2012
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Well, now the news is out: The 2012 Ford Focus Electric, the company's first-ever mass-market battery electric vehicle, will be priced at $39,995. Perhaps not coincidentally, that's exactly the price of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt, crosstown rival GM's extended-range electric vehicle (achieved by some specific feature reductions). Both are compact five-door hatchbacks whose front wheels are powered solely by electric traction motors using electricity supplied from a lithium-ion battery pack that plugs into the electricity grid to recharge. But that's where the similarities end. The Chevy has a...
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BREAKING: 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Order From $39,995
The 2012 Ford Focus Electric is a car we seem to have been waiting for forever, but today Ford has finally announced pricing and opened up the order books. We've seen the car develop over the past few years and now potential owners will now get to build and reserve their Focus Electric. The price...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Chevrolet Sonic LT 1.8-Liter Hatchback: Drive Report
It's autumn, so what better way to highlight the changing leaves than a tomato-soup red Chevy Sonic subcompact? Three weeks ago, we drove our first new Sonic: a high-end 2012 Sonic LTZ sedan with the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine. We liked the little turbo, and found the sedan roomy and comfortable...
John Voelcker -
Next Fiat 500 Minicar: Abarth 'Hot Hatch' Sports Version
The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth model to be launched in November at the 2011 LA Auto Show will be the fastest, best-handling model yet in the growing Fiat 500 minicar line.
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius Hybrid Gets Phone Connectivity With Toyota Touch
Oscar Wilde once said, "It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information." Now, he might not have said that had he lived in modern times and seen how much useless information is on the internet, but even so we can't help disagreeing a little. Information can be quite...
Antony Ingram -
Honda: Okay, We Know You Hate The New Civic, So We’ll Redesign It
In April this year, Honda unveiled what it hoped would be the next generation of car to bear the Honda Civic badge. The ninth major revision of the Civic in its 38-year life, Honda promised better gas mileage, better performance and its all-new Eco-Assist technology to help drivers drive as...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
With good reason, it's often said that the toughest auto endurance testing in the world is in taxi duty on the streets of New York City (and Jakarta, and Beijing, and Rio). While the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission has pushed aggressively for high-mileage hybrids--mostly Ford Escape crossovers--to replace the low-mileage Ford Crown Victoria full-size sedans, there have been no plug-in taxis in the city. That's about to change. The city is joining with Nissan to test six 2012 Nissan Leaf hatchbacks in taxi service, starting next spring, and recently issued the official notice of...
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More Delays For 2012 Toyota Prius Hybrid: Thai Floods Force Toyota To Slow Production
The latest disaster to hit Asia this year may have centered on Thailand rather than Japan, but Japanese automaker Toyota has announced that production volumes of its 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid will be directly impacted as its supply chains suffer the effect of the worst floods to hit Thailand for 50...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Mitsubishi 'i': Taking The Electric Car On The Road
Mitsubishi is showing U.S. specification, but pre-final production “i” cars in a touring roadshow
George Parrott -
More Fisker Bad News: EPA Calls 20-MPG Karma A Subcompact
It's been a tough week for Fisker. The startup electric-car company finally got its car approved for sale, many months late, only to have the EPA rate its gas mileage at just 20 mpg in range-sustaining mode. Now, a new wrinkle to those ratings has come out: Based on the volume measurements it uses...
John Voelcker -
40-MPG 2012 Kia Rio Sedan To Start At $14,150
The new-from-the-ground-up Kia Rio sedan offers 40 mpg highway fuel economy, a wide range of standard safety features and a segment first idle stop and go system, all for a relatively low point of entry.
Kurt Ernst -
Fisker's Federal Fiasco: Loans, 20-MPG Electric Cars, Shoddy Reporting
Coverage of the low-interest loans granted by the Energy Department to Fisker Automotive has often been remarkably shoddy, so we provide some much-needed context and background.
John Voelcker -
Almost two years ago, in January 2010, a mysterious electric version of the Fiat 500 appeared the Detroit Auto Show on the Chrysler stand. Then, two months later, Chrysler said it would sell an electric 500 in the U.S. market. Engineers at the company's Auburn Hills, Michigan, headquarters would develop and test the electric powertrain. Now, a development prototype of that car has been spotted undergoing testing in Michigan. Our sister site MotorAuthority has a full report and all the photos. The test car not only sported "EV" stickers (for electric vehicle) but also a standard J-1772...
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2012 Honda Civic HF: Quick Drive Of Higher-MPG Civic
Five months ago, we drove the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid--which gave us slightly more than 45 mpg using "Econ" mode. That's the best gas mileage of any Honda Civic in recent memory. So we were eager to test the new-for-2012 Civic HF model, which forgoes the electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack...
John Voelcker -
Here’s How To Save $5,000 On A 2012 Nissan Leaf In North Carolina
NASCAR-loving North Carolina may not be the first place you’d think of as being particularly pro-electric car, but for 40-lucky residents the cost of buying a 2012 Nissan Leaf there just dropped by $5,000 thanks to a time-limited scheme being run by Advanced Energy. As part of its latest...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Fisker: The EPA Is Giving Us Bad Karma, Man
When the EPA's official MPG figures were released for the 2012 Fisker Karma a few days ago, we can't have been the only ones a little disappointed with the 20 MPG figure on gasoline and 52 MPG equivalent in EV mode. There were even suggestions the low 20 MPG rating on gasoline could hurt the DoE...
Antony Ingram -
Chrysler: “We’re Making Hybrids, But Only Because We Have To”
Sergio Marchionne, the head of the Chrysler Group and Fiat Motors, has never been a fan of hybrid electric or pure electric vehicles. But in a recent interview with autonews.com, the boss of both car firms said that the only way Chrysler will reach fuel economy goals set in place by the Obama...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Chrysler: 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee To Get Diesel Option, Others To Follow
Earlier this year, our colleagues over at Motor Authority told you that Chrysler was planning on bringing a Diesel option to its U.S. spec Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV some time before 2013. Now in an interview with Automotive News, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler Fiat has confirmed that the 2013...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Remember The Purloined Letter, the classic Edgar Allen Poe story where a letter is hidden by storing it in plain sight? General Motors may not have realized it, but the industry trade journal Automotive News seems to have published a previously unannounced piece of its future model plans--right out in the open. The vehicle is a hybrid-electric version of the Buick Verano, the compact luxury sedan that's just now hitting dealerships. The hybrid Verano won't arrive, mind you, until 2015. At least, that's what it says on an Automotive News graphic spread, "Suppliers to the 2012 Buick Verano,"...
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Could Fisker Karma's Low MPGs Hurt DoE Car-Tech Loan Program?
Fisker Automotive may have sensed that the 20-mpg EPA rating on their 2012 Karma electric sport sedan was not good news. The company simply omitted the statistic from their press release announcing that the EPA had legally certified the Karma--meaning it can now be sold to retail buyers. Fisker...
John Voelcker -
2012 Fiat 500 Minicar Named IIHS Top Safety Pick Despite Size
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has named the 2012 Fiat 500 minicar one of its Top Safety Picks despite the diminutive car's size.
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevrolet Volt V 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: Which Is Cheaper To Drive?
If you need a plug-in car that is capable of traveling long distances between charges but can’t afford the 300-miles per charge option offered by the 2012 Tesla Model S, the chances are you’re looking at buying a plug-in hybrid. But which of the two main plug-in hybrids on offer today...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Reader Asks: Does Apple’s iPhone 4S Work With My Nissan Leaf? We Reply
When Apple unveiled its latest smartphone -- the iPhone 4s -- at the start of this month, eagle-eyed electric car fans will have noticed that a 2011 Nissan Leaf was used in the first ever commercial for Apple’s voice-activated Siri personal assistant. Standard on every new iPhone 4s, Siri...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Fisker Karma: 20 MPG On Gasoline, 32-Mi Electric Range
It's been a long and painful year for Fisker Automotive, with deliveries of its 2012 Karma extended-range electric sport sedan repeatedly delayed from the original target of May. Now, with certification earlier this week from the Environmental Protection Agency that the car complies with emissions...
John Voelcker