Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, July 2017: Golf season

2017 Volkswagen e-GolfThe Volkswagen e-Golf launched in Canada in late June, tallying 39 sales before the month’s end, and followed that with 84 units in its first full month of availability. Aided by the e-Golf, the Toyota Prius Prime and the soon-to-arrive second-generation Nissan Leaf, plug-in electric vehicles may push above 1 percent of the market for...

Go Forth Electric Vehicle Showcase in Portland: lessons learned

Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland   [photo: Forth]One of the challenges in getting car shoppers to consider plug-in electric vehicles is the education required. Tesla attacked this problem head on, opening its stores in malls and other sites where potential future buyers could dip their toes in and start to learn about electric cars without being pressured to sign on the line. But at all other...

New engine development at German makers to end by 2025, says supplier

BMW engineContinental, a major supplier for automakers around the world, has come out with a bold prediction: internal-combustion engine development by German automakers will essentially end by the year 2025. The supplier, which makes exhaust-gas-cleaning systems for diesel cars and nitrogen oxide-measuring sensors, lists several factors contributing to its...

Faraday Future gets $14 million; factory moved to CA from Vegas

Artist’s impression of Faraday Future’s proposed plant in Hanford, CaliforniaElectric-car maker Faraday Future has received an emergency injection of $14 million to move its FF 91 luxury electric car closer to market. The rescue funds come in the form of a loan from Innovatus Capital Partners, after Faraday Future pledged its California-based headquarters as collateral. For now, the $14 million will keep the company afloat...

2019 Mazda 3 to feature world-first HCCI engine for efficiency: report

2017 Mazda MAZDA3It's a technology that's been a sort of Holy Grail in the auto industry for at least a couple of decades. Now Mazda, one of the smallest global automakers, plans to introduce it in a radical new engine to be used in a future Mazda vehicle in 2019. It's called homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI: in essence it lets a gasoline engine...

Tesla Model 3 electric car: what’s your take? Poll results

2017 Tesla Model 3 With the Tesla Model 3 electric car now in early production and an aggressive ramp rate targeted, it's getting lots of media attention. Part of that is due to the allure of the Tesla brand and fascinating with company CEO Elon Musk. Some more may be due to the widespread misapprehension that the Model 3 is the first long-range electric car for...

Hawaii to get hydrogen fueling station; Toyota Mirai leases to follow

2016 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car, Newport Beach, CA, Nov 2014Tropical islands are some of the best places on earth to pioneer carbon-free energy and zero-emission vehicles. Within the United States, the eight islands of Hawaii are blessed with a temperate climate, abundant sunshine, few high-speed highways, and a statewide speed limit of 60 mph, achievable only on a few roads. This has led to a push for...

Nissan Leaf electric car platform to spawn more models, SUV included: report

Teaser for 2018 Nissan Leaf debuting on September 6, 2017The 2018 Nissan Leaf apparently won't be the brand's lone electric car for much longer, if a new report with details on plans to expand the electric car's underpinnings to additional models proves accurate. Following the introduction of the second-generation 2018 Nissan Leaf, the electric car's platform will spawn multiple models, and an electric...