Hydrogen or electric, road ahead is looking green for car makers
There is a race taking place between some of the big names of car making – Japan’s Toyota and Honda and their Asian neighbour Hyundai – and a smaller camp led by the tech visionary Elon Musk. The car giants are all betting big on the potential of hydrogen power to propel the cars of […]
Aston Martin reveals electric Rapide
By Stephen Ottley. Aston Martin has revealed its much-rumoured rival to the Tesla Model S – a electric version of its Rapide sports sedan. Dubbed RapidE the car has been developed in conjunction with Williams Advanced Engineering, with the 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine replaced by batteries and an electric motor that powers the rear wheels […]
Vector: Rapid charger, rapid change for electric cars
Electric vehicle owner John Leenman can’t wait for the first of Vector’s fast charging stations to come to Hobson St in Auckland city on November 13 – he says it is the future come to town. “It will be my first stop when I come to Auckland,” says the 60-year-old Thames owner of a Nissan […]
The Big Read: Where Teslas are taxis
There are now nearly 70,000 electric vehicles in Norway. In New Zealand there are only 800. Is it time to follow Norway’s lead? Grant Bradley investigates. By Grant Bradley Cars Clean technology Innovation Motor Vehicles… Road Transport Technology Transport There are now nearly 70,000 electric vehicles in Norway. In New Zealand there are only 800. […]
Electric vehicles must make own way in NZ, says Government
By David Linklater. Minister of Transport and Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges has reiterated that he’s a “great fan” of electric vehicles (EVs) in a speech at the Transport Fuels and Fleet Management Summit. He also acknowledged that New Zealand is the ideal environment for plug-in transport. But the underlying message was that Government […]
Plug-in models to feature across full Volvo range
By Chris Lilly Volvo has announced a huge electrification programme that will see its entire range feature at least one plug-in hybrid variant per model and a fully-electric car by 2016. The Swedish company has revealed its plans for a heavily electrified range as it predicts that electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) will […]
Toyota Wants Only Electric Cars on the Roads by 2050
By Matthew Strauss Toyota has launched the Environmental Challenge 2050: Six goals intended to improve sustainability, ultimately resulting in getting carbon dioxide-omitting vehicles off the road within 35 years. The focal point, at least for the immediate future, is the latest model of the manufacturer’s fuel-cell vehicle, the Mirai. Toyota launched its famous Prius hybrid, in […]
Red Bull Racing Team Readying Electric Road Car?
By Mark Kane. Adrian Newey, famous Red Bull Racing F1 engineer, is working on the Red Bull road car, which could turn out to be all-electric. The matter was recently described by Autocar, who put up the image of a sports car with the Aston Martin badge and a BMW charging station. Newey is working […]
Unprecedented surge for electric car market
Good news about electric vehicles continues, we’ve released new figures today showing that there has been a 138.5% increase in plug-in car purchases in the first nine months of 2015. More than 20,000 British motorists switched to electric between January and September – a big step up from 2014. There are now more than 27 […]
Tesla’s autopilot lets cars drive, change lanes themselves
Electric car maker Tesla Motors is leapfrogging competitors with a new autopilot system that lets cars change lanes by themselves. Like other semi-autonomous systems already available from Mercedes, Audi and Volvo, Tesla’s system automatically keeps the car within its lane and maintains a certain distance from the car in front, both at highway speeds and […]