2011

As the full effects of last week’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake are still sinking in there has been questions in the automotive industry as to whether Japanese car manufacturers would be affected. Now there are bound to be some issues especially considering the damage to the nuclear power plant...

When you think of Subaru the first thing that might come to your mind is the WRX or possible all-wheel drive. Neither of those are incorrect, but Subaru wants to stand for more than that; the company wants to be known for their social conscious and as such is running a campaign that will end...

There is no doubt by now that you have seen gas prices rise in your area. There is also no doubt that this may seem like déjà vu. Let us remind you of the summer of 2008 when gas prices were climbing to all time highs here in the U.S. and consumers were starting to dump their large...

Nissan may have got heat recently for its long, drawn out and significantly delayed rollout of the 2011 Nissan Leaf, but it isn’t the only company struggling to fulfil its own sales figures for 2011. Over the past two years there have been a whole barrage of cars which were promised to the...

Think car buyers understand what a hybrid is, or a plug-in electric car? Think again. A new survey conducted by research firm Synovate finds that many of almost 1,900 new-car "buyers and intenders" don't understand how hybrid vehicles work. Worse, most of them don't seem to understand how...

According to the Department of Energy, the average U.S. household will pay $700 more for gasoline this year than it did in 2010. In a weekly review of the oil market, the department's Energy Information Administration noted that prices will rise at least 10 cents more over the current national...

While Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are the long-term diesel stalwarts in the States, relative newcomer Audi has ambitious plans. During a lengthy teleconference yesterday, Audi confirmed that it would add TDI clean-diesel models to every car it offers in the U.S. market by 2015. Audi has frequently...

Honda has been slow to the game when it comes to plug-in hybrids and electric cars but at the recent 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show the automaker proved that it was not completely in the dark in this area. On display at the show was a new version of its Fit compact car powered by an electric...

With political uncertainty in oil-producing states, and the rising gas prices that brings, you can expect to see a lot more headlines saying "40 MPG!" We just did a quick overnight road test of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco with the six-speed manual transmission, which the EPA rates at 28 mpg city and...

It may be the first full scale, all-electric production car from a major automaker to be sold in the U.S. but Nissan hasn’t exactly been quick to get it into the hands of customers. That should change however with the announcement that the Japanese factory responsible for making the five-seat...

If you read our guest post by actor, TV presenter and electric car convert Robert Llewellyn, you may have noticed his mention of a little electric microbus by the name of "Mia". Sitting in the middle of halls 4 and 5 with major manufacturers like Honda, Toyota, Renault and Ferrari in all...

Many comments are appearing on the internet taking enthusiastic positions for either the new 2011 Chevy Volt or the 2011 Nissan Leaf. It seems most readers are in one "camp" or the other. In our household, after studying the technical strengths and features of both cars as they moved from concept...

If you have turned on the news in the last couple of days then you have probably heard about the rising of gas prices. Okay, who am I kidding, if you own a car and have been to the gas station recently you are undoubtedly aware that the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is hovering...

We all know cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf feature smart GPS systems capable of locating the nearest official electric car charging stations, but what happens when you combine the power of a social network with the need to plug your electric car in? Enter PlugShare, a new crowd-sourced way to find...

During the Detroit Auto Show in January, we visited the Think electric-car assembly plant in Elkhart, Indiana. It's not necessarily a place you'd expect to find electric cars being put together, but the rows of electric two-seat hatchbacks in blue, red, and black turned out to be surprisingly...

The Smart brand has enjoyed modest success in the U.S. since its launch here back in 2007 but with a lack of any new models or updates, the oddly-designed minicar brand has fallen largely off the radar of late. Furthermore, even with all the hoopla surrounding electric vehicles at the moment...

You might have seen our coverage earlier this week on “EV Killed the EVO Star: Mitsubishi Kills the EVO.” It seemed like an appropriate play on words and even more appropriate is the response. Yes, that would be denial and redirection. Mitsubishi was quick to post on its Facebook page a...

You just never know what you'll hear at conferences. You might, for instance, hear Nissan America's director of product planning, Mark Perry, casually mention that the Nissan Leaf electric car now permits Level II 240-Volt charging at 3.3 kilowatts--"and we'll raise that in a year or so." In other...

by Robert Llewellyn I was only there for one day, and I'm still recovering; car shows are fairly energy sapping events. Everyone I met in Halle 7 said the same thing, "Oh, Geneva is the best one. It's not too big, you can get around and see everything." Remind me never to go to the really big ones...

Democracy can be a messy and ugly thing to watch in practice. Especially when it's being pointed toward carmakers, which aren't often the subject of mass protests pointed toward their future product lines. This morning, we received an e-mail with a link to a Causes page urging Mitsubishi not to...