Should we buy a Toyota Prius Prime, Chevy Bolt EV, or Volt?

2006 Toyota Prius and 2015 Nissan Leaf  [photo: John C. Briggs]It's now time to shop for a new car for my wife, as her wonderful 2006 Toyota Prius has 144,000 miles and we're ready for something new. So I thought I might throw the question out to Green Car Reports readers. What car should replace our 2006 Prius hybrid? DON'T MISS: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime: gas mileage, electric range review Our needs and...

Chevy Bolt EV user interface: reviewer calls it best of any electric car

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EVThe 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is an amazing, long-range electric vehicle that won multiple awards for good reason. Driving the EV for an extended test for the first time, it’s obvious this is the future of driving. (Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently predicted that 50 percent of new cars will be electric in 10 years.) Beyond the surprising...

Next 2018 Nissan Leaf teaser sketch; electric car debuts Sep 5

Teaser for 2018 Nissan Leaf debuting on September 6, 2017The global debut of the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car is just a month away, and now another teaser image has been released. This one's a design sketch showing a drawing of the car's side profile, suitably shaded to obscure some of the details. You can compare it to a shot of the actual vehicle, captured last week in Norway while a 2018 Leaf was...

Tesla Model S, Model X electric cars updated with new features

2017 Tesla Model SBefore the Tesla Model 3 officially entered production, the electric-car maker shuffled features on its Model S to provide a clear distinction between the two sedans. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has often said those looking for luxury will be happiest in a Model S, while the Model 3 remains a much more straightforward piece of transportation. The updates...

Autocrossing a Fiat 500e electric car for first, maybe last, time

Andrea Kerr driving Fiat 500e electric car in autocross, Great Park, Irvine, Califronia, July 2017When we published an article on one owner's experience using his Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car to compete in a local autocross, it contained a comment that riled up our reader Doug Kerr. That comment—"Outside of one high-performance electric vehicle, casual electric cars are hardly the racer’s choice"—prompted Kerr to take the...

Tesla Model 3 net reservations clarified after 16 months: 455,000

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk at Tesla Store opening in Westfield Mall, London, Oct 2013Sometimes, if you ask a question often enough for long enough, an answer will eventually be forthcoming. In the case of the net number of $1,000 reservations for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, it took 16 months for the company to cough up the latest data. It came, not surprisingly, from CEO Elon Musk, speaking on a conference call for financial...

RIP Mitsubishi i-MiEV: lowest-range, slowest electric car departs U.S. market

2016 Mitsubishi i-MiEV Quick Drive  -  Portland OR  -  July 2015   [photo: Doug Berger]The Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car deserves a place in history. It was arguably the first mass-produced modern electric car put on sale, well before the Nissan Leaf arrived in December 2010. Pre-production i-MiEVs were operating in test fleets in Japan as early as 2007, and it was on sale in that country even as Tesla struggled to get its Roadster...

Tesla’s won’t discuss net Model 3 reservations number; why?

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017One year ago today, a communications staffer (since departed) wrote that Tesla had received 373,000 reservations for its future Model 3—a number first issued in April 2016. In a splashy event for owners, fans, and media, a few dozen early-production Model 3 electric cars were delivered last Friday. During the year leading up to that event...

Tesla Model 3 Easter eggs, discovered by board member Steve Jurvetson

Tesla Model 3 Easter eggs screenThe few dozen 2017 Tesla Model 3 owners who've already taken delivery of their electric cars will find a few surprises inside if they look closely enough. The Silicon Valley automaker handed over the first examples of its new Model 3 to customers, one of whom happens to be Steve Jurvetson. Jurvetson is well known among the Tesla community not only...

2018 Nissan Leaf caught without camouflage in ad shoot

2018 Nissan Leaf spotted during photo shoot - Image via BroomIts maker has begun the countdown to the early-September unveiling of the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car with a series of staged teaser photos and factoids. But with the prevalence of smartphone cameras, it's harder and harder for carmakers to keep their new models completely under wraps. Which is how we come to have a shot of the 2018 Leaf...

Fiat Chrysler to electrify more vehicles as diesels fall out of favor

2017 Chrysler Pacifica HybridAmong the Detroit Three automakers, General Motors has a quarter of a century of electric-car experience, from the legendary EV1 to the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV. Ford launched hybrids in 2004, before any other maker, but its battery-electric efforts thus far have been strictly compliance cars. Chrysler, however, was by far the most pessimistic...

Porsche prototype 350-kw electric car fast-charging station installed

Porsche solar pylon Porsche has big plans to expand the capability of the Combined Charging System (CCS) DC standard into much higher voltages to allow much faster electric-car charging. Now, it's completed a first step: at the brand's new branch office in Berlin-Adlershof, Porsche has installed a prototype 350-kilowatt, 800-volt charging station. The new technology...

Tesla Model 3 drive reports, reviews: raves for sporty electric car

2018 Tesla Model 3The first, earliest production versions of the Tesla Model 3 electric car were delivered to their owners in a splashy "Handover Party" late last week. A few journalists got short drives at the event, but only one outlet was granted a Model 3 before the party to enable a more comprehensive review. That means lots of "Tesla Model 3 review" articles...

All-electric Buick small SUV to be based on Bolt EV: report

2018 Buick EncoreThe Chevrolet Bolt EV, initially intended to be adapted from the next-generation Chevy Sonic subcompact, ended up with unique underpinnings designed solely for use as a battery-electric vehicle. Carmakers virtually never limit dedicated architectures to a single vehicle—they're simply too expensive to develop—so it's long been expected...