Electric Cars



Electric cars were popular in the late 19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass production of cheaper gasoline vehicles led to a decline in the use of electric drive vehicles. The energy crises of the 1970s and '80s brought a short-lived interest in electric cars, though those cars did not reach mass marketing as today's electric cars experience it. Since the mid-2000s, the production of electric cars is experiencing a renaissance due to advances in battery and power management technologies and concerns about increasingly volatile oil prices and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As of September 2012, series production highway-capable models available in some...



5 Surprises You'll Find in a Tesla Model S


Man Spends Night in Jail for Taking 5 Cents' Worth of Electricity

A man was arrested for charging his Nissan Leaf electric car at a Georgia middle school in November, according to a local ABC News report. Officers charged Kaveh Kamooneh with misdemeanor theft of what a local NBC station reported to be five cents' worth of electricity. The police officer checked with the middle school and determined that Kamooneh had not been given permission to charge his car with the school's electricity.

Building Cars Out of Batteries Isn’t as Crazy as It Sounds

The high cost and limited range of electric vehicles can make them a tough sell, and their costliest and most limiting component are their batteries. But batteries also open up new design possibilities because they can be shaped in more ways than gasoline tanks and because they can be made of load-bearing materials.


When SpaceX founder Elon Musk isn’t sending rocket ships into space, he’s circling the globe promoting the advantages of electric cars over gas vehicles as Tesla CEO. However, in a recent speech in Germany, the entrepreneur most often compared to Tony Stark had a few choice words for another alternative energy category: hydrogen fuel cell powered cars.

BMW Launches i3 Electric Car

German luxury automaker BMW unveiled its first mass-produced electric vehicle to the world on Monday. The BMW i3 has the trademark BMW kidney-shaped grille; but what's underneath the hood is unlike its more traditional brothers and sisters. The i3 packs a 170-horsepower electric motor and a lithium-ion, high-voltage battery that can keep the car running about 80 to 100 miles on a single charge.

Buying an Electric Vehicle Won't Up Your Green Cred

The days of going out and buying an electric car to demonstrate your steadfast devotion to the environment are coming to an end. Pretty soon, people might suspect you bought the car because you actually like it. Already, we're well past the good old days, when electric car buyers could boast about sacrificing back seats to make room for the battery. People are getting word that some electric cars out there can out-accelerate a golf cart.

Record-Setting British Electric Race Car Reaches 204 MPH

When you think electric car, "fast" might not be the first adjective that comes to your mind. But at 204 mph, Drayson Racing has a electric race car that surpasses the impressive speeds of Nissan's experimental ZEOD electric car, which Mashable covered last weekend. UK-based Drayson's new B12 electric car packs 1,126 horsepower between four engines inside a carbon-fiber-covered structure. As explained in the video above, it's faster than Nissan's ZEOD, which reached a top speed of 184 mph.

Tesla vs. Local Car Dealers: White House Petition Nears Deadline


Nissan Unveils World's Fastest Electric Car


Volvo Tests Electric Road That Charges Cars

Recent innovations in wireless charging for electric vehicles could mean losing the need for batteries altogether. While modern Teslas work on new wireless recharging, particularly for electric vehicles in urban areas, one Swedish project is testing a system designed to power EVs along the highway. The method, developed by the Volvo Group and the Swedish power company Alstom with support from the Swedish Energy Agency, would involve putting two power lines directly into the road.

Electric Car, Powered by Social Media, Rolls Across the USA

An electric car fueled by social interaction completed a 1,000 mile-plus journey from Kansas City, Mo., to Washington, D.C., on Thursday. A group of 17 high schoolers and eight mentors left Kansas City on May 31 in a restored 1967 Karmann Ghia -- a small two-seater -- to travel across the country. They were members of Minddrive, an educational non-profit program that uses hands-on projects to teach at-risk kids about math and science.

Why 'Better Place' Failed with Swappable Batteries


Tesla Model S Gets 99 out of 100 Rating From Consumer Reports


BMW Demos Electric Car Performance With 'Electronaut Effect' Site


BMW Electric Cars Reimagined as Lounge Furniture

How do you give people the experience of riding in an electric vehicle without actually sitting in a car? That was the challenge designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec undertook for a project with BMW i, the automaker's electric mobility division. The Bouroullec brothers devised Quiet Motion, a lounge installation for the 2013 Salone del Mobile furniture design fair.

Porsche Unveils Panamera S E-Hybrid, Its First Plug-In Electric Car

The plug-in hybrid trend must be getting serious when Porsche jumps into the ring. The German car manufacturer announced on Wednesday the Panamera S E-Hybrid, its first plug-in hybrid. True to the Porsche tradition, this four-door sedan is no slouch in the performance department, with its parallel hybrid gas/electric combo power plant creating a respectable 416 hp. The car gets 95 of those horses from its electric motor, and the other 320 hp from its all-new 3.0-Liter bi-turbo V6 gas engine.

Ford C-Max Energi Feels Like the Car of the Future


Ford's 'MyEnergi Lifestyle' Products Aim to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Are you looking for more ways to be green in 2013? On Monday at International CES, Ford announced it is collaborating with Whirlpool, Eaton and SunPower to provide the average American with easy tools to live a more eco-friendly life. Other featured companies include: semiconductor provider Infineon and Nest Labs.

Why It's Important for Electric Cars to Feel Familiar
