What's it like to ride in a fully autonomous Nissan Leaf electric car for several miles through varied city traffic?

What more did we learn about the fast-charging behavior of the 238-mile 2017 Chevy Bolt EV?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, April 7, 2017.

Friday, we reported on spending 340 miles with the 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid mid-size sedan to test the real-world gas mileage.

We liked the car for reasons well beyond its hybrid system, and concluded it's a viable competitor to hybrid versions of the Chevy Malibu, Ford Fusion, and Toyota Camry sedans.

Retail production of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan also started on Friday; the first plug-in hybrid minivan should be in dealerships before the end of the month.

2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel

2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel

On Thursday, we had our first drive of the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel sedan—which proved to be a much better car than its predecessor.

We also reported that auto-dealer lobbyists won a round: Utah's Supreme Court upheld a law banning any carmaker, including Tesla, from selling cars to actual buyers.

Wednesday, we updated our March plug-in electric-car sales report with some late delivery figures. The month's data for Canada plug-in car sales came the following day as well.

But to put those numbers in perspective: as utility vehicles surge and sedans slump, plug-in cars are still a tiny part of the overall new-vehicle market.

On Tuesday, after writing about fast-charging a Chevy Bolt EV electric car two weeks ago, we dug more deeply into the question of those charging rates. Here's what we learned.

In two years, London will start to impose stiff fees on older, higher-emitting cars entering the center city—but they'll be much stricter for diesels than for gasoline cars.

Riding in prototype of fully autonomous Nissan Leaf electric car, March 2017 [video: Fully Charged]

Riding in prototype of fully autonomous Nissan Leaf electric car, March 2017 [video: Fully Charged]

We kicked off the week on Monday with a video showing what it would be like to ride along in a fully autonomous Nissan Leaf electric car.

And we explained why start-stop systems that switch off the engine when the car isn't moving won't wear out your starter motor.

Over the weekend, we covered a road trip that pitting a Tesla Model X electric car against a Toyota Mirai fuel-cell sedan—and noted which completed the California route first. Much discussion ensued.

Finally, as buybacks continue to resolve the Volkswagen diesel scandal, a funny thing happened: asking prices for used VW TDI diesels are rising rapidly. Hmmmmmmm.

Those were our main stories this week; we'll see you again next week. Until then, this has been the Green Car Reports Week in Reverse update.

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