World will follow Norway’s lead on electric cars, minister says

Electric-car rally in Geiranger, Norway [Image: Norsk elbilforening via Flickr]When it comes to electric-car adoption, Norway is unique. Electric cars make up a larger share of new-car sales in the Scandinavian country than anywhere, thanks to a very particular combination of factors. On average, most Norwegians drive short distances, meaning the relatively short ranges of the first crop of modern electric cars were never as...

Electric car sales remain ahead of hybrids after five years

Sales of plug-in electric cars vs hybrid cars in first 5 years [Consumer Federation of America]Sometimes, it's all about a chart. A recent survey of car buyers suggests that consumer interest in electric cars is rising, and is highest among young adults. They're the car buyers of the future, so that would seem to be good news for the long-term prospects of plug-in cars. DON'T MISS: Electric Car Sales? Doing Better Than The Prius Was, Thank...

Nissan e-Power series hybrid builds on electric-car expertise

2016 Nissan Note e-PowerThis morning, in Japan, Nissan unveiled what its lineup has long been missing: strong hybrid technology. The company's new e-Power hybrid system, demonstrated in a Nissan Note hatchback, contains a gasoline engine and an electric traction motor. But unlike the power-split hybrids used by Toyota and others, Nissan's system propels the wheels solely...

Renewable energy growth accelerating, says International Energy Agency

wind farmThe overall carbon emissions associated with electric cars decrease as the electricity used to recharge them gets cleaner. And the latest statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) will be good news indeed for electric-car drivers. Last year saw record growth in renewable energy, according to the IEA, which surpassed coal to become the...

Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid sets new Land Speed Record

Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Land Speed Record car, at SEMA 2016Who said hybrids can't be fast? Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats are the main staging ground for land-speed record attempts, attracting scores of purpose-built race cars and modified production vehicles every year. This year, one of the cars that drove away with a record was a Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid hatchback. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq preview A...

Trade-in deals for VW diesel owners taking buyback: our list

2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI Six-Month Road TestNow that the Volkswagen 2.0-liter diesel settlement has has received final approval from a federal judge, VW can soon start sending out buyback offers to affected owners. While the settlement offers the owners the option to keep their cars and wait for modifications that allow them to meet emissions standards, most owners are expected to take...

U.S. passed half a million plug-in electric-car sales in September

2016 Nissan LeafModern plug-in electric cars first became available in the U.S. in December 2010, when the Nissan Leaf and the first-generation Chevrolet Volt went on sale. Shortly after that, in his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama set the goal of putting 1 million such cars on U.S. roads by 2015. Regrettably, that goal was not reached...

Fisker EMotion, Oct electric car sales, net-zero homes: Today’s Car News

2016 Nissan LeafToday, we take a first look at the Fisker EMotion 400-mile electric car, tally October plug-in electric car sales, and look at a remarkable step to improve the energy efficiency of homes in one California city. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A transition to electric cars will require more than 10,000 job cuts, according to Volkswagen's...

Wireless electric-car charging: perfect for automated parking?

Evatran Plugless wireless charger for Tesla Model SWireless electric-car charging seems to offer a somewhat more convenient experience. Instead of plugging in a charge cord, drivers simply park their electric cars over a pad, usually on the floor of a garage. But what if they didn't even have to do that? DON'T MISS: Plugless charging for 80 percent of electric cars by end of 2017: Evatran Evatran...

Fisker EMotion 400-mile luxury electric car: renderings released

Fisker EMotionWe've seen it teased a couple of times in shadowy photos, and now we have the first renderings of the whole car. In this case, "it" is the Fisker EMotion, the latest striking, low-slung sedan drawn by car designer Henrik Fisker. This is to be the second car to bear his name, following the 2012 collapse and subsequent sale of Fisker Automotive...

New Mercedes engines get more complicated to meet emission rules

Mercedes-Benz belt-driven starter generator (RSG)While it plans to launch 10 new electric cars by 2025, Mercedes-Benz is far from done trying to improve the efficiency of internal-combustion engines. The German luxury automaker is giving its lineup of engines a major overhaul, in fact. It plans to introduce a new family of 4-, 6-, and 8-cylinder engines, with the new engines starting to arrive...

Electric cars will require 10,000-plus job cuts at VW, says HR chief

Volkswagen I.D. electric car concept, 2016 Paris auto showAs it works to pull itself out of the quagmire of the ongoing diesel-emissions scandal, VW Group has ambitious plans to add more electric cars to its lineup. Right now, the only electric car Volkswagen sells in multiple regions under its own brand its the e-Golf, an all-electric variant of the popular hatchback. But the company plans to launch 30...

China decides maybe hybrids could help its emissions too

ChinaWhen it comes to electric cars, China has some of the most generous incentives of any country. But in its attempt to promote greener vehicles, China has largely ignored hybrids to focus on cars with plugs. Efforts so far have concentrated on what the government calls "New Energy Vehicles," a category that encompasses electric cars, plug-in...