minicar

  • 2017 Fiat 500e

    So you've always wanted to drive a battery-electric car, but you're a frugal and sensible shopper who's noticed that prices of used electric cars are remarkably low. And you always through the Fiat 500 was kind of interesting; the idea of a tiny three-door all-electric hatchback appealed to you. Even if you don't live in California or Oregon, the only states where the Fiat 500e electric car was sold, it's easy for you to find one online and have it shipped to you. DON'T MISS: Fiat 500e electric cars recalled to fix software glitch (Jun 2016) That's all well and good, and it appears dozens of...

  • Honda Urban EV Concept
    Honda Urban EV Concept to go on sale in 2019, but not for North America

    If there were a favorite car among journalists and car fans at this week's Frankfurt motor show, it may have been a small, all-electric hatchback city car. Which is pretty remarkable, given the practical, unexciting, utilitarian, slightly nerdy image every non-Tesla electric car seems to carry...

  • BYD Qin EV300
    BYD: tiny electric cars for China could be 75 percent of sales

    Chinese automaker BYD was the world's largest producer of plug-in electric cars last year, and the outlook for new markets in its home country are quite healthy, suggesting strong continued growth. BYD plans to tackle the country's inland cities, viewed as a new frontier for automakers, with a...

  • Baojun E100 electric car
    Baojun E100: GM's tiny, two-seat electric car for China

    Most North Americans and Europeans will likely never have heard of Baojun, but it's one of many brands operated under General Motors' SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture in China. Its portfolio is mostly made up of small sedans, multi-purpose vehicles (small minivans), hatchbacks, and a crossover utility...

  • 2017 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - first drive, Miami, Nov 2016   [photo: Jeff Jablansky]
    2017 Smart ForTwo electric cars priced from $24,550

    The market for electric vehicles normally comes with a high price of entry, though Smart is proposing that its new two-seat battery-powered minicar is a value proposition. Prices for the 2017 Smart ForTwo electric coupe and cabriolet begin at $24,550 and $28,750 respectively. If you've followed...

  • 2017 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - first drive, Miami, Nov 2016   [photo: Jeff Jablansky]
    Smart to be all-electric in U.S. and Canada; gasoline goes away this fall

    When the tiny Smart ForTwo launched in the U.S. a decade ago, it got a huge boost in sales from both novelty and soaring gas prices. While its EPA ratings never approached those of the larger Toyota Prius hybrid, the little two-seater found buyers who liked its cheeky character and the ease of...

  • 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 SE, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2016

    The Mitsubishi Mirage is the underdog of small cars: slow, loud, and archaic, but scrappy. And it's been a much bigger sales success than Mitsubishi expected, given the small numbers of minicars and subcompacts sold in the U.S. these days. For 2017, Mitsubishi added a four-door sedan model dubbed G4 to the existing five-door hatchback, and gave both of them a slew of upgrades. DON'T MISS: 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage - full review After spending four days and almost 300 miles with a 2017 Mirage G4 SE model, we conclude that the Mirage is still one of the lowest-ranked cars among subcompacts...

  • 2016 Smart ForTwo
    Smart ForTwo minicar: 15 years later, has it made a difference?

    Minimal cars are often an appealing idea: why should one person drive a two-ton vehicle with five or more seats on local journeys of 10 miles or fewer? Then there's the crushingly difficult parking in major European, Asian, and North American cities. Add to that, perhaps, a desire for minimal use...

  • 2017 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - first drive, Miami, Nov 2016   [photo: Jeff Jablansky]
    2017 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive: first drive of electric two-seat car

    On a hot, muggy day in south Florida, nothing is more comforting than knowing that your well-cooled car will make it to its destination. When that car is a reboot of the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, the tiny battery-powered European city slicker—and you’re surrounded by a sea of drivers...

  • New fifth-generation Nissan Micra at launch, 2016 Paris Motor Show
    New Nissan Micra debuts in Paris, not for US but Canada perhaps

    While Nissan sells many different types of vehicles in the U.S., there's one that's globally very popular that has never shown up in the States. That would be the Nissan Micra, a smaller car than the Versa sedan and Versa Note hatchback, the largish subcompacts that are its smallest U.S. offerings...

  • 2016 Chevrolet Spark, test drive outside Detroit, July 2016
    2017 Chevrolet Spark first drive

    The 2017 Chevrolet Spark is both the smallest and the least expensive car sold by Chevy in North America. The Korean-made hatchback minicar isn't among the brand's top sellers—those would be its full-size pickup trucks and the Equinox compact crossover—but the previous generation found...

  • 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage GT
    2017 Mitsubishi Mirage preview

    The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage boasts a number of notable updates.

  • 2016 Chevrolet Spark, 2015 New York Auto Show

    The 2016 Chevrolet Spark is a slightly larger, better equipped, and more stylish version of the smallest Chevy in brand's lineup. It succeeds a model whose unexpected sales numbers showed Chevrolet that there were buyers for a very small but up-to-date five-door hatchback minicar. However, with gas prices cheap and seemingly the whole world's buyers looking with longing at SUVs and crossover utility vehicles, the little Spark is out of the limelight. WATCH THIS: 2016 Chevrolet Spark Video Preview It's now on sale at Chevy dealers across the country, and we'll get a chance to drive one next...

  • Cardboard 1959 Morris Mini Minor fits in Mini Countryman (Photo by 'Practical Classics')
    How big is a new Mini? Big enough to fit the old one inside

    A modern Mini Countryman isn't very mini at all.

  • MINI Rocketman Concept MkII
    Next electric MINI confirmed by development team?

    The MINI Rocketman concept may go into production with an electric powertrain.

  • 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4
    2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 sedan priced below $15,000

    The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 will start at $14,830.

  • 2016 Volkswagen Up!
    Revised Volkswagen Up Minicar Gets Turbo Engine, Geneva Motor Show Debut

    Volkswagen’s Up! city-car lineup is one of the coolest high-mpg small cars we can’t have, as we described it a few years ago. Now with a host of improvements just announced in advance of the Geneva Motor Show, held early next month, it looks poised to earn its keep as “forbidden...

  • 2015 Chevrolet Spark Domino's DXP pizza delivery vehicle
    Hot Pizza: Domino's DXP $25K Chevy Spark Includes Warming Oven

    Domino's is converting Chevrolet Spark hatchbacks into pizza-delivery vehicles.

  • 2016 Smart ForTwo minicar, parked behind first-generation model, Portland, Oregon, Aug 2015

    The 2016 Smart ForTwo is the first entirely new version of the European two-seat minicar since that vehicle was launched in the late 1990s. And it's a much better car, with more power, a choice of manual or automated transmissions, modern comfort and interior features, and fuel economy that's stayed at the same level even given its added equipment and higher power. That said, the main reason to buy a Smart ForTwo isn't to save gasoline. It's to park in impossibly tiny spaces. DON'T MISS: 2016 Smart ForTwo - full review We spent parts of two days driving a couple of different 2016 Smart coupes...

  • 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage, Quebec City, Sep 2013
    2017 Mitsubishi Mirage To Get Updates After Skipping 2016 Model Year

    The Mitsubishi Mirage minicar has been an unexpected success for the U.S. arm of what's usually described as "struggling Japanese automaker Mitsubishi." Sales volume after its 2014 launch was roughly double what the company said it expected to sell, and the Mirage may prove that a market remains...

  • Mitsubishi Mirage G4
    Strong-Selling 40-MPG Mitsubishi Mirage To Get Sedan Model

    A Mitsubishi Mirage sedan will arrive in the U.S. before the end of the year.

  • 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV  -  Driven, July 2014 (NWAPA Drive Revolution)
    Chevy Spark EV Electric Car Sales Suddenly Surged; Here's Why

    It was one of the major electric-car news stories last month: Sales of the Chevrolet Spark EV electric minicar soared to 920 in April. The electric Spark had consistently sold at around 100 cars a month since its June 2013 launch. And it was widely considered to be a compliance car: one sold only...

  • 2015 MINI Cooper S 4-Door Hardtop, Catskill Mountains, NY, Apr 2015
    2015 MINI Cooper S Hardtop 4-Door: Gas Mileage Review

    In various forms, the MINI has been with us for more than half a century--but its image has always been shaped by the two-door model. The original BMC Mini had two doors and a small trunk; the BMW MINI from 2002 is a more conventional three-door hatchback. Now there's a five-door hatchback model as...

  • 2014 BMW i3 REx range-extended electric car owned by Tom Moloughney - in dealership showroom
    Electric Cars Are City Cars? Not In U.S.: They're Suburb Cars Here

    Automotive journalists who write about electric cars hear the phrase "city car" a lot. As in, "Battery-electric cars are perfect city cars, but [fill in different powertrain] is required for other uses." There's just one problem: No one in the U.S. has ever turned to their better half and said...

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