Electric Cars

  • Tesla Supercharger fast-charging system for electric cars

    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...

  • Digital center stack of Audi R8 e-tron prototype - Image courtesy of Plug-In Cars
    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...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature
    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...

  • 2013 Audi R8 e-tron with 8:09.099 Nürburgring lap time
    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...

  • Mercedes-Benz Concept B Class Electric Drive, 2012 Paris Auto Show
    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...

  • Smart ForStars Concept
    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...

  • 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell spy shots

    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...

  • Nissan Terra SUV concept
    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...

  • Saab logo
    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...

  • Formulec EF01 electric race car
    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...

  • 2014 BMW i3 spy shots
    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...

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

  • Ray Lane takes delivery of the first Fisker Karma

    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...

  • Monster Tajima in the Sport E-RUNNER electric Pikes Peak car.
    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...

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

  • 2012 Fisker Karma EcoSport
    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.

  • 2012 Infiniti Emerg-E concept
    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...

  • Rhys Millen and his Hyundai Genesis Coupe at the 2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb
    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.

  • Fisker Karma on fire in Woodside, California

    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...

  • Monster Tajima in the Sport E-RUNNER electric Pikes Peak car.
    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...

  • 2013 Audi R8 e-tron with 8:09.099 Nürburgring lap time
    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...

  • Audi's new digital rear-view mirror, which debuts in the 2013 Audi R8 e-tron
    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...

  • 2013 Audi R8 e-tron with 8:09.099 Nürburgring lap time
    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...

  • 2013 Audi R8 e-tron with 8:09.099 Nürburgring lap time
    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...

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