The 7 best plug-in cars for students going back to school

2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, Dec 2017Today's environmentally conscious students are thinking more about the environment in the choices they make. They still need to get around, but they may be less likely to accept the price of doing so in a car with a tailpipe spewing pollution and greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Many may need to make long trips back and forth to school that...

Post-Peak: plug-in electric-car sales in Canada for July

Tesla Model 3 bought [Photo by reader AH]Sales data for plug-in cars in Canada in June and July show the effect of large purchase incentives. In its first full month of availability in Canada in June, the Tesla Model 3 racked up 2,329 sales, shattering the country’s monthly record for electric-car sales and making it the 16th bestselling car in the country overall. According to...

The first Volt from GM was also a plug-in hybrid, but it was built in 1980

GM Silver Volt converted by Electric Auto Corporation [Credit: AutoHistorianChevrolet's Volt wasn't the original, or even the first Volt from GM. Electric Auto Corporation receives that distinction for their car built in 1980, at the height of America's second gas crisis. It built the Silver Volt, a plug-in hybrid based on a contemporary Buick station wagon—16 years before the GM EV1. CHECK OUT: Modern electric cars...

Tesla Model S and X reportedly to get minimalist Model 3 interior

2018 Tesla Model S and 2018 Tesla Model XApparently the problem with the Tesla Model S and Model X was that they're too normal. They have a separate instrument cluster—a digital one—behind the steering wheel and a few solid controls. Tesla must think that's too much. The company is designing a new interior for them that looks a lot like the one in the Model 3, first reported...

Tesla will roll out new Autopilot later this month

Tesla AutopilotTesla announced Wednesday that it would release a complete update to its Autopilot system later this month, including new self-driving capabilities. The new version, which Tesla owners and fans have long-awaited, will update the system with faster hardware as well as new optical software that CEO Elon Musk says will improve safety. Pete Bannon, a...

Study: Jump in electric vehicles may not stress California’s power grid

Tesla PowerpacksElectric-car critics have said that more EVs on the road could stress already overburdened electric power grids past the breaking point. Now, a study released this week by a California nonprofit suggests that may not be true. San Francisco-based think tank Next 10 published reports this week that said Governor Jerry Brown's proposal to increase...

What Tesla Model 3 buyers trade in says something about them

Tesla Model 3 bought [Photo by reader AH]Buyers driving home Tesla Model 3s are moving up. In its second-quarter earnings call Wednesday, Tesla executives revealed the top five cars they have taken in on trade for new Model 3s and the results were unexpected. Rather than other entry-level luxury sedans that form the Model 3s competition, four of the top five cars that the startup...

Cummins issues diesel emissions recall larger than VW’s

2010 Dodge Ram 2500Diesel-engine giant Cummins agreed this week to the largest diesel recall in history the EPA, according to a Reuters report. The recall affects about 500,000 medium- and heavy-duty diesel engines in vehicles produced between 2010 and 2015. The engines were installed in everything from big rigs to so-called "vocational trucks," such as garbage and...

Tesla cuts losses on Model 3 sales, Musk promises profits next quarter

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017As it ramps up production of the Tesla Model 3, Tesla announced Wednesday that it reduced its financial losses in the second quarter—barely. The result is significant, because Tesla is racing against the clock to keep from running out of money before it can build enough of its new, more affordable Model 3s to turn a profit. Tesla says it...