Ferrari, Infiniti: Even laggards, skeptics come round to electric cars

Sergio MarchionneBack in 2013, Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo proclaimed, "I don’t believe in the electric cars"—all but solidifying the automaker's position for the future. Even as recently as 2016, current Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne called the possibility of an electric Ferrari "an obscene concept." Now the purveyor of some of the...

Costa Rica to become Latin American electric-car pioneer?

Arenal volcano, Costa Rica, by Flickr user Adam Baker (Used under CC License)Costa Rica isn't what you'd call a bastion of automotive sales. The Central American country ,wedged between Nicaragua and Panama, is home to 4.8 million people who buy just 154,000 vehicles annually—less than 1 percent of the sales in the United States. But that won't deter the Costa Rican government from greening its fleet. It now aims to...

GM promises it can make money on all-electric cars by 2021

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016Radically new powertrains are widely assumed to lose money for the companies that launch them. Toyota's hybrid-electric system, launched in Japan in 1997, likely didn't break even until sometime after the 2004 launch of the second-generation Prius. Long-range battery-electric vehicles are the same, according to analysts and insiders: the question...

Ford 300-mile all-electric SUV may be named Mach 1; due 2020

Teaser for Ford Mach 1 electric SUV due in 2020The big new debuts at the 2018 Detroit auto show are largely pickup trucks, one of them being the new mid-size 2019 Ford Ranger. Ford also introduced a new Bullitt Mustang, honoring the 51st anniversary of the legendary 1968 movie, and a high-performance ST version of the Edge crossover. (Is it the Edgest Edge?) But as for new hybrids or plug-in...

Tesla wins another, licensed to sell electric cars in Rhode Island

Rhode Island license plate. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.Tesla can now add another notch to its sales board. Rhode Island will allow the direct sale of Teslas and has issued a state dealer license to the company to open a dealer in Warwick. Additionally, the city itself issued its own license to the electric-vehicle manufacturer, which plans to take over the former site of a Hyundai dealer in the city...