The Infiniti Emerg-E – an electric sports car with a range extender engine – will debut as a concept at the Geneva Motor Show. Infiniti has been teasing the new range extender concept sport car they are taking to Geneva for the last month or so, with the usual teaser photos and dearth of real detail. But [...]
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the Tesla Model X Suv Crossover will debut in California on 9th February. With the Tesla Roadster at the end of its life, and then Model S Saloon about to hit the road (probably), Tesla are moving on to the next instalment of their electric car pilgrimage - the Tesla Model X. [...]
The taxpayer grant of up to £5000 for plug-in electric and hybrids cars has been extended until 2015, and plug-in vans are now eligible too. The taxpayer bribe of up to £5,000 or 25 per cent of the vehicle cost (whichever is lower) for buyers of plug-in hybrids and EVs has been extended to 2015 [...]
Department for Transport figures say that there are now more charging points in the UK for electric cars than there are EVs. Yes, we have little time for electric cars as anything more than urban runarounds for those with enough spare cash to pay through the nose for inferior technology. And it’s becoming clear that [...]
In another moan about the Top Gear Episode featuring the Tesla Roadster, Elon Musk says the publicity wrecked UK Tesla sales. The moans by Tesla about the Top Gear episode where Jeremy Clarkson tested Tesla’s electric Lotus have rumbled on all year. First we had Tesla suing Top Gear in the British Courts, then Top Gear producer Andy [...]
SEAT has revealed a plug-in hybrid – the SEAT Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive – and an EV – the SEAT Altea XL Electric Ecomotive. Seat may have revealed a pair of cars with ‘eco’ powerplants - the Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive and the Altea XL Electric Ecomotive – but they’re not coming to a showroom near you. Well, not before [...]
Toyota says it has developed a new battery for electric cars that can give a 600 mile range and cost up to 90 per cent less than current battery technology. Many think our stance on electric cars is Luddite. But it’s not. In fact, if anything, it’s quite the opposite. The origins of Luddite are [...]
Ford has announced that the electric Focus BEV is now available to order at almost $40,000 – twice the price of an entry-level Ford Focus. One thing’s for sure. No one is going to buy an electric Ford Focus on price. Ford has announced that the all electric BEV Focus is now available to order [...]
Audi has begun a trial programme in Munich for the A1 e-tron EV with the Wankel powered range extender engine. 20 A1 e-trons are taking part in the ‘Electric Mobility in Munich’ project. If car makers are going to foist electric cars on us, the least they can do is make them as useful as the limited technology permits. [...]
Carlos Ghosn – Nissan Renault boss – has revealed that Nissan has sold 15,000 LEAF EVs. But in the UK only 100 electric cars were sold in September. As electric cars go, the Nissan LEAF is one of the best. It looks like a proper car – even if it’s not exactly drop dead gorgeous – [...]
The DeLorean Motor Company – keepers of John DeLorean’s supercar dream – has revealed a new electric DeLorean (EV) it plans to launch in 2013. John DeLorean’s efforts to revive the Northern Irish economy by building the DeLorean DMC-12 with British taxpayers money ended in failure. But now the DeLorean Motor Company plans an electric version of the DeLorean [...]
Ford Motor Company announced in 1966 that it had made a breakthrough in battery technology and Electric Cars would be with us in five years. It’s 1966 and the Ford Cortina MK I (pictured above) is selling like hot cakes, a sure indicator of a prosperous new age, and just about to be replaced by the MK II Cortina. [...]
A British car maker – Microcab – will launch its new hydrogen fuel cell powered H2EV car later this week. Just last week we had the opening of the first public hydrogen filling station in the UK at Honda;s plant in Swindon, and now we get the launch of a new, British built, hydrogen fuel [...]
A new survey of 12,000 UK motorists by Trend Tracker finds not a single motorist is planning on buying an electric car. Our stance on the futility of pursuing electric cars (EV) as a replacement for ICE cars is well known, but it seems that the great British motoring public feel exactly the same. A [...]
The Toyota Prius plug-in has been priced at 36 per cent more than a regular Prius in the US. Which means it could cost not much more than a regular Prius in the UK. Toyota has managed to corner the market in hybrid cars over the last decade after its remarkably prescient decision to focus on ‘Eco’ cars [...]
The UK debut of the Hyundai ix35 FCEV will take place at the EcoVelocity show in London next week. To all intents and purposes the Hyundai ix35 FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) is just like any other ix35. That means it’s a well designed, well-built and value for money softroader; a Tiguan and Kuga competitor [...]
Toyota has set a new lap record for an electric car at the Nurburgring with a lap of 7m 47.794s in the Toyota TMG EV P001 EV. Every car maker wants a lap record at the Nurburgring, and Toyota is no different. What is different this time is that Toyota has taken a non-production car [...]
Nissan has revealed that the current cost of replacing the battery pack in the Nissan LEAF is a whopping £19,392. Why would anyone buy a LEAF? We’ve long wondered just what it would cost to replace all the batteries in an electric car like a Nissan LEAF. After all, we all know just how expensive lithium ion batteries [...]
The real ‘Mr Top Gear’ – Andy Wilman – rounds on the critics of last week’s Top Gear Test of the Nissan LEAF & Peugeot iOn. Top Gear and Electric Cars do have a habit of not getting on. And they didn’t get on in the latest Top Gear test when Jeremy (in a Nissan [...]
Government figures suggest that the taxpayer’s efforts to bribe motorists to buy electric cars is a failure. Just 50 electric cars have been bought by private motorists in the last 3 months. Our stance on electric cars is well known. As far as we’re concerned they are suitable only for urban environments, and only then [...]
Gordon Murray has unveiled the T27 electric car, expected to cost under £15k and go in to production in 2012. We first learned that the Gordon Murray T27 Electric Car was heading for an iStream process somewhere in the world back in late 2009. An electric version of the Gordon Murray Design T25 it was designed to be, and has now [...]
Porsche has been showcasing a trio of electric Porsche Boxsters at Michelin Challenge Bibendum, a RWD with 120bhp and a 4WD with 240bhp. We ran a story about the Electric Porsche Boxster back in February, but there really wasn’t a whole heap of information to impart. But now, after Porsche showcased the electric Boxster at Michelin Challenge Bibendum [...]
Renault’s electric go-kart with a roof – the Renault Twizy – will cost from £6,990, plus an extra £40 a month to lease the batteries. What exactly is a Renault Twizy? It’s a fair enough question. Is it a miniature car? No, not really. A beefed-up motorcycle? No, it’s more than that. A tall go-kart with a roof? [...]
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson and James May have been testing the Nissan LEAF and Peugeot iOn in Lincoln, and appear to have run out of power. Top Gear and electric cars don’t really mix. Unless of course they build the electric car themselves, and then you have a world-beating product in the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust. But Top [...]
Land Rover in South Africa has worked with battery specialist Axeon to produce an electric Land Rover Defender for safari trips. We do tend to bang on about the only use for electric cars being as expensive runarounds in cities, or as toys to play with for the better off. After all, with useless range and sky-high [...]
