Sales of General Motors' Chevrolet Volt plug-in car, which had been dwindling in recent months, are enjoying a big resurgence in California, a state with some of the highest gas prices in the nation.
Despite winning a trophy case worth of awards -- including Motor Trend Car of the Year and North American Car of the Year -- the Chevrolet Volt plug-in car has failed to meet GM's sales expectations.
About two dozen people have asked General Motors about turning in their Chevrolet Volt electric cars in the wake of an investigation into possible battery fires following severe crashes, a spokesman for the automaker said Tuesday.
Federal safety regulators announced Friday that they have opened "a formal safety defect investigation" into the Chevrolet Volt over concerns the electric car's battery may pose a significant fire risk.
Federal safety regulators are investigating the safety of lithium-ion batteries after a fire started in the battery pack of a Chevrolet Volt three weeks after the vehicle went through a crash test.
Ford has begun to take orders for its first plug-in passenger car, the Focus Electric, in New York, New Jersey and California.
General Motors, maker of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, will sell a small totally electric car beginning in 2013, the automaker announced Wednesday.
The Chevrolet Volt, General Motors' plug-in car, has earned a recommendation from Consumer Reports magazine.
The New York City Police Department has a new cruiser that will be silently plying the city streets very soon.
Ford will soon produce a competitor to General Motors' Chevrolet Volt.
The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf plug-in cars both earned top scores in crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Tuesday.
The all-electric Nissan Leaf was named the 2011 World Car of The Year at the New York Auto Show on Thursday.
It'll be years before automakers can take the training wheels off their electric car making divisions, but how many years is an open question.
In its effort to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015, the Obama administration's proposed budget supports a plan to give $7,500 directly to electric car buyers rather than make them wait for a tax credit.
In an effort to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015, the Obama administration has proposed a plan that would put up to $7,500 directly in the hands of car buyers without having them jump through any tax hoops.
President Barack Obama's goal of putting 1 million electric cars on U.S. roads by 2015 could run into a huge roadblock -- the American consumer.
updated: Thu Feb 03 2011 09:02:00
CNN's Martin Savidge speaks to "the car coach" about the growing market for electric cars.
They might not be the first police force to add an electric vehicle to their fleet, but Scotts Valley Police Department in California surely has one of the most stylish.
Ford unveiled the Focus Electric at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Friday promising an electric car that's fun to drive.
We've all had to get rid of spent lithium-ion batteries from laptops and cell phones so it's natural to worry about the ones in electric cars.
Ever since electric cars began commanding headlines a few years back, some have questioned whether the vehicles are really better for the environment.
If you want to buy an electric car today, good luck, it's slim pickins. But fast forward three years and you could be facing more plug-in choices than you'll know what to do with.
Even if they aren't always terribly accurate, EPA fuel economy estimates have at least made it easy to compare the gas mileage of one car to another. But now that plug-in cars are entering the market, things are about to get much more complicated.
GE said on Thursday that it will buy 25,000 electric vehicles for its fleet through 2015 in the "largest-ever" purchase of electric cars.
updated: Wed Nov 10 2010 07:12:00
CNNMoney.com writer Peter Valdes-Dapena test drove the new Nissan and Chevy electric cars. He shares his reviews.
The Nissan Leaf will carry a price tag of $32,500, but some California residents could drive one for just about $17,000 -- roughly the cost of a typical gas-powered compact sedan.
General Electric will order "tens of thousands" of electric cars in about a week, the conglomerate's chief executive said Friday.
updated: Thu Oct 28 2010 11:36:00
The Bolivian Andes could contain almost of third of the world's lithium - the power source of choice for electric cars.
If you thought electric cars were about to take over the world's highways, a new report by auto analysts at J.D. Power Associates says, "Not so fast."
Major car manufacturers are poised to launch their electric vehicles and expectations are so high Nissan says it has closed its U.S. waiting list with 20,000 pre-orders.
updated: Wed Oct 20 2010 09:24:00
CNN's Ali Velshi talks to the CEO of a company who won an award for creating a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon.
Chase Ballew had miscalculated a little bit. He was bringing home some furniture from Ikea in his electric-powered truck, and there wasn't enough charge to get him all the way to the house.
They may be cleaner than their gas-guzzling cousins, but manufacturers are increasingly concerned that electric cars' near-silent motors could pose a problem for pedestrians navigating city streets.
When I talk to my motorcycling friends, many of them are hankering for an electric motorcycle. But only, they stress, if it's a motorcycle, not a motor scooter. One friend explained that to motorcycling types, a high-end electric motorcycle would be like going from a Ferrari to a Tesla: "If I was used to driving a Ferrari and you put me in a Tesla I would love it." In other words, high-end Harley riders are not a group interested in the two-wheeled version of, say, a Fiat or Tata.
General Motors is building an experimental fleet of electrically powered Chevrolet Cruze compact cars that will have a driving range of up to 100 miles without using any gasoline.
Toyota Motor Co. will put out six all-new hybrid vehicles worldwide by 2012, a Toyota spokesman confirmed.
Automakers are operating in terra incognita as they prepare for the biggest change in the way cars are powered in a century. As they begin to add battery-powered cars to their lineups, they will have to solve some fundamental problems about how the cars are built and sold.
Tesla Motors will produce electric Rav4 crossover SUVs for Toyota Motor Co. beginning in 2012, the two companies announced Friday.
Shai Agassi wants to put the world into electric cars whose batteries can be swapped out at one of his futuristic "gas" stations. But just as the cells in flashlights and laptops need lithium to run, so do -- swappable batteries or not -- electric cars. And some are now saying that will make lithium, in our increasingly battery-dependent society, increasingly hard to come by.
Moving ahead with a partnership announced in May, Toyota is working on a potential new electric car with California's Tesla Motors, a source at the Japanese automaker said.
Coulomb Technologies on Wednesday said it will build 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations in nine regions of the U.S., funded by $37 million in grants.
Toyota's announcement that it is making a $50 million investment in upstart electric car maker Tesla got the auto industry's attention this week.
Shai Agassi is a man on a mission -- an ambitious one to wean the world off its oil addiction and turn everyone into electric car drivers.
Nissan announced Tuesday that its Leaf electric car will come with a sticker price of $32,780. But after a federal tax credit of $7,500, the car will only set you back about $25,280.
Carlos Ghosn -- in shirtsleeves -- walks briskly into a conference room on the 21st floor of Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. Awaiting his arrival are 15 executives in two ranks of chairs. Subject of the meeting: how to spread the news about Ghosn's pet electric-car project.
If you're looking forward to parking a brand-new electric car in your garage soon, be prepared to spend some money getting that garage in shape.
Tesla Motors turned profitable for the first time in July, when the electric car manufacturer shipped a record 109 vehicles, the company said Friday.
The federal government on Wednesday named which companies will get $2.4 billion in stimulus grants to develop batteries, parts and programs for electric cars.
The cars of the future will run on electricity, most major automakers agree on that. What they don't agree on is how soon drivers will be ready to fully embrace electric power and how aggressively to push electric cars.
Exxon Mobil Corp. said it will unveil an electric car Tuesday through a test-drive and car-sharing program in Baltimore.
Daimler AG and Tesla Motors announced Tuesday that they will partner to manufacture electric cars.
Much has been made of the electric car driving to the rescue of ailing automobile manufacturers and saving the planet at the same time. But what if that eco-savior came on two wheels instead of four?
updated: Wed Apr 22 2009 13:02:00
Japan's top two automakers in a worldwide battle for the eco-minded consumer. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
FORTUNE's Brainstorm: Green conference is not even 24 hours old as I write this and already we've had a lot of memorable moments. Here are some of the things we've heard so far:
After years of churning out giant gas-guzzlers, lobbying against fuel-economy standards, and refusing to repent even while begging Congress for a bailout, the humbled and chastened Big Three gathered recently at the Detroit auto show to finally embrace the electrification of the automobile.
A battery-powered 268-horsepower two-seat sports car is in line to become Chrysler LLC's first electric car, provided the carmaker lives to see another day.
Did a battery bring down General Motors?
Ford is preparing to sell an electric car developed almost entirely by an outside supplier. While that may cut down on bragging rights - General Motors created the Chevy Volt in-house - Ford says it also cut down on costs and risk.
Ford Motor Co. will introduce its first all-electric vehicle in 2010, but it will be intended for business owners - not families. The electric Transit Connect, a small van, will be offered in "select" U.S. Ford dealerships.
Meeting the Obama Administration's goal of putting 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015 will only happen with a coordinated set of policies and technology advances, according to an electric vehicle association.
Toyota's third-generation Prius, due at dealerships this spring, will have an optional solar panel on its roof. The panel will power a ventilation system that can cool the car without help from the engine, Toyota says.
At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and MINI showed the world what electric vehicles of the future will look like. And the future of driving looks fun.
Electric cars have a big role to play in reducing the world's greenhouse gas emissions, but it's going to cost a lot, according to a new report. It could even push automakers into further trouble.
Ford wants to roll out a fleet of hybrid and plug-in cars over the next several years, but it does not want to go down the road General Motors is taking with the Chevrolet Volt.
For a century the gasoline engine has remained largely unchallenged, seeing off all pretenders to its crown. But with concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and a host of new contenders looming large in the rear view mirror, is the gasoline-fueled automobile due to be overtaken by a fleet of cleaner, leaner rivals?
Chrysler is pinning a huge part of its future on a plan to produce a full line of electric vehicles, at a reasonable cost to both the carmaker and the consumer.
Hybrid and electric cars play a big part in the business plans Detroit automakers presented to Congress on Tuesday. The only problem is that vehicles like General Motors' Chevrolet Volt won't be profitable for a decade or more.
The Wrightspeed X1, a sports car whose three-second acceleration from 0 to 60 makes it one of the fastest autos in the world, is also super clean: It's powered by an electric motor and gets about 170 mpg. Ian Wright, the Burlingame, Calif., entrepreneur who created the X1 several years ago, had planned on ramping up production on a line of similar electric cars in 2009. But over the summer, he changed his mind.
There's no point in having a debate without varied points of view. Send us an email by filling out the form on the front page, file an iReport or click on the "Sound Off" button at the bottom of this page.
Robert Lutz, vice-chairman of General Motors, caused a stir in the auto industry -- and in the automotive press -- when he announced in January of 2007 that the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car would be ready for mass production and on the road, by the end of 2010.
Nissan showed on Wednesday a spiffy electric car packed with a battery developed by the Japanese automaker to deliver more power than the type common in today's hybrids
True or False: In the 1890's electric cars out sold gasoline powered versions ten to one.
Transplanted from the U.S to London, Phyllis Earl knows how to get somebody's attention.
With the price of gas soaring, major automakers like GM and Toyota are finally following the lead of successful firms like GEM and getting serious about plug and drive vehicles
True or False: The electric car was invented in the early 1800's.
Despite all the hype for electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells, experts say we'd better get used to pumping gas, but we can look forward to much better fuel economy down the road.
At a breakfast in New York last week, Jim Press, vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC made the startling announcement that every single new Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep is being engineered so that it can be adapted for a gas-electric hybrid powertrain. That's a huge change for technologically challenged Chrysler, which currently markets only two gas-electric hybrid vehicles - both of them equipped with technology developed by General Motors.
In a first-of-its-kind program, the government hopes to put charging stations all over the country and get gas guzzlers off the roads starting in 2011
Easy money: Richard Branson helps fund U.S. entrepeneurs
Steve Fambro didn't get into the car business to save the world. He did it to go faster on freeways.
If all goes according to plan, by 2009 you could be sticking it to Big Oil by driving an all electric, Chinese-made sedan for little more than the cost of a Camry.
Three pinstriped London investors stand outside an electric car factory in the green fields of the Norwegian countryside, waiting their turns to test-drive a stylish two-seater called the Think City.
The belief that General Motors has all the environmental sensitivity of a panda fur wholesaler has been widespread for a long time.
General Motors is working on a plug-in hybrid version of its redesigned Saturn Vue SUV, the company's CEO announced today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to sell an electric car in the United States, according to a report in an industry newspaper.
Ian Wright has a car that blows away a Ferrari 360 Spider and a Porsche Carrera GT in drag races, and whose 0-to-60 acceleration time ranks it among the fastest production autos in the world. In fact, it's second only to the French-made Bugatti Veyron, a 1,000-horsepower, 16-cylinder beast that hits 60 mph half a second faster and goes for $1.25 million.
It's late morning at Buck's, the diner in Silicon Valley's bucolic foothills where venture deals have been known to go down faster than the flapjacks and burgers. Today, though, the action is in th...
Maybe you think driving a car that runs on anything other than gas is as preposterous as the idea of an underpowered Ferrari or a nonsmoking supermodel. But if you don't believe we are at a scienti...
Bright-eyed, his silver hair a little wild at the fringes, Dr. Ferdinand Panik, 56, clearly relishes piloting a very special Mercedes vehicle briskly past the apple orchards on the outskirts of Nab...
NOW THAT General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are getting close to an agreement to cooperate on an electric vehicle, does that mean battery-powered cars are an idea whose time has finally come? Not b...
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