Electric cars are nothing new, but as car makers desperately seek to hit ridiculous CO2 average emission targets set by governments around the world, the EV has been revived as a panacea for tailpipe emissions.
Unfortunately, electric cars haven't improved massively in the last 100 years, so they are still very heavy - thanks to the enormous battery packs needed even to provide a modest range - and extremely expensive. Those two facts alone mean that unless there is a quantum leap forward in battery technology EVs will never be a replacement for the internal combustion engine (ICE).
But there are evangelists for the electric car - and we do understand their point of view - but we firmly believe the only really practical use for the EV is as a commuter car in congested cities, as a local delivery vehicle or to produce awesome amounts of instant torque for a powerful toy.
However, electric cars are big news and we strive to cover all the EVs in the news, from the best-selling Nissan LEAF on down, and with more and more electric cars for sale the amount of electric car news does seem to grow all the time.
Below (and on subsequent pages) you will find all the articles on Cars UK about electric cars from makers including Nissan, Tesla, BMW and just about any EV you can think of.
BMW has announced that their ‘i-Brand’ dealer network in the UK will consist of 46 dealers centred on areas of biggest population. BMW is gearing up for its proper ‘i-Brand’ launch later this year, and has announced that there will be 46 BMW i-Brand dealers scattered across the UK. Each i-Brand centre will have specialist technical capabilities [...]
The London Congestion Charge rules are changing on 1st July 2013 so your car will need to emit less than 76g/km to get in to London free of charge. Whether you think the London Congestion Charging Zone is a great way to clean up the air quality of the capital or just another way to [...]
Volvo’s new V60 plug-in hybrid is proving so successful that Volvo are trying to double production to 10,000 a year to cope with demand. The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid finally went in to production at the end of 2012 as the first diesel plug-in hybrid on the market, and despite our antipathy towards expensive, and heavy, technical [...]
Volkswagen has a new 10-speed DSG gearbox in development, a new diesel engine with electric boost delivering 136bhp per litre and will roll out more plug-in hybrids. The end of the internal combustion engine is nigh, they say, as the world tries to clean up its environmental act and works towards a goal of electric motors to [...]
It’s reported by the German motoring press that Audi are working on their own version of the electric e-Up city car for launch in 2015. Audi has played endlessly with their e-tron range of electric cars and range-extenders in recent years, but precious little has seemed even close to production. Perhaps the most promising EVs from Audi [...]
Ford has partnered with German specialist Schaeffler to build the Fiesta eWheelDrive EV with electric motors in the rear wheel hubs as a research vehicle. Car makers haven’t entirely given up on the idea of the electric car, although they do seem to be starting to move to the point where the EV is seen as an urban [...]
It seems Elon Musk has a real success on his hands with the Tesla Model S, with reports claiming it outsold both the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF in the first quarter of 2013. Tesla never managed to make any money out of their electric Lotus – the Tesla Roadster – but it does look [...]
The Toyota ME.WE Concept is a utilitarian, compact electric car from Toyota with interchangeable body panels created with Jean-Marie Massaud. Jean-Marie Massaud is a French designer and architect who’s creations tend to be on the minimalist side. So if he’s playing at concept cars with Toyota, you’d expect the result to be a bit short on luxuries and equipment. And [...]
The Fiat 500e – Fiat’s electric 500 – has gone on sale in the US with the same monthly lease payments as the 500 Pop – just £130 a month. The Fiat 500e – the electric version of the 500 – is a car Fiat had to build, but not one they wanted to. Sergio [...]
The new 2013 Nissan LEAF EV has been revealed with a raft of improvements, new price structure and a low headline price thanks to a battery lease option. Update: We asked Nissan if owners of a LEAF who opt for a one year deal on the battery lease (which can cost up to £129 a [...]
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