California electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric recently took delivery of a pair of new trucks that it hopes will help solve two problems. The first is power outages, whether they are caused by weather or necessary planned maintenance work conducted by utilities. The other is every utility's huge bill for diesel fuel. The large trucks... Plug-in hybrid utility truck keeps lights on during emergencies
California electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric recently took delivery of a pair of new trucks that it hopes will help solve two problems. The first is power outages, whether they are caused by weather or necessary planned maintenance work conducted by utilities. The other is every utility's huge bill for diesel fuel. The large trucks... 
What if gasoline and diesel cars and light trucks were simply eliminated altogether from the new vehicles sold in a state? Residents of one state in the U.S. may, eventually, find out. California already leads the nation in promoting zero-emission vehicles, but the Golden State may soon take that policy a step further. DON'T MISS: Will California... 
Long a leader in the push to reduce vehicle emissions and switch to renewable energy, California marks another milestone this week. The last of three battery energy-storage sites will come online in Southern California, providing storage and buffering for unpredictable renewable energy. Together, the three sites add up to capacity equal to fully... 
As is the norm these days, the ads running during Super Bowl LI this past weekend drew almost as much attention as the game itself. Automakers are among the myriad companies that expend considerable creative and monetary resources on Super Bowl ads every year. And green cars make occasional appearances in these ads. DON'T MISS: Here are the car... ![Bill Nye in new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, Jan 2017 [photo: Oskar Liners, Community Chevrolet, Burbank]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/bill-nye-in-new-2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-jan-2017-photo-oskar-liners-community-chevrolet-burbank_100590950_t.gif)
Bill Nye, better known as "The Science Guy" on the popular PBS children's series that bears his name, loves electric cars. He drove one of only a few hundred original GM EV1 two-seat electric cars almost 20 years ago. Three weeks ago, he took delivery of a brand-new "Kinetic Blue" 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV—and he says he couldn't be happier... 
California continues to lead the United States, and in some ways the world, in efforts to reduce and eliminate harmful emissions from road vehicles. Following the lead of Governor Jerry Brown, the state legislature and regulatory agencies have set aggressive goals to reduce emission of climate-change gases, primarily carbon dioxide. That will be... 
When it comes to policy efforts aimed at promoting electric cars, the focus is usually on private passenger vehicles. But to cut carbon emissions in a meaningful way, policymakers will have to look at other types of vehicles as well. That includes the thousands of cars and light trucks in the municipal fleets of large cities. DON'T MISS: BYD... 
In certain states, electric utilities are getting into the business of installing and operating electric-car charging infrastructure. They may build public charging stations, or work with other entities that operate them, but that's usually as far as their efforts to promote electric cars go. But one California utility is now taking direct action... 
First there was AutoLib, a French electric-car sharing service operated by the Bolloré Group. Then came BlueIndy, the first U.S. franchise of the service, which put the same BlueCars onto the streets of Indianapolis. Now Bolloré is expanding its car-sharing operations to a second U.S. city, one that may be much more in the public... 
There's a new hydrogen fuel-cell kid in town. Well after Hyundai and Toyota launched their own fuel-cell cars in California, the first 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell sedans to be leased to retail customers were delivered yesterday in a small ceremony. Like the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell and Toyota Mirai, the Clarity Fuel Cell is available only... 
California's latest tactic to promote electric-car adoption is to involve electric utilities in the installation and operation of charging infrastructure. Utilities in other states were previously allowed to own and operate electric-car charging stations, but that wasn't the case in California until a state Public Utilities Commission ruling in... 
For the past few years, several of the electric-car models on sale in the U.S. have been "compliance cars." That means they are built primarily to satisfy California's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, and are generally only available in that state and perhaps a few other electric-car friendly markets. General Motors is aiming for more... 
When it comes to green cars, California leads the nation—and has done so for decades. California residents buy more hybrids and electric cars than those of any other state, and it is also the only state with fueling infrastructure to support the sale of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Consumer enthusiasm is underpinned by strict regulations... 
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he wants his company to be building 500,000 electric cars a year by 2018. That's an ambitious goal, but at least one necessary piece of the puzzle is already in place. Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, previously produced that many cars when it was a joint operation of General Motors and Toyota. DON'T MISS... 
The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric will soon go on sale as part of a trio of Ioniq variants that also includes hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. When it arrives in dealerships, Hyundai will face the same challenge other automakers have come to know well: marketing electric cars to an uneducated and sometimes skeptical public. Instead of relying... ![Cumulative battery-electric and plug-in hybrid sales in California to hit 250,000 in Nov 2016 [PEVC]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/cumulative-battery-electric-and-plug-in-hybrid-sales-in-california-to-hit-250000-in-nov-2016-pevc_100581772_t.gif)
It's long been obvious that California is the epicenter of emission reduction and electric-car adoption in the United States. And its outsize influence on U.S. environmental policy has global ramifications as well. Of the 1.25 million plug-in vehicles estimated to be on global roads by the end of this year, fully one-fifth are in the Golden State... 
California is currently the only U.S. state where hydrogen fuel-cell cars are available for purchase. If various interested parties have their way, it could also be the only state to boast fuel-cell ferries. Last year, Sandia National Laboratories and the Red and White Fleet ferry company announced plans to design and build a "high-speed"... 
Quebec has become the first Canadian province to adopt a requirement for sales of a certain number of zero-emission vehicles, similar to the one in effect in California. Quebec's Assemblée Nationale passed the regulation on October 26 by a unanimous vote of 112 to 0, and to universal praise from Canada's electric vehicle community. The...