#range

The BMW i8 is getting some changes.

A detailed breakdown of the Chevrolet Bolt’s range has been released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), revealing that the all-electric car can travel 255 miles in the city and 217 on the highway. 

Recently the New York Times and American electric car maker Tesla got in a highly publicized war of words over a review of the Model S electric car. Amongst other contentious issues, the range of the vehicle didn’t meet the Times’ writers expectations.

There’s something magical about going on a road trip. Whether it’s the allure of visiting a far-flung destination or just the call of the highway, piling into a car and eating up miles satiates mankind’s wanderlust.

Ford’s C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid utility vehicle can carry you for 620 miles on a single tank of gas according to the EPA.

The distinction between a hybrid and a range-extended hybrid is still confusing to some people, and GM’s European branch, Vauxhall, is getting in some hot water after misleading people in ads for the Ampera, sister car to the Volt.

Something might be amiss in the world when bringing battery technology up to par is considered a “game changer” as GM CEO Dan Akerson described it in an employee meeting, but then again maybe not.

A growing group of Nissan Leaf owners are discontented with their car’s ability to retain power over the not-so-long term, but the company doesn’t seem concerned.

Arguably the most successful startup company to build and sell electric vehicles, Tesla is beginning delivery of its second car today: the Model S sedan. 

Customers who buy the new Tesla Model S, due out in a month’s time, could enjoy the longest range of any EV to date according to CEO Elon Musk, though you’ll definitely never achieve the 400-mile potential range.

Ford recently announced the EPA fuel efficiency rating for its electric Focus model. Since it doesn’t burn any gasoline, the number isn’t in miles per gallon (MPG), but was given as miles per gallon gasoline equivalent, or MPGe. A new term to the automotive lexicon, it’s worth exploring exactly what MPGe means and how an MPGe rating is determined, especially as the number of electric cars and plug-in electric hybrids on the roads continues to increase.

Questions and uncertainty are swirling around the Infiniti battery-electric vehicle (BEV) which Nissan will debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is giving Ford something to brag about: The new Focus Electric is more efficient than the Nissan Leaf.

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is paid to piss you off, it’s what he does best. Maybe someone should have forwarded the memo to Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk.

Musk probably should have taken Top Gear’s pot shots with a laugh and kept doing business, but it’s easy to understand why he might be feeling defensive. His company keeps hitting nasty potholes in the road to success, like the “bricking” problem that apparently compromises the battery system in Tesla vehicles, a costly repair.

This Top Gear drama started back to December 2008 when the show gave a mixed review to the Tesla Roadster. Their program said the car failed to meet its advertised 200-mile range, instead only achieving 55 miles. That figure came from running it on a track where any vehicle would have less than optimal range, electric or otherwise. They also bashed the Roadster for having deficient brakes.

Brakes and range aside, it’s essential to remember that Top Gear is first and foremost an entertainment program. The episode depicted crew members pushing a “dead” roadster into a hangar, though the facts emerged during Tesla’s lawsuit. Surprise, surprise, the car wasn’t dead and the shot was used for effect.

This isn’t terribly dissimilar to the infamous Bugatti Veyron versus McLaren F1 drag race episode, where the show managed to eek out a Veyron victory, only after several F1 first-place finishes. Again, Top Gear is for show first, reporting second.

British Justice Tugendhat threw Tesla’s claims out in October, 2011, saying the company’s lawyers needed to amend their malicious falsehood claims.

The final chapter, (one would assume), in this one-way pissing match closed today. Justice Tugendhat dismissed Tesla’s revised claim which said there were “reasonable grounds to suspect that each of the Claimants [Top Gear] had intentionally and significantly misrepresented the range of the Roadster by claiming that it had a range of about 200 miles in that its true range on the Top Gear track was only 55 miles”.

Hopefully Tesla can move past this cat fight and focus more on the bricking issue at hand. Small car startups have enough problems without taking British TV bullies to court.

Check out Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussing the Top Gear episode in the video after the jump.

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

Has Nissan already cracked the range sweet spot of electric vehicles? According to Mark Perry, director of product planning and strategy for Nissan North America, Nissan Leaf drivers average a distance of 37 miles in a single day. Moreover, the average length of a single trip is a short seven miles. According to these findings, Nissan Leaf’s current 70-plus mile range is already more than necessary for day to day use and a long range EV isn’t necessary says Perry.