BMW X3 xDrive 30e builds out plug-in hybrid lineup

BMW X3 xDrive30eBMW has recently announced that it will upgrade two mainstays of its plug-in hybrid lineup in the U.S. with the new 2020 X5 xDrive 45e and an updated 530e for 2019. In between, BMW now says it will launch a new plug-in hybrid version of its bestselling model, the X3 for the 2020 model year. The 2020 BMW X3 xDrive 30e gets 31 miles of plug-in range...

Nissan IMQ small SUV skips electric for hybrid power

Nissan IMQ electric SUV conceptAfter revealing a planned all-electric SUV last year in Tokyo and an electric sedan in Detroit this year, Nissan's debut at the Geneva auto show was a surprise: It's latest IM concept car, the IMQ small SUV isn't an electric car or even a plug-in hybrid. Nissan has been promising a small electric SUV for years now, but this isn't the further step...

Mitsubishi Engelberg SUV concept may preview Outlander PHEV replacement

Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer conceptThe Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer concept unveiled at the Geneva auto show on Tuesday looks a lot like the preview of a replacement for Mitsubishi's bestselling model, the Outlander. The Engelberg Tourer concept is a plug-in hybrid SUV similar in function if not in size to the Outlander PHEV, which was once the bestselling plug-in vehicle in Europe...

Japanese judge releases former Nissan chairman Ghosn on bail

Carlos GhosnIn an unusual move in Japan, former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn was released on bail Wednesday after 108 days in jail, according to a report in Automotive News. Ghosn, who is known as the father of the Nissan Leaf for his work championing the car's production, was arrested in November on charges of allegedly misusing company funds and...

Volvo’s US Polestar electric-car plans are in flux over China tariffs

Polestar 2Higher tariffs placed on cars made in China won't impact Polestar's future plans for the U.S. but could affect the price of its cars, the brand said Wednesday. Responding to reports that its CEO suggested that the nascent electric carmaker, which is owned by Volvo, might pull the plug on cars in the U.S., a Polestar spokesman confirmed that their...

Piëch electric car claimed to charge as fast as a fill-up

Piech Mark Zero conceptThere's fast charging and then there's fast charging. Automakers seem to be in a race to develop lithium-ion batteries for EVs that can charge faster than the half-hour currently required for electric cars, and a new Austrian startup founded by the great grandson of Ferdinand Porsche plans to lead that race. Piëch's Mark Zero concept car that...

Honda plans all-electrified lineup for Europe by 2025

Honda e PrototypeAt the Geneva auto show on Tuesday, Honda announced plans to bring a fully-electrified lineup to Europe by 2025. That's different, of course, than selling only fully electric cars. The plan includes hybrids, such as the CR-V Hybrid that Honda sells in Europe now, as well as plug-in and fully electric cars. "Honda expects full hybrid technology to...

Audi Q4 e-tron previews brand’s first affordable electric SUV

Audi Q4 e-tron conceptAudi's plans to take on Tesla in the electric-car market aren't limited to the upcoming e-tron quattro electric SUV. Like Tesla, Audi has at least two electric SUVs in the works, and it previewed the second one at the Geneva auto show on Tuesday. The second model follows the established protocol of being smaller and more affordable than the...

Which Tesla Model 3 would you buy? Take our Twitter poll

2019 Tesla Model 3 PerformanceNow that Tesla has announced the full lineup of the Model 3 (more or less), we thought it was time to ask our readers which version they would buy. Last Thursday, Tesla announced that it will begin building the long-awaited $35,000 base, or Short Range Model 3. As CEO Elon Musk has promised since first announcing the Model 3, the car will have 220...

Iconic Italian name revived for Pininfarina Battista show car in Geneva

Pininfarina BattistaWith an infusion of cash from Indian auto giant Mahindra, storied Italian automaker Pininfarina is branching out on its own with a new all-electric hypercar. The company has shared some of its motivation for the relaunch, and teased sketches and photos of the car repeatedly, but finally revealed the actual car Monday night ahead of the Geneva auto...

2020 Tesla Model Y: Latest price, range, specs for new crossover SUV

Teaser for Tesla Model Y electric SUV due for reveal in 2019The 2020 Tesla Model Y has the potential to amount to an even greater sales success than the Model 3, as it borrows some of the same underpinnings of that sedan and marries it to what so many American families today want: a crossover utility vehicle shape. The California carmaker may have been prescient in seeing a sweet spot for electric...

VW ID Buggy teases potential of electric-car platform with some beach fun

Volkswagen ID Buggy conceptVolkswagen has already served up a suite of concepts for its upcoming electric vehicles built on its modular electric architecture (MEB). While most of those are likely headed to volume production in some form, now it’s brought out a fun one: the VW ID Buggy concept. In a release on the concept, which bowed at the Geneva Motor Show today, VW...