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

Running on Empty: The Problem With Electric Car Fuel Gauges Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 16, 2011

Just a few months in and we’re already hearing stories of electric car owners getting stranded as their new electric cars ‘suddenly’ run out of power.

We’ve already examined...
Has U.N. Doomed Quiet Electric Cars to a Life of Noise Making?
Should electric cars make noise? It’s one of the most contentious arguments in the electric vehicle world today, with passionate cases made on both sides for and against warning systems designed to announce the presence of a plug-in car to pedestrians. But early reports coming out of a recent...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 16, 2011

Tesla Says “G’Day” to Australian East Coast With 1,864 Mile Trek
Eighteen months after Australian Tesla roadster early adopter Simon Hackett broke the world record for the longest distance travelled in a production electric vehicle Tesla Australia is planning a 3,000 kilometer (1,864 mile) trek along the country’s east coast After receiving official...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 15, 2011
TRICKED: Renault Paranoia Over Electric-Car Secrets Backfires, Shames Execs
Con men are well known for their ability to sell their victims fake goods, extract money or even con them out of their homes. But con men traditionally prey on individuals, concentrating on the vulnerable, naive or greedy. So just how did con men convince an automotive giant to hand over nearly...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 15, 2011
(VIDEO) Film Premiere, Earth Day: Electric Car Gets Revenge in New York
It was the film that many electric car advocates cite as the reason they drive electric, but now electric car “who done it?” documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? has a sequel: Revenge of the Electric Car. And as the film’s director Chris Paine tells us on the ROTEC website...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 15, 2011
2011 Nissan Leaf Leaves Owners Stranded: What Really Happened?
Every new car has a few teething problems, but a few reports of Nissan's all-electric Leaf running out of charge prematurely hasn't helped the age-old stereotype that electric cars will leave their owners stranded without power. But are these incidents as rare as the reports suggest and what...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 14, 2011
Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Delay 2011 Leaf Production (UPDATED) Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 14, 2011

Nissan has announced that as a consequence of Friday's devastating 9.0 earthquake and Tsunami in Japan production at all of its factories will remain halted until it has fully assessed the damage...

What Ever Happened To...? 5 Electric Cars We Should Have by Now
Nissan may have got heat recently for its long, drawn out and significantly delayed rollout of the 2011 Nissan Leaf, but it isn’t the only company struggling to fulfil its own sales figures for 2011. Over the past two years there have been a whole barrage of cars which were promised to the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 11, 2011
Need a Place to Charge Your Electric Car? Just Google It
In the connected world of modern electric vehicles your car probably already knows where the nearest charging point is. But what happens if you’re planning a long trip and want to acquaint yourself with the area around a charging point before you go? Enter Google and its online map tools...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 10, 2011
Build Your Dream, or Disaster? Wikileaks, Buffet & Electric Car Woes
An open policy of reverse engineering, doors that fall off and shady sales practices are hardly the things you’d expect of an automaker trying to make it into the U.S. market. But as newly surfaced diplomatic cables published on Internet whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks show, the battery firm...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 9, 2011
Fill Your Cart and Your Car: Supermarket Charges Electric Cars
In the past few years we’ve seen electric charge stations pop up everywhere from gas stations to electronics stores and banks. But now electric car owners in the Pacific Northwest have a new place to charge: the grocery store. Enter Fred Meyer Store. Based in Portland Oregon, the firm has...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 9, 2011
How Much Does a Tesla Model S Battery Pack Cost You? We do the Math
Yesterday Tesla Motors Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Ownership Experience George Blankenship wrote an update on the upcoming Model S electric sedan on the company blog. Alongside an update on the alpha testing of Tesla’s much anticipated seven seat sedan, Blankenship outlined the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 8, 2011

Nissan Ups Electric Car Production: Every Third Car a Leaf Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 8, 2011

It may be the first full scale, all-electric production car from a major automaker to be sold in the U.S. but Nissan hasn’t exactly been quick to get it into the hands of customers.

That...
Social Networking for Your Electric Car? Crowd-Source a Plug
We all know cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf feature smart GPS systems capable of locating the nearest official electric car charging stations, but what happens when you combine the power of a social network with the need to plug your electric car in? Enter PlugShare, a new crowd-sourced way to find...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 7, 2011
Battery Swap vs Fast Charging: VHS vs Betamax For Electric Cars?
To battery swap or fast-charge? That’s the question facing automakers worldwide as they decide on the best standard to adopt to charge the latest generation of electric cars. But just like the early days of video cassettes, a standard war is waging in which there can only be one winner. And...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 7, 2011
Do Businesses Need an Electric Vehicle Experience? GE Thinks So
Vehicle tours, the de facto way of getting a new electric car in front of the people most likely to buy it, are pretty much an accepted stage in any electric car rollout from a major automaker. So why is General Electric, a company which doesn’t even make an electric car embarking on its own...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 4, 2011
Objects May Not be as Advertised: Tesla Model S Prototype Tour
Three years after it shipped its first production Roadsters, Tesla Motors is on the brink of launching its 2012 Model S luxury sedan. In preparation, it has announced a nationwide tour, giving eager fans and reservation holders a chance to get up close and personal with the car everyone has been...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 3, 2011
2011 Geneva Motor Show: VW Microbus Brought Into 21st Century
There are very few vehicles so instantly recognisable world-wide as Volkswagen’s iconic VW microbus. But while examples of the rear-engined classic have unofficially been receiving electric drivetrain transplants for decades courtesy of electric vehicle devotees, we haven’t seen an...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 3, 2011

Charge Anywhere: Zero Launches 2011 XU Electric Motorcycle Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 2, 2011

Imagine the scenario. You want to ride an electric motorcycle but your apartment is on the 28th floor, there are no power sockets or reserved parking in your apartment garage and the idea of dragging...
BYD-Daimler Electric Car Partnership Approved: Who Gets What?
Cooperation between automotive brands is hardly new, but on the face of it the latest joint automotive project between the owner of luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz and an upstart Chinese battery firm best known for missing its own deadlines isn't that obvious. Peel back the layers however and it...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 2, 2011
To Sound or Not to Sound: Nissan Removes Beeper from U.K. Leaf
The automotive world is, it seems, a very strange place. Less than a month after Hyundai admitted it had delayed the 2011 Sonata Hybrid launch in the U.S. to remove a feature that let the driver disable its virtual engine sound at speeds below 12 miles per hour, Nissan Europe has confirmed that it...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 1, 2011
2011 Geneva Motor Show: Rolls-Royce Phantom Electric (VIDEO)
It costs more than most of us earn in a year and comes from a company which only sold 2,711 cars last year, but the Rolls-Royce 102 EX Phantom Experimental Electric unveiled earlier today at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show has taken luxury electric vehicles to a whole new level. Resplendent with a tan...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield March 1, 2011
eMission Impossible? BMW’s i8 Plug-in Hybrid Gets Hollywood Launch
What’s better for a new brand of car than a bunch of A-list celebrities choosing it as the vehicle of choice around Hollywood? For BMW, the answer is simple: A starring role in the next blockbuster. While it may look more like the futuristic car driven by Chief John Anderton in the 2002...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield February 28, 2011
Mitsubishi to Shortly Open Pre-Order for 2012 i Electric Car
While Nissan and Chevrolet have slogged it out to become the champion of the plug-in vehicle sales in the U.S., Mitsubishi Motors is gearing up to join in the fight, with the imminent launch of a new customer reservation website for its 2012 Mitsubishi i. A fatter, wider version of the 2011...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield February 28, 2011