Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, Contributing Writer
Articles
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Later this year, Nissan will start producing the 2013 all-electric Leaf at its Smyrna facility in Tennessee.
The first time the car has been made outside of Japan, the 2013 models will be made...
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Pennsylvania Parking Lot Opens For Green Cars, Carpoolers Only
If you drive a plug-in electric or hybrid car, you may have encountered the reserved ‘green car only’ parking spaces that some towns, cities and businesses put in parking lots to reward you for choosing a green car. We’ve even heard of parking garages where owners of plug-in cars...
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Graduating From College? Get $1,000 Off A 2012 Toyota Prius C
As any graduate will tell you, the first few years out of college can be exciting, but financially tough. So for any recently-matriculated graduate, owning a car that gets good gas mileage is an important way to save those precious pennies and get out of debt as fast as possible. Now Toyota wants...
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Fox Anchor Hates Volt, Loves Infiniti LE, Claims It Was His Idea
If you’re a regular here at GreenCarReports, you’ll already be familiar with a Mr. Neil Cavuto, presenter and Senior Vice President of Business News at Fox. He is, in his own words, a vocal electric car skeptic. But something unusual happened during a recent segment on Fox: the 53-year...
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5 Places You Wouldn’t Expect To Find An Electric Car Charging Station
As all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars become more popular, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of public charging stations being installed in grocery store lots, shopping malls and corporate parking garages. Locations like these are undoubtedly the most common places you’ll find a...
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It’s Official: Greener Cars Have Helped Improve LA’s Air Quality
Given the length of time the U.S. Government is taking to set new gas mileage standards for 2025, you’d be forgiven for thinking the only benefit from driving a high gas-mileage car is the savings you make at the pump. You’d be wrong. Driving high gas mileage cars equates to lower...
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Ask any electric car owner to tell you about public charging stations, and they’ll likely show you the wallet full of smart cards and RFID tags.
That’s because most electric car charging...
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When Do Electric Cars Really Charge? All At The Same Time
If you’re not an electric car driver, the chances are that how and when electric cars recharge is one of the lesser mysteries of the universe. After all, if every electric car in town charged at the same time, wouldn’t it bring down the electrical grid? The answer, at least for now, is...
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Leafhacking Battery Mod Gives Extra Range, But At What Cost?
Like early-adopters of any new technology, the first owners of electric cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Chevrolet Volt have already proven that they like to hack their plug-in cars to improve features, charging times and even performance. The latest leafhack, from plug-in hybrid battery...
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How Toyota Made The 2012 RAV4 EV More Aerodynamic
As most electric car fans will tell you, it’s much easier for automakers to build an all-electric car from scratch than it is to repurpose an existing gasoline model with an electric drivetrain. In the case of Toyota’s RAV4EV however, the Japanese automaker, with help from Californian...
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2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS Priced At $20,995: No Gas Mileage Yet
It’s been a long time since it was unveiled at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, but Chevrolet has finally detailed pricing on its 2013 Sonic RS. At $20,995, the sports-styled, hatchback-only version of the popular Sonic subcompact is Chevrolet’s attempt to make the car more appealing to...
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Chevy Volt (Opel Ampera) Ad Banned In U.K. On Range Claims
Since the Chevrolet Volt first launched in the U.S., we’ve seen a variety of quirky, funny, and downright weird ads designed to get people driving General Motors’ first plug-in hybrid. But over in Europe, where the Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera -- its European sibling -- are...
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After a week involving fires, financial woes and recalls, it looks like things may be looking up for Fisker Automotive: its 2012 Karma plug-in hybrid is the second best-selling 4-door luxury car in...
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2014 Volkswagen Golf: Bigger, Lighter, Greener
It has been in production in one form or another for 38 years, but the next-generation Volkswagen Golf, due to be unveiled next month at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, will be the biggest, smartest and most economical Golf yet. According to Autocar, the seventh generation Volkswagen Golf, due to go on...
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2013 Chevy Volt, OnStar, Is Smart-Grid Ready: The Utilities Aren’t
Imagine a future where plug-in cars not only know when the cheapest time to charge is, but also work in concert with utility companies to recharge when it is greenest or when grid power demand is the lowest. For years, automakers, charging station manufacturers, utility companies and even the U.S...
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Planning A Back-To-School Road Trip? Here’s How To Save On Gas
If you’re preparing to return to college in the next few days -- or are a Freshman heading away from home for the first time -- your preparations probably include a long road trip. But with every cent you spend on gasoline diminishing your college fund, how do you make that heavily-packed...
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2013 Honda Accord: New Engines, Transmissions Promise Higher Gas Mileage
Yesterday, Honda started production of its 2013 Accord. Due to go on sale in the U.S. this fall, it will be offered with a whole new range of engines and transmissions designed to make it the greenest Accord yet. Although the 2013 Honda Accord sedan and coupe will be offered with an all-new...
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CA’s Green HOV-Lane Access: Off To A Slow Start?
Earlier this year, the State of California launched a new, green HOV-lane sticker, letting qualifying plug-in hybrids drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, even if there is only a single occupant in the car. According to California's North County Times however, fewer than 4,000 stickers...
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If you drive a 2011-12 Nissan Leaf, you’ll know that keeping your car warm in winter can drop its range by as many as 30 miles, due to the inefficiency of the its coolant-to-air heater.
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Toyota Unveils New Auris: Will It Become The Next Matrix?
Ten years ago, hatchbacks were viewed by most Americans as ‘econoboxes’ designed to offer cheap, cheerful motoring. As a consequence, Toyota catered to that need with its no-frills Matrix compact hatch, while the rest of the world was given the Toyota Auris, a more sophisticated compact...
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Nissan’s New Japanese Minivan Uses Brakes To Power Electronics
In hybrid and electric cars, regenerative braking systems are used to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy under braking, slowing the car down and improving gas mileage or all-electric range. But Nissan’s latest iteration of the Japanese-market Serena minivan uses regenerative...
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Tesla CEO Gets More Stock Options, Fisker Seeks More Cash
We’ve said it many times before, building an auto company from scratch is extremely hard, and expensive. That’s probably why only two major plug-in car startups have made it to the point of building and selling cars globally: Tesla and Fisker. In order to continue, both firms are...
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Ford Reiterates Commitment To Plug-in Hybrid, Electric Cars
Despite a cautious rollout of its plug-in car program and low sales of its 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Ford has reiterated details of its investment in plug-in cars. According to Ford’s official release, it has now earmarked $135 million to double its battery testing facilities, triple plug-in...
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U.S. Government Delays Final Ruling On 2025 Gas Mileage Standards
Yesterday, the U.S. EPA had planned to release final rules on new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations requiring automakers to achieve average fuel economies of 54.5 mpg by 2025. But continued opposition and bitter disagreements has lead the current administration to delay the ruling...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield