The next product from Tesla is not the long awaited Model S sedan, but something far more plebian – a Toyota RAV4 using a Tesla derived battery pack and electric propulsion system. Toyota just released this teaser photo the RAV4 EV, but don’t hold your breath for too long. It’s hard to imagine this car...
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The Chevrolet Volt missed out on SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) status by a minute margin, emitting 1.3 grams of CO2 per mile. The cutoff is 1 gram of CO2 per mile to qualify for the status. By these standards, the Volt emits more CO2 than a VW Golf TDI, Honda Accord 4-Cylinder sedan...
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Chevrolet will debut their first television commercial for their Volt electric car during Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. The ad will tout the Volt’s ability to go farther than other electric vehicles by using its gasoline-engine range extender. The range issue is a major concern for many potential EV customers, and Chevrolet...
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While a car’s 0-60 time is far from a perfect metric for evaluating performance, it does act as a heuristic, giving us a quick and easy method to judge how a car does in a straight line. Electric cars, by this same logic, are often thought of as slow cars for timid drivers more concerned...
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Nissan‘s Oppama plant, located south of Tokyo, began producing the Leaf electric vehicle, with exports commencing in November. Nissan is also building plants in the United States and Europe to help with production, but initial vehicles will be built in Japan. Nissan’s Smyrna, Tenn. plant will have the capacity for 150,000 units, while the Sunderland, England...
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Green Car Journal has announced its candidates for its Green Car Of The Year award, with the five car field being composed of some pretty serious competition, Naturally, the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf are the leading contenders, with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid rounding out the field, and the Ford Fiesta being...
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When we test drove the Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5 , we did our best to provide you with an accurate impression of what it feels like to drive something so completely different from anything else on the road. Even with the limited range, the lack of practicality and the huge pricetag, we would still have one without...
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Nissan has released information about a new plug-in sedan set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a vehicle known as the Ellure. No details or photos have been released, but a nice bit of marketing fluff states that “Nissan’s dramatic new-value sedan exploration, the Nissan Ellure, is designed to bring a higher level...
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General Motors is increasing Chevrolet Volt production numbers in 2012, from 30,000 to 45,000 to a maximum output of 60,000 units. The increase in production to maximum capacity will conincide with the nationwide rollout of the Volt. Doug Parks, vehicle line director in charge of the Volt, said that “Starting in ‘12, we’ll be at...
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Toyota‘s initial investment of $50 million in its partnership with Tesla will also cost the company another $60 million in development costs needed to bring its RAV4 EV to market. The $60 million is, according to SEC filings, for services rendered by Tesla, and any future components will require additional funds. Tesla took over Toyota’s...
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BP is set to install charging ports at 45 gas stations across the United States, which will be able to charge a Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i-MEiV to 80% capacity in under 30 minutes. The charge stations use 480 volts rather than the 220 volts used in the home charging units. With the lower voltage,...
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If you’re one of the many who signed up for a 2011 Nissan Leaf, you may be suffering from “range anxiety” (the fear of running out of power in the middle of nowhere). To help you overcome this, Nissan is coming up with a program that would give Leaf buyers a longer-range alternative. This program...
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Citroen’s Survolt electric car is pretty single-minded. While the Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car for the road, the Survolt is meant to be an outright race car. With two electric motors making 300 horsepower, the Survolt has muscle, and can hit over 160 miles per hour. 0-60 comes in just under 5 seconds,...
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SEAT, Volkswagen‘s sporty, Spanish division, is known for taking old VW products, refreshing them, and selling them at firesale prices. SEAT’s newest concept, the IBE, shows what a SEAT coupe could look like. Perhaps the brand will get a version of VW’s Scirroco? 0-60 mph takes 9.7 seconds, which seems slow, until you consider that...
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Nissan has finally hit the magic number of 20,000 Leaf pre-orders, and will not be taking any more pre-orders for the time being. An announcement posted on the website MyNissanLeaf states that “Nissan aggressively anticipated reaching its goal of 20,000 consumer reservations by December 2010 and we are excited to announce that we have reached...
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BMW will allow consumers to try out their ActiveE electric car, based on the 1-Series Coupe, in certain markets, prior to a broader rollout of electric vehicles, culminating in the Megacity EV’s debut in 2013. The ActiveE will be offered for lease starting next summer. The ActiveE will be offered in New York City, Los...
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GM is revising estimates for the range of their Chevrolet Volt electric car’s ability to drive on electric power alone. Initial estimates said that the Volt was good for 40 miles on battery power, but GM now says that the range will be between 25 and 50 miles. According to GM, temperature, terrain, driving style...
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General Motors plans to launch a fleet of Chevrolet Cruze-based electric vehicles in Korea, but the company says that there are no plans to sell such a car in the United States. GM is partnering with Korean conglomerate LG to develop the battery technology needed to make the Cruze EV a reality. A range of...
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Audi looks set to debut an e-Tron Spyder at this year’s Paris Auto Show despite the poorly translated name. The sketches were originally released on a French website, and from our high-school level knowledge of the language, we gather that…no substantial details are out yet. Think of this car as the Spyder version of the...
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Mercedes-Benz has unveiled their A-Class E-Cell electric car, with an extremely limited production run of 500 units. Available only to customers in Germany, France and the Netherlands, buyers will be able to lease the cars only, but terms have not been disclosed. While the gasoline powered A-Class has always been a bit of a slowpoke, the electric...
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Saab will release 70 electric vehicles based on the 9-3 SportCombi station wagon as part of a test fleet for its upcoming electric vehicle program. The vehicles, dubbed the ePower, will be offered in Sweden starting in 2011, with a mass production EV hitting the market in 2011. Using a 184 horsepower electric motor and...
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Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that parent company Fiat is looking to increase its stake in Chrysler to 35 percent, and is looking to bring out a Chrysler IPO in the second half of 2011. “I don’t think it’s the first part; I think it’s a second-part-of-the-year event,” Marchionne told the assembled media at Chrysler’s...
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The Fisker Karma has had more on-and-off engagements than a Hollywood couple. The boutique hybrid was supposed to have debuted months ago, but true to form, it’s still not ready for release. Now, word has leaked out that the Karma will make its real debut at the Paris Auto Show. We can’t verify the accuracy...
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A couple decades ago, Toyota decided to launch their upcoming MR2 sports car in Europe. The MR2 was a good car on its own, but Toyota had a bit of a marketing blunder on its hands when they discovered that MR2 was pronounced “mere-deux” in French, which is similar to merde a not so nice...
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