric car owners by suggesting that its...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 19, 2011
• 
  2012 Chevrolet Volt V 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: Which Is Cheaper To Drive?

  If you need a plug-in car that is capable of traveling long distances between charges but can’t afford the 300-miles per charge option offered by the 2012 Tesla Model S, the chances are you’re looking at buying a plug-in hybrid. But which of the two main plug-in hybrids on offer today...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 19, 2011
• 
  Reader Asks: Does Apple’s iPhone 4S Work With My Nissan Leaf? We Reply

  When Apple unveiled its latest smartphone -- the iPhone 4s -- at the start of this month, eagle-eyed electric car fans will have noticed that a 2011 Nissan Leaf was used in the first ever commercial for Apple’s voice-activated Siri personal assistant. Standard on every new iPhone 4s, Siri...

  Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield October 19, 2011