Electric Cars
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The use of pure electric cars in motorsport is coming. In fact, the FIA already has a sanctioned event, the Formula E Championship, which starts next year. So, whether you’re a fan of electric cars or not, you’ll increasingly see them making headlines on performance sites like this one. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as we’ve seen time and time again, and there’s no need to stress about learning to talk in volts, amps, and kilowatt-hours instead of horsepower and fuel capacity overnight. So far, most major automakers have been reluctant to fully embrace...
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BMW Reveals Extended-Range i3 Specs Ahead Of Geneva Motor Show
BMW will be taking its fleet of i-branded electrified concepts to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in early March, including the i8 Spyder plug-in hybrid sports car, the original i3 electric car and the more recent i3 Coupe sports version. On top of this, BMW has also confirmed details for the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Model S Runs The Quarter Mile In 12.371 Seconds: Video
The flagship of the Tesla Model S range, the Model S Performance, comes with a power rating of 301 kilowatts (416 horsepower) as well as an 85 kWh battery pack that the EPA says is good for about 265 miles of driving range. As we’ll see in this video posted up by Drag Times, a regular Tesla...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW And Toyota Accelerate Plans For Shared Fuel Cell, Sports Car And Green Technology
In late 2011, BMW and Toyota signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration between the two on a number of projects ranging from the development of a new sports car platform to research into next-generation battery technology and even hydrogen fuel cell powertrains. Today, the two...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2014 Cadillac ELR preview
Say what you may about plug-in electric cars, the 2014 Cadillac ELR unveiled at last week's Detroit Auto Show is a stunning piece of design. The four-seat range-extended electric luxury coupe is little changed from the Cadillac Converj show car that debuted four years ago at the 2009 Detroit show...
John Voelcker -
2014 Cadillac ELR Preview: Guilt-Free Luxury Upstages The Chevy Volt
Even if you’re not entirely a car person, you’ve likely noticed and perhaps even lusted after the stylish Cadillac CTS-V Coupe—perhaps in a way that you haven’t seen Cadillac before. Now take some of that same gravitas, and plug it in, and you get some of the essence behind...
Bengt Halvorson -
The Tesla Model X crossover is the next vehicle expected from electric automaker Tesla. While we’ve seen the exterior styling of the Model X (including its unique “falcon wing” rear doors) prior to this week’s Detroit Auto Show, what’s new and significant is the “interior exploration” that the automaker is currently highlighting. Tesla hopes to give prospective buyers an idea of the different colors and materials that will likely be available in the production Model X. The example on display blends black and white leather to add contrast to the three...
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Chinese city buys stake in Saab’s new owner NEVS
Saab’s new owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has just entered a deal with the city of Qingdao, located in China’s Shandong-province, which will see the coastal city become the strategic gateway for Saab’s cars in China. Qingdao, via its Qingdao Qingbo Investment...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Cadillac Releases Second Teaser For 2014 ELR
Cadillac has released the second teaser image of its upcoming 2014 ELR, an extended-range electric car with a similar powertrain to the Chevy Volt and scheduled to debut next week at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. The ELR can actually trace its roots back to the Converj concept car unveiled in 2009...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Electric Drag Car & Don Garlits Light It Up In Eerie Silence
In yet another installment of our Electric Cars Don't Have To Be Boring Snoremobiles series, we have "Big Daddy" Don Garlits hitting the drag strip in a 1,500-kilowatt (2,011-horsepower) electric drag racer. From burnouts to launches, this drag car looks like a wild ride. We're by no means the...
Nelson Ireson -
Tesla Wins Minor Victory Against Massachusetts Dealers
You might think it's no big deal for a carmaker to sell its cars directly to the public, but you'd be wrong. In fact, for dealers, it's a very big deal. For Tesla, it has become a big deal in court. Dealers across the country have raised a cry against the company's direct-sales model, saying it...
Nelson Ireson -
Fisker's Insurer Denies Payment On Flood-Damaged Karmas
When Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York metro area last October, some 338 Fisker Karma sedans parked at Port Newark, New Jersey were destroyed by flooding or fire. Fisker believed the vehicles were covered by insurance, issued through XL Group Plc., so it submitted a claim as quickly as it...
Kurt Ernst -
Having successfully launched its first ‘Supercharger’ fast-charging stations on the West Coast back in September, electric car startup Tesla has quietly added more of the stations on the East Coast. The new stations make it possible for owners of the Tesla Model S, the only model currently compatible with the unique fast-charging stations, to travel the 443 miles between Boston and Washington, D.C. without fear of running out of charge. Previously, the fast-charging stations were only in California, allowing Model S owners to travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and out...
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Via Motors To Present 800-HP Extended-Range Electric Pickup, Luxury SUV In Detroit
Most readers will recognize the names Fisker and Tesla as being two leading electric car startups, but there’s a third that will soon be making headlines, and it’s got one very famous auto industry personality as its chairman. The company we’re talking about is Via Motors, which...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Hot Laps Show EVs Aren't All Boring: Video
If you're too mired in the snooze-fest that is every EV on the market except for the Tesla Model S to really care about electric cars, you're not alone. But you should be, because electric race cars could be awesome. What's holding them back? Mostly the inadequacies of current battery technology to...
Nelson Ireson -
Pioneering Monster Truck Bigfoot Goes Electric: Video
If you frequently attend monster truck events, chances are good you don’t drive a Nissan Leaf. Likewise, if you do drive an electric car, it’s a safe bet that you’re not spending Saturday nights watching hyrdocarbon-spewing, fossil-fuel-gulping monster trucks crush junkyard...
Kurt Ernst -
BMW’s i3 Concept Coupe Hits The Road: Video
BMW debuted its all-electric i3 Concept Coupe at last month’s Los Angeles Auto Show, to generally positive reviews. The coupe represents the latest design iteration of BMW’s i3 electric hatchback, which is scheduled to hit the market sometime next year. The i3 Concept Coupe takes a...
Kurt Ernst -
From The 1602 To The i3: 40 Years Of BMW Electrics
Next year BMW will introduce its new i3, the first of a new range of models developed by the automaker’s new i division that focuses on sustainability and future mobility. The arrival of the i3 marks a new direction for a brand that for decades has built up a reputation based on performance...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Just a week after another cash-strapped independent automaker, Aston Martin, forged a deal with a new investor, Fisker Automotive, manufacturer of the Karma extended-range electric car, is making headlines over news it’s now seeking a potential alliance partner or new investor. Fisker was on track to launch its second model, the Atlantic, when its remaining portion of a $529 million Department of Energy loan was blocked due to some missed contractual milestones. The Californian startup managed to raise $100 million from investors in September, but it appears even with these additional...
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Video Preview: BMW i3 Coupe Concept
BMW's new i division hasn't even launched its first vehicle yet, and it's already looking at a two-door version of its upcoming i3 electric hatchback. The i3 Coupe Concept is a spin-off of the i3 we've been shown for the past year, but will it go into production? The i3 Coupe Concept drew a strong...
Joel Feder -
BMW i3 Coupe Concept Live Photos: 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show
BMW is out to prove that its upcoming i3 electric hatchback doesn’t have to be boring, by presenting at this week’s 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show a sporty coupe variant simply dubbed the i3 Coupe. The new concept is the latest in a long string of i3 show cars, but the latest gives us a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Fisker Production Halted, Pending The Sale Of A123 Systems' Assets
Last October, extended-range electric automaker Fisker’s sole battery supplier, A123 Systems, filed for bankruptcy. That’s left the struggling startup without a source of lithium-ion batteries, forcing Fisker to suspend production of its Karma sedan. As Bloomberg reports, Fisker Karma...
Kurt Ernst -
Tesla Reprices The 2013 Model S Sedan
Last week we told you that Tesla would be announcing a price increase on its 2013 Model S sedan, for all orders taken on or after January 1, 2013. At the time, the electric car builder also indicated that changes would be coming to the Model S’ list of standard equipment and option packages...
Kurt Ernst -
Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force Live Photos: 2012 L.A. Auto Show
For its entry for the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Design Challenge, a contest that challenges the world’s top automotive designers to come up with the best concept car for a given theme, Mercedes-Benz developed the imposing Ener-G-Force SUV. However, rather than leave the vehicle just as a design...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran