The sales-tax exemptions that have helped encourage drivers to buy plug-in cars in Washington State are about to expire. So far, legislation to extend them is going nowhere. Subaru admits that its inspectors falsified emissions reports in Japan. And car-collector extraordinaire Jay Leno says the Toyota Prius will someday be collectible. And we ask readers, should California be allowed to set its own emissions and fuel economy limits? All this and more on Green Car Reports.
Washington State has lagged behind it's Left Coast compatriots on electric cars, but still has a sizeable population of them, and is part of the Pacific Coast charging corridor. Will this progress be hamstrung if the state's tax credits for electric-car buyers expire, as they are set to do at the end of the month? Or will the legislature come up with money to extend them?
Subaru admits it found cheating in Japanese emissions and fuel economy tests when the government ordered an investigation. The practice goes back at least six years, and maybe all the way to 2002. No recall has been ordered, but we've asked for clarification about whether this could affect models sold in the U.S.
We ask readers in our latest Twitter poll whether they think California should still be granted special status when in comes to setting fuel economy and emissions standards, as the state has always done. The legal allowance has given rise to electric cars and other green cars not available elsewhere in America. Weigh in and join our poll!
Ford reveals the reasons behind cutting almost all cars out of its lineup. (Hint: It isn't fuel efficiency.) The company says it expects the consumer shift to light trucks to be permanent.
In case you needed more reasons to buy a brand new car for your teenaged driver, new tests in Sweden show that new cars not only benefit from added safety technology, they're also safer because rusty old cars don't hold together as well in crashes.
Finally, comedian Jay Leno, renowned for his car collection, says a humble hybrid may be the next coveted collectible.
