By 2015, Toyota will be selling 21 hybrids globally. The Prius family will expand beyond the current four models: Liftback, Compact C, Crossover V, and Plugin. I was once asked, “Why would anyone buy a hybrid when you can’t cost-justify the premium?” I paid about a $4,000 premium to buy my 2002 Prius, and then sold it seven years later for a $3,000 premium. The Prius had saved me over $5,000 in gasoline when gas was cheaper than today.
More than 12,000 customers have made reservations and $5,000 deposits for their new Tesla Model S. The first thousands of these all-electric cars being delivered have a 265-mile range (official EPA rating). In real world driving, the range is 300 miles if you stay below 55 miles per hour. This is not a plug-in hybrid. It is slightly amazing.
A new survey of some 1,400 California Nissan LEAF owners reveals that 89% of owners use their LEAF as their primary car and own a second gasoline fueled car, that they drive an average of 800 electric-fueled miles per month, and many pay the equivalent of $0.90 to $1.90 per gallon of gasoline to power their electric vehicles.
With the backing of the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, automakers and auto drivers, 54.5 miles per gallon (MPG) is now the law. Many are already driving cars with better than 54 MPG thanks to innovative programs from Zipcar, Enterprise, Hertz, car2go, and other car sharing providers.
It’s never been easier to get into an electric car and drive away. I hold my Drive Now card to the window of this BMW ActiveE, the car unlocks and I take the driver’s seat. I type in my 4-digit passcode, touch Start, shift into Drive and away I go. Today, BMW has added 70 of its electric cars to a unique car-sharing program in San Francisco. I drive a dozen blocks to a parking garage near a meeting at the Marriott. I park the car, log-off with a push of the button, use my membership card to lock the car and I’m done.
California is the leading state for the early adoption of electric cars. California is the first state with 10,000 electric cars. These California EVs are primarily charged in home garages, but their range is extended with 2,000 installed charge points. By 2014, 50,000 electric cars will be on California roads supported by 10,000 charged points.
2013 Ford C-Max Energi is a crossover with more room than many small SUVs, 95 mpg, a range of 550 miles because it is a plug-in hybrid, and the ability to make many trips in electric mode only using a garage charge. It starts at $29,995 after federal tax credit. In this review we compare this new electric car with the Chevrolet Volt and Toyota Prius Plug-in….
When you buy a car, you make a long-term commitment to purchasing the fuel required to make it go. Which would you rather choose: electricity, a reliably cheap, domestic fuel that gets cleaner every year you own the car, or gasoline, a notoriously unpredictable fuel made with foreign oil that will only get dirtier over time? See the latest price data comparing the two fuels.
Electric vehicle wireless charging is now in use by electric cars, taxis, buses, car sharing, and racing teams. Is charging without plug connection in all of our future, or just special fleets? In Italy, over 30 buses on fixed routes in Genoa and Turin take advantage of wireless charging at bus stops to make electric transit a reality. As it readies for the Olympics, the city of London will include a new wireless pilot program that includes taxis using Qualcomm Halo technology.
One million people around the world are members of a carsharing program offered by Zipcar, Enterprise, Hertz, some innovative regional service, and even programs that let one person make money sharing with others in the community. Electric car owners can use car rental and car share to get hybrid cars that can take them beyond EV range, when they need SUV cargo space, and when they need AWD for snow and storms. For gasoline car owners, car share programs allow drivers to try an electric car for a few hours.