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Kia debuted its electric car concept Naimo (pronounced "Neh-mo") at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show.

Named for its square shape, the Naimo looks a little like a scaled-down Pontiac Aztek without B-pillars. By using carriage doors and a hatchback, the four-seater maintains a small footprint with a length of just under 13 feet, putting its size somewhere between a Mini Cooper and a Mini Clubman. It also forgoes traditional windshield wipers, and instead uses a high-intensity air jet at the base of the windshield to blow off rain and water. You may have experienced similar technology at your … Read more

In a country whose iconic vehicles include the Shelby Cobra and the Hummer, one might assume that electric-vehicle adoption in the U.S. would be hindered by a cultural proclivity for owning very fast or powerful cars.

Well, it turns out that drivers are not as horsepower-obsessed as one might assume, but actually quite practical when it comes to assessing their vehicle needs.

However, electric vehicles still fall short in consumers' minds when measured by those practical standards of cost and usability, according to a study conducted in the first quarter by Gartner Research.

The study, released yesterday, found that … Read more

Better Place announced yesterday details of its plan to open a series of electric-vehicle charging stations in Israel.

The company offers EV charging stations that, through a subscription service, give electric-vehicle owners the option of a quick battery swap instead of plugging in and waiting for their car's battery to charge over time. It takes only a minute to make the swap. The depleted batteries are then recharged and used in other cars, according to Better Place.

The service may be seen by some as a substantial convenience considering it takes 15 to 30 minutes to recharge an EV … Read more

There are cars that were born for the track and those that have absolutely no business there. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is one of the latter. But when given the opportunity to lap Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in GM's newest electrified vehicle, we jumped at the opportunity.

Imagine, for a moment, pushing your favorite dull midsize sedan (say a Toyota Camry or Chevy Malibu) at 8/10ths around your favorite back road with all of the understeer, body roll, and middling power-to-weight ratio. It's unoffensive, but few would call the experience "fun." This is the starting … Read more

You'll be able to get the electric Model S sedan with an impressive 300 mile range next year, but it will cost you a hefty premium over the base model.

Tesla Motors last week provided a snapshot of the development of the Model S, an all-electric luxury sedan critical to Tesla's financial success. The car is now in alpha testing and the company plans to start delivering them to customer with reservations in the middle of next year.

Tesla plans to offer three models of the Model S based on driving range--160 miles, 230 miles, and 300 miles. … Read more

GENEVA--Fisker Automotive plans to use its recently acquired plant in Delaware in part to build vehicles for other automakers.

The start-up automaker plans to use only one-third of an installed 300,000 units of capacity at a former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Del., for its vehicles, which will be built there in late 2012.

"We want to offer this manufacturing capacity to other OEMs," Fisker COO Bernhard Koehler told Automotive News on the sidelines of the Geneva auto show.

Fisker is spending $120 million on the Delaware plant and, within the next two years, will expand its … Read more

Owners of electric cars who are struggling to find a place to charge their vehicles can now use an iPhone app to get pointed in the right direction.

Developed by Xatori, the free PlugShare app lets iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users search for nearby plugs, outlets, and charging stations. And by tapping into a bit of crowdsourcing, PlugShare also can bring together people who don't mind sharing their own outlets with their fellow electric-vehicle owners.

You can easily browse a map of the U.S. to find a comprehensive list of charging stations or type in an address … Read more

Now that plug-in electric-vehicle technology is ready for prime time, forward-looking cities are trying to modernize their building codes to stay current.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory yesterday published case studies of four locations that have crafted plans to encourage drivers to go electric. Rather than financial or technical hurdles, the biggest priority of these cities is updating the permitting process around home and public charging stations.

Although it's not necessary, most plug-in electric-car owners are expected to have a dedicated charge port installed at their homes, which will work at 240 volts and cut charge time roughly in … Read more

The initial results of pilot programs on plug-in electric vehicles may spook companies and create a vicious cycle of inefficiency when it comes to charging.

That's according to one of the topics covered in the "Changing the game: Plug-in electric vehicle pilots" report (PDF) released yesterday by technology consulting giant Accenture.

The Accenture report examined the recent data garnered from over 25 pilot programs scattered around the world that have been monitoring EVs and driver habits.

Overall the pilot programs found public charging stations have not yet been getting enough use to pay for themselves and their … Read more