All the News, Reviews, Guides and Reports on Electric Cars

The market for plug-in hybrid vehicles is set for transformational growth, according to a report released last week by Frost and Sullivan. “The plug-in hybrid market is set for high demand and growth,” said Pooja Bethi, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan. The firm forecasts that 100 new plug-in hybrid models would be launched by 2021. About seven models are coming this year, from BMW, Cadillac, Honda, Hyundai and Volvo.

The Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid outsold all other electric models in May. That marked the second straight month in the top spot for Toyota’s plug-in hybrid that grants 25 miles of all-electric driving before resorting to gasoline. The model's relatively low price tag could partly explain why the Prius Prime is beating cars like the Chevy Volt and Tesla Model S, but it’s not the whole story.

EV critics are fond of explaining that the energy to power an electric car has to come from somewhere. They make the argument that EVs plugged into the grid in coal-dependent regions of the US aren’t nearly as clean and green as you might imagine. The Union of Concerned Scientists went back to the drawing board with new EPA data on emission from electricity generation and today published its findings: For more than 70 percent of Americans, driving an EV results in fewer emissions than a 50-mpg gas-powered car.

With one week to go before Tesla unveils a production version of the Tesla Model 3, more details are emerging about the company’s upcoming $35,000 EV. The unveiling will take place at a VIP event at Tesla’s Fremont factory on June 2 and 3. Regarding performance, we now know via leaked internal company documents that the Model 3 will accelerate to 60 mph in a brisk 5.6 seconds—right in line with the 75-kWh version of the Model S.

Southern California Edison, which provides electricity to 14 million people, this week started offering a $450 reward to customers who drive plug-in vehicles. Utilities in California, and other states such as Georgia and Florida, have offered perks and special rates for years—but the new SCE incentive makes second and third owners of a vehicle eligible for the payment.

A completely redesigned future version of the Nissan LEAF will be unveiled in Tokyo on Sept. 6. To build excitement, Nissan has released a teaser image (of the headlight) in advance of the September event. The company—once considered the leader in electric vehicles—said the image is “the first in a series of photos and informational briefs scheduled this summer in preparation for the global reveal of the new Nissan Leaf later this year.”

As electric vehicle adoption continues to grow, carmakers and government agencies are increasing their support of public EV charging infrastructure. While much of the attention is focused on public charging—especially fast charging along highway corridors—the importance of workplace charging is also on the rise. Considering that employees often park their car for long periods, workplace charging can be one of the most useful and cost-effective ways to encourage electric car adoption.

A researcher working for Tesla said this week that the life of electric car batteries could be extended to 20 years of use. Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University, based in Nova Scotia, said that battery life—how cells maintain their capacity over time—is one of his four critical interrelated research goals. The other three are lower costs, increased energy density and improved safety.

Volvo wants to be a leading manufacturer of electric vehicles. The EV goals expressed by the Swedish automaker, which is owned by Chinese company Geely, echoes similar claims by several manufacturers such as BMW, Ford, and Volkswagen. These carmakers have announced big plans but have not yet produced electric cars in significant volumes. The first test of Volvo’s commitment will be delivering on its plans to debut its first all-electric model in 2019.

Volkswagen announced in March that the upcoming new 2017 Volkswagen E-Golf will increase its driving range by 50 percent compared to the outgoing 2016 model. That’s a big and important jump in range from 83 to 125 miles. We had a chance yesterday to take a pre-production E-Golf on a roundtrip 90-mile spin from Sonnen Volkswagen in San Rafael, Calif., to Half Moon Bay. It’s that length of trip that would be questionable in the 2016 E-Golf but was a no-brainer in the 2017 model.