I’ve logged more than 100,000 miles driving a diverse array of electric cars since Green Car Journal’s launch in 1992, during the very early days of the modern electric vehicle. Here are five things you should know about driving electric.
I’ve logged more than 100,000 miles driving a diverse array of electric cars since Green Car Journal’s launch in 1992, during the very early days of the modern electric vehicle. Here are five things you should know about driving electric.
Hundreds of thousands of fans have been waiting excitedly for Tesla’s Model 3, touted by the automaker as the ‘affordable’ EV for the masses. But is it? The backstory is a bit more complicated with plenty of food for thought.
I drive an electric vehicle every day as part of my job testing cars. It’s not a new thing. In fact, this has been part of the drill here at Green Car Journal since the publication’s launch in 1992…way ahead of the electric car curve. Back then I was testing electrics like the Honda EV […]
Charging your electric vehicle used to be an easy thing, at least in many areas where electrification has long been promoted. Public chargers were installed in high-profile areas like shopping centers, parking garages, and at the workplace. For the longest time, it wasn’t unusual to see these chargers go unused for long periods of time. […]
Will electrified vehicles dominate our highways in the future? It’s a question on the minds of many these days as an increasing number of battery electric and plug-in hybrid models come to new car showrooms. The answer is not an easy one, especially since there’s the potential that future CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements […]
Like most kids growing up in the 1960s, my first experience with an electric race car was at a slot car track as a teenager. They were fast…really fast if you used a hopped-up rewind motor capable of smoking competitors off the track. This was followed decades later with the full-scale, real-life electric cars I […]
There is a strong push for self-driving autonomous cars sweeping the auto industry. It’s an interesting mix of competing companies merging with both the traditional car brands and the tech industry. The overriding assumption is that taking the driver out of the transportation equation is better for safety and the environment than human involvement in […]
When it comes to chips, automakers are all-in. That is, the silicon variety and not those with which you can gamble away a fortune, something auto companies are loathe to do. Traditionally, the risks auto manufacturers undertake are carefully calculated and always rooted in the world of profit and market share. As they look to […]
Diesel haters seem to be overly anxious to pile-on and shout ‘death to diesels’ these days. It’s human nature to take offense at being fooled and the diesel market certainly is paying the price of the recent emissions scandal. Serious deception took place and it’s far from forgotten, even as corrections are underway or being […]
Some cars leave an impression that lasts a lifetime. The Ford Mustang is one of those cars for me. As a kid, I was blessed with a dad who always had something unique in the driveway, from a Morris Minor to a Triumph Herald. None were exotic or expensive, but they were fun and more […]
Connected car technologies are transforming the automotive industry much like smart phone apps revolutionized the mobile phone sector. A new generation of aftermarket products are helping tech-savvy drivers reduce accidents, lower insurance costs, save fuel, and plan routes more effectively. Cars and trucks have become mobile computing platforms and the tech transformation is accelerating. By […]
There are many outspoken and polarizing proponents of the various fuels and technologies at play today. This has been the case for several decades now and isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon. Many electric car enthusiasts do not see a future for internal combustion or even hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen proponents point out that fuel […]
A steady stream of advanced powertrains, new fuel-efficient systems like stop/start, and more alternative fuels have helped raise fuel economy to new heights in recent years, but the latest breakthrough in energy-efficient cars may surprise you: safety technology. You got it. Safety equals green. New safety systems are fuel economy game-changers, because fewer crashes mean […]
Today, consumers in California can drive and lease the first wave of commercially available fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the U.S, and additional models are promised from several leading automakers in the next few months and years. Of equal importance, today’s FCEV drivers can fill-up at any of nine hydrogen fueling stations in the […]
It isn’t all about efficient powertrains. Lightweighting vehicles is having a positive effect on increasing fuel efficiency.
I was changed by the 1990 introduction of the GM Impact electric car prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show, then again by the amazing array of electric, hydrogen, and ‘green’ vehicles I witnessed at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show. I knew that ‘green’ cars would be important. So, for 25 years now, this has […]
It is an exciting time to be involved with the auto industry, or to be in the market for a new car. The auto industry has responded splendidly to the challenge of new emission, fuel economy, and safety standards. The public is offered a greater than ever selection of vehicles with different powertrains, lightweight materials, […]
Electric drive vehicles of all types are increasingly in the news, often led by a near-nonstop focus on Tesla and its Model S, Model X, and planned Model 3 battery electric vehicles. People want electric cars. Some feel they need them, or more accurately, that we all need them. It has been so for quite some time. […]