Today, we look at what may have happened to the once-touted Tesla Model X sales, cover a report on the future of Nissan Leaf battery cells, describe the electric cars based on the former Saab 9-3 that are now being built in China, and report on last month's plug-in electric car sales. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Finally, the latest BMW... Leaf batteries, Bolt EV sales, former Saabs, Tesla Model X sales: Today’s Car News
Today, we look at what may have happened to the once-touted Tesla Model X sales, cover a report on the future of Nissan Leaf battery cells, describe the electric cars based on the former Saab 9-3 that are now being built in China, and report on last month's plug-in electric car sales. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Finally, the latest BMW...
With the second-generation Nissan Leaf electric car due to break cover sometime in the next few months, one open question concerns the source of its battery cells. To date, Automotive Electric Supply Corporation—a joint venture between Nissan and Japanese electronics giant NEC—has supplied lithium-ion cells for every Nissan Leaf built...
One owner has now run his 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric's battery down all the way to "empty" so other owners know what to expect. The Ioniq Electric is EPA-rated at 124 miles of range from the 28-kwh battery pack that powers an 88-kilowatt (118-horsepower) electric motor. The driver in the video tells viewers that his car has been returning 137...
Sales of three high-volume plug-in electric cars rose last month, with the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV 238-mile battery-electric hatchback logging its highest monthly total since sales began in December. Chevrolet delivered 1,566 Bolt EVs, bringing this year's five-month total to 5,950 (another 579 were sold in December 2016). The Bolt EV is continuing...
Swedish auto brand Saab may never return, but the company NEVS has officially debuted its electric cars adapted from Saab assets it acquired following the brand's fall from grace. NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) is, in fact, a Swedish company, though it's backed by Chinese investors. And the new 9-3 series is NEVS' first major production...
A few years ago, before the Tesla Model X electric SUV went into production, company CEO Elon Musk said he thought it could outsell the older Model S hatchback luxury sedan. That hasn't happened. In the first three months of this year, Tesla said it delivered 11,550 Model Xes—but 13,450 Model Ses. DON'T MISS: 2016 Tesla Model X first drive...
Today, our readers weigh in on Volkswagen's claim that it will outdo Tesla, we look at jobs created by fuel-economy rules, the EU gets serious about emission testing, and BMW says that in a few years, you can sleep behind the wheel. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A top VW Group executive claimed that the company's electric cars would...
The electric-vehicle market remains in infancy, but non-traditional automakers are beginning to explore and tap the potential market for multiple types of vehicles powered by batteries. Canadian company Havelaar is the most recent to try its hand at an electric vehicle; like a few other companies, it's proposing a purpose-built electric truck. The...
The question is a reasonable one: electric cars may be zero-emission, but what about the electricity to recharge them? While renewable energy is growing globally, burning fossil fuels is still the source of most electric power today. The good news is that in most areas of the U.S., the "wells to wheels" carbon-dioxide emissions associated with...
The Volkswagen diesel scandal left lasting imprints on the entire automotive industry, and may have changed the way regulators look at vehicles using the fuel forever. That's true not just in the United States, but elsewhere as well. The European Union is now increasing its efforts to make sure a scandal like Volkswagen's can never happen again...
Fuel economy and emission standards have been a contentious issue in recent months as the auto industry and government officials clash over regulations and their potential benefits. Earlier this year, one of the largest pieces of evidence against more stringent fuel economy regulations came from former Ford CEO Mark Fields. Fields told President...
Looking back from the 2020s or 2030s, it's entirely likely that the unexpected arrival of Tesla Motors was a major force—along with legislation, perhaps the major force—in getting legacy automakers to produce electric cars. Competition has always spurred innovation, and German makers in particular were caught entirely unprepared for...
Today, BMW's electric-car plans may have changed, Tesla solar roof tiles can be preordered, A123 is bigger than you think, and VW plans even greater reductions in the environmental impact of carmaking. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We ran down our top news stories from the previous week. If you're interested in the new Kia Niro hybrid...
Under the new administration of President Donald Trump, the EPA has reopened comments on its decision to finalize emission rules for 2022 through 2025 vehicles. Meanwhile, the NHTSA—which sets fuel-economy rules that have to correspond to EPA limits on carbon-dioxide emissions—hasn't yet issued its corporate average fuel-economy rules...
When it launched in 2013, the BMW i3 electric car was arguably the most futuristic automobile in mass production anywhere in the world. Its all-electric powertrain could be ordered with an optional range-extending engine, and it rode on an aluminum chassis topped with a strong but lightweight body shell made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic. It...
In the wake of its diesel emission scandal, Volkswagen has done its best to portray itself as a cleaner, more thoughtful automaker. Part of the damage control plot includes a slew of new electric vehicles to round out the German automaker's portfolio in the coming years. But, what about the environmental impact and carbon-emission burden of the...
Ten years ago, lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems was a hot startup and a much-publicized company. This author, in fact, profiled the company for IEEE Spectrum in the technology magazine's September 2007 issue. The six years that followed proved enormously painful for the Massachusetts company, however. DON'T MISS: A123 Systems To Recall...
Elon Musk, habitually behind schedule, announced on May 10 that anyone can now preorder a Tesla Solar Roof—a roof made of shingles with built-in solar cells. Musk had previously said preorders would open in April, and promised the product would cost less than a conventional roof if you factor in the energy savings. DON'T MISS: Tesla debuts...
A chatbot would never lie to you, right? That’s what I wanted to find out when I tested a Facebook Messenger chatbot for the 2017 Kia Niro crossover, which recently won the Guinness Book of World Records for the lowest fuel consumption for a hybrid vehicle. (It was an interesting competition, because two people drove across the United States...
What does an owner think after six full months of driving a Chevy Bolt EV electric car? Why can't the Trump Administration say two little words that mean a lot? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, May 19, 2017. Friday, we explained why our Tesla-owning writer David...