The Beaver State, otherwise known as Oregon, may implement an intriguing solution to spur higher sales of electric vehicles. A new piece of legislation introduced in the state senate calls for a $1 million fund to provide $250 bonuses to salespeople each time they sell an electric vehicle, according to Charged. The bill would, however, exempt... Oregon mulls bonuses for salespeople who sell electric cars
The Beaver State, otherwise known as Oregon, may implement an intriguing solution to spur higher sales of electric vehicles. A new piece of legislation introduced in the state senate calls for a $1 million fund to provide $250 bonuses to salespeople each time they sell an electric vehicle, according to Charged. The bill would, however, exempt...
The former CEO of electric-car charging network 350 Green pleaded guilty last week to fraudulently obtaining federal grants intended to be used for installation of public charging stations, notably in the Chicago area. The original 2011 announcement of the grants came with large fan-fare, but the company never remotely delivered on what was...
The Volt remains the undisputed king of the Canadian plug-in electric vehicle market. In April, the Chevy Volt enjoyed its 13th consecutive month as Canada's best-selling plug in electric vehicle, and its 46th month overall. While overshadowed by other vehicles in its home U.S. market, the Volt's leadership of the Canadian plug-in segment recalls...
Quick trivia question: how many plants are there in the United States currently building electric cars? To be generous, we'll allow both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models. Any idea? The answer turns out to be four. DON'T MISS: Shanghai auto show: China plugs into electric cars in a big way Meanwhile, China—which has a long-term goal...
With a new book imminent that gives new details on its diesel-emission cheating scandal, Volkswagen Group continues to struggle for positive corporate PR. Yet the company publicly appears to be confident that it has weathered the worst of that storm. Moreover, while its first high-volume electric cars won't hit the market until 2019 or 2020, the...
The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, the only battery-electric car sold by VW in the U.S., got a large range boost for its third year on the market. While the current model year is winding to a close, 2017 e-Golfs are just now reaching dealers in the handful of states where the compact electric car is offered for sale. But with an EPA-rated range of 125...
Everything old is new again, including the 2017 Karma Revero, a reborn 2012 Fisker Karma. Now its maker has released the first-ever television advertisement for the car, a spot that debuted during the 2017 U.S. Open Polo Championship, sponsored by Karma Automotive. Simply titled "Delivery," the advertisement is full of graceful, flashing scenes of...
Over the first three years of driving my 2013 Tesla Model S, there wasn't a single time when I looked at another car and said, “You know, I’d really rather be driving that car than this one.” Not once. The Tesla’s combination of performance, style, economy, technology, plus the addictive allure of electric acceleration...
The sales growth of electric cars has made strides in recent years, and California's Zero-Emission Vehicle mandate has more than a little to do with that. The program adopted by the state of California more than 20 years ago, and much modified since then, requires that carmakers sell a certain number of zero-emission models in California and 10...
Workhorse may have the ultimate proposal for commercial fleets with the reveal of its W-15 pickup truck, the first range-extended electric pickup truck to be built from the ground up with fleets in mind. While Tesla says it is developing an all-electric pickup, which will supposedly be revealed in two years, the W-15 has now been introduced with...
When Tesla arrived on the scene 10 years ago, no major automaker took it very seriously—let alone thought it would cause the disruption it has in the market for luxury cars. At the same time, BMW, once the harbinger of performance and luxury, worries that it may be falling behind when it comes to electric vehicles and technology innovation...
To dig its teeth into California's crowded electric vehicle market, its Korean maker has rolled out an "Unlimited+" lease program for the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric. The plan mimics a subscription service, and adds unlimited mileage allowance, vehicle-charging reimbursement, and a cohesive maintenance plan to the standard lease terms, according...
Despite a slower-than-expected start, plug-in electric cars are gaining momentum on the North American market. Not only are sales rising, so is consumer interest: according to a survey by AAA, shoppers’ interest in electric and plug-in hybrid cars is now neck to neck with that of pickup trucks. In fact, 15 percent of the interviewed...
WIth four-figure sales for both its all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, GM probably led April's plug-in electric car sales. The "probably" comes because Tesla refuses to release its deliveries broken down either by month or by country, meaning there's no data to compare. GM's 3,102 deliveries—1,807 Volts, 1,292...
It's no secret Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an ambitious man, but he continues to fuel the hype surrounding the company by recently teasing the first Tesla semi truck. In typical Tesla fashion, the semi truck will be all electric. Its goal is to showcase the possibilities of electric range over diesel fuel, and Musk is confident the truck will...
Many U.S. car buyers still aren't aware that the Chinese market surpassed North America in volume and importance fully a decade ago. Similarly, in advanced automotive technology, a case can be made that China is more important than the U.S. Nowhere is that more evident than in plug-in electric cars. DON'T MISS: Shanghai auto show roundup: China...
Tesla is taking a major gamble regarding the production of its upcoming Model 3 sedan in skipping prototype tooling and jumping straight to permanent production tooling, says a noted auto-manufacturing expert. "He's pushing the envelope to see how much time and cost he can take out of the process," Ron Harbour, a manufacturing consultant at Oliver...
China has long aimed to be the global leader in battery cells, solar power, and electric vehicles. But with more carrots and stronger sticks, electric-car sales started to rise in the country a couple of years ago. With close to a fifth of the world’s population starting to consider cars powered by electricity, manufacturers are now focusing...
Six months ago, Tesla abruptly announced that it had upgraded its electric cars with a new package of sensors for the Autopilot driver-assist system, known as "Hardware 2." The equipment was being fitted to all new Tesla Model S and Model X electric cars then in production—but there was a catch. Initially, those cars would have fewer...
Oregon is a state that punches well above its weight in promoting and adopting zero-emission vehicles and plug-in electric cars. Smaller than California, it offers a laboratory where EV makers can try out new programs and experiment with new marketing and charging programs to see how they work. That was the pitch, at least, from the state-funded...