2012
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The Nissan Leaf may not be able to have its battery recharger upgraded.
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Justin Bieber Pimps His Fisker Karma, Gets Police Attention
It might get pretty lousy gas-mileage, but everyone at GreenCarReports agrees that the 2012 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid is one extremely sexy car. To be honest that’s hardly surprising. After all, it was designed by Henrik Fisker, the automotive design genius responsible for legendary cars...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
How Much Range Does Your Leaf Lose If You Unplug It For 8 Days?
Remember Michael DeGusta, the guy who indadvertedly ‘bricked’ his oh-so-expensive Tesla Roadster after storing it in an almost-empty state for nearly two months? In the case of DeGusta’s Tesla, the car used most of the remaining charge trying to keep itself warm, but the story did...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Updated Nissan Leaf “Guess-O-Meter” To Help Cut Range Anxiety?
Ever since Nissan launched its Leaf electric hatchback in late 2010, owners around the world have struggled with its on-board Carwings telematics system. Responsible for everything from initiating remote charging and cabin pre-conditioning through to predicting remaining range and finding charging...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Your Chevrolet Volt Needs A Charge Sustaining Mode: Here’s Why
In a few weeks’ time, Vauxhall/Opel, a European arm of General Motors, will officially start sales of the 2012 Vauxhall/Opel Ampera. Essentially a Chevrolet Volt in disguise, the Ampera shares most of Volt’s features and, thanks to a lack of On-Star in Europe, loses some of the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Infiniti LE Electric Luxury Sedan: Tesla's Worst Nightmare?
One of the surprise stars of the New York Auto Show media days this week was the Infiniti LE Concept. The design study for an electric four-door sedan is a close approximation of a car that will roll off assembly lines in Smyrna, Tennessee, in about two years. And it poses an intriguing question...
John Voelcker -
Fisker wants critics to know that it takes quality seriously, and that the automaker is making an effort to offer superior customer service.
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After Record Sales, Chevy Volt Production To Resume A Week Early
Buoyed by record monthly sales of its Chevy Volt hybrid electric plug-in car in March, General Motors will resume production of the Volt at the Detroit Hamtramck plant one week early, the United Auto Workers told Talking Points Memo on Tuesday night. “They’re adding a week of production...
Talking Points Memo -
2012 Ford Focus Electric To Do Cross-Country Road Trip
Men's Health magazine will drive a 2012 Ford Focus Electric from New York to Los Angeles, recharging 40 to 55 times along the way.
John Voelcker -
Coda Abandons Plan To Build Its Battery Cells In U.S.
We breathed a sigh of relief when Coda announced it had started production of its electric Sedan earlier this month. Then, we positively jumped for joy when little over a week later, the first customers started taking delivery of their new 2012 Coda Sedans. It had certainly been a long time coming...
Antony Ingram -
52 MPG At 70 MPH? No, Not In A Prius--In A Porsche Panamera
Steady-speed highway cruising doesn't actually take that much energy compared to accelerating up to, say, 70 mph in the first place. The really hard part is getting consistently high gas mileage in all driving conditions--which is why the 50-mpg Toyota Prius hybrid is still a remarkable vehicle...
John Voelcker -
2012 Volkswagen Beetle: Guys Love It, Mission Accomplished
Believe it or not, Volkswagen’s modern-day take on the classic Beetle has been in production for 14 years. But its cutesy curves and large, bug-like eyes meant many men avoided it, giving it the unceremonious title of being a “chick car”. So when Volkswagen put the Beetle under...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Chevy's Sonic marked a huge step up in quality and performance from its Aveo predecessor, but until now customers wanting the automatic transmission have been denied the turbocharged engine, and turbo fans have only had a manual option. That's set to change, as Chevrolet is now offering its 1.4-liter Ecotec turbocharged gasoline engine with either manual or automatic transmission. The turbocharged Sonic offers a great mix of performance and economy, with a 0-60 mph time of only 7.8 seconds, but the potential for 40 MPG highway economy, and 29 in the city. With the automatic transmission...
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2012 Fisker Karma Vs. 2012 Tesla Model S: Video Debate
The last U.S. volume carmaker started from scratch by entrepreneurs whose brand is still with us was Chrysler, and that was in 1924. But Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive are both looking to change that. Tesla started a few years ago with its electric Roadster sports car, and is about to introduce...
Joel Feder -
Could Opel Ampera Outsell Its Sibling The 2012 Chevrolet Volt?
Orders have been coming in ahead of projections for the European Opel Ampera, but sales prospects may be looking up in the U.S. too for GM's range-extended electric car.
John Voelcker -
Skeptical About The Chevy Volt? In CA, GM May Loan You One
There's a saying that the best way to convince someone he wants an electric car is to let him drive one. In light of lower-than-projected Chevrolet Volt sales and continued media misinformation about the car's capabilities, GM is taking that lesson to heart. In Southern California, members of the...
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevrolet Volt Enters 2012 Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally
Over the past five years, the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally -- now called the Rallye Monte-Carlo Des Énergies Nouvelles -- has enjoyed increasing popularity as more automakers and private entrants tackle the eco-minded version of the world-famous Rally Monte Carlo. For the past two...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
First 2012 Coda Sedan Electric Cars Delivered To Paying Customers
You can add one more to the list of electric cars now on sale in the U.S., with deliveries last week of the very first 2012 Coda Sedan models last Friday in northern and southern California. In publicized events at Coda dealers in both Los Angeles and Siicon Valley (south of San Francisco), dealer...
John Voelcker -
The 2012 Toyota Prius C is probably the most anticipated hybrid of 2012, and offers subcompact style and hybrid gas mileage. It’s no surprise then that Toyota has already had to up production volumes in Japan, where the Prius C is currently made. But if the photograph we received this week from a reader who goes by the pseudonym of Miami4me2C is anything to go by, a high demand for the fun-packed hybrid has also given rise to the age-old problem of inflated sticker prices as dealers try to cash in on the new hybrid’s popularity. It shows the window sticker put on a Prius C Two by...
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Is Chevy Volt Vitriol Simply Toyota Prius-Bashing Rehashed?
What goes around comes around, and you need look no further than the auto industry for proof. Model names can be mothballed for decades before reappearing. Features and styling cues make comebacks, with mixed success--all the marketing in the world can’t make Ventiports modern today. Less...
Thomas Bey -
Long-Distance Electric-Car Trip: Two French Guys, One i-MiEV
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard" So said President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and only seven years later humankind had set foot on the moon. It's a metaphor for human progress, and...
Antony Ingram -
As The 2012 Toyota Prius C Goes On Sale, We Spec Our Own
Toyota has just this week started sales of its newest Prius family member, the 2012 Prius C. The smallest Prius hybrid yet, the Prius C is Toyota’s first subcompact Hybrid to go on sale in the U.S. At a starting price of $18,950, the Prius C is also Toyota’s cheapest hybrid yet...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Was The 2012 Fisker Karma Released Before It Was Ready?
Fisker Automotive has had a torrid time in the months following the launch of the 2012 Fisker Karma. Facing recalls, software upgrades and the news that a car died in the hands of Consumer Reports, an ex-employee of a Fisker retailer has now claimed that Fisker pushed the Karma to the market before...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: Parsing The EPA Efficiency Sticker
We all understand what miles-per-gallon means for a gasoline car. And we can readily grasp the range in miles of an electric car. But when a car has both a gasoline engine and an electric motor, things can get complicated. The standard 2012 Toyota Prius is rated at 50 miles per gallon, and at best...
John Voelcker