On the strength of a shrewd business plan and ties to GM, VIA Motors plans to jump-start the electric transition through the back door of America’s service vehicles. Its E-REV pickup trucks and vans prove that you can have your fuel efficiency and costs savings, too. Everyone should want an EV. They’re more efficient than… Read more »
Want to increase the range of your EV without adding capacity to the costly battery pack? Optimize. In parallel with global research efforts to improve the power density of batteries, many are looking for new ways to use less energy per mile. Mitsubishi’s New Motor Mitsubishi Electric is hard at work redefining what a… Read more »
At this year’s New York International Auto Show, the central story was that even mainstream cars and SUVs are getting stellar fuel economy.
Getting the most out of an electric vehicle requires an understanding of the charging basics. Two of the most common issues people ask me about are where to charge and how long charging takes. Often, people are concerned that charging stations aren’t on every corner the way gas stations are. On a recent trip, my… Read more »
I swore I would never buy a new car… and yet, December 23, 2010, I took delivery of my brand new, cyber gray metallic Chevrolet Volt – number 186 off the assembly line – and I couldn’t be happier. The car is amazing. But don’t take my word for it – to date the Volt… Read more »
So what has the last five months driving the Nissan LEAF been like? I guess you’d have to say the LEAF has been remarkable in that it’s been so normal. Whether by design or by accident, the driving experience isn’t massively different from that of driving any other car, beyond being smoother and quieter…. Read more »
Seth Fletcher, in the epilogue to his book about the burgeoning lithium economy, asks: “Will this last? Is this…the beginning of something enduring – a new era for transportation, energy and American high tech manufacturing? Or will it turn out to be a portrait of another false start, an anomalous couple of years in which,… Read more »
Who does not want to relive their youth? Theoretically, driving one of the mid-70s muscle cars is a great idea: lots of leg room, big power, and of course nostalgia. In Ontario, Canada, you even have the advantage that such cars are, by necessity, exempt from the emission tests. Of course, that assumes you do… Read more »
In the late 1990s my wife, Cathy, decided she wanted her next car to be electric. It wasn’t until July of 2008 that she was able to find and buy one, a 2002 Toyota RAV4-EV, one of the few hundred saved from the crusher when California relieved the automakers from the short-lived requirement to produce… Read more »