It was quaint and adorable when Norway did it, saying it would end sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025. The Netherlands followed suit, with little fanfare. More recently, France and the U.K. have enacted various forms of bans on non-electrified vehicles, on varying schedules. Now that China has said it's considering timetables... China wants all electric cars: will it work? Reasons and reactions
It was quaint and adorable when Norway did it, saying it would end sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025. The Netherlands followed suit, with little fanfare. More recently, France and the U.K. have enacted various forms of bans on non-electrified vehicles, on varying schedules. Now that China has said it's considering timetables...
It was quaint and adorable when Norway did it, saying it would end sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025. The Netherlands followed suit, with little fanfare. More recently, France and the U.K. have enacted various forms of bans on non-electrified vehicles, on varying schedules. Now that China has said it's considering timetables...
General Motors CEO Mary Barra met with reporters in Shanghai on Friday, discussing the company's vision of the future: "a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion." The company doesn't think, however, that China should be quite so hasty in pushing to ban cars that actually do have tailpipe emissions, however. Barra argued...
China made headlines around the world on Sunday when state media reported that the country is developing a timetable to end production and sales of new vehicles with gasoline engines. While Norway, The Netherlands, France, and the U.K. have adopted various timetables for various versions of such a ban, China is both the world's most populous...
Germany's giant VW Group has said, several times, that it will have 30 different electric cars on sale globally by 2025. Over the last year, it's unveiled three different Volkswagen ID electric-car concepts, two of them thinly disguised versions of future production models for 2019 and 2020. Now, it has shown an update to one of those concepts at...
The auto industry has now grudgingly accepted that battery-electric cars will make up some portion of the world's new vehicles in years to come. But a milestone in that trend may have come today, in news from China. Policy makers in the world's most populous country, and largest car market, are developing a timetable to end production and sales of...
Cadillac revealed its latest addition to the XT5 crossover range in China at the Chengdu auto show—and it has fuel efficiency in mind. General Motors' luxury division introduced the Cadillac XT5 Hybrid, which replaces two trim levels solely powered by gasoline engines. The Cadillac XT5 Hybrid is, in fact, the first mild hybrid ever offered...
Hard numbers provide the latest evidence that shows China is by far the world's largest market for plug-in cars—or new energy vehicles, as they are referred to locally. The latest round of sales figures show the Chinese bought almost exactly twice the number of plug-in vehicles as car buyers in the United States did. Despite the high...
Ford was the U.S. maker to build hybrid cars, starting in 2004, and it launched its Focus Electric hatchback in December 2011, just a year after the arrival of the Nissan Leaf. It also continues to sell Energi plug-in hybrid versions of its mid-size Fusion sedan and its compact C-Max tall hatchback, two vehicles now in their sixth model years...
Most North Americans and Europeans will likely never have heard of Baojun, but it's one of many brands operated under General Motors' SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture in China. Its portfolio is mostly made up of small sedans, multi-purpose vehicles (small minivans), hatchbacks, and a crossover utility vehicle, but the brand recently undertook its...
The 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...
As Volkswagen works to look toward the future, following its damaging diesel deceit, electric cars and plug-in vehicles will be front and center in its product publicity. The German automaker has already hinted at its future electric cars with a handful of concepts, but its first high-volume electric cars won't arrive until 2019. What do we know...
It may be human nature to avoid doing things that are for the long-term good but impose short-term costs. Exercising more, giving up smoking, or paying more for a car that is better for the environment all challenge many otherwise responsible citizens. And it's abundantly clear that the emergence and sales of electric cars benefit greatly from...
It's long been official policy for China that the country's automakers will become the world's highest-volume producer of electric cars. (It also intends to dominate lithium-ion battery cells and photovoltaic solar panels, for the record.) But the government policies and incentives to achieve that goal have often changed over the years. DON'T...
Among electric-car owners and advocates, tiny British sports-car maker Aston Martin has become a company to watch. That's largely due to its CEO for the last few years, Andy Palmer, who had previously led product development at Nissan while it launched the Leaf electric car. Palmer had ambitious plans for a lineup of electric vehicles at Nissan...
Tesla is closing in on a deal to begin production of its cars in China, after it signed a preliminary agreement to explore building cars near the major city of Shanghai. By signing the preliminary agreement, Tesla will begin the first step towards local production in China, a move that would significantly lower costs. More importantly, it will...
California has long been the nation's leader in zero-emission vehicles, with initiatives dating more than two decades. Now the Golden State is partnering with China, the world's largest car market, to accelerate that country's zero-emission goals. The state announced a new initiative with China, in which they will work together to accelerate the...