SUVs/Wagons

  • 2018 Kia Sorento

    The Kia Sorento may not get a diesel version for the U.S. after all. On the eve of the Paris Motor Show and the introduction of the production-spec Kia Niro EV, company officials have confirmed that it’s shelved plans to bring any diesel model Stateside for now. The hold is officially temporary, but it's hard to see how it changes anytime soon. The diesel was likely put on hold by Kia due to the realities of launching one new powertrain technology at the same time the parent company is making a global push for a different one: EVs. CHECK OUT: 2018 Kia Soul EV gets bigger battery, range...

  • Honda CR-V Hybrid introduced at 2017 Shanghai auto show
    Honda CR-V Hybrid to launch in Europe; still no word on US or Canada

    The Honda CR-V Hybrid, a more fuel-efficient version of the company's best-selling compact crossover, has been around for almost a year now. It's on sale in China, announced for Japan, and now, as of Tuesday, it's slated to arrive in European markets early in 2019. As for North America? The company...

  • Lamborghini Urus concept
    Lamborghini Plug-In Supercar Nixed, But Plug-In Hybrid Urus SUV Is On

    The Italian supercar maker Lamborghini has abandoned any plans to use a plug-in hybrid powertrain in its sports cars in the near future. But instead it’s doubling down on the technology, and looking to use it where it might be best appreciated by the market: in its upcoming Urus sport-utility...

  • 2016 Lexus RX 450h F Sport
    2016 Lexus RX Hybrid F Sport First Drive

    The Lexus RX luxury crossover—and particularly the RX 450h hybrid version—has always been an image vehicle. But now, for 2016, the RX lineup finally gets an image that says something other than pragmatic, fiscally responsible luxury. It’s no surprise why this vehicle is the...

  • Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, 2012 Paris Motor Show
    2017 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid: Spring 2016 On-Sale Date, More Details Revealed

    Mitsubishi has confirmed that the long-anticipated Outlander Plug-In Hybrid utility vehicle will arrive for the 2017 model year, in Spring 2016. It’s hardly been a smooth trip to market for the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV). The model was originally previewed by a concept at the 2009 Los...

  • 2010 Hyundai Tucson
    More Hyundai EVs: Korean Maker To Show Electric SUV In 2011

    Not a week after Hyundai announced its plans to launch the i10-based BlueOn electric subcompact in 2012, the South Korean manufacturer has announced its plans to launch another all-electric vehicle by the end of 2011. The new EV is said to be based on a small cross utility vehicle (CUV) that...

  • 2011 Hyundai Elantra preview

    Hybrid technology's responsible for those airy fuel economy numbers from the likes of the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius, but the 40-mpg barrier's about to be broken by a pair of compact cars--without any batteries or hybrid add-ons whatsoever. Earlier this year, we showed you the 2012 Ford Focus, which the American automaker says could hit 40 mpg on the highway thanks to its frugal new 2.0-liter, gas-only four-cylinder and PowerShift dual-clutch gearbox. Now, Hyundai's promising the upcoming Elantra compacts will also hit the 40-mpg bogey using only a conventional direct-injection...

  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid
    Mercedes-Benz Diesels And Hybrids: Green Goodness, Slow Sales?

    Mercedes-Benz offers a clean-diesel Bluetec version of each of its large utility vehicles, the R-Class, GL-Class, and M-Class, along with a Hybrid version of the ML. But even combined, the standard gasoline versions of these vehicles are still far ou

  • 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid
    First Drive: 2011 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid

    The Cayenne S Hybrid is an off-road capable model that can hold its own on the track and yet return well over 20 mpg on the street.

  • 2007 Ford Edge,  Detroit Auto Show
    Higher MPGs From EcoBoost Engine For 2011 Ford Edge Crossover

    Continuing the trend of raising gas mileage by using smaller, more powerful engines, Ford is set to launch its first four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in the 2011 Ford Edge, which will be unveiled at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show next week. We've written before about Ford's EcoBoost system, which uses...

  • Small cars as share of overall U.S. industry, 2000-2009, Ford Motor Co.
    Small Vehicles Will Be Largest Part Of U.S. Market By 2013, Ford Says

    Today we were in Michigan to learn quite a lot about the 2011 Ford Fiesta--absolutely none of which we're allowed to share with you today. (Soon, soon!) Yesterday, though, Ford's George Pipas presented data to journalists in New York that shows what Ford thinks about the future of small vehicles...

  • 2009 Hummer H2
    HUMMER Drivers Say: I'm More Moral Than Effete Prius Wimps

    We often say that many Toyota Prius hybrid owners and HUMMER drivers choose their cars for the same reason: They want to make a statement to other people about who they are. Now our pals at Wired have uncovered a fascinating (if small) sociological study that parses how HUMMER owners view their...

  • Ford Escape Hybrid Front Quarter

      A few weeks ago, we got a note from reader Laila Folk asking about air conditioning in hybrid cars, specifically the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid. She wrote: Can you get an answer from Ford Corporation regarding the inclusion of an electric motor driven air compressor for the A/C unit in the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid? The use of an engine-driven compressor in the 2009 and older models negates any benefit of the electric motor in the hot areas in the southern half of the United States, because the gas engine will always be running with maximum A/C.  Here in Florida,  you can't live without max...

  • 2009 teaser shot of Buick crossover plug-in hybrid, a rebadged Saturn Vue quickly dubbed the 'Vuick'
    Surprise, Surprise: That GM Plug-In Hybrid Is a Buick After All

    Well, the other shoe finally dropped. General Motors said today that the plug-in version of its Two-Mode Hybrid system would be fitted to a Buick crossover to be introduced next year, with the plug-in arriving in 2011. That'll be at least a few months after the arrival of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt...

  • BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Series
    BMW To Launch Its First Two Hybrids Next Month

    Like many European brands that rely on diesels, BMW has been late to the party in introducing electric-drive cars. That's a risky strategy for North America, where it has had to add incentives on diesels and try to tie them to the Cash-for-Clunkers program. Now it's making up for lost time, not...

  • 2009 BMW 335d
    BMW Adds More Cash To Convince You To Buy Their Diesels

    Despite IRS tax credits and superior gas mileage figures, BMW is reportedly having a tough time selling its new diesels, the 2009 BMW 335d sports sedan and the 2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d (yes, that's really its name). We've thought from the beginning that Volkswagen would be the big winner in selling...

  • 2010 Subaru Outback PZEV
    Keep It Green: Add A Little PZEV To That Subaru!

    Like CVT, which stands for continuously-variable transmission, PZEV is one of those acronyms floating around the auto world that mean nothing to most car buyers. It stands for Partial Zero-Emission Vehicle,  one of a number of arcane emissions brackets created by the very aggressive California Air...

  • 2010 Honda Insight - front three-quarter
    Drive Report: 2010 Honda Insight

    The 2010 Honda Insight was eagerly awaited before its launch, but reviews have been mixed. Some laud it for overachieving on the fuel economy front, while others (most notably the influential Consumer Reports) have slammed it. Our half-hour drive in a new Insight left us with mixed impressions. But...

  • 2007 Dodge Caliber 4-door HB FWD Angular Rear Exterior View

    We like green cars, and we define the term loosely. Sure, the 2010 Toyota Prius is green. But so's the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid pickup truck, because a full-size truck that gets 20 miles per gallon is much easier on the planet when you need a pickup truck. But try as we might, there are a handful of cars we've just never quite made our peace with. So returning from our Fourth of July holiday, we send you into high summer with five of our least favorite green cars: (1) 2009 Smart ForTwo. We really, really loved the idea of the Smart. Until we drove one. Its negligible length...

  • Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle at Camp Pendleton hydrogen fueling station, photo by Joe Tash
    The Few, The Proud...The Green? Marines Clean Up Camp Pendleton Wheels

    Every time we make a joke involving the US Marine Corps, first we check it with our friend Cap'n Connors, a former Marine. With multiple deployments under his belt, and much multicolored art under his skin, the cap'n is our source for all things having to do with the most profane of the armed...

  • 2007 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid Concept
    2011 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid At Dealers Late Next Year

    Hell is freezing over pretty frequently these days, it seems. Porsche, once the pinnacle of piston-engined power, will launch its first hybrid late next year. The 2011 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid sport-utility will get gas mileage of at least 26 miles per gallon (less than 9 litres per 100 km)...

  • 2009 Pontiac Vibe
    2010 Pontiac Vibe: The Last Pontiac Is The Greenest

    As the world's battered automakers gear up for the 2010 model year, we say goodbye to a few outgoing models. Among them are the last Pontiacs, a brand General Motors will dispense with after 2010. The sole car offered to the public for the new model year will be the 2010 Pontiac Vibe, a five-door...

  • Hay bale in Toyota Prius, from Austin American-Statesman
    Texas Governor Perry's Prius Problem: How Many Hay Bales?

    Texas is pickup country, as a visit will confirm. It's one reason Toyota builds its full-size Tundra pickup truck there. But Texas governor Rick Perry overstepped last year when he sneered at the ability of the Toyota Prius hybrid to hold hay. Austin American-Statesman humor columnist John Kelso...

  • 2010 Ford Transit Connect
    2010 Ford Transit Connect Small Van Comes In At 22 MPG City, 25 MPG Highway

    Ford's new small commercial van returns far, far better gas mileage than a full-size van, and it has few competitors on the US market

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