Electric : Car News And Reviews

One of the holy grails for electric vehicles is the ability for cars to leverage solar energy for recharging their batteries. However, most applications of solar panels on EVs have been for providing power to less energy hungry systems like the radio and heated seats.

Any time you can lap the Nürburgring in less than 8 minutes, it’s an accomplishment, and only recently have we seen a handful of sub-7 minute laps in cars like the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. But famed race car driver Timo Bernhard just did the unthinkable – he ran round the ‘ring in less than 6 minutes. 

Volkswagen Motorsports is very happy right now because its electric I.D. R Pikes Peak racing car piloted by driver Romain Dumas not only dominated the entire field at this year’s running of the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb, the car and driver took the record for fastest lap ever.

Tesla, there’s a killer cat about to pounce and a stomp on your tail, and it’s called the Jaguar I-PACE. The Coventry car builder’s first ever pure-electric ride is a fantastic entry into the fledgling luxury EV space, offering plentiful power, sports car handling, cabin comfort, and tech that’s at the top of its game.

I’ve long wanted one of those sweet old-school Volkswagen camper vans with the pop-up roof. Those things are hard to find in decent shape, and expensive when you do. At this week’s Madrid Motor Show in Spain, Nissan is showing off a potential a solution for folks wanting a new camper van, with its NV300 Camper and e-NV200 Camper concepts.

Not too long ago, the gang over at Consumer Reports took a couple of Tesla Model 3 cars and tested them on the track. They found that the Model 3 had the worst braking performance in its class, taking as much as the length of a full-size truck to stop from speed.

UPS has announced a tie-up with a UK tech firm that makes electric vehicles called ARRIVAL. The result of the partnership is an initial fleet of 35 compact electric delivery vehicles that will be tested in London and Paris.

Have you ever seen the film Lost in Translation? The one where a completely washed-up Bill Murray goes to Tokyo in order to ride whatever fame he has left in his sad career by selling his image via Japanese whiskey commercials?

Some interesting new details have surfaced about the slick EV race car VW is using for its upcoming Pikes Peak hill climb record attempt. One interesting facts is that driver Romain Dumas didn’t get to lay eyes on the car until the rest of the world did earlier this week.

Volkswagen has offered up a batch of images of the the electric race car it plans on running in this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The I.D. R Pikes Peak EV has been unveiled fully, and it looks like it means business for sure.

Pikes Peak is one of the biggest hill climb races in the world and each year the race lures in speed demons from around the globe. At the running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2018 this June, VW will be back on America’s Mountain.

Despite their growing availability, many people still feel that plug-in hybrids are a waste of resources and money, a sentiment that automakers like Kia are working hard to to amend. Unassuming from head to tail, and stuffed with all manner of “Eco-minded” engineering, the Optima PHEV plays Korean counterpart to Hyundai’s Sonata plug-in, both of which come powered and packaged in a very similar manner.

After numerous teases, Jaguar has finally revealed the production model and specs for their new I-PACE. This sleek crossover is the British automaker’s first ever pure electric vehicle, and it looks pretty awesome based on what’s now been revealed.

I’ve seen some fast cars in my day, and the insane acceleration will always take you by surprise. The fastest vehicles I’ve ever seen in person were NHRA top fuel dragsters and that sort of acceleration (and noise) is mind-boggling to say the least.

If cars are indeed your thing, then what is the equivalent of having tasteful amounts of sex appeal? Does it go beyond beltline curves, carbon fiber, Alcantara, and aluminum? The vehicular landscape is one that comes littered with both staggeringly good and bad design touches, and while concepts like Infiniti’s insanely sleek Q Inspiration stirred the Detroit auto show this year, there’s a lot to love about Chicago’s shindig a couple weeks later as well.