Chevy Bolt EV: looking at electric car’s long-term challenges

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EVThe electric car that became the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV reset industry norms overnight when it was unveiled as a concept car at the 2015 Detroit auto show. The most important parts wasn't the car's shape, or its interior space, or hatchback configuration: it was the combination of price (below $40,000 before incentives) and range (200 miles or...

Volkswagen ID Buzz drive: electric VW bus offers unique EV concept

Kirk Bell and John Voelcker in Volkswagen ID Buzz electric Microbus concept vehicleWhen you see a concept car drive onto the stage at an auto show, don't be fooled into thinking it's what you'll drive out of the dealer a couple of years later. We got to drive the Volkswagen ID Buzz all-electric Microbus concept car Saturday for a couple of miles along the oceanside road outside Monterey, California. Our drive in the ID Buzz...

Is this the country’s first Chevrolet Bolt EV police car?

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric police car, operated by Hyattsville City Police Department, MarylandUsing electric cars as police vehicles has some distinct advantages. Among them are near-silent operation, maximum acceleration from 0 rpm, and a novelty factor that can lead to friendly, beneficial interactions between officers and citizens. Now, the small Maryland city of Hyattsville, a suburb of Washington, D.C., has a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV...

Tesla Model 3: do design features point to self-driving car-sharing service?

2017 Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 continues to generate an inordinate amount of interest from electric-car advocates and the general public, as pretty much any Tesla model has in the past. But unlike the Model S in 2012, which broke new ground on multiple fronts, the lower-priced Model 3 appears to be less innovative based on what we've seen as the car goes into...

Chevy Bolt EV reviewed by BMW i3 driver: electric cars compared

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Premier and 2017 BMW i3 electric car, Aug 2017        [photo: Tom Moloughney]Owners of specific electric cars sometimes tend to become boosters and fans for their particular EV as well as plugging in to drive in general. So it was with Tom Moloughney, whose purchase of the very first 2014 BMW i3 REx range-extended electric car in the U.S. he wrote about for us three years ago. That car was regrettably totaled in an...

Hyundai-Kia: eight electric cars by 2022, dedicated EV platform

2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric - frame from video road testIt's long been said in the auto industry that Hyundai-Kia is the only competitor that truly scares industry colossus Toyota. Thirty years ago, the Korean company was a bit player, producing designs adapted from obsolete Mitsubishi technology. Today it's a major global player, reacting fast to market swings—and its goal is to be second only...

Trump NHTSA might reduce emission rules for two-thirds of U.S. vehicles

2017 Ram 1500 Rebel Blue StreakConsumers all over the world, but especially in North America, are buying more crossover utility vehicles and fewer passenger sedans and hatchbacks. The U.S. auto industry makes the bulk of its profits on light trucks, which include crossovers, pickup trucks, and even minivans. The Trump Administration has said it wants to roll back environmental...

2017 Karma Revero: first drive of reborn luxury plug-in hybrid sedan

2017 Karma Revero, Palisades, NJ, Aug 2017The 2017 Karma Revero remains as much of a head-turner today as the low, sleek four-door sedan was when it debuted a decade ago under another name. It also happens to be a range-extended electric luxury sedan, though we tend to think that the Karma would sell just as well if it ran on coal dust and baby-seal blood. It's a big, low, handsome shape...

Do German makers face ‘iPhone moment,’ after dodging diesel bullet?

2017 Tesla Model 3 The Volkswagen diesel scandal has largely fallen out of the public eye in the U.S., as VW and Audi buy back and modify roughly half a million noncompliant vehicles sold from 2009 through 2016. In Germany, meanwhile, the major sellers of diesel vehicles—not only VW Group but also Mercedes, Opel, and Fiat—have agreed to modify 5 million...

Does Tesla Model 3 compete with Bolt EV and Leaf, or BMW 3-Series?

2018 BMW 3-SeriesThere's a new generation of the BMW 3-Series sport sedan coming next year, and rumors suggest there will be an all-electric version in 2019 or 2020. If so, there's only one car that it would be targeting: the Tesla Model 3, the 220-mile or 310-mile electric sedan from the Silicon Valley carmaker that says it will be making 5,000 of them by the end...

Is the Tesla Model 3 really ‘Car 2.0’? Maybe not: here’s why

2017 Tesla Model 3 and 2011 Nissan Leaf, Half Moon Bay, California, Aug 2017  [photo: Scott Forrest]Like the company's three previous electric cars, the Tesla Model 3 launched into production with a splashy media event during which owners received the keys to their new cars and the company's fans applauded. Like the Model S and Model X, production is starting at very low rates, with the rate of increase—to 5,000 cars a week by December 31...

We visited NYC’s Ford Hub; we still don’t know what it was

Scenes from visit to Ford Hub, Westfield World Trade Center, New York City, Aug 2017Those who've lived in New York City since 2001 sometimes choose to avoid the World Trade Center site when possible. The area has largely been rebuilt into a combination of offices, shopping, and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, with construction on some very tall towers still ongoing. A lunch date with a friend prompted us to wander into the Ford...