Why were reporters sneaking around a Nevada industrial park? And which plug-in electric car didn't do so well on a recent IIHS crash test? This is the Week In Reverse for Friday, August 1, 2014, right here at Green Car Reports.
We've now driven the upcoming 2015 Audi A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid, and we tell you all about it.
July sales figures for plug-in electric cars came in on Friday, and it was another good month. The Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt together sold more than 5,000 units--only the second time that's ever happened.
The news wasn't quite so encouraging in new IIHS safety test results: The Chevy Volt got an 'Acceptable' rating, but the Leaf was only rated as 'Poor'--and the IIHS released videos showing why.
Yesterday, Tesla released its quarterly earnings, confirming that excavation work in a Nevada industrial park was preparation for a possible gigafactory site.
CEO Elon Musk said the company will prepare other sites as well, and is still negotiating with five states over incentives for the huge lithium-ion cell plant it will build with Panasonic.
Besides that Audi, we drove two other new cars this week.
First was the new 2015 Subaru Outback, which we found to be a more fuel-efficient and mroe refined version of the Outback we've known and loved for years.
We also drove the current 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA compact luxury sedan.
And, finally, we reported that for 2015, Honda has ended sales of three of its greenest models: They are the low-selling Insight hybrid, the Fit EV compliance car, and the stylish but very, very, VERY low-volume FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell sedan.
_______________________________________________
