2017 Nissan Leaf specs: all 30-kwh batteries, otherwise unchanged

2017 Nissan LeafIt's been almost six years since the Nissan Leaf electric car debuted in December 2010, as a 2011 model. That makes the current-generation Leaf fairly old by industry standards. Nonetheless, the Leaf rolls into the 2017 model year all but unchanged as Nissan prepares a redesigned second-generation model for launch at some future date. DON'T MISS...

2017 Chevy Spark Activ: fake crossover jacks up minicar into SUV wannabe

2017 Chevrolet Spark ActivGeneral Motors insists on calling its 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV a crossover utility vehicle. That's despite the fact that its award-winning 238-mile electric car isn't available with all-wheel drive, and has no more ground clearance than an average passenger car. But hey, if the Bolt EV can be an SUV, then why not the Chevy Spark subcompact hatchback...

2016 Los Angeles Auto Show green-car preview

2016 Los Angeles auto showThe 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show gets underway this week, and a few notable green cars are expected to debut there. The current popularity of crossover utility vehicles is evident in the numerous new or redesigned crossover models lined for the L.A. show. A smattering of other models will debut as well, but crossovers could very well represent the...

NJ dedicates all gas tax revenue to transportation infrastructure

BMW ActiveE electric car in front of old gas pumps, Belvidere, NJ   [photo: Tom Moloughney]Critics of electric cars often use the argument that, because electric-car drivers don't pay gas taxes, they don't contribute their fair share of road-maintenance costs. But state gas-tax revenue don't necessarily go toward funding infrastructure, or at least not all of it. In last Tuesday's election, voters in one state ensured that their...

Batteries from junkyard scrap metal and household chemicals?

Scrap metal (Photo by Daniel Bubois/Vanderbilt University)The increasing importance of batteries for electric cars, renewable energy, and consumer electronics has researchers looking for alternatives to the currently-dominant lithium-ion chemistry. But could one of those alternatives be a combination of junkyard scarp metal and household chemicals? That's what a group of researchers are proposing, in the...

Trump names proud climate-science denier to head EPA transition team

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]It didn't take long for the country to get its first indication of what a Donald Trump Administration could mean for U.S. climate policy. Trump has repeatedly denied the science of climate change, calling it a "hoax" at times. Prior to his Tuesday election victory, he also named a top climate-science denier to head his Environmental Protection...

Desperate coal company CEO slammed Tesla electric cars as ‘fraud’

Coal, by Flicker user oatsy40 (Used Under CC License)The debate over U.S. energy policy took a dramatic turn last month when Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk squared off against the CEO top privately-owned U.S. coal producer Murray Energy. In an interview for the CNBC show "Squawk Box," Robert Murray called Tesla and its electric cars a "fraud." He criticized the automaker for failing to turn a profit...