DETROIT — As their company was swirling around the financial drain in the early 2000s, General Motors executives came up with an idea to counter its gas-guzzling image and point the way to transportation of the future: An electric car with a gas-engine backup that could travel anywhere. At Detroit’s auto show in 2007, they
Last week we were invited to San Diego to drive the new Nissan Leaf Plus, the updated version of the Leaf with a new 62kWh battery pack, which will start sales in March. We spent the day driving it all through the county on a variety of roads, and came away impressed if not surprised
As electric-vehicle sales mount, observers are finding benefits to society—especially to electric ratepayers—that sometimes surpass the benefits to the EV buyers. “These vehicles use a different kind of fuel and plug into our electricity system, and the good news about that is that there are a number of cost-benefit studies that are showing this can
All-electric Peugeot e-208 supermini set to upstage the Renault Zoe with 211-mile range and 134bhp electric powertrain Peugeot has revealed the sharp new second-generation 208 ahead of the Geneva Motor Show, and while regular petrol powered versions of the firm’s latest supermini are due to remain the big sellers, an all-electric version dubbed e-208 is
Nissan’s top-range Leaf finally has battery range on par with other affordable EVs Remember the horsepower wars of the 1960s? In yet another twist on Mark Twain’s saying, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” the car industry is humming its 50-year-old, horsepower one-upmanship tune once again. But now there’s a new verse, with
The Volkswagen group is doing a 180-degree turn from their emission cheating days to pushing for CO2 neutral production of electric cars. In a new presentation, VW shows how the I.D., its first next-generation electric vehicle, will be “CO2 neutral throughout the entire life cycle if the customer consistently charges with green power.” They want
Just two percent of all auto sales today are electric. It is estimated that over 3.5 million electric cars are on the road today, and there may be as many as 36 million electric cars by 2025. By 2040, 30 percent of all new car sales will be electric, according to analysts at IHS Markit.
Most American automobiles are powered by internal combustion engines: Gas or diesel goes in, tiny explosions power pistons and turn a crankshaft, the car moves forward, and carbon dioxide goes out. But a growing chorus of environmental activists, business analysts and auto executives are predicting a sea change as battery-powered electric vehicles grow in popularity.
A new report by McKinsey forecasts a rapid switch from gas guzzlers to electric vehicles on the world’s roads will be boosted by the plummeting costs of owning a battery powered vehicle. The consulting firm’s 2019 Global Energy Perspective report foresees a two-thirds drop in the cost of EV battery packs by 2030. The tipping
Why Electric Vehicles Are Great Winter Cars
Winter is not the easiest season for getting around. Electric cars, like cars with internal combustion engines, function less efficiently in the cold. But while we accept and ignore the limitations of traditional vehicles, reports from groups like AAA misrepresent cold weather concerns about electric vehicles, fueling anxiety about vehicle range. The reality is, electric
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