We brought you news last year of a horrific accident, in which a woman was killed when her G-Wiz neighborhood electric vehicle, a model not sold in the United States, was struck by another vehicle. An inquest into the accident has now ended and the verdict has been given as accidental death. Last November the G-Wiz of scientist Judit Nadal was...
Two weeks ago, we heard a rumor that German automaker Volkswagen was planning on unveiling an all-electric single-seat urban car at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. A few days later, we were offered a chance to be among the very first to get a glimpse of Volkswagen’s ultra-compact urban concept at an exclusive preview showing in Berlin next...
New-car sales overall weren't great in August. The economy continues to be shaky, consumer confidence is down, and Hurricane Irene kept buyers away from dealerships. But electric-car sales last month improved on July's numbers, although they were far from their spring heights due to continued constraints on the supply of Chevy Volts. Leaf and Volt...
Half a century ago, automatic transmissions had two or three speeds, and progress has come slowly since then. Today, many cars are still sold with four-speed automatics, though five- and six-speeds are the new normal. Next year, Chrysler will introduce eight-speed automatics on its full-size rear-wheel drive sedans, the 2012 Chrysler 300 and 2012...
You may already know that pharmaceuticals giant Walgreens is installing as many as 800 electric car charging stations at its branches throughout New York City, Houston, Dallas Fort-Worth and Chicago. While we all reeled in horror to the news that it could cost Walgreens customers as much as $4 for a 90 minute recharge -- we assumed that the...
A few weeks ago we told you about the third generation Smart ForTwo Electric Drive which was due to be unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. With a faster top speed, better range and ultra-fast 1 hour recharge capability, the new version of the diminutive city car should hit the roads next year -- but it won’t be the only electric smart...
If you're an automaker, how do you get the next generation of car buyers to pay attention to your new models? One way has traditionally been by putting your cars into rental fleets. But some companies only rent to drivers 25 and up, so what to do about college students? For Ford, there's now a one-word answer: Zipcar. Zipcar on campus The popular...
The 2011 Smart ForTwo minicar: Cramped, noisy, slow and unsafe, right? If you answered yes to all those then the new team running Smart USA for Daimler AG is banking on a new educational advertising campaign drawing you in. Smart USA thinks the slide in popularity of the model is down to what the buying public don't know about the model, rather...
We're beginning to sound like a broken record: One of the ways carmakers will meet new, tougher gas-mileage requirements will be to use smaller, more efficient engines in their vehicles. Those may be 1.0-liter three-cylinder engines in subcompacts, but they may also be more powerful V-6 engines that replace the classic American V-8 in some of our...
On August 27th, Nissan North America opened up online reservations for the 2011 Nissan Leaf to Canadian buyers. Two hours later, Nissan had received more reservations than it had cars to sell, prompting some news outlets to report that the car was sold out. Just 40 cars While we’re happy to see that the 2011 Nissan Leaf is just as popular in...
If any brand has emerged from the bottom of the market into awareness lately, it's Kia. The Korean brand is halfway through introducing an entirely refreshed line of smart, stylish, and inexpensive vehicles that are getting noticed--and selling well. The 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid we recently road-tested is a good example; few buyers are even aware...
Yesterday we brought you news that a team from Toyota Motorsport had successfully smashed the electric car lap record at the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in Germany. Beating the previous record of 9 minutes and 1.3 seconds set by Peugeot's EX1 electric racing car prototype in April, the Toyota PV001 EV set a lap time of 7...
We brought you news last year of a horrific accident, in which a woman was killed when her G-Wiz neighborhood electric vehicle, a model not sold in the United States, was struck by another vehicle. An inquest into the accident has now ended and the verdict has been given as accidental death. Last November the G-Wiz of scientist Judit Nadal was...
Two weeks ago, we heard a rumor that German automaker Volkswagen was planning on unveiling an all-electric single-seat urban car at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. A few days later, we were offered a chance to be among the very first to get a glimpse of Volkswagen’s ultra-compact urban concept at an exclusive preview showing in Berlin next...
New-car sales overall weren't great in August. The economy continues to be shaky, consumer confidence is down, and Hurricane Irene kept buyers away from dealerships. But electric-car sales last month improved on July's numbers, although they were far from their spring heights due to continued constraints on the supply of Chevy Volts. Leaf and Volt...
Half a century ago, automatic transmissions had two or three speeds, and progress has come slowly since then. Today, many cars are still sold with four-speed automatics, though five- and six-speeds are the new normal. Next year, Chrysler will introduce eight-speed automatics on its full-size rear-wheel drive sedans, the 2012 Chrysler 300 and 2012...
You may already know that pharmaceuticals giant Walgreens is installing as many as 800 electric car charging stations at its branches throughout New York City, Houston, Dallas Fort-Worth and Chicago. While we all reeled in horror to the news that it could cost Walgreens customers as much as $4 for a 90 minute recharge -- we assumed that the...
A few weeks ago we told you about the third generation Smart ForTwo Electric Drive which was due to be unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. With a faster top speed, better range and ultra-fast 1 hour recharge capability, the new version of the diminutive city car should hit the roads next year -- but it won’t be the only electric smart...
If you're an automaker, how do you get the next generation of car buyers to pay attention to your new models? One way has traditionally been by putting your cars into rental fleets. But some companies only rent to drivers 25 and up, so what to do about college students? For Ford, there's now a one-word answer: Zipcar. Zipcar on campus The popular...
The 2011 Smart ForTwo minicar: Cramped, noisy, slow and unsafe, right? If you answered yes to all those then the new team running Smart USA for Daimler AG is banking on a new educational advertising campaign drawing you in. Smart USA thinks the slide in popularity of the model is down to what the buying public don't know about the model, rather...
We're beginning to sound like a broken record: One of the ways carmakers will meet new, tougher gas-mileage requirements will be to use smaller, more efficient engines in their vehicles. Those may be 1.0-liter three-cylinder engines in subcompacts, but they may also be more powerful V-6 engines that replace the classic American V-8 in some of our...
On August 27th, Nissan North America opened up online reservations for the 2011 Nissan Leaf to Canadian buyers. Two hours later, Nissan had received more reservations than it had cars to sell, prompting some news outlets to report that the car was sold out. Just 40 cars While we’re happy to see that the 2011 Nissan Leaf is just as popular in...
If any brand has emerged from the bottom of the market into awareness lately, it's Kia. The Korean brand is halfway through introducing an entirely refreshed line of smart, stylish, and inexpensive vehicles that are getting noticed--and selling well. The 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid we recently road-tested is a good example; few buyers are even aware...
Yesterday we brought you news that a team from Toyota Motorsport had successfully smashed the electric car lap record at the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in Germany. Beating the previous record of 9 minutes and 1.3 seconds set by Peugeot's EX1 electric racing car prototype in April, the Toyota PV001 EV set a lap time of 7...
