The Mini Cooper SE revealed last week and the planned electric Mini Rocketman city car represent a new push from the official owner of the Mini brand, BMW. While neither of those models has arrived quite yet, the UK-based company electric bicycle company Swind has already started making a limited number of electric conversions of classic Minis for... Union hack: British company offers electric classic Mini conversion
The Mini Cooper SE revealed last week and the planned electric Mini Rocketman city car represent a new push from the official owner of the Mini brand, BMW. While neither of those models has arrived quite yet, the UK-based company electric bicycle company Swind has already started making a limited number of electric conversions of classic Minis for...
Which battery company is looking to expand in the U.S.? What accolades did the Tesla Model 3 earn this week? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending July 12, 2019. Volkswagen and Ford finally reached a long-anticipated agreement for mutual investment in electric cars and...
Volkswagen will share its affordable EV platform with Ford. The Chevrolet Equinox will no longer be available with a diesel engine. Korean battery supplier LG Chem is considering building a second factory in the U.S. And we round up the best deals on hybrid and electric cars for July. All this and more on Green Car Reports. VW and Ford expanded...
As tax credits on electric cars wind down, great deals are getting harder to find. Still, our partners at CarsDirect found some deals as low as $199 a month for July in scouring manufacturer programs for deals. Since some electric cars are still sold in small numbers and in limited areas, we've focused our selections on deals on cars that are...
Ford and Volkswagen announced jointly on Friday that VW will share its MEB affordable electric car architecture with Ford, while VW will join Ford's Argo self-driving effort. In addition to its own efforts to build electric cars, Ford will build a new electric car for the European market based on Volkswagen’s mass-market MEB platform. Ford...
With more automakers lining up to buy lots of batteries for electric cars, leading battery supplier LG Chem is planning to build a second battery factory in the U.S., according to a Reuters report citing three people familiar with the matter. The company is considering sites in Kentucky and Tennessee among other locations. LG Chem already operates...
The federal government has extended its 5-star ratings to the whole Tesla Model 3 lineup. A long-anticipated adapter lets the Model 3 charge in more places. British reports say Mini may revive its Rocketman as an electric car for China. And Democrats on Capitol Hill have released a climate emergency resolution. All this and more on Green Car...
Many Americans consider climate change a global emergency that's worth pulling out all the stops to address—especially by buying and driving electric cars. Now, it turns out Democratic lawmakers in Washington agree. A bicameral group of Democrats on Capitol Hill introduced a resolution on Tuesday to declare climate change a national...
Tesla has been widely known for having the most convenient fast charging networks in the world of electric cars. It's been so successful that some have even referred to it as Tesla's "moat" against competition. For Model 3 owners, however, who make up the bulk of Tesla drivers, it has been all they have access to. This week, Tesla released a...
In case the new electric Mini Cooper SE isn't small enough for some buyers, Mini plans to build an even smaller electric car in China, based on its 2011 Rocketman concept. British auto magazine Autocar learned that the company plans to team up with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors to build an electric city car smaller than the Cooper SE. The...
New safety scores are in for the Tesla Model 3—from Europe. Volkswagen shows how it could help make EVs lighter. More states sign on to oppose the EPA's planned fuel-economy freeze. And readers weigh in on whether Arnold Schwarzenegger can sell more electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The European New Car Assessment...
The number of states that oppose President Trump's efforts to freeze emissions and fuel economy standards is growing. In June last year, 16 states and Washington, DC, sued the federal government over the proposal before it was even released. On Tuesday, governors of 23 states plus Puerto Rico released a joint statement urging the Trump...
Ads for electric cars have included very few hits and many cringeworthy misses. Among the most successful we've seen is a new ad by non-profit EV group Veloz, with actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as an undercover car salesman. Here's the ad, in case you missed it: Although there have been a couple of other effective ads...
European tests have demonstrated safety levels in the Tesla Model 3 beyond those yet tested in the U.S. The European New Car Assessment Program announced results last week from its full round of testing on a 2019 Model 3, and it gave the Model 3 its highest overall score in 2019 for the full collection of tests—in crash protection for its...
The fully electric 2020 Mini Cooper SE has been revealed. The Tesla Model S and Model X won't get a rumored refresh. Hyundai embraces new engine tech in the 2020 Hyundai Sonata. And our latest Twitter poll asks whether buyers would really pay twice as much—or more—for a self-driving car. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The new...
The Tesla Model S and Model X might never get the floating, center-mounted, horizontal instrument cluster from the newer Model 3, as had been widely reported based on patent and trademark drawings and insider reports. On Monday night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk quashed the rumors on Twitter, his usual venue, in response to a question from a follower...
The fully electric 2020 Mini Cooper SE will bring back everything early Mini pioneers loved about the company's first electric effort, the 2009 Mini E, in a more conventional, practical package. It will still be the sportiest Mini, with quicker powertrain responses, and a lower center of gravity, than the gas-powered Mini Cooper S. The biggest...
In a Twitter storm Sunday night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company's grand strategy to avoid selling cars for small profits (or less), is to boost prices for fully self-driving cars—at least once such systems are more reliable. In response to a Tweet by Disruption Research (@DistruptResearch), postulating that self-driving cars...
Toyota tests a solar-powered Prius in Japan. The Connecticut Supreme Court will decide the future of Tesla stores. Cost estimates get real for renewable power plans. And General Motors cleans up not just its cars, but its factories and tires. Hybrids aren't just for cars and trains anymore. All this and more on Green Car Reports. In Japan, Toyota...
While Toyota has been skeptical of electric cars, the carmaker is expressing optimism about technology that can supplement plugging in: solar. Along with its battery partners NIDO and Sharp, Toyota is experimenting with a new Prius Prime in Japan (called the Prius PHV there), equipped with 860 watts of solar panels on the roof, hood, and rear...