It's almost the size of a misshapen softball, but it may be the charging plug you have to use on future electric cars. The U.S. Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is in the process of expanding its J-1772 standard for an electric-car coupler from the current round plug-and-socket fitting that is now used on every electric cars sold in the U.S...
Back in the 1990s, when it seemed like electric vehicles were gaining traction with consumers, Costco did something unusual: the big-box retailer installed charging stations at many of its California locations. Now, however, those stations are being removed, and electric car fans aren't happy. According to Plug In America, Costco has offered no...
Fresh off our piece yesterday looking at different motivations for buying plug-in cars comes more proof that it's not just early adopters and uber-greens who think driving electric makes sense. Industry trade journal Automotive News (behind a paywall, unfortunately for our readers) has published a feature-length profile of Securing America's...
Aptera Motors - the Californian automaker which has been telling us for five years that it would revolutionize the world of electric vehicles - might be refunding each and every person who had put down a reservation for its 2e electric car, but it is not dead, Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur has said. It’s just moving. Once it’s actually found...
The 2011 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive may be the smallest, most compact highway-capable electric car on the market, but its pathetic top speed, sluggish acceleration, limited range and expensive price tag haven’t gained it many fans. But that may all change in a little under a month as Mercedes Benz unveils a new, improved 2012 Smart ForTwo...
We've always been intrigued by the EN-V autonomous pod cars proposed by General Motors. Maybe they harken back to the happy futurism of the Fifties, or maybe it's just that they're the first total reinvention of wheeled personal transit in quite a while that makes inherent sense. Prototyped more than two years ago under the name Project PUMA (for...
It may not be available in the northernmost of the 50 states, but the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is no stranger to Alaska. Last winter, a team of engineers from Chevrolet spent many weeks in the frigid north to see how well its range-extended plug-in hybrid would fare with the extreme cold and heavy snowfall. It passed with flying colors. While driving...
Once upon a time, people who bought (or built) electric vehicles were often science-minded, forward-thinking, eco-conscious drivers who sometimes had a hippie past. Times have changed. Today, there are several motivations for buying a car that plugs into the electric grid to recharge its battery pack. Drawing loosely on research on the motivations...
After more than 11,000 miles driving solely on electric power in our 2011 Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, we now find our Volt in the body shop. So for longer trips, our "extended-range vehicle" is a rented 2012 Ford Focus SEL model. The 2012 Ford Focus is one of the most impressive of the latest compact cars, but in comparison to day-to-day driving...
It's widely accepted in the auto industry that all manufacturers game the test cycles used to establish emissions and gas-mileage ratings. Ask auto engineers about the topic, and they tend to get a faraway look and go silent. But the test cycles established in 1978 and used ever since are far from the reality of U.S. driving in 2011. This means...
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