The Toyota FCV made its North American debut at the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival, and this time it's not sporting its usual blue sheet metal. This silver paint job shows a bit more contrast. Certain features stand out a bit more, especially the black strip that wraps around the grille and down the sides of the hood to the mirrors. This is the production version of the car's exterior, which will John Beltz Snyder
There are two primary takeaways from a recent study of electric-vehicle driving habits in Germany. One: an electric vehicle with 25 percent of its battery charge left creates the same reaction in drivers as the fuel needle on "E" in a gas-powered car. Two: familiarity breeds comfort.
General Motors is at it again with a new Chevrolet Volt TV commercial. Viewers of the Winter Olymics (at least in some markets) recently saw a TV ad in between the skating and the skiing that made no mention of the environmental benefits or freedom from the power of Big Oil that electric vehicles provide. No, this one was based on pure survival instinct.
It's not quite in the so-indestructible-its-engine-can-take-a-bullet territory of a classic Dodge Dart, but Steve Marsh's Nissan Leaf has been put through a long-distance wringer. The Washington State driver has surpassed the 100,000-mile mark with his electric vehicle, getting kudos from Washington Governor Jay Inslee as a result. The Pacific Northwest sure likes its green cred.
Despite his long history with traditional internal combustion engines and climate change skepticism, Bob Lutz remains a strong voice for the plug-in future of the automobile. If anything, his recent statement are getting stronger. To wit, in an recent interview with CNBC, the Chevy Volt's grandpappy (and the former vice chairman of Ge
Bigger trips + little electric car, = no problem. That's the message Fiat is sending with a new announcement of an agreement to offer gas-powered rentals to range-anxiety-stricken road-trippers.
It's no secret that the BMW i3 has a spot in the powertrain bay reserved for a gasoline engine range extender. Given that the i3 city car is available as a pure electric vehicle, how does an additional liquid fuel powerplant fit into the picture? Green Car Reports recently Sebastian Blanco
BMW is looking to stave off electric vehicle range anxiety with a new program that offers buyers a free gasoline loaner with every i3 purchase. Ward's Auto reports BMW is confident that the EV will give buyers the kind of transportation they need for 90 percent of their trips. The loaners,
Regardless of outcome, anti-electric biases revealed
Norwegians are buying a lot of Nissan Leaf vehicles and have the most Tesla Model S reservations in the European market. While the US is a major market for electric vehicles, the sales numbers are proportionally huge for Norwegians. US electric vehicle sales look to be Jon LeSage
I would think if you were to draft a list of the top three "fear factors" impinging mass adoption of electric vehicles, it might look something like this...
A lot of factors play into an electric-vehicle's charging time, but a general rule is that the higher the on-board charger, the shorter that time will be. The on-board charger in the first-generation Nissan Leaf was 3.3 kW. The upgraded second-generation could use a 6.6 kW charger. On the new, third-edition Smart ED, there's Sebastian Blanco
One nagging issue with electric vehicles is range. While today's lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are much better than yesterday's nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, they still don't offer enough energy storage to take an EV much further than 100 miles without a lengthy recharge. Even if the Li-ion batteries were up to the challenge, there is still the awkward problem of where to pack 1,000 pounds (or more) of bulky storage cells into a vehicle's chassis.
GM has made concern about "range anxiety" central to its marketing of the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. The term may work to instill some doubt in the minds of those cross-shopping the Nissan Leaf, and in fact a study (PDF) by the Technology Strategy Board in the UK found that 100 percent of new electric vehicle owners did have some level of concern about running out of juice before r
If you get enough like-minded individuals together, they can accomplish quite a lot. Take, for instance, a group of fans on the MyNissanLeaf forum who wanted a more accurate way to tell how much further they could drive their Nissan Leaf. They accomplished this goal by coding up a device that plugs into the OBD-II diagnostics port and returns the exact state of charge of the battery.
It's quiet, it's quick, it's quirky... but (with the help of GM's marketing department) what may pop into your mind when you think about the Nissan Leaf is that dreaded phrase, "range anxiety."
Hyundai Genesis fitted with solar control glass
As electric cars begin to penetrate the mainstream commercial marketplace, much has been made of the issue of "range anxiety"--that uneasy feeling you get before your EV runs out of juice, leaving you stranded on the side of the road with a power cord in hand and no outlet in sight. General Motors even sought to trademark the term, possibly to be used in promotion of their "extended-range" electric
