The Renault-Nissan Alliance continues to lead all other automakers globally in sales of battery-electric cars. The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric car in history, while the Renault Zoe now leads the European market for cars with plugs. But Renault-Nissan's electric-vehicle dominance isn't limited to passenger cars. DON'T MISS: Fuel-cell... Nissan e-NV200 beats Renault Kangoo ZE in electric van sales in Europe
The Renault-Nissan Alliance continues to lead all other automakers globally in sales of battery-electric cars. The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric car in history, while the Renault Zoe now leads the European market for cars with plugs. But Renault-Nissan's electric-vehicle dominance isn't limited to passenger cars. DON'T MISS: Fuel-cell...
BMW is off to a strong start in meeting its ambitious plug-in car sales goals for 2017. In the first two months of 2017, it doubled combined sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids over the same period in 2016. But the automaker will need to keep that momentum up. DON'T MISS: BMW 740e, X5 xDrive 40e: where do low-range plug-in hybrids fit in?...
Carmakers often use the same components across vehicles from multiple brands. It's a way to keep costs down by not having to engineer or procure completely different parts for each model. So could some new components in a new vehicle offer a peek at a future model well before it goes into production? DON'T MISS: Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV concept...
The advent of affordable 200-mile electric cars promises to increase public acceptance of cars with plugs—or at least that's the hope of both carmakers and advocates. The first of those, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, is now entering the market, state by state, to great acclaim. But not every electric-car fan is sold on the Bolt EV's...
Some people will do anything to avoid a little traffic. Like many other states, Florida offers drivers of greener cars solo access to its high-occupancy vehicle lanes, also known as carpool lanes. That privilege is extended to hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery-electric cars. DON'T MISS: Porsche 918 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar Ends Production After...
When you drive into a U.S. gas station to pump gas, every pump works exactly the same way. The only choice to make is which grade of gasoline you want. If you want diesel fuel, of course, you may have to find one of the six out of 10 stations that offer it. DC fast charging for electric cars isn't nearly that simple, and it hasn't been since the...
It seems fair to say that the new presidential administration may have increased the generalized level of worry among many Americans, not to mention the rest of the world. Among the things to worry about are the future of incentives, infrastructure, and legislation encouraging the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, primarily electric cars. These...
If only success could be guaranteed by positive predictions. While the fossil-fuel industry is notably skeptical of the long-term prospects of electric cars, a growing number of studies and forecasts predict the adoption rate will grow rapidly in the coming decades. Electric cars still face numerous challenges, but analyses from a variety of...
More Nissan Leaf electric cars were sold in 2014 than in any model year before or since, fully 30,000 of them. That means a whole lot of three-year leases are coming due this year. Now Nissan is offering to extend those leases—and in the process, it's given us a little more information on the upcoming 2018 Nissan Leaf. DON'T MISS: 2018...
More than a year ago, we spent a weekend with a 2016 BMW X5 xDrive 40e luxury plug-in hybrid SUV. Rated at 14 miles of range, it never achieved anything near that number in winter weather. Now our colleague Kirk Bell has driven a 2017 BMW 740e plug-in hybrid luxury sedan that uses the same powertrain. DON'T MISS: 2017 BMW 740e xDrive iPerformance...
For the first six years of electric cars, from 2011 to 2016, we've had a variety of mass-priced cars with ranges of 62 to 107 miles. This year, in 2017, we got the Chevy Bolt EV, at 238 miles. But there's a new competitor as well. This is the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid video drive review It's one of three...
When it comes to luxury electric-car startups, hype is the name of the game. Lucid Motors unveiled its Air luxury sedan in December, promising a range of up to 400 miles, power of 1,000 horsepower, and cutting-edge technology. But very few people outside the company have gotten more than a glimpse at what, on paper, looks like a Tesla-rivaling...
The state of Nevada has been fairly generous to startup electric-car makers that pledge to establish manufacturing operations within its borders. After offering a generous incentive package several years ago, the Silver State landed Tesla's lithium-ion battery "Gigafactory," which is now up and running just outside Reno. Then it lured the...
With about twice the range of any non-Tesla electric car, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has generated a great deal of excitement and won numerous awards over the last year. In combination with a nascent DC fast-charging infrastructure, it offers the possibility of much longer road trips powered solely by grid electricity. One early Bolt EV owner is...
The Volkswagen Group can't seem to get enough luxury electric cars. The Audi e-tron SUV and Porsche Mission E sedan will go into production over the next few years, with an electric version of the VW Phaeton sedan expected as well. Following that up, at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show Volkswagen possession Bentley showed an all-electric concept car...
Honda's green-car strategy for the next decade or so appears to be coming into greater focus. In place of its previous mild hybrids, the Japanese automaker is planning to produce much higher volumes of its two-motor hybrid powertrain, as seen first in the Accord Hybrid mid-size sedan. It also launched the Clarity Fuel Cell sedan last year, and...
The Renault Zoe, a subcompact hatchback, has little in common with the Tesla Model S besides a battery-electric powertrain and five doors. But the maker of Europe's best-selling electric car to underscore the idea that "electric cars can be fun and fast," perhaps hoping that some of Tesla's high-velocity image will rub off. At this week's Geneva...
Tesla is currently ramping up lithium-ion battery cell production at its U.S. "Gigafactory" near Reno, Nevada. But the automaker has discussed plans for at least one additional Gigafactory, presumably to meet demand for battery cells related to large-scale electric-car production outside the U.S. While Tesla continues to mull that second battery...
China's latest effort to promote electric cars focuses on taxis in its capital city of Beijing. The country that is now the world's largest new-car market already offers generous purchase incentives for electric cars bought by individuals. Now the city also plans to replace its entire fleet of gasoline taxis with electric cars. DON'T MISS...
Eight weeks ago, China seemed to be preparing to loosen its famously strict car-manufacturing rules for foreign makers. The government leaders who direct economic policy had seemingly concluded that Chinese makers could not succeed in selling cars in Europe and North America. So the country proposed to relax joint-venture rules for so-called New...