2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car at 6 months: owner’s likes, recommendations

John and Mimi Porter of San Diego, California, with their new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, in Feb 2017The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car with a range of more than 200 miles, and it's already had a big impact on the California market. While it continues to trickle into dealerships in other states, a few lucky Californians now have six months in the 238-mile electric hatchback under their belt. An early owner, John...

2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car at 6 months: owner’s likes, recommendations

John and Mimi Porter of San Diego, California, with their new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, in Feb 2017The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car with a range of more than 200 miles, and it's already had a big impact on the California market. While it continues to trickle into dealerships in other states, a few lucky Californians now have six months in the 238-mile electric hatchback under their belt. An early owner, John...

Toyota, Honda, Nissan, other Japan firms to fund hydrogen fueling

Hydrogen station in Ebina City, JapanEarlier this year in Europe, 13 companies joined forces to create the Hydrogen Council, a global initiative to discuss and promote the use of hydrogen as a renewable source of energy. In the United States, GM and Honda have partnered up to build a production plant in Michigan that will roll out next-generation propulsion systems for fuel-cell...

California trend: hybrid sales sink, plug-in electric cars soar

2017 Toyota PriusCalifornia has always been a bellwether for automotive trends, and it leads every other state by far in the volumes of plug-in electric cars sold. It also led in national sales of hybrid cars for many years. In fact, for several years running, the Toyota Prius was the single most popular passenger car sold in the state—setting it well apart...

California utility SCE offers $450 rebate for new and used electric cars

2015 Nissan Leaf with CHAdeMO fast-charging cable plugged in  [photo John Briggs]California already offers generous incentives to get consumers into electric vehicles, but now the electric utility Southern California Edison has joined in. SCE has announced what it calls the Clean Fuel Rewards Program to offer a $450 purchase rebate for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners. The utility company isn't limiting the...

Two words the Trump Administration can’t say: climate change

Donald TrumpDuring President Donald J. Trump's half-hour meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican yesterday, the pope gave the president a copy of his 2015 encyclical calling for urgent, drastic cuts in fossil-fuel emissions. It is unclear whether the U.S. president will peruse the document. Back at home, however, his administration is continuing unabated in...

Tesla Model 3 acceleration found in chart on Model S advantages

Tesla Model 3 spotted at service centerElectric-car maker Tesla doesn't announce models in the usual fashion. It trickles out bits and pieces of information, often in the form of tweets from CEO Elon Musk, punctuated by occasional large flashy debut events for owners and investors at which a vehicle is revealed. That's the pattern followed by the upcoming Tesla Model 3, which the...

BMW i3 REx: owner’s 3 years with range-extended electric car

2014 BMW i3 REx range-extended electric car at 3 years   [photo: owner Tom Moloughney]This week, my 2014 i3 REx turned three years old; I picked it up on May 21, 2014. For the most part I’ve been very pleased with the car. It’s definitely not perfect, but then again no car is. It has fit my needs and driving demands perfectly and I only needed to drive on the range extender for about 2,700 of the 71,000 miles that I've...

How does the heat pump work in a Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid?

2017 Toyota Prius Prime PremiumThe challenge of reducing the energy used by traditional heating systems in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars is one automakers still grapple with today. Reduced battery range in cold temperatures, combined with batteries working overtime to heat the cabin, can produce drastic declines in EPA-estimated range figures. The Toyota Prius Prime...

UBS study predicts electric-car cost parity in Europe could arrive by 2018

Volkswagen e-Golf recharging at curbside Autolib station, Paris, Sep 2016With the prospect of multiple long-range electric cars hitting the market over the next few years, the prediction market is in full swing. Battery costs have fallen faster than predicted eight years ago, and virtually every carmaker plans to introduce at least one battery-electric vehicle with 200 miles of range or more. The Chevrolet Bolt EV...

Tesla extends free Supercharger use to all current owners

Tesla Model S at Supercharger site in Ventura, CA, with just one slot open  [photo: David Noland]Tesla has bestowed upon its current owners a sought-after perk previously reserved for early adopters: free Supercharging. Last year, Tesla announced it would begin charging for Supercharger station use for buyers of its electric cars after a certain date—but now it appears to have walked back that policy. Instead, it has extended free...

Nissan electric SUV to be shown as concept car this year

Nissan IDS concept, 2015 Tokyo Motor ShowThe 2018 Nissan Leaf may be the brand's next electric vehicle to soak up attention, but several reports have indicated that Nissan plans to flesh out its lineup with an electric crossover. That all-electric SUV will likely be previewed with a Vmotion 3.0 concept, which will follow the Vmotion 2.0 sedan concept shown at this year's Detroit auto...

Video shoot shows Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV in production form

Production-ready Jaguar I-Pace spotted in MonacoThe British luxury brand Jaguar, far smaller than any of its three German competitors, may be looking to steal a march on all of them. While Audi revealed a concept version of its forthcoming e-tron all-electric SUV 18 months ago, and Mercedes-Benz followed with its EQ Concept last September, the Jaguar I-Pace concept was the surprise hit of...