EPA Ratings
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While the company didn't make its self-imposed deadline for first customer deliveries in February, Coda Automotive has a different reason to celebrate today. At 10:25 am Pacific time, the first production 2012 Coda Sedan electric car is set to drive off the assembly line at its plant in Benicia, California. According to the company, the event "kicks off ... delivery of the first shipment of the clean-tech company's electric vehicles to Coda dealers across California, and ultimately to Coda reservation holders from San Francisco to San Diego." That will undoubtedly be a relief to Coda...
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Gas Mileage Highest Ever For New Cars Sold In January
Well, here's a bit of good news. The sales-weighted average gas mileage for all vehicles sold in the U.S. was the highest it's ever been, reaching 22.9 miles per gallon. That's almost 1 mpg higher than the 22.0 mpg figure for January 2011, according to an analysis by TrueCar. While 22.9 mpg may not...
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevy Sonic Will Debut GM’s EcoLabel, But What Is It?
If you’ve purchased a new car in the U.S. over the past few years, the chances are you’ll be familiar with the gas mileage stickers that automakers are required by law to display in the window of each new car. But visit a Chevrolet dealer this year, and you’ll see 2012 Chevrolet...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Honda Civic Hybrid Gas-Mileage Case: What Factors Are At Play?
At the start of January, we told you about the owner of a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid who was taking the Japanese automaker to the small claims court. Heather Peters, alongside other owners who are filing similar class-action lawsuits against Honda, all claim that their Honda Civic Hybrids cannot...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Mazda CX-5 Compact SUV: EPA Figures In, 35 MPG Highway
Crossover fans have been eager in anticipation of the 2013 Mazda CX-5 Crossover, and for good reason. Thanks to new SkyActiv engines, Mazda has been promising some pretty impressive fuel economy numbers. With EPA testing now complete, it appears even Mazda underestimated just how far the CX-5 will...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Dodge Dart: 40-MPG CAFE Target Hints At EPA Ratings
The 2013 Dodge Dart, which will be fully revealed to the public at next week's Detroit Auto Show, achieved an unadjusted gas-mileage rating of at least 40 mpg, according to Chrysler. But hold on; before you rush over to the dealership and put money down, consider that 'unadjusted' means that it's...
John Voelcker -
Yep, it's almost the end of the year, which means reams of roundup stories from all your favorite auto websites. Nope, we're not that different: We've got one too. Here's our take on the five most important stories--or perhaps themes--of 2011 in the growing world of green cars. New fuel economy rules: 54.5 mpg CAFE by 2025 The biggest story of the year is the new gas-mileage requirements jointly issued by the NHTSA and EPA--under the encouragement of the Obama White House, and with signoff from most if not all of the major automakers. (Auto dealers are still fighting the rules.) The new...
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MPGe Showdown: Ford Claims C-Max Energi Will Beat Volt, Prius Plug-In
When they're feeling confident, automakers boast about their specs, ratings, and performance with direct comparisons to the competition. It's horsepower for specialty cars like the perennial Camaro-Mustang duel, but increasingly for mainstream and green cars, it's miles per gallon. Yesterday, we...
John Voelcker -
Third-Row, 7-Seat Family Vehicles With Highest Gas Mileage
We get asked a lot about hybrids with seven seats. The answer is simple: There's only one, the 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. But the question is really more about fuel efficiency: What family vehicles with a third row of seats that can carry seven people get the best gas mileage? It's a major...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Boosts Fuel Economy By Redesigning CVT In 2013 Altima
One of the best ways to improve fuel economy is to keep a car's engine operating at its most efficient speed, regardless of how fast the vehicle is traveling. That's the principle behind continuously variable transmissions, or CVTs, which use belts and variable pulleys to match road speed to an...
John Voelcker -
Will Toyota Prius Hit Gas-Mileage Trifecta: 40, 50 & 60 MPG?
With new corporate average fuel economy rules now taking us to 54.5 mpg by 2025, gas mileage will be the focus of new-car development for years to come. With its 15 years of experience in hybrid-electric vehicles, Toyota seems well positioned for steady improvements. Now, there's a chance that...
John Voelcker -
Fuel-Efficient Supercar: McLaren MP4-12C Beats Gas-Guzzler Tax
If you're not in the market for clean, green supercar like Tesla's Roadster but you've still got a few hundred thousand lying around and you need a speed fix, then the McLaren MP4-12C supercar might be on your shopping list. However, you could be forgiven for wondering what actually powers the...
Antony Ingram -
Sometime next month, the EPA and NHTSA will release final draft rules that increase corporate average fuel economy standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025. Most--although not all--carmakers have signed off on the standards, but opposition has hardly died down. The latest group to take up the fight against higher gas mileage is the National Auto Dealers Association, which Reuters reports is supporting a variety of measures to kill, delay, or defund the new requirements and the agencies developing them. NADA is listed as one of the most powerful "heavy hitters" in campaign donations by the Center for...
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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 -
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 -
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 -
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 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 -
What can you say about driving a Mercedes-Benz S-Class? It's luxurious, smooth, powerful, packed with features, impressive on the road, and very, very large. Now you can add another adjective: green. While the S 400 Hybrid has been in the mix for two years, Mercedes-Benz is launching a clean-diesel version of the S-Class for 2012. The 2012 Mercedes-Benz S 350 Bluetec ears EPA ratings of 21 mpg city, 31 mpg highway, for a combined rating of 25 mpg--versus the 19 mpg city, 25 mpg highway, and 21 mpg combined ratings of the hybrid S-Class. 700 miles of range With its 22-gallon fuel tank, the...
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2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ Sedan: Weekend Test Drive
"Bracket creep" is the phenomenon where each successive generation of a car gets slightly bigger. It's what allowed the Honda Civic to evolve from the 1973 model, which today we'd call a minicar, to the compact it is today. The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, deemed a subcompact by GM, is a prime example of...
John Voelcker -
EPA, NHTSA Delay Full 54.5 MPG Rules For 2025 Until November
It was the proposal that brought every automaker selling in the North America market out in a cold sweat. Now, Reuters brings news that the NHTSA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are delaying the 54.5 MPG, 2025 average fleet fuel economy figure proposal until November. The reason given...
Antony Ingram -
Upcoming Toyota Prius C '94-MPG' Compact Hybrid Now Has A Name: Aqua
The Prius family of hybrid cars from Toyota is going to get a little bigger as of January when the Japanese automaker will launch a new compact hybrid car for the Japanese market: the 2012 Toyota Aqua. According to Reuters News Service, the Nikkei business daily reports that the compact gasoline...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Chevrolet Sonic Hits Magic Mark: 40-MPG Highway Rating
It's not always true that the smallest cars get the best gas mileage. In many cases, compact cars get mileage equal to or better mileage than their shorter, stubbier subcompact brethren. The new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact has managed to crack the magic 40-mpg highway mark, though. Estimates...
John Voelcker -
3 Best-Selling Hybrids: Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, Sonata Hybrid
For a few years now, hybrid sales have been stalled at 2 to 3 percent of the U.S. market. But for the first seven months of this year, the total is at the low end of the scale: Hybrids represented 2.06 percent of sales from January through August, and just 1.98 percent of sales in August alone. The...
John Voelcker