Electric Cars

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf Nismo RC electric race car

    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...

  • BMW i3 Coupe concept
    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...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    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...

  • Akio Toyoda and Norbert Reithofer
    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...

  • 2014 Cadillac ELR revealed at 2013 Detroit Auto Show
    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...

  • 2014 Cadillac ELR
    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...

  • Tesla Model X at 2013 Detroit Auto Show

    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...

  • 2012 Saab 9-3 Griffin range
    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...

  • Teaser for 2014 Cadillac ELR
    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...

  • Don Garlits pilots the High Tech Systems LLC electric dragster
    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...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    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...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma
    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...

  • Tesla Supercharger fast-charging system for electric cars

    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...

  • Bob Lutz at Via Motors extended-range electric truck conversion launch, 2012 Detroit Auto Show
    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...

  • Nissan Leaf owners take hot laps in the Leaf Nismo RC electric race car
    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...

  • Odyssey Battery Bigfoot No. 20 Monster Truck -- world's first all-electric monster truck
    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...

  • BMW's i3 Concept Coupe hits the beach
    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...

  • 40 years of BMW electric cars
    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...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma

    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...

  • BMW i3 Coupe concept, 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show
    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...

  • BMW i3 Concept live photos, 2012 L.A. Auto Show
    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...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma during road test, Los Angeles, Feb 2012
    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...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    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...

  • Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force Concept, 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show
    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...

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