Audi e-tron GT electric “super sedan” to challenge Tesla Model S

Teaser for Audi e-tron GTFirst came the Tesla Model S, followed by the Model X. Then Audi, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz rolled out their plans for single long-range electric luxury models to compete with Tesla. Now, the Germans are teasing their plans for further electric cars aimed at Tesla, with the Audi Sport e-tron GT the latest to be announced. DON'T MISS: Audi e-tron...

Which electric car is your favorite? Twitter poll results

2018 Chevrolet Bolt EVMany times our polls deal with weighty issues—climate change, renewable energy, the effects of denying science—or survey expectations for the future. But sometimes we just do a "Pick one!" kind of poll. That's what we did last week, when we asked Twitter followers to name their favorite electric car from among four choices now on the...

Why the future of electric cars depends on China’s war on pollution

Woman with smog mask (pic by Nicolò Lazzati on Flickr)Roughly half of everyone alive in the U.S. today has never experienced really bad smog. Those over, say, age 45—big-city residents and Angelenos especially—may recall hazy days in which the sun was barely visible, and air that actually tasted metallic. It's a memorable experience, and it's why the future of electric cars increasingly...

Will 2021 Ford Escape bring back hybrid model (or plug-in hybrid)?

2012 Ford Escape HybridTomorrow, Ford is hosting journalists at an unusual event called "Ford Uncovered," at which it may discuss some of its future products for 2020 and beyond. Key among the questions that attendees will undoubtedly ask will be those about the company's strategy for electrified vehicles. While Ford was the first U.S. carmaker to offer a hybrid...

Electric car sales in Germany finally start to soar: Tesla leads

2018 Tesla Model S and 2018 Tesla Model XIt's starting to look like China will lead the world in adoption of plug-in electric cars, but which carmaking nations will follow it? While electric cars were launched simultaneously in Japan and the United States, Europe lagged somewhat behind. Now, however, Germany—home to the largest piece of Europe's auto industry—appears to be...

VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of battery supply, it said today

Volkswagen ID electric car concept, 2016 Paris auto showFor a company that has only two battery-electric models in production, both several years old, VW Group spends a great deal of time talking about electric cars. The company has plans to launch 30 new electric vehicles by 2025, and has released four Volkswagen ID concepts, the first of which will enter production in November 2019. At its annual...

Cars now clean enough that household products rival them for air pollution

1970s Los Angeles smog depicted in the Honda short film The first major emission controls on motor vehicles were introduced in 1975 with the advent of the catalytic converter. Today's cars emit less than 1 percent of the three "criteria" pollutants that came out of their tailpipes half a century ago. They emit relatively so little carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons that the collective...

2018 Honda Accord Hybrid rated by EPA at 47 mpg combined

2018 Honda Accord HybridThe EPA has now released the fuel-efficiency ratings for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid, and they came in 1 mpg below the combined number the company had hoped to reach. At a drive event last fall, Honda said it hoped the redesigned Accord Hybrid could manage the same fuel-efficiency ratings as last year's model: 49 mpg city, 47 highway, 48...

India plan for converting to electric cars by 2030 may get trimmed, a lot

Smog in Dehli, India (by Flickr user Mfield)Two years ago, the government of India proposed a remarkable and ambitious goal: make every new vehicle coming onto its roads electric by 2030. The plan was largely a response to some of the world's highest levels of hazardous air pollution in its cities, higher in many cases than the legendary foul air in Chinese cities. The world's second-most...

How 2019 Volkswagen Jetta inched up its EPA fuel-economy ratings

2019 Volkswagen JettaWhile plug-in electric cars get lots of media attention, they remained just 1 percent of U.S. vehicle sales last year. And while the Trump Administration appears dead-set on rolling back emission limits and fuel-economy requirements established years ago, that effort will undoubtedly face lengthy court challenges as to the scientific basis...