Aaron Cole, Managing Editor
Articles
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When it arrives in dealers this month, the longer-range 2019 Nissan Leaf S Plus will cost $37,445, including destination, the automaker said Friday.
That's in line with what we expected from...
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Tesla Model 3 vs. Polestar 2: How the two electric cars compare
Among electric car rivalries, traditional roles can sometimes be upended. That's the case for the firebrand Tesla Model 3, which plays an unfamiliar role as established rival against Volvo's electric-car upstart, the Polestar 2. The Tesla Model 3 has been on sale in the U.S. since 2017, and the...
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Tesla turned a profit at the end of 2018; Model Y coming by end of 2020
Tesla recorded a $139 million profit for the last quarter of 2018, smaller than the $311 million quarterly profit before it, but ended 2018 down nearly $1 billion, the automaker told investors Wednesday. "Last year was the most challenging year in Tesla history, but also the most successful," Tesla...
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Carlos Ghosn, electric-car proponent and embattled executive, quit as Renault boss
The past two months haven't been kind to Carlos Ghosn. The former auto executive was arrested late last year in Japan on charges that he bilked Nissan for millions in unauthorized pay and perks, including financial dealings with business partners that weren't formally disclosed. Shortly after his...
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RIP 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe diesel, we never knew ye
The 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe diesel experiment is over before it began. Brandon Ramirez, a spokesman for Hyundai, confirmed in Korea on Friday that the diesel-powered Santa Fe won't come to the U.S. after all. The move follows Kia's lead earlier this year, when that automaker canceled the 2.2-liter...
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Honda joins GM, others in heated opposition to Trump's EPA fuel-economy freeze
Honda joined General Motors on Friday and called on the EPA to abandon its proposed fuel-economy rollback, asking federal officials to negotiate with states like California to offer a single, comprehensive update to federal fuel-economy standards. Honda filed its comment Friday, the last day for...
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Federal investigators may be looking into whether Tesla CEO Elon Musk knowingly lied to investors when he said that the automaker could build tens of thousands of Model 3 sedans by the end of 2017,...
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One size won't fit all for future Kia EVs
For an automaker that’s pitching itself toward the fun side of the Hyundai Motor Group, the tone for the automaker’s sizable electric push soon sounds altogether like pants. “It’s all about what fits,” said Michael Winkler, director of powertrains for Kia in Europe. By...
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk settles lawsuit with SEC for $40M, will step down as chairman
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Saturday settled a lawsuit with federal regulators alleging that the controversial executive bilked investors and lied when he announced the automaker had "funding secured" to buy back millions in shares to take the company private. The Securities and Exchange Commission...
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Lucid owners will get access to Electrify America's chargers, another jab at Tesla
Lucid owners will get prepaid access to Electrify America's growing number of fast-charging stations when their cars arrive sometime after 2020, both companies announced Tuesday. Electrify America didn't provide details about the program for Lucid owners, including how much charging owners would...
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Charging cord for 2019 Volvo XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid may start fire, will be recalled
A certain charging cord included in a small number of 2019 Volvo XC60 crossover SUVs may overheat and shock owners, or start a fire, the automaker said this month. Volvo announced a recall for 35 Volvo XC60 T8 crossover SUVs earlier this month to replace the charging cords. The small number of...
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Infiniti Q50 Hybrid leaves, all-electric Audi e-tron arrives, Tesla investigation grows: The Week in Reverse
Are federal officials investigating Tesla CEO Elon Musk? Even more than they already may be? How much will the new 2019 Nissan Leaf cost when it goes on sale? And what about a bigger battery already? And what about Audi's anticipated all-electric model? This is our look back on the week in green...
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Diesel is dead. At least, for Porsche it is.
In a statement on the automaker's website, Porsche announced it would stop building diesel-powered cars and instead focus on electric cars.
“Porsche...
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State officials telegraph looming fight to proposed federal EPA rollbacks
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and state attorneys general from California and Maryland said Friday that they will vigorously fight proposed rollbacks by the EPA to federal emissions standards ahead of public hearings scheduled for next week. "We’re not interested in taking a punch. We want...
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Tesla's head of global supply reportedly resigns in continuing exodus from automaker
Tesla's vice president for supply management has resigned from the electric carmaker, yet another departure of a high-ranking executive from the luxury brand. The departure of Liam O'Connor, Tesla's VP of global supply management, was first reported by Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources who...
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Out of juice: Infiniti Q50 Hybrid luxury sedan dropped
The long-running Infiniti Q50 Hybrid luxury sedan won't return for 2019 in the U.S., the automaker said Thursday. Infiniti spokesman Kyle Bazemore confirmed the demise of the Q50 Hybrid this year for Green Car Reports. The automaker axed the Q70 Hybrid in July. Although Infiniti didn't report sales...
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Electric Volkswagen Microbus concept gets right down to business
The panel of Volkswagen ID Buzz concepts based on the automaker's all-electric frame has finally reached, well, panel status. In Hannover, Germany, Volkswagen on Thursday showed off its ID Buzz Cargo concept based on its MEB electric-car architecture. According to VW, the panel van shows off the...
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NHTSA gives 2018 Tesla Model 3 perfect marks for crash safety
The 2018 Tesla Model 3 aced its federal crash-test regimen and earned top, five-star scores on all of its sub-tests, safety officials said this week. The Model 3 follows the Model S and Model X, which have both aced the NHTSA's tests. The insurance industry-funded IIHS has only rated the Model S...
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The U.S. Department of Justice may be investigating Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for criminal wrongdoing related to a series of tweets its founder sent this year, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
A...
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Chevy recalls some Bolt EVs, Volts over supplier brake issues
Chevrolet this week recalled three to four months worth of production Bolt EVs and Volt plug-in hybrids over a potential brake issue that could increase stopping distances of the small vehicles. The recall affects 2018-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2018-2019 Volt models sold in the U.S. and Canada...
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Fewer than 1 in 3 new car shoppers agree with proposed EPA rollback, according to poll
Only 29 percent of new-car shoppers say they agree with rollbacks to federal fuel-economy standards proposed by the Trump administration, Autolist reported Tuesday. The survey asked more than 1,100 new-car shoppers if they agreed with the proposed plan to freeze federal emissions standards at 2020...
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Swiss authorities halts some diesel Porsche, Mercedes-Benz over emissions
Authorities in Switzerland halted registrations of some new Mercedes-Benz and Porsche vehicles because their diesel engines skirted emissions regulations, Reuters reported Thursday. Registrations of the small Mercedes-Benz Vito vans equipped with 1.6-liter diesel engines, and Porsche Macan and...
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OpEd: Who pays for principle in Trump's war on lower emissions and trade?
Last week the Trump administration unveiled a broad drawdown of fuel-economy regulations that had been aimed at cutting emissions from passenger vehicles. In the 978-page proposal, administration officials argued those rules implemented by the Obama administration would create lighter, potentially...
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Report: SEC investigating Musk tweet about taking Tesla private
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that federal financial regulators may be investigating a series of tweets sent by Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggesting that the automaker was considering a large-scale stock buyback to take the company private. SEC investigators may be considering a range of...
Aaron Cole