'electric vehicles'

DeLorean Motor Company showed off a prototype of an electrically driven DMC-12, which it promises to put into production in 2013.

You won't need a bolt of lightning to charge it up, and you won't be able to run it on eggshells and coffee grounds. Unlike the "Back to the Future" time machine, this DMC-12 electric conversion gets its electricity from the grid.

The DeLorean Motor Company (yes, it still exists), showed off the prototype at an owners' event last week. … Read more

The excitement surrounding Tesla's Model S sedan is palpable, and in an attempt to stir up even more demand for the vehicle, the company Saturday night flung open its doors to show off its upcoming car.

At the event, Tesla let those who preordered the vehicle take a tour of the company's facilities and ride around in a prototype. In addition, according to Reuters, which was at the event, Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked attendees to promote the car to friends to help build more demand.

Tesla has a lot riding on the Model S. Unlike the Roadster, … Read more

The approval of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act last year essentially mandated that electric vehicles or hybrids running only on electric power--devoid of the actual engine noise that makes pedestrians (particularly the visually impaired) aware that a vehicle is approaching--must now generate some sort of artificial proximity notification noise. However, although the Act mandated that EVs must make a sound, it didn't specify exactly what sound they should make. This means that every EV and hybrid manufacturer is free to make its cars sound like anything.

Toyota has released a video that explains the vehicle proximity notification sound designed … Read more

At this point, Fisker Automotive has been showing off various incarnations of the Karma series hybrid sedan at various auto shows for about four years now. It's practically done at this point. Not wanting to show up at the 2011 International Auto Show in Frankfurt with the same song and dance, the automaker slapped a hatchback onto its mustachioed Karma and dubbed it the Fisker Surf.

This week, the Surf shows off its shooting brake design in a B-roll video released on the Web by Fisker. Check it out below. There's no music, but if you crank your … Read more

With a limited driving range and charging stations that are few and far between, electric vehicle (EV) drivers have good cause to worry that they may not make it to their final destinations. But for many drivers, the mental stress known as "range anxiety" disappears after just three months of real-world zero-emissions commuting.

A study by the U.K.'s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) of 340 ultralow-emissions vehicle drivers--many of which are EV early adopters--found that after three months of driving an EV, range anxiety dropped by 35 percent (PDF). Before the study began, 100 percent of the … Read more

STOCKHOLM (Bloomberg)--Volvo Car and Siemens said they plan a partnership to develop electric vehicles and aim to start testing the autos by the end of this year.

Siemens, Europe's largest engineering company, will develop electric motors and charging systems with Volvo, of Gothenburg, Sweden. Siemens will try out as many as 200 Volvo electric cars under real-life conditions by late 2012 following test-track studies in coming months, the manufacturers said in separate statements.

"We are moving ahead quickly in this area," Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby said in the carmaker's statement. ''Our aim is to be … Read more

The Obama administration yesterday said it will give more than $175 million to car companies and research centers to spur clean auto technology and production of advanced car batteries.

The announcement came ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to a battery factory in Michigan, and followed the introduction of the country's new standards for auto fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Department of Energy is investing in new advanced technologies that will significantly improve vehicle fuel economy, save consumers money, and create skilled jobs for Americans," U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a … Read more

Tesla has released yet another preview video of its upcoming Model S electric sedan. This time, rather than a single Model S blasting down a back road, a trio of camouflaged Alpha sedans have a go at a track to collect data for the Beta sedan, which is the next step in the Model S' development. Normally one of the coolest parts of checking out a track testing video is hearing the roar of the engine, but the Model S is all electric and all silent, so you'll have to make due with the sound of wooshing wind and … Read more

Nissan has just launched a pair of apps for the Android and BlackBerry platforms that put control and information about the automaker's electric Leaf at owners' fingertips.

The app connects to the vehicle via the CarWings system that is present in all Nissan Leafs (Leaves? Leafii?) and features a tabbed interface that is broken into six major sections. The Home tab is where you can view your Leaf's current battery level, whether the car is plugged in or not, and how long a quick, normal, or trickle charge will take. The Home screen also displays a graph with … Read more