electric

The first time you get into a hybrid car, it can be quite eerie.

Not merely because of the peculiar sanctimoniousness of its owner, but because when it comes to a halt, there seems to be no engine sound. At first, you think it's stalled. Then you realize that cannot be. So your innards have to train themselves for this odd sensation.

However, it seems conclusive now that this little lamb's silence is proving to be somewhat injurious.

As a very fine analysis in Slate tells me, at speeds under 35 mph, hybrids and electric cars are 37 … Read more

If you're in the market for a luxury plug-in hybrid sedan, start saving up the $50,000 to $60,000 you'll need to buy the Fisker Atlantic sedan. And you'll have plenty of time -- don't expect to see the car in the showrooms for another couple of years.

Details of Fisker's second plug-in hybrid were leaked to InsideEvs.com. The Fisker Atlantic, formerly known as Project Nina, is the startup's follow-up to its $100,000 Karma plug-in hybrid sports car. The Atlantic is a smaller, more affordable luxury coupe that will be equipped … Read more

Once upon a time, somebody somewhere discovered that jabbing a hot dog with a skewer, coating it with batter, and then deep-frying it would be a delicious alternative to a bun. As history has shown, that genius individual was certainly correct.

Corn dogs just paved the way for what lay ahead in the future. Now, at every fair across the country, it is possible to get food items of every shape and variety clinging to an easy-to-carry stick. However, no longer must we wait for summer to enjoy all that food-on-a-stick can goodness. Now, all that deliciousness can be no … Read more

If electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla designed a weapon, it very well might look like Rob Flickenger's Tesla Gun.

The self-described "mad science" enthusiast dreamed up a Tesla rifle after reading the graphic novel "The Five Fists of Science," which features a cover image of a young Tesla wielding several weapons with a built-in Tesla coil.

Flickenger tapped "Seattle's many hackerspaces" to help design and build the Tesla coil cannon over the course of many months. The high-voltage gun balances seriously dangerous science and an array of everyday electrical components capable of firing off 20,000 volts of hair-raising power with a simple click of a trigger. … Read more

Tesla announced a goal of 300 miles for the range of its Model S electric sedan early in its development. As the company came closer to production, it said that only the top-trim Model S, with an 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack, would achieve the 300-mile figure. Less expensive versions of the car, with 60- and 40-kilowatt-hour batteries, would hit 230 miles and 160 miles, respectively.

Today, in a somewhat technical and involved blog post from Tesla founder Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel, the company revealed that the 85-kilowatt-hour Model S only achieved a range of 265 miles.

The post initially … Read more

City buses, streetcars, and regional rail lines all over the world run on electricity, garnered from overhead lines. Now Siemens wants to apply the same technology to long-haul trucking with its eHighway concept.

Siemens, an industrial and automotive supplier, contends that the majority of vehicle pollution comes from big diesel trucks transporting goods over many freeway and highway miles. Its eHighway would eliminate tailpipe pollution from these trucks for the majority of those miles.

On a test track in Europe, Siemens has been running trucks using its diesel-hybrid drive technology. Conductors on top of the trucks make contact with overhead … Read more

Toyota showed off its RAV4 EV, the electric version of the RAV4 compact SUV, as a concept about a year and half ago at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. The wraps came off the production version of this new electric car this week, showing some speedy automobile development indeed.

More impressive is that the deal between Toyota and Tesla to develop the electric RAV4, on the heels of Toyota's decision to sell Tesla its NUMMI auto manufacturing plant, came less than two years ago. This is a car with a completely different drivetrain than that of the car on which it is based. Most model updates take longer to put into production.… Read more

RYNO Motors' single-wheeled electric scooter is self-balancing, has a turning radius of zero when stopped, and only takes up about as much space as a folding bicycle -- so it's conceivable that commuters could bring one onto a train. Plus, it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime.

However, it only has a maximum range of 20 miles between charges, a top speed that is limited to 12.5 mph (the actual top speed of 25 mph is limited to keep the RYNO scooter within the more relaxed legal boundaries of "personal mobility scooters"), and it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime -- yes, for some people, that last point is as much a con as it is a pro.… Read more

Waving goodbye to your local gas station used to involve waiting lists, lease-only pilot programs, or dropping six figures on an early adopters' plaything like the Tesla Roadster. These days, just about anyone can walk into a local dealership, plunk down $35,000, and drive away in a car that doesn't have a tailpipe.

No, the 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2012 Ford Focus Electric, and 2012 Mitsubishi i-MIEV aren't the first electric cars to hit the market. However, they are in the first batch of fully electric, zero-emissions vehicles that are priced and packaged for mass consumption. Each seats four or five adults comfortably, has space for cargo and groceries, and packs much of the same (if not better) cabin technology and creature comforts as its gasoline-powered stablemates.

We've put these three models side by side in the chart below to see how they stack up and compare with one another. Green values indicate the best-performing model in each category. Which one is best for you? Read on:… Read more