Best deals on hybrid, plug-in and electric cars for August 2018

2019 Chevrolet EquinoxThis month, green-car buyers can find some screaming deals. These aren't just local programs or restricted to California buyers, either. As always, our list of deals comes from our partners at CarsDirect. This month, they have focused on deals available nationwide and on cars that are more shoppers can find (unlike, for example, the VW e-Golf, of...

Report: Rising electric-car production may strain unexpected resources

Tesla Supercharger site in Rocklin, California, before expansion    [photo: George Parrott]Despite electric cars producing no tailpipe emissions, not all of their effects will be environmentally beneficial, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Co. The group, which is often optimistic about electric car adoption, forecasts that by 2030, plug-in cars will make up at least 20 percent of car sales globally, and up to 35 percent in...

GM files patents for new active aerodynamic aids

Patent for Active Side Skirts filed by General MotorsGeneral Motors filed patent applications in June for three types of active aerodynamic systems that could make cars more efficient and potentially even give electric cars longer ranges. The three patent applications were all filed as part of Chevrolet's design for the new eighth-generation Corvette, but they could make their way to other GM cars...

2018 Chevy Bolt EV makes successful 2,000-mile road trip

David Edwards' Chevy Bolt EV draws a crowd while charging Readers like David Edwards periodically send letters about road trips they’ve made in their electric cars. While long road trips are becoming somewhat commonplace with Teslas, he points out that they still aren’t common for other electric cars. Just last year, reader Jay Lucas sold his Chevy Bolt EV after finding it too difficult to...

2019 Audi e-tron prototype first ride: Soothingly familiar

2019 Audi e-tron prototype drive, Pikes PeakAt 5 o’clock in the morning, the only sound heard at the summit of Pikes Peak, 14,114 feet above sea level, is the ceaseless whipping of the wind. Inside the Audi e-tron electric crossover SUV prototype, I hear almost no sound at all. Silence, like the e-tron itself, is soothingly familiar. That’s something that can’t be said...