Electric Cars
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Forget the Nissan Leaf's pragmatic green buyers for the moment. Nissan has big electric-car ambitions, and it's no secret that they go well beyond the automaker's Leaf hatchback. Part of those ambitions still involve a flamboyant, all-electric sports car in the near future—a project that we asked the automaker's global design chief Shiro Nakamura about in a recent Detroit Auto Show interview. The Leaf doesn't have a particularly daring design, concedes Nakamura, because the company wanted to expand the market and make people comfortable with EVs. “Leaf is not that, because we...
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Judge Rejects Planned Fisker Sale, Puts Automaker Up For Auction
The planned sale of Fisker to Hong Kong's Hybrid Technology for a sum of $25 million has been rejected by a U.S. bankruptcy judge due to interest from Chinese firm Wanxiang, something Fisker’s management team was hoping to avoid. Judge Kevin Gross instead allowed for rival parties to bid on...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
AT&T Bringing High-Speed Internet To Future Tesla Models
Tesla Motors can count itself among the more advanced automakers on the road, its Model S sedan gaining plaudits from around the globe and a loyal fanbase the envy of many a manufacturer. Its future vehicles will become even more advanced thanks to a new partnership between Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]...
Antony Ingram -
Toyota's Fuel Cell Car To Enter Production In 2015: CES Preview
Imagine driving a car with no harmful emissions, that could go for 300 miles, and be filled back up in 3-5 minutes. That's the reality of Toyota's upcoming production fuel cell vehicle, or FCV. Whether hydrogen is a realistic widespread fuel source (right now it's most certainly not) and whether...
Nelson Ireson -
2014 Tesla Model S A Five-Star-Safe Car, Says NHTSA
Earlier this year Tesla was granted a full five stars in the NHTSA's round of vehicle crash testing for its Model S electric car. While the way Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] originally announced that figure drew some flak from the NHTSA itself--suggesting the car was capable of a rating of more than...
Antony Ingram -
2014 MINI E Coupe Spy Shots
MINI is out testing a new electric car, but unlike the automaker’s previous effort in this field, the MINI E, this new one isn’t expected to be leased to individuals. The new electric car is based on the MINI Cooper Coupe and was spotted testing in Germany recently by one of our spy...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tax exemptions will help Tesla save money on the purchase of equipment to upgrade its factory.
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2014 Cadillac ELR Luxury Coupe Begins Shipping To Dealers
The 2014 Cadillac ELR is on its way to dealers.
Stephen Edelstein -
VW and Protean team up for in-wheel electric motors
As electric cars become more prevalent in the market place, many automakers are still exploring the best way to make use of electric drivetrains. We've seen everything from plug-in hybrids through front-drive electric cars like Nissan's Leaf, to more advanced offerings like the four-wheel driven...
Antony Ingram -
Audi R8 e-tron Back On The Table Due To New Battery Tech: Report
Earlier this year, Audi decided to cancel production plans for its R8 e-tron electric sports car, citing the high cost of the battery and limited driving range as the reasons behind the decision. Making that decision was former R&D chief Wolfgang Dürheimer, who shortly after was replaced...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Calendar For Inaugural Season Of Formula E Confirmed
Now that all ten teams for the inaugural season of the Formula E Championship have been confirmed, we can also reveal the locations for all the races. The Formula E season will stretch over two years, starting in September of 2014 and concluding in June the following year. There will be ten races...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Canadian Sports Car Will Cost You About $30k, If You Build It Yourself
A Canadian firm by the name of Dubuc Super Light Car has come out with a kit car that offers fans of performance driving an affordable and lightweight sports model. The kit car is called the Tomahawk and it’s scheduled to make a debut at the 2014 Montreal Auto Show in mid-January. MUST READ...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The tenth and final team for the inaugural season of the Formula E Championship has been confirmed as Venturi Grand Prix, backed by French electric car company Venturi and celebrity environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio. Based in Monaco, the team will be led by DiCaprio and Venturi founder Gildo Pallanca Pastor, along with Bert Hedaya and Francesco Costa. Venturi Grand Prix now joins fellow Formula E teams Andretti Autosport and Dragon Racing from IndyCar; Asia’s China Racing, Mahindra Racing and Super Aguri; and European squads Audi Sport ABT, Drayson Racing, e.dams and Virgin...
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Virgin To Make Motorsport Return In New Formula E Championship
After a brief and somewhat unsuccessful stint in Formula One that ended in 2011, Virgin has decided it’s time to go racing once again. This time, however, Virgin is focusing on the new Formula E Championship. Virgin’s Formula E team, to be called Virgin Racing, is awaiting final FIA...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Diesel, Hybrid And Even Electric Powertrains Considered For New Mustang: Report
Ford may take radical steps to improve the Mustang's fuel economy.
Stephen Edelstein -
Saleen Confirms Electric Car Development
Now that Steve Saleen, founder of tuning firm Saleen Automotive and creator of the original Saleen S7 supercar, has won back the right to the legal use of his name on new products, the former racer-turned-automotive-entrepreneur is keen to get back to what he loves doing most, building some of the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Battery Fires: NHTSA Seeking Detailed Info, Germany Finds No Defect
While some see a recent string of three battery fires involving Tesla Motors' [NSDQ:TSLA] Model S electric sedan as nothing more than unfortunate happenstance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is delving deeper into the matter, seeking detailed records from the two fires...
Nelson Ireson -
Indian Automaker Mahindra Forms Formula E Team
The eighth team confirmed for the inaugural season of the Formula E Championship is Mahindra Racing, the motorsport outfit of Indian automaker Mahindra. That means just two more teams can sign up for the electric car racing series before the start of the season in September 2014. Mahindra already...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan's BladeGlider electric sports-car concept measures up as one of the wildest concepts of the Tokyo Motor Show. And what makes it particularly far out is that Nissan plans to build it. MUST READ: 2015 Nissan GT-R NISMO And GT-R Premium: First Drive With its unique '1+2' seating layout, a body modeled after the swept wings of a glider, and a track that's dramatically narrower in front than in the back—plus the use of powerful wheel-hub motors in back—there's lots to potentially dismiss as concept-car dreaming. While those wheel-hub motors almost certainly won't make it to...
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Mazda's Rotary Engine Could Live On... In Electric Cars?
Fans of Mazda's rotary engines are among the most vociferous advocates you'll find in the automotive world. While some will never understand the appeal of rotary engines, others love their smoothness, stratospheric rev limits, unique noise and the kudos of a Le Mans win, among other things. It's...
Antony Ingram -
Fisker files for bankruptcy, assets sold to Hybrid Technology
Electric car startup Fisker Automotive has finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, more than one year since it last built one its $103,000 Karma extended-range electric sedans. It means Fisker will fail to pay its remaining portion of a $192 million loan awarded to it back in 2010 under the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW’s Chinese Brand Zinoro Launches X1-Based 1E Electric Crossover
BMW and its Chinese partner Brilliance recently announced plans to launch a new brand called Zinoro, which is focused on electrified vehicles or “new energy vehicles” as they are referred to in China. Earlier today, at the 2013 Guangzhou Auto Show, the first Zinoro vehicle was unveiled...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
German Tuner ABT Sportsline Forms Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team
German tuner ABT Sportsline has reached an agreement with the organizers of the Formula E Championship that will see it become the seventh team and the only German outfit to enter the new electric car racing series. Its team will compete under the banner ‘Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team’...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
NHTSA Opens Probe Into Tesla Model S Fires
Tesla Motors has asked the NHTSA to investigate the recent Model S fires, to remove doubt about the cars' safety.
Stephen Edelstein