What’s the most exciting electric car for 2019? Take our Twitter poll

2019 Audi e-tron prototype drive, Pikes PeakWe've reported that 2019 will be the year of the electric crossover SUV, with new models coming from Audi, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz, in addition to a Mustang-like mystery SUV from Ford, and several new electric SUVs from startup automakers. That led us to wonder which new electric cars our readers are looking forward to the most in 2019. DON'T...

California Legislature passes zero-carbon power plan for 2045

wind farmCalifornia has long been in the vanguard of clean energy when it comes to cars. Now, as the state fights a battle against the EPA and the Trump administration to maintain its ability to lead the nation in clean cars, the California Legislature has passed a new plan to radically clean up power plants. According to a report in the San Francisco...

Everybody move up: Tesla shuffles executive ranks

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017Late Friday evening, Tesla announced an executive reshuffling, after a month or more of chaos within the company. The blog posted to the company's website from CEO Elon Musk Friday announced that the company has appointed Jerome Guillen President of Automotive. Guillen, whom Musk says was a key player in the construction of an additional Model 3...

National Drive Electric Week 2018 kicks off

National Drive Electric Week 2016: Kingsport, TN [photo: David Hrivnak]The annual National Drive Electric Week will occur this weekend with electric-car rallies and events in at least 300 cities across the U.S. and several more in Canada and New Zealand. The event aims to address one of the biggest challenges in promoting electric cars—known in the electric-car community as getting "butts in seats"—by...

2021 BMW X5 xDrive45e plug-in hybrid will have more range, 6 cylinders

2021 BMW X5 xDrive45e iPerformanceOn Friday, BMW revealed the next-generation X5 plug-in hybrid, with significantly more electric range and a 6-cylinder engine replacing the 4-cylinder in the current X5 plug-in hybrid. Based on the new third-generation X5, BMW says theX5 xDrive45e iPerformance will have up to 50 miles of electric range from an expanded battery pack that sits...

Supplier tests compact 100-kwh battery pack in BMW i3

BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor ShowUsing new battery-pack architecture, BMW battery supplier Lion Smart has crammed tripled the battery capacity into a BMW i3s. Lion Smart's 100-kiloowatt-hour battery gives the little city car a range of 435 miles on a charge, in the same footprint as the original battery pack. Lion Smart has developed a modular battery-pack design that makes...

Ford releases photo of electric not-Mach 1 SUV

2020 Ford electric SUV teaser via Joann Muller via Michael MartinezFord released a teaser image of its hotly-anticipated 300-mile electric SUV, which it says will no longer be called the Mach 1. The company previewed the car at a closed event in March, but wouldn't allow photographs or sketches. The sketch released Thursday of the rear of the car hasn't evolved much from the design the company showed in March...

GM to expand Chevy Bolt EV sales, bring battery production to US

2018 Chevrolet Bolt EVAs part of a sweeping update on General Motors' electric-car plans, CEO Mary Barra announced the company will expand production and sales of the Chevy Bolt EV. At the same time, GM is expanding battery production for the Bolt EV from South Korea to a new factory in Michigan. In a blog post on LinkedIn on Wednesday, Barra laid out the company's...

Ford requests exception to electric-car noise rule for police cruisers

2018 Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan pursuit-rated police carIt's tough to sneak up on bad guys in a loud car. That's Ford's argument in requesting an exception to a long-awaited rule that will require electric cars to make noise when they're driving at low speeds, according to a report in The Verge. First proposed in 2010, the rule has had a long gestation, and is set to finally take effect in 2020. Many...

Volvo puts Ikea-like living room in self-driving concept car

Volvo 360C conceptWith its latest self-driving car concept, Volvo wants to take on the airline industry. Without a need for a steering wheel, Volvo opened up the interior of its 360c concept to accommodate a coffee table, a card table, a desk, and even a first-class airline-style bed. The company says the self-driving capability and Ikea-like interior furnishings...

Toyota recalls 2016-2018 Prius models for fire risk

2016 Toyota Prius, Catskill Mountains, NY, Dec 2015Toyota is launching one of its largest recalls on one of its most popular models—the Prius hybrid. Covering all Toyota Prius and Prius Plug-in models built between June 2015 and May 2018, the recall involves a wiring harness for the car's hybrid power control unit, which can chafe and start a fire, the company told Reuters. The problem...

The new 2020 Tesla Roadster that wasn’t in Switzerland

2020 Tesla Roadster at 2018 Grand Basel show - Image via BluewinTesla made a lot of noise about a big surprise it planned for the Grand Basel auto show, a celebration of architecture and design in Switzerland's northern industrial city. The company teased that it might show a new pre-production prototype of its new Roadster. The much-hyped car has twice appeared in running form, once at its official debut in...

2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC specs revealed

2020 Mercedes-Benz EQCMercedes-Benz released initial specs of its newest electric car, the EQC crossover SUV, Tuesday in Stockholm. The answer to the inevitable range question about its rival to the Jaguar I-Pace: "about 200 miles," Mercedes says. The SUV's 80-kwh lithium-ion battery sits under the floor between front and rear sub-frames. DON'T MISS: Mercedes EQC...

GM working on ultra fast charging system for Chevy Bolt EV

Charging Chevy Bolt EV before trip across Maryland   [image: Brian Ro]Automakers are in a new race, not for miles per hour on a track or the street, but in miles per hour regained while an electric car is sitting at a charger. GM is the latest automaker to join the race toward faster-charging electric cars, with a new project to develop an "extreme fast charger" that can deliver up to 180 miles of range to a Chevy...