Consumer Reports’ view of Tesla Model X: ‘fast but flawed’

2016 Tesla Model XConsumer Reports has an interesting relationship with Tesla electric cars: it's complicated. The magazine initially praised the Tesla Model S, but pulled its "recommended" rating after reliability issues cropped up. It has also become one of the loudest critics of Tesla's Autopilot system, criticizing the name and its beta status among other...

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf preview

2017 Volkswagen e-GolfThe 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf electric car gets a number of notable updates this year, including considerably increased range and a more powerful electric motor. Unveiled at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, the e-Golf gets similar styling and content changes to other models in 2017 Golf lineup. Crucially, the electric version also gets a 50-percent...

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf preview

2017 Volkswagen e-GolfThe 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf electric car gets a number of notable updates this year, including considerably increased range and a more powerful electric motor. Unveiled at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, the e-Golf gets similar styling and content changes to other models in 2017 Golf lineup. Crucially, the electric version also gets a 50-percent...

Electric-car ‘datathon’ to be hosted by White House tomorrow

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]The Obama Administration will make at least one more push to promote electric cars as it enters its final two months. The White House will hold its first-ever "Electric Vehicle Datathon" tomorrow, with the goal of devising ways to use data to increase electric-car adoption. Held in concert with the Department of Energy and four of its national...

Electric-car ‘datathon’ to be hosted by White House tomorrow

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]The Obama Administration will make at least one more push to promote electric cars as it enters its final two months. The White House will hold its first-ever "Electric Vehicle Datathon" tomorrow, with the goal of devising ways to use data to increase electric-car adoption. Held in concert with the Department of Energy and four of its national...

Tesla stores to focus on energy as well as electric cars

Tesla Powerwall 2.0Tesla is perhaps best known for its electric cars, but the company has another prominent business as well. Its Tesla Energy division markets stationary lithium-ion battery packs for energy storage. Energy-storage systems can increase the utility of home solar arrays, meaning Tesla Energy will likely become more important now that Tesla is set to...

2017 electric cars with more than 100 miles of range

2017 Nissan Leaf  In the six years since modern electric cars first went on sale in large numbers, the field has matured significantly. There are now several models that offer at least 100 miles of range, and many are widely available to consumers. That includes the Tesla Model S and Model X, starting at about $70,000, as well as several models that are more...

2017 Ford Focus Electric preview

2017 Ford Focus ElectricThe 2017 Ford Focus Electric has been one of last electric cars remaining in the current model year for which we haven't had information. Now Ford has released a few specifications, and a photo of a 2017 Focus Electric window sticker sent by a reader fills in more of the gaps. The good news: after several years with a bottom-of-the-list range of...

Which electric car will history view as most important? Poll results

2012 Tesla Model S SignatureIt wasn't even close. When we asked our Twitter followers which electric car they thought would be judged by history as most important thus far, it was a slam-dunk. Fully four out of five survey participants voted for the same vehicle out of the four choices we offered. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model S: Green Car Reports' 2013 Best Car To Buy That car...

Autonomous Renault Zoe electric car to be tested in Boston by nuTonomy

nuTonomy autonomous Renault Zoe in BostonThe Renault Zoe electric car isn't sold in the U.S., but it will make an appearance on the streets of one U.S. city very soon. The battery-electric subcompact hatchback will serve as an autonomous-driving test bed for nuTonomy, a startup founded by researchers from MIT. The company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of...

2017 Toyota Prius Prime vs 2017 Chevrolet Volt: plug-in hybrid video test

2017 Toyota Prius Prime and 2017 Chevrolet Volt with Green Car Reports editor John VoelckerThey're two high-volume plug-in hybrids, but they take different approaches to energy efficiency. The Toyota Prius Prime, new for 2017, is the plug-in version of the world's best-known, and best-selling, hybrid car. The 2017 Chevy Volt was new last year, a greatly improved version of the pioneering range-extended electric car. They're now going...

VW Dresden ‘glass house’ factory to build e-Golf electric car

2017 Volkswagen e-GolfWhen it launched its Phaeton luxury sedan back in 2002, Volkswagen decided that its most opulent car ever should have an equally opulent assembly plant. So it built the "Transparent Factory," a glass-walled plant in Dresden, Germany, that was intended solely to handle Phaeton production. The Phaeton was a vanity project of VW Group's...

BYD partners with U.S. firm to launch all-electric garbage truck

BYD and Wayne Engineering electric garbage truckHere's an electric vehicle that really, truly stinks. While automakers are moving in the direction of more electric cars, several companies are also making efforts to electrify commercial vehicles. The humble garbage truck will be the next to be electrified—which, if nothing else, will eliminate the unpleasant noise from huge diesel trucks...

Hyundai Ioniq Electric: how maker plans to market 124-mile electric car

WaiveCar Hyundai Ioniq ElectricThe 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric will soon go on sale as part of a trio of Ioniq variants that also includes hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. When it arrives in dealerships, Hyundai will face the same challenge other automakers have come to know well: marketing electric cars to an uneducated and sometimes skeptical public. Instead of relying...

What a prototype self-driving Tesla ‘sees’ on public roads

Tesla self-driving demonstration video screenshotLike a human driver, a self-driving car needs to "see" its environment in order to navigate through it. But instead of eyes, autonomous vehicles use an array of sensors—including cameras and radar—to detect objects and obstacles. So what does a self-driving car's view of the road look like? DON'T MISS: Tesla's own numbers show...

Hyundai Ioniq Electric beats Prius Prime, BMW i3 on energy efficiency

2017 Hyundai Ioniq ElectricThe 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid's tenure as the most energy-efficient car on sale in the U.S. turned out to be short. The Toyota recently took the title of most energy-efficiency vehicle available in the U.S. away from the BMW i3, which had held it since 2014. But now there's a new kid on the block. DON'T MISS: Hyundai Ioniq electric...

Tesla’s new manufacturing chief has a lot on his plate (Model 3, mostly)

Tesla Model S undergoing assemblyTesla Motors is facing a huge increase its production output in order to meet the ambitious goals set by CEO Elon Musk. He says he expects the company produce 500,000 electric cars per year by 2018. Much of that volume will come from the Model 3, the 215-mile, $35,000 sedan Tesla unveiled earlier this year, and plans to put into production by the...