This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans has only just finished (and what a race it was), but some teams are already making plans for 2012. No, we’re not talking about Audi or Corvette Racing, but a newcomer to the series, GreenGT. And the team won’t just be piloting a new car, but a whole...
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The University of California at Davis and BMW have completed the largest study of electric car owners yet conducted: a project massive in scope, involving 120 families across the country who have put over 1 million miles in their MINI E for an entire year. Their findings? They sure love ’em. While it sounds too...
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In a consistent effort to be, well, less evil (or at the very least sightly less malicious), Google is offering its employees free electric car charging at its Googleplex headquarters. Google already offers an electric car sharing service called Gfleet, among other lavish employee perks that more resemble Scrooge McDuck throwing his wads of cash...
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In Nissan‘s continuing effort to relieve range anxiety, the automaker has now announced a joint project with the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) to test out a roadside assistance vehicle capable of recharging electric vehicles. “As EVs gain wider consumer acceptance, it is important to create a roadside assistance system that can help motorists driving EVs...
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Chevrolet dealers are alleged to be “gaming” the system and stealing government tax credits intended for customers. According to an investigation by conservative watchdog National Legal and Policy Center, dealers are applying for the $7,500 tax credit that was designed to help offset the cost of the new high-tech green machine in order to help...
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At the annual Michelin Challenge Bibendum sustainable mobility event in Berlin, Germany Porsche showed off its new Boxster E prototypes which continue to undergo testing as the sports car maker examines the future of emissions free driving fun. In total, Porsche had three Boxster E models which weren’t just on display, but were available (to...
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BMW‘s little urban runabout is almost ready for the limelight, and some tantalizing details have been released: when it goes on sale, uh, eventually, it will be priced at $35,000, or around the price of a 3-Series Coupe. And what does that $35k get you? Well, 150-horsepower, for starters—a lot for its size, and good...
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In their ongoing quest to assuage the guilt of the fabulously wealthy, Aston Martin will be electrifying their ugly-duckling née-Toyota Cygnet—in case wealthy city-living socialites still think Cameron Diaz has a thing for environmentally caring men. Aston Martin’s EV Cygnet will reduce its corporate emissions levels, allowing the British luxe automaker to keep building the Vantage and...
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Wireless-induction charging of vehicles and plug-in hybrids is likely to become common within the automotive industry say EV experts. “We believe it’s not a matter of if but when wireless charging will be in all (electric) vehicles,” Laura Marino of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory stated during a recent Automotive Power Electronics conference. Inductive charging...
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Based on the high price of hybrid and electric vehicles, not to mention how long it takes to recoup the added cost through fuel savings (if ever), the number one reason to purchase one should be environmental concerns. The opposite appears to be true for the majority of green car buyers, 75 percent of whom...
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Thinking of buying one of the greenest vehicles on the market, but not sure if safe for the environment also translates into safety for you and yours? That’s no longer an issue and the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests have just come in for the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf with both...
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[vs-jwplayer movieid=”Msp67trW_4E” width=”640″ height=”390″ autoplay=”0″] Unveiled at the New York Auto Show the Nissan Leaf NISMO RC is an electric race car concept based loosely on the world’s first mass-produced EV. Sitting over a foot lower and using a chassis made of carbon fiber, there wouldn’t at first seem to be much similar between the...
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Chevrolet may be proud of its World Green Car of the Year award for the Volt, but it was Nissan who took even bigger honors taking home the World Car of the Year Award for 2011 for the Leaf electric car. The Volt wasn’t even in the running for the more prestigious World Car title,...
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The RC in Nissan Leaf NISMO RC stands for “Race Competition.” It is not a RadioShack product. And the electric Leaf has been fettled by Nissan’s motorsport division NISMO to do battle on the track. Doing battle against…we don’t know yet. The Leaf RC is an engineer’s lab experiment, a “rolling laboratory” for the mainstream...
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Nissan has announced a ‘service campaign’ for all 5,300 of its Leaf electric cars to fix a software glitch that has been reported to prevent the car from starting. In total roughly 500 vehicles in the U.S. are affected by the service bulletin – which isn’t technically a recall because it’s not safety related. Nissan...
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Rumors had indicated that Nissan would unveil the next-generation Versa at the New York Auto Show this week, but no one saw this coming. Above is a lone image of what the Japanese automaker is calling the Leaf NISMO RC (Racing Competition). Yes, a Leaf race car! Build by Nissan’s NISMO racing division the car...
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Almost a year ago General Motors first showed off the Volt MPV5 (above), hinting that it would build a Voltec-powered extended range electric car designed for families. Now comes word that GM has filed for trademark protection on the name ‘Crossvolt’ indicating that this is a name being considered for the new model that is...
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The Chevrolet Volt has been named “Best Engineered Vehicle of 2011” by SAE International’s Automotive Engineering International (AEI) magazine. SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. For a group of engineers to name a car the “best engineered” is prestigious...
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While Lotus is best-known for its light weight sports cars, the automaker’s engineering division is earning a reputation for green technology. One of the most recent projects to come out of Lotus Engineer is a range extender engine that works similar to the one found in the Chevy Volt. The 1.2-liter 3-cylinder powerplant makes 47-hp...
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A team of Georgia Tech students has put together a dual-battery, solar-powered Audi TT to compete later this year in the World Solar Challenge in Australia. One of the car’s batteries is charged by solar panels, and energizes power brakes, windows and steering. The second battery puts out 120 volts which is directed to an...
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With practically every automaker jockeying for a place in the emerging EV market, it’s still open territory for small innovators like ECOmove, a, Danish firm, to also stake their claim. The company is only a couple years old, but says it has experienced automotive innovators on staff who put together its modular all-battery powered chassis...
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Behold the future of the Mitsubishi EVO. April Fools! Looking surprisingly cool, the folks at Mitsubishi Canada have perhaps the best April Fools prank of the day, posting a creatively photoshopped version of the i-MiEV electric car, inspired by the brand’s Evo sports sedan, on its Facebook page. Claiming to be the 2015 i-MiEVO concept,...
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Kia has just revealed its third in a string of electric car concepts, debuting the Naimo at the Seoul Motor Show. Unlike past mini cars, this sub-compact B-Class model is a crossover and may be the most realistic example yet of Kia’s plan to bring an EV to market in the near future. At 153-inches...
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Remember the Fisker Karma? The plug-in hybrid luxury saloon from an upstart California automaker was touted as beating the Volt to market when it debuted over two years ago, a testament to the ability of small companies to get things done when giant automakers flopped their bloated carcasses into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But the Volt...
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