2011
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Europeans have been slow to the game with hybrids, having bet most of their green strategy on highly efficient clean diesels. But they are increasingly hedging their bets, learning to work with electric motors and battery packs. In the sports-car world, aside from startups Fisker and Tesla, no European maker is doing more than Porsche. It plans a hybrid version of its Cayenne sport utility vehicle, a hybrid Panamera four-door sedan, and perhaps even a smaller SUV hybrid as well. Hybrid pioneer: Porsche And why not? The world's very first hybrid is widely acknowledged to be the Lohner-Porsche...
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Axon Automotive Reveals Plug-In Hybrid In The UKIs that the original Honda Insight? At least one commenter on Green Car Congress agrees that the diminutive plug-in hybrid pictured to the left bears some likeness to the spunky fuel sipper that debuted back in 1999. (Of course the Insight didn't come with a plug.) Resemblance aside, this is the...
Robert Scardino -
2011 Ford Fiesta To Be Ford’s Next Big Seller, Or Will It?
The New Ford Fiesta Is Booming In Europe, But Will U.S. Be the Same?
Jonathan McGrew -
Greenest Car Company, Honda, Goes Greener Yet, Harder and Faster
Honda has the highest average fleet mileage of any volume carmaker selling in the U.S. market today. And it's had that distinction for many years. But in the face of the car-market meltdown, oil prices that have risen from $30 to $80 a barrel within months, and growing global environmental...
John Voelcker -
Mitsubishi Evo To Go Plug-In Hybrid? World's Tuners Feel Faint
We can't help it. Once in a while, we like to toss in big honkin' performance cars, like the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. And even screaming smaller tuner sedans, like the 2010 Subaru STi WRC and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. But now comes news to rock the world: The next generation of the Mitsubishi...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Roadster Leadtimes Shrinking?
From the source linked below, the following is an excerpt from a recently published newsletter from Tesla Motors: "If you custom-order your car online, in showrooms or by phone today, you could have your car in time for Christmas." The source then speculates that Tesla Motors sales must be down...
Jason Hendler -
I've often wondered who names the colors of things like the sweaters, paint, and cars. Who gets to decide which shade of red is spicy enough to be "Caliente" or cute enough to be "Valentine" or hot enough to be "Red Hot?" Are there specialists who deal only in beiges and grays, others who are experts in primary colors? Who gets to decide what's gray and what's silver? It sounds easy, but once you start thinking about it, it's a challenge, to be honest, and not a job I think I would want. But it may be a job YOU want. If you have an idea for what Chevrolet ought to call that unique...
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100-MPG Bright Idea Delivery Van: Now With 40 Electric Miles!
Back in April, startup company Bright Automotive unveiled its design for a plug-in hybrid light delivery truck. Now, we've had a chance to drive the prototype, briefly, just as Bright raised its electric range to 40 miles. Our test vehicle was the only Bright IDEA van prototype built thus far by...
John Voelcker -
eWolf Unveils It's New EV Supercar Prototype
The e2 Seems To Be Aimed Squarely At Tesla
Jon Vandervelde -
Nissan Leaf Coming to Vancouver By 2011
When Nissan rolls out its electric Leaf in late 2010, it will only be available in select cities throughout the U.S. The initial launch is limited to those cities that have formed agreements with Nissan and can provide the infrastructure required for the electric vehicle. By 2012, Nissan hopes...
Eric Loveday -
Will the 2011 Ford Mustang Get An EcoBoost Engine Too?
We always enjoy talking cars with the opinionated Alex Nunez from Autoblog, most recently last week when we both appeared on FoxNews.com's Fox Car Report with dapper host Gary Gastelu. This week's guest was Derrick Kuzak, who heads up global product development for Ford. Meaning he's the guy...
John Voelcker -
Electric Fiat 500 Closer Than We Think From Chrysler?
Much of the auto world is waiting eagerly for Wednesday, November 4. That's when Chrysler will release the detailed product and business plan that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne promises will take the company to profitability within two years. Now comes the rumor that the two companies plan to build an...
John Voelcker -
PSA Peugeot-Citroen recently finalized a deal with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. involving an electric car project slated for production in 2011. The deal involves both Peugeot and Citroen receiving their own electric vehicles based off of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. However, many now believe that the initial electric car project is a sign of much more collaboration to come between the two companies. According to La Tribune, a French newspaper, sources close to the PSA-Mitsubishi project believe that PSA is seeking a full scale alliance with Mitsubishi. They also reference the fact that the...
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Panasonic Linking PC Batteries Together To Power Cars
If Panasonic gets its way, your average laptop battery could be the electric vehicle power source of the future. The Japanese consumer electronics company announced Thursday that it has developed a method of binding standard lithium-ion batteries together (Tesla Motors style), for use in...
Robert Scardino -
Electric Cars Are Real Cars: 2011 Chevy Volt Climbs Pike's Peak
We've written before about some of the misconceptions around high-mileage and electric cars, among them that they're essentially glorified golf carts. Now the test engineers for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt have taken their extended-range electric vehicle up the twisty 19-mile road to the top of...
John Voelcker -
MPG Follies, Or, Why Electric Cars Can't Get 367 MPG. Sheesh.
One of our most popular posts in August was a piece that broke down how General Motors projected a fuel efficiency of 230 miles per gallon in the city for its 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car. Soon after GM's elaborate press event, Nissan announced with a straight face that their...
John Voelcker -
More Tesla Turmoil? Executive Turnover Continues
Executive turnover continues at Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors, with three executives leaving in nine months and two more hired. The turnover comes both in Vehicle Engineering--the group that must executive and deliver the 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sports sedan--and in...
John Voelcker -
PREVIEW: 2011 Honda CR-Z Hybrid Two-Seat Sports Coupe
While the 2010 Honda Insight is the company's big hybrid news for this year, it's far from the only new hybrid headed to us from Honda. As we've noted before, Honda will launch two more hybrids in 2010 as 2011 models. Now, Honda has released photos of its "CR-Z Concept 2009" show car, to be...
John Voelcker -
According to Honda, the CR-Z hybrid will be the world's first hybrid sports car and will take on numerous other sports car when it launches next year. New pictures have been released showing an updated version of the CR-Z concept. The concept vehicle will be on display at the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of this month. According to Autocar, the pictures are 95% production ready and don't differentiate much from the concept version unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. The CR-Z will be powered by a 1.5 liter gasoline engine with horsepower estimated to be around 120. Coupled with the...
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GM's Electric Car Guru Resigns
Bob Kruse, who formulated General Motors' long-term electric vehicle plans and whose team helped develop the Chevy Volt, has resigned, ending his 31-year career with the company. The 50-year-old Rochester Hills, Michigan, resident has served as GM's executive director of global vehicle engineering...
Robert Scardino -
Final Aptera 2e Styling Leaked, We Drive the Electric 3-Wheeler
To green-car fans, the idea of an ultra-aerodynamic electric two-seater sounds pretty familiar, right? Think the late, lamented EV1 from General Motors, subject of the controversial documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? But for more than 4,000 people who've put down deposits on the 2011 Aptera...
John Voelcker -
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August's Most Popular Green Car Posts: What About That 230 MPG?
We usually recap our five most popular posts on GreenCarReports.com at the end of every month. We're a bit late for August but, hey, we had a long Labor Day too ... now we're back in business. We replaced most of July's most popular posts, with three new winners in our Top Five. Here goes: # 1: How...
John Voelcker -
Plug-In Pickup To Be Built By Indiana Based EMC
New EMC Flash to be based on The Ford F-150
Jon Vandervelde
