Buyers in seven Northeast states urged to consider electric cars

2013 Nissan Leaf electric car tested as taxi in New York City, April 2013When companies want to sell more of something, they market it. Now, at long last, electric cars are about to get the same treatment. Following an announcement at the New York International Auto Show last week, 16 major automakers are joining forces with seven states to promote sales of electric vehicles to consumers. The Alliance for Automobile...

Buyers in seven Northeast states urged to consider electric cars

2013 Nissan Leaf electric car tested as taxi in New York City, April 2013When companies want to sell more of something, they market it. Now, at long last, electric cars are about to get the same treatment. Following an announcement at the New York International Auto Show last week, 16 major automakers are joining forces with seven states to promote sales of electric vehicles to consumers. The Alliance for Automobile...

In an ideal world, this is how electric-car tax credits should work

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJThe tax reform bill likely to be voted on by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives retained a number of provisions originally slated to be cut from the tax code. Among them was the federal income-tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. Three carmakers—General Motors, Nissan, and Tesla—have now used more than half...

New York, New Jersey get serious about electric cars

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJWhile parts of the federal government focus on sustaining fossil-fuel energy, numerous states are enacting new policies and programs to boost electric cars. California tends to steal most headlines about electric vehicles and climate-change policy, but two other U.S. states have started to take electric cars more seriously. New York and New Jersey...

Why all electric-car owners should follow Formula E racing

2016/2017 Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Formula E race carIn North America and Europe, the old saying—"Win on Sunday, sell on Monday"—probably no longer applies. That is, winning races over the weekend probably does little if anything to boost sales of passenger cars and light trucks, certainly not the way it did in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. But like owning an electric car, the FIA...

11 things you need to know about Formula E electric-car racing

New York City ePrix FIA Formula E electric-car race, Red Hook, Brooklyn, July 2017We've just spent a packed, very hot weekend at the New York City ePrix, the first time the FIA Formula E electric-car racing series has come to the country's media capital. It was our first Formula E race, and like many who follow electric cars, we learned a lot. More than that, we got a better sense of why this facing series is important, and...

States have a battle plan if Trump rolls back fuel-economy, emission rules

Gas pumpThe Trump Administration has had a challenging start on numerous fronts, but its work to slash emission rules and eliminate regulations continues. The EPA administrator, climate-science denier Scott Pruitt, has said he isn't "currently" planning to target target California's ability to set its own emission rules. In March, the agency previously...

Bill in NY legislature would let Tesla quadruple store locations in state

Tesla Store Los Angeles [photo: Misha Bruk / MBH Architects]Tesla's five New York state stores could increase four-fold should a new piece of legislation pass the state legislature. The bill calls for an increase "certificates of registration for entities that manufacture or assemble zero-emissions vehicles." In turn, it would "authorize 20 certificates with at least five to be located in certain upstate...

New York state electric-car rebate program to launch this month

2017 Nissan Leaf  New York state has finally issued details on its effort to step up its efforts to promote electric cars. The Empire State is one of eight so-called "ZEV states" that have adopted California emissions standards. But New York does not mandate automakers to sell zero-emission vehicles within its borders, and currently does not offer purchase...