Not only do electric vehicles cost literally cents per kilometer to drive, but they also make routine car servicing a thing of the past. The maintenance schedule for Chevrolet's soon to be launched Bolt electric hatch back comprises tires rotation every 12,500 km (7,500 miles) and that's about it until a coolant system flush @ 240,000 km (150,000 miles). If an accurate wheel alignment accompanies every new set of tires you can effectively skip rotation which means the Bolt practically requires absolutely zero maintenance.
And that's only the tip of the iceberg. What goes unsaid is that in EV applications electric motors practically last forever. The international standard for rating motor insulation is based on a half life of 20,000 hours. For every 10c increase in insulation rating life expectancy doubles. For example, a class H (180c) motor that runs at 150c, the insulation systems would lose half it's mechanical strength after 160,000 hours. Power electronics components such as those found in motor inverters are typically rated at up to 100,000 hours.
To put that into context, with average annual motoring of 15,000 km @ an average speed of 60 km/h, a typical EV motor will comfortably cover a minimum 1.2 million kilometres, or 80 years of reliable motoring. No wonder dealerships hate selling EVs!
There's no single silver bullet that will reduce the energy consumption and emissions from the 80 million new road vehicles sold globally each year. Instead, thousands of individual efforts to improve the efficiency of powertrains, reduce vehicle weight, cut wind resistance, and all the rest come into play. But alternative powertrains will likely... 
Exhaust emissions from gasoline and diesel cars get a lot of attention from policymakers attempting to combat climate change. But another very large source of carbon emissions has nothing to do with transportation. Emissions of methane have increased dramatically over the past few years, with livestock raised for human food as the largest source... 
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... 
Today, find out why it may be more urgent for Tesla to turn a profit in the coming years, what language about battery degradation in the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV owner's manual means, and what a new study says about global carbon emissions. All this and more on Green Car Reports. See why Volkswagen believes the cost of electric cars and diesels will... 
And now it's real. Just 23 months after GM CEO Mary Barra unveiled the Chevrolet Bolt concept at the Detroit Auto Show, the very first production versions of Chevy's 238-mile electric car to be sold were delivered this morning to eager San Francisco Bay Area buyers. The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will be sold first in California and Oregon, and then... 
While the Nissan Leaf remains the best-selling electric car in other markets, the Japanese automaker's French partner once again remains on top of the European sales charts. The Renault Zoe was again the best-selling electric car in Europe between January and October, the most recent month with available data. The Zoe and Leaf have traded the lead... 
Debate over the profitability of Tesla electric cars has raged for years among its fans and detractors. Tesla supporters point to financial data from the Silicon Valley automaker to support the idea that it makes money on each car it sells. Skeptics point out that save for two marginally profitable quarters, one in 2009 and another this year... 
When's the last time you sat down and read large parts of an owner's manual for a car? If it's been a few years—or a few decades—you may be surprised how frustrating they are if you're actually searching for specific information. By and large, their indexes are atrocious (often using only manufacturer terms like "connected multimedia... 
Global efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions may be starting to pay off, suggests a recent study. Last month, scientists released an assessment that suggests global carbon emissions did not increase significantly in 2016. That makes this the third year in a row that carbon emissions have remained flat. DON'T MISS: Renewable energy growth... 
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... 
The point at which electric cars will become truly cost competitive with internal-combustion cars is a subject of vigorous discussion by advocates and skeptics alike. But could tougher emissions standards help push the cost of electric and internal-combustion powertrains toward convergence? Even if the cost of electric cars doesn't drop... 
Today, we review the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, Chrysler reportedly plans to unveil a new electric car at CES, and Porsche may have used an illegal emissions-cheating "defeat device" in its gasoline cars Missed last week's news? Catch up with our Week in Reverse feature. Chrysler will reveal a new electric car at CES in January... 
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is among a roster of chief executives from Silicon Valley set to meet with president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to news reports. Musk has suggested that climate change is among the most urgent challenges facing mankind, one reason his company makes only zero-emission electric cars. The president-elect, on the... 
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime turned out to be a better plug-in hybrid than we had expected when we drove it around sunny Ojai, California, on the press launch in October. It's a viable competitor to the second-generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, though the Volt has an EPA-rated 53 miles of electric range to the Prime's 25 miles. Now we've had... 
Swiss design firm Rinspeed does not produce vehicles for sale, but it has built quite a number of unusual concept cars over the years. Its latest work will be displayed at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show and the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, which run within days of each other next month. The Rinspeed Oasis is a self-driving electric car designed to... 
It's been 15 months since news broke that VW Group had used "defeat device" software in its diesel cars and SUVs that let them emit far more than permitted levels of nitrogen oxides in real-world use. Even now, however, the Volkswagen diesel scandal continues to grow new tentacles as investigators uncover additional apparent instances of... 
The Volkswagen 2.0-liter diesel settlement approved by a federal judge at the end of October includes a provision for funding of zero-emission vehicle infrastructure. Under the agreement, VW will spend $2 billion in charging or fueling infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles. Exactly how that money will be spent, and how the program will be... 
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...