Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, Contributing Writer

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield is a self-confessed petrol head. She grew up in a carless family but was able at a very early age to name cars passing her on the street while other girls her age were more interested in Barbie Dolls. Although she trained as a classical musician she’s now a full-time broadcaster and journalist, covering green fuels and tech. After passing her driving test she’s owned a wide selection of cars, including a 1962 Morris Minor Woodie Hotrod; a single seat electric bubble car; a ’92 Honda Prelude; a ’91 Volvo 240; a ’04 Toyota Prius Plug in Hybrid (which she converted herself); an ’85 VW electric factory built rabbit; and a ’09 Smart ForTwo CDI Nikki specializes in electric vehicles, but also enjoys clandestine gas-guzzling, working on the rule that the larger and noisier the better. She is also loves riding motorcycles, but currently doesn't own one. Nikki also hosts the TransportEvolved podcast. She lives in Bristol UK with her wife, their two daughters and their Border Collie.

Articles

Untouchable? Top Gear Exonerated For Racist Comments, What About Tesla? Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield April 5, 2011

The popular U.K. motoring entertainment show Top Gear just can’t stay out of the spotlight at the moment.

Just six days after Californian electric car automaker Tesla filed a legal case...
2011 Tata Indica Vista EV Shown in U.K., On Sale This Summer
If you’re in the market for an electric car there are currently very few highway capable vehicles available. But for those in the U.K. another option will soon be on the market courtesy of an Indian firm which aims to make its electric cars the market leaders. Tata Motors, unfortunately...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield April 4, 2011

In the Red: Each Fiat 500 Electric Car Loses Chrysler $10k
There is nothing a company CEO hates more than not making a profit on a product, but as Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne knows, it is sometimes a necessary evil in the evolution of a new technology. Speaking at Fiat S.p.A’s general meeting on Wednesday, Marchionne spoke frankly about his...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield April 4, 2011
Five Things You Can Do While Fast Charging Your Electric Car
Level 3 fast charging is blisteringly fast. In fact, we got to try it out in the real world this week, recharging a 2011 Nissan Leaf from 30% full to 98% full in a little under 25 minutes. But while your electric car gets a quick refresh, here’s our list of five top things to keep you...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield April 1, 2011
Oil Giant BP Develops Battery Cell You Can Refill At The Pump
The largest problem facing electric cars today is the amount of time it takes to recharge the battery pack. Unlike filling a gas tank which can take a few minutes, even fast charging direct current charging stations can take up to 30 minutes to replace lost charge. Which raises the question of what...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield April 1, 2011
Tesla Vs BBC: Top Gear Planned Dead Electric Car Shot Before Test
Believe it or not, most of what you watch on television is scripted. What you may not know is that some shows which appear unscripted, like the BBC’s infamous Top Gear, are also scripted word for word. Everything from the banter between its three middle-aged hosts to its madcap challenges and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 31, 2011
Ford: We’ll Sell Electric Cars With Batteries, Not Lease Them Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 31, 2011

At the start of the month, we examined just how much of the 2012 Tesla Model S sticker price was made up by battery pack costs.

In order to make electric cars more accessible to the mainstream car...

Electric Car Tax for Washington Gets One Step Closer to Law
If you’re a regular reader of AllCarsElectric then you’ll know that electric cars are much cheaper to run than gasoline cars once you’ve actually purchased them, but electric cars in Washington state are just about to get a little more expensive to run thanks to a proposed law...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 30, 2011
Tesla Triumphs with Ten Million Miles Travelled Since Launch
Ten million miles. That’s the achievement being celebrated by Tesla Motors after its customers have clocked up 10 million miles of low emissions, all-electric driving since the Tesla launched its two seat sportscar in 2008. Since delivering its first Roadster in 2008, Tesla has sold over 1500...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 28, 2011
2011 Nissan Leaf: How Much Would YOU Pay to Jump the Queue?
The U.S. rollout of the 2011 Nissan Leaf has been a bit of a disaster with some would-be Leaf owners still waiting to find out when their local dealer will stock the all-electric car nearly a year after pre-reservations started. So how much would you pay to jump the queue completely and get an...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 28, 2011
FAIL: U.K. Meter Maid Tickets Electric Car While it Charged
Police traffic and parking control officers have an important job: they help keep traffic flowing in major cities and also ensure that cars are parked legally and safely. But local authorities in the U.K. city of Coventry are under fire after one of its parking enforcement officers ticketed an...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 24, 2011
Tesla CEO: Super-capacitors Trump Electric Car Batteries.
What has a small Canadian low-speed vehicle firm and Tesla CEO Elon Musk got in common? Supercapacitors. Just like Zenn and the troubled EEstor supercapacitor firm, Tesla CEO Elon Musk thinks that batteries are so last century. Talking at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco on Wednesday this week...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 24, 2011

Five Tips to Save You Money on Home Electric Car Charging Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 24, 2011

We all know that once purchased, electric cars are much cheaper to run than their gasoline counterparts, but how do you make sure you’re not paying more than you need to for the privilege of...
Chevy Volt: Battery Pack Housing Today, Owl's Nest Tomorrow?
General Motors has been keen to point out that its 2011 Chevrolet Volt is a truly environmentally responsible and highly recyclable vehicle. As it turns out even we didn’t quite understand Chevrolet when it told us that most of its plug-in hybrid could be recycled at the end of a car’s...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 23, 2011
Earthquake Update: Nissan to Resume Vehicle Production “While Supplies Last”
A little under two weeks ago Japan was hit by one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded. Measuring in at 9.0 on the richter scale and causing a devastating tsunami which killed tens of thousands and lay waste to hundreds of miles of coastline, Japan is still in an advance state of emergency. Yet...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 23, 2011
Range or Signal Anxiety? Ford and AT&T Team Up on Electric Cars
Ford has just announced that it has chosen telecoms giant AT&T to provide wireless connectivity to its new range of electric and plug-in cars, enabling drivers of its 2012 Ford Focus electric car to remotely interact with their car via an Internet portal or their smart phone. Just like owners...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 23, 2011
(VIDEO): Ancestral Electric Cars: What Came Before the 2011 Leaf?
We all know about the latest electric cars to come from the likes of Ford, General Motors and Nissan. But while they may be the latest they are certainly not the first. In the first of a series of fun trips back in time, we’re looking at the ancestors of electric cars we see coming to market...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 22, 2011
Renault: Electric Car Battery Swapping Too Costly For Now
If you listen to the enthusiastic founder and CEO of Better Place Shai Agassi, the ability to swap depleted electric car battery packs for fully charged ones at a dedicated swap station is an essential and much-needed part of electric vehicle infrastructure. But while the ultra-fast way of getting...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 22, 2011

Look Ma! No Wires! Google Gets Wireless Electric Car Charger Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 22, 2011

Let’s face it: going wireless is cool. The humble phone lost its stuffy image when it lost that annoying cable, wireless computing has transformed access to the Internet and unlocking your car...
(Video) Volvo C30 Electric: Winter Temperatures Halves Range
Can electric cars handle cold weather? It s a question which we’ve seen answered time and time again by the auto industry and journalists in an attempt prove or disprove that electric cars can operate in extremes of cold weather. We’ve seen Californian-designed Tesla sports cars...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 21, 2011
(VIDEO) First 2011 Nissan Leaf Delivered in U.K., More to Follow
Nissan Europe has officially started rollout of its 2011 Nissan Leaf to customers in the U.K., with multiple cars being handed over this morning to private customers at multiple dealers across the U.K. Radio Presenter Mark Goodier was the first customer in the U.K. to take delivery of the five seat...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 21, 2011
Are Public Electric Car Charging Points Needed? Not Necessarily
What comes first? The electric car or the charging point? Of course it depends on who you ask. Generally if you’re an existing electric car owner the answer is likely to be the former. If you’re a government official, prospective electric car owner or automaker the answer is likely to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 18, 2011
BYD Lines up Electric Car Dealers for Late 2011 U.S. Launch
Chinese battery firm turned automaker hit the news a couple of times last week for all the wrong reasons. But less than a week after the firm was the center of a major auto scandal it has quietly started to prepare itself for a late 2011 U.S. Launch. So why is a company which previously been...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 17, 2011
For Hire: Where Will Renault’s Exonerated Electric Car Executives Head?
Renault’s paranoia over industrial espionage backfired earlier this week as it struggled with the reality that it had been duped into believing that three of its executives had been selling electric car secrets to the Chinese. But while Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made a formal apology to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 17, 2011