2011
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Chevrolet's Volt has only been on sale for a short while but sales are respectable and Chevrolet have pulled out all the stops to build a quality product and bridge the technology gap between the vehicles that everyone is used to and the new generation of electric cars. In Europe, General Motors' brand Opel is planning to do essentially the same thing with essentially the same vehicle, and Chevrolet will be selling the Volt alongside it. The 2012 Opel Ampera is a Volt by any other name, but don't be fooled into thinking the two cars are identical. AllCarsElectric was able to compare the...
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Electric-Car Wars: Chevy Volt Still Outselling Nissan LeafBattle of the Titans it ain't. But for the third month in a row, Chevrolet sold more Volt range-extended electric cars than Nissan delivered Leaf plug-ins. During February, Nissan delivered 67 Leaf battery electric hatchbacks, bringing its two-month total to 154. Adding in the 19 delivered in...
John Voelcker -
Ferrari 458 Italia Offers Best-In-Class Emissions With HELE SystemBelieve it or not but even a manufacturer of high-performance supercars endowed with V-8 and V-12 engines can be conscious about the environment. Take Ferrari, for example. The Italian marque has used this week’s 2011 Geneva Motor Show to present a new version of its stunning 458 Italia...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Video: Rolls-Royce 102 EX Phantom Electric, Geneva Motor ShowAn all-electric Rolls-Royce Phantom. Just think about it: If the engineers do their jobs properly, the occupants should sense absolutely no difference in the near-silent, creamy smooth surge of power that wafts them from estate to yacht, or factory to mansion. And now we have video, courtesy of...
John Voelcker -
BMW ActiveE Concept: 2011 Geneva Motor Show [Video]BMW are developing some of the world's most anticipated electric cars at the moment with the i3 and i8 spearheading the launch of BMW's 'i' brand. The 1-Series based ActiveE is the first pure electric car to eminate from Bavaria since the MINI E, and the production car makes its world debut at the...
Antony Ingram -
Tata Pixel Concept: Nano's 69-MPG Pal, 2011 Geneva Motor ShowThe world's least expensive new car, India's Tata Nano, is now selling across that country, with plans afoot to offer an upgraded version in Europe this year or in 2012. Meanwhile, carmaker Tata (which owns Jaguar Land Rover) is hardly standing still. At this week's 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Tata...
John Voelcker -
If Consumer Reports didn't exist, someone would have to invent it. It may be the most trusted brand in evaluating cars, and it offered reliability ratings well before J.D. Power became a household name. A bad rating can send auto execs crawling to its doors to learn what they need to change to get a better assessment. The magazine is remorselessly, relentlessly rational about assessing vehicles. Which is how GM's range-extended electric car, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, ended up with the short end of the Consumer Reports review stick. Costly, short range, MPGs so-so CR criticized the Volt's...
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Now, You Can Like Ford's Electric Vehicles On Facebook (But Will You Like Them In Real Life?)Ford has been burning the midnight oil for several years now, and its hard work is paying off. The automaker's One Ford philosophy has resulted in a slimmer product lineup, two fewer brands, and a healthy bottom line. Ford also boasts a much spiffier brand image among shoppers these days, thanks in...
Richard Read -
Watch Out, Tesla And Fisker! More Luxury Carmakers Go ElectricElectric cars are getting blinged out. We’ve written before about how major automakers like Nissan, Ford and GM are plowing forth with electric car and hybrid offerings. Nissan, in particular, wants to grab 20 percent of the global electric cars market. But luxury automakers are getting into...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
To Sound or Not to Sound: Nissan Removes Beeper from U.K. LeafThe automotive world is, it seems, a very strange place. Less than a month after Hyundai admitted it had delayed the 2011 Sonata Hybrid launch in the U.S. to remove a feature that let the driver disable its virtual engine sound at speeds below 12 miles per hour, Nissan Europe has confirmed that it...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Saab PhoeniX Hybrid Concept, Its First, At 2011 Geneva Motor ShowSaab has confirmed its commitment to introduce a hybrid vehicle with the unveiling today of the striking 2011 Saab PhoeniX concept car at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. The new concept is a preview of Saab’s future production models, both in terms of styling and technology. It’s built...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Geneva Motor Show: Rolls-Royce Phantom Electric (VIDEO)It costs more than most of us earn in a year and comes from a company which only sold 2,711 cars last year, but the Rolls-Royce 102 EX Phantom Experimental Electric unveiled earlier today at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show has taken luxury electric vehicles to a whole new level. Resplendent with a tan...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
If you're in the States, you may be just starting your day. But in Switzerland, the flurry of activity during the first media day at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show is at its peak. With record numbers of concept and production-car launches, our team is shooting photos and posting details as fast as they can. Here are some of the earliest, most significant green concept vehicles unveiled so far. We'll cover production cars in a subsequent post. Volkswagen Bulli (Microbus) Concept You can't help but love the idea of a new Volkswagen Bus, and VW has tried for a decade to create a modern...
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Video Break: 2011 Chevrolet Volt Attracts More Than Just Young BuyersGeneral Motors is quite proud of their 2011 Chevrolet Volt and they have a perfect right to be. The Volt is changing the way consumers view electric vehicles and it helping to change the adoption rate even if the Volt isn’t quite completely powered by electricity. A case in point is a recent...
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Geneva Auto Show Preview: 2012 Chevrolet Cruze HatchbackChevrolet has been making inroads at repairing their small car reputation since the poor safety records (especially side impact) of the Cavalier and the lack luster performance and style of the Cobalt. Yes, the Cruze has been quite the improvement over past small Chevrolet cars, so much so that it...
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Geneva Motor Show Preview: Ford B-Max Concept On Fiesta PlatformFord is at it again and by it we mean cooking something up that will take the B-segment by storm. The latest to hit the press ahead of the 2011 Geneva Motor Show is a little CUV concept that is based on the popular and global Ford Fiesta. This is actually a trend, one we have seen with the C-Max...
Jonathan McGrew -
Nissan Goes Solar With Electric Car Charging Station at TN HQWhile the majority of its vehicles will be gasoline powered for the foreseeable future, Nissan North America has taken more steps towards zero emissions motoring for its headquarters in Franklin, TN with an 18 vehicle solar charging station to supplement the already existing electric vehicle...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Chevrolet Volt: Long-Term Tests Show Winter CapabilitiesIf you haven’t been following it, Motor Trend has a 2011 Chevrolet Volt in their fleet for long term testing. These long-term tests tend to reveal what the real day-to-day experience with a vehicle can be. It doesn’t mean that it is the ideal or even the exact experience every consumer...
Jonathan McGrew -
Diehard Porsche fans will never sway from the 911, it is the model to own if you were just going to buy one and one Porsche only. However, since the introduction of the mid-engine Boxster platform in 1997, drivers and enthusiasts have wrestled with the romance between predictable handling that makes the car feel like it is on rails. Porsche executives aren’t off their rocker though, they have strategically kept a gap between the Boxster/Cayman platform and the entry-level 911—they don’t want all their diehard enthusiasts hate mail in their mailbox. That said, Porsche is...
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Fast Company Names Nissan In 50 Most Innovative Companies ListNissan has been having a pretty good ride since it announced the Nissan Leaf and now that customers are actually getting their cars delivered people are on pins and needles to see how livable the cars really are. The success of the Leaf aside, the fact remains that Nissan has succeeded to be the...
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Chevrolet Volt Takes Center Stage at Global Green USA Pre-Oscar® PartyLast Thursday, found celebrities, environmental activists and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt at the 8th Annual Global Green USA Pre-Oscar Party. The Volt has been named North American Car of the Year and Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year, so it seems fitting that it would take center stage...
Jonathan McGrew -
VW Introduces New Cabriolet For the 2011 Geneva Motor ShowThe automotive industry hasn’t seen a Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet since 2002 when it was discontinued. That is until now. For the 2011 Geneva Auto Show VW revives the Golf Cabriolet, but it might not be as straightforward as it sounds. The car is targeted to go on sale this summer, but where is...
Jonathan McGrew -
MINI Rocketman Inspires Dreams of 94 MPG94 miles per gallon sounds pretty good doesn’t it? What about a glass roof etched with the Union Jacket and an overall length of 11 feet 3 inches? If that sounds interesting to you, then the MINI Rocketman is going to be right up your alley. It even has a feature that they call “complex...
Jonathan McGrew -
What Happens When Electric Volvo Meets Pole? We Find OutVolvo is well known in the automotive world for its safety record. In fact, Volvo is so concerned with safety that it is driving towards a future goal of having no fatalities or casualties in any of its cars by 2050. So what happens when you combine Volvo’s legendary safety record with its...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield