Electric Cars
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At the start of this year, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk made the bold promise his company would eventually launch a network of fast-charging systems to allow owners of electric cars to extend their driving range with a level of convenience at least approaching that of conventional combustion cars. In June, Tesla gave us some more clues about the new system, which it nicknamed a “Supercharger,” and promised to deliver the first examples before the year was out. Tesla has now lived up to that promise, announcing the first six Supercharger stations, which will allow the...
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Audi R8 e-tron To Get Model S-Style Digital Center Stack?
UPDATE: It turns out this is the separate F12 e Sport prototype, which Audi researchers have been using to develop a modular electric car platform. It is not the production R8 e-tron. Audi has already told us about the motorsport-inspired digital rear view mirror it plans to install in its upcoming...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Elon Musk Grows His Tesla Empire With Major Retail Expansion
By the beginning of December, Tesla Motors will grow it’s retail presence from the current 14 stores in the United States to a total of 24 locations in North America. That’s an impressive amount of expansion in a very short period of time, and all of it is targeted at high-end retail...
Kurt Ernst -
Audi Promises e-tron Version Of Every Model By 2020
Toyota was the first major automaker to commit to electrified vehicles, announcing as far back as 2007 that it will have a hybrid version of each of its models by the year 2020. Next to make the promise of a full hybrid lineup, believe it or not, was Porsche, though the sports car manufacturer...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes-Benz Concept B Class Electric Drive: 2012 Paris Auto Show
Rumors of an electric B Class from Mercedes-Benz have been making the rounds for ages now, but at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, we'll be treated to the debut of the new Concept B Class Electric Drive, a version of which is headed to production in 2014. Mercedes says the Concept B Class Electric drive...
Nelson Ireson -
Smart ForStars Concept: 2012 Paris Auto Show
Giving us our best look yet at the next-generation ForTwo and ForFour minicars due out by the end of 2013, Smart has today revealed its new ForStars concept car that’s set to debut at the Paris Auto Show this month. It’s the follow-up to the Smart For-Us pickup concept unveiled earlier...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
A couple of years ago Mercedes-Benz made the bold promise to launch an electric version of its SLS AMG gullwing supercar on the market by the end of 2013. Since then we’ve seen several concept versions of the car, which has been labeled the SLS AMG E-Cell, though until now we’ve never actually seen one testing in public. A prototype for the upcoming Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell has now been spotted in Germany, conducting some high-speed tests on the Nürburgring and then later taking to some of the race track’s surrounding streets. Though the electric version of the SLS...
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Nissan Terra Concept Preview: 2012 Paris Auto Show
If you’re hoping to drive an electric car, your maximum driving range with the vehicles currently on sale top out at about 250 to 300 miles. Though this limit will surely increase in the longer term, there are ways of getting around this limit already available today. The most obvious is...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
NEVS finalizes Saab acquisition, gets permission to use Saab name
Following its announcement in June to acquire the remaining assets of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab, as well as the assets of subsidiary firms Saab Powertrain and Saab Tools, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has confirmed today it has finalized the acquisition process. One key asset NEVS...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
FIA Licenses Commercial Rights To Formula E Series
If you still think that electric automobile racing is the stuff of science fiction, think again: the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has granted the commercial rights to the Formula E series to Formula E Holdings. That means the proposed 2014 debut of the series is...
Kurt Ernst -
2014 BMW i3 Electric Car Spy Video
BMW’s revolutionary i3 ‘Megacity’ vehicle is now less than a year away from launch and in the lead up to its eventual arrival engineers are hard at work testing prototypes, even putting them through their paces in the extreme heat of Southern Spain. Our exclusive spy video...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Fisker Karma Fire Caused By Faulty Cooling Fan, Voluntary Recall Issued
A recent incident involving a Fisker Karma that caught fire while parked on a roadside in Woodside, CA, has been discovered to have been caused by a faulty cooling fan. The fire, which took place on August 10, is the second time that a Fisker Karma has caught alight, though the reasons surrounding...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Californian electric car startup Fisker Automotive will need to raise an additional $150 million to help fund its operations until its second model, the highly-anticipated Atlantic, makes its sales debut. The information was revealed by a key investor to the firm, and the recipient of the very first Karma, Ray Lane. In total Fisker has accumulated close to $1 billion through private funding since the company was established in 2007. It was also promised a loan amounting to $529 million via the U.S. government’s advanced-technology vehicle manufacturing program, though close to half this...
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Electric Vs. Combustion: Monster Tajima At Pikes Peak
Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima remains a legend on Pikes Peak despite Rhys Millen's record run this year--after all, Millen went just five seconds faster than Tajima's 2011 run despite an additional two-plus miles of pavement in place of dirt. But this year, Tajima's run for the record was cut short...
Nelson Ireson -
Fisker Automotive Names Former Volt Exec Tony Posawatz CEO
Fisker appoints its second CEO of 2012. Is Tony Posawatz the right man for the job?
Nelson Ireson -
Fisker Issues Follow-Up To Woodside Karma Fire
Fisker is investigating the cause of a fire that plagued one of its Karmas in Woodside, California in August 2012.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Infiniti Emerg-E To Make North American Debut At Pebble Beach
The sleek and sultry electric Infiniti Emerg-E we first saw at this year's Geneva Motor Show will make its North American debut at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. While we've already brought you live photos of the car, as well as all of the official details, there's something about...
Nelson Ireson -
Rhys Millen Powers Genesis Coupe To New Pikes Peak Record
Rhys Millen drove a modified Genesis Coupe to a new record at the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
A Fisker Karma succumbed to fire yesterday in a parking lot in Woodside, California, with the owner allegedly having just left the extended-range electric luxury sedan to pick up some groceries. A video showing fire fighters putting out the flames has since been uploaded to YouTube, revealing that the fire was concentrated around the front of the car on the driver’s side. Fortunately, nobody was injured by the incident though extensive damage to the car itself means it is unlikely to be salvageable. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined though investigators are currently looking...
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Pikes Peak 2012: The Standings So Far
With everything from the likes of the Banks Power/Dallenbach 1,400-horsepower beast to Monster Tajima's electric prototype to smaller privateers like the Evolution Dynamics Mitsubishi Evolution IX piloted by Jeremy Foley, the action at Pikes Peak is already underway. Qualifying is in the books, and...
Nelson Ireson -
Verano Turbo, Project 370Z, Audi Digital Rear-view: Car News Headlines
Buick priced the 2013 Verano Turbo from just a tick under $30,000. At 250 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds, and 31 mpg highway, is that a bargain, or a bad bet? Nissan's Project 370Z is complete, and it's a turbocharged, built suspension, big-brake version of the Z car, specced out by fans as a...
Nelson Ireson -
Audi R8 e-tron To Debut Motorsport-Inspired Digital Rear-View Mirror
Audi’s latest R18 Le Mans prototype, which this year won the illustrious 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, has no rear window. However, anyone piloting the advanced race car still has a clear view of what’s happening out back thanks to new technology installed by Audi engineers: the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2013 MINI Paceman, Ford Car-To-Car, Audi R8 e-tron: Car News Headlines
Spies have captured the 2013 MINI Paceman, MINI's new compact Countryman-style coupe, testing at the Nordschleife. Ford is moving forward with its car-to-car communications systems, with a new test regimen underway in Germany. Audi's R8 e-tron set a Nürburgring lap record not long ago, and now...
Nelson Ireson -
First Video Of Audi R8 e-tron Setting Nürburgring Record
Back in June Audi set the fastest lap time of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife for a produced-based electric car using its upcoming R8 e-tron. The final time for the electric supercar, which was piloted by German race car driver Markus Winkelhock, was a brisk 8:09.099. Today we have a video of the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran