Do-it-yourself: How to build your own electric car, hacker style

By day, David Brown is a security consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. But in his spare time, he’s one of a growing number of do-it-yourself electric vehicle creators. In the past couple of years, Brown retrofitted a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle …

GM is halting Chevy Volt production, for now

General Motors announced Friday it will temporarily shut down production of the Chevy Volt, its break-out electric car.

GM will also temporarily lay off 1,300 employees who work on the Volt’s production line between March 19 and April 23, Detroit …

U.S.-backed electric car maker Fisker misses early goals, delays production

Government-backed electric car company Fisker Automotive is delaying plans for production after missing its early manufacturing goals. According to a report by the Washington Post, the delays are being blamed on regulatory issues, and the company is brushing off any …

29 electric car makers ready to rule the streets

Some crazy concept cars have emerged since the electric car frenzy hit the market in 2008. Where are they now?

We caught up with 29 electric car manufacturers and developers to find out what they’re doing today. Some are still …

Elon Musk on starting small, blowing up education and reaching the stars in 3 years (video)

Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk was the final keynote speaker at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2011 conference in San Francisco this week. He’s a longtime entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of PayPal, along with Max Levchin and Peter Thiel.…

Electric car range anxiety evaporates after 3 months

“Range anxiety” for pure battery-powered electric car owners wears off quickly as a driver begins to understand the capabilities and charging patterns of their car, according to a new study by the Technology Strategy Board.

Around 35 percent of electric …

Extended-range hybrids pick up steam

A clear trend is emerging among electric car manufacturers: Plug-in hybrids are a better near-term bet than purely battery-powered cars.

Ford today unveiled the latest in its series of electric cars, a plug-in hybrid electric car called the Evos. The …

Ford and Toyota begin work on joint electric car powertrain

Car manufacturers Ford and Toyota announced today that the companies will collaborate on a hybrid-electric car powertrain for sport utility vehicles and light trucks.

Ford and Toyota will jointly develop a rear-wheel drive electric powertrain and then introduce the powertrain …

Electric car maker Fisker Automotive raising $200M at $2.2B valuation

Electric car manufacturer Fisker Automotive is in the process of raising a $200 million funding round that would value the company at $2.2 billion, according to a report by Fortune.

It would be the company’s third funding round in six …

Meet the Cadillac ELR, General Motors’ luxury extended-range electric car

General Motors today unveiled its first luxury extended-range electric vehicle, the Cadillac ELR Coupe. It’s the company’s second extended-range electric car and the third extended-range car unveiled in the past 30 days.

The new high-end vehicle features an electric motor …

Electric powertrain manufacturer Mission Motors nets $9M

Mission Motors, a manufacturer of electric powertrains that go in electric cars and motorcycles, announced today that it has raised $9 million in its second round of funding.

Mission Motors makes powertrains, which are the drive units for electric cars …

Has cleantech investing lost its glamour? Khosla Ventures loses two partners

Two partners are leaving storied cleantech investment firm Khosla Ventures, as excitement has started to peter out in the once-buzzing clean technology space.

Khosla Ventures partners Jim Kim and Alex Kinnier have followed former partner Gideon Yu in leaving the …

SunPower packages rooftop solar panels with Ford electric cars

Solar panel manufacturer SunPower and Ford announced today that they will give Ford electric car buyers the option to buy and install a residential solar panel array that will charge the electric car.

Focus Electric car buyers will have the …

Tesla CEO: Model X unveil coming in December

Tesla Motors will unveil its sport utility electric vehicle sometime in December after finishing up development of an alpha model of the car, chief executive Elon Musk said in the company’s quarterly earnings call today.

The Model X uses the …

Tesla Motors ‘sold out’ of custom U.S. Roadsters

Tesla Motors is no longer taking orders for the sporty Tesla Roadster electric car in the United States, but will continue to sell the car in Europe and Asia until the third quarter next year.

“We’ve sold out of all …

Nissan Leaf trounces Chevy Volt in July sales, but will it last?

The Nissan Leaf once again outsold General Motors’ Chevy Volt in July after GM slowed production of its electric car last month, giving Nissan a nearly 2,000-car edge in total sales.

Nissan sold 931 all-electric battery-powered Leafs in July, bringing …

BMW lays down its cards in electric car market

Car manufacturer BMW today unveiled its next wave of electric cars — the i8 sporty hybrid-electric coupe and a smaller i3 electric mini, both of which use a range-extending hybrid electric model.

The i3 is designed as a pure electric …

Tesla begins assembling beta models for Model S electric cars

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors has begun assembling beta models of its second electric car, the lower-priced Model S sedan (pictured right), the company said.

“We have started assembling the Beta vehicles,” Tesla Motors’ Model S Program Director Jerome Guillen …

General Motors invests $7.5M in rooftop-solar company Sunlogics

Car manufacturer General Motors has made a $7.5 million strategic investment in solar-panel provider Sunlogics, which will install solar panels on several GM facilities.

Sunlogics specializes in developing and installing rooftop solar panels that generate small amounts of electricity — …

Solar-leasing startup SolarCity sells subsidized electric car chargers

Solar panel leasing company SolarCity announced today that it will begin selling 240-volt electric car chargers manufactured by ClipperCreek for $1,500 for customers that currently lease solar panels.

The “Level 2″ 240-volt chargers can charge an electric car like the …