Ford’s recent launch of the Focus Electric, and the upcoming launches of the Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrids, are major milestones for the American EV industry. The Focus Electric claims the title of the only pure EV currently available from the Big Three US automakers, and the Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi will… Read more »
The automotive legend turned 80 on February 12, but he still looks and sounds vital. Even better, and in contrast to the typical assumption about octogenarians Lutz is still entirely relevant. Bob Lutz tends not to speak in abbreviations. More often than not, it’s “gasoline,” not gas, “General Motors,” not GM. Perhaps it’s indicative of a… Read more »
The prospect of zero emission, near-silent race cars has set moustaches twitching throughout the motorsport fraternity. Many see it as heresy, while the enlightened few realize that we have a golden opportunity to inject some new life into a hundred-year-old sport. Doug Peck, editor at emotorsportnews.com, explains why the future of racing runs on… Read more »
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 »
At this year’s New York International Auto Show, the central story was that even mainstream cars and SUVs are getting stellar fuel economy.
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 »