2014

  • i-ELOOP screens in Mazda Connect  -  2014 Mazda 3 Grand Touring

    Mazda’s most recently redesigned models all feature the SkyActiv badge—corresponding to a suite of engines, transmissions, body structures, and other core components engineered around the idea of maintaining a responsive, sporty driving feel while making major improvements in fuel efficiency. Beyond that, the SkyActiv efforts have produced a few more especially innovative things that won’t initially be offered on every Mazda. One of them is termed i-ELOOP—for intelligent energy loop—and it’s right on course to that aim of improving gas mileage in totally...

  • 2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013
    2014 BMW i3 Electric Car Drivers Can Opt For Solar Charging Service

    BMW's first full-scale production electric car isn't a vehicle done by half measures. It's uniquely styled, features high-tech carbon fiber reinforced plastic construction and the minimalist interior is awash with sustainable materials. BMW thinks its customers might want to continue that...

  • 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, Irvine, CA, Aug 2013
    2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid: Is It Hybrid Enough To Matter?

    Last year, we drove a prototype Infiniti JX Hybrid, as it was then called (it's now in production as the 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid). At that point, we wondered whether its mild-hybrid system would be "hybrid enough" to compete against the Lexus RX 450h that spawned the hybrid crossover segment two...

  • 2014 Audi Q5 TDI, Catskill Mountains, Oct 2013
    2014 Audi Q5 TDI Diesel Crossover: Fuel Economy Test

    U.S. car buyers are fond of compact crossovers, and they buy a lot of them. They range from high-volume entries by Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Chevrolet to more luxurious utility vehicles from the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Range Rover. (Lincoln and Lexus will join that crowd next year.)...

  • 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid

    For 2014, our fourth annual Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy award goes to the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. This new model of the redesigned Honda Accord sedan introduced last year is comfortable, quiet, stylish--and delivers real-world fuel economy from 40 mpg to as much as 52 mpg. And that's...

  • 2014 Mercedes-Benz B Class Electric Drive
    2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive: Teaser Video Emerges From Company

    The Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive is expected to hit U.S. showrooms in Spring 2014.

  • 2014 Lexus CT 200h

    It's a mark of how important the Chinese market now is that Lexus has chosen the upcoming Guangzhou Motor Show to reveal its updated CT 200h. That's despite both the Los Angeles International Auto Show and the Tokyo Motor Show starting around the same time--both shows hosting several significant launches for 2014. The 2014 CT 200h is a little less significant though, mainly amounting to a facelift and a few other detail changes. Most notable is the new Lexus 'spindle' grille design, found across the automaker's range and now finally appearing on the marque's smallest model. It's a little less...

  • Teaser for 2014 MINI Cooper
    2014 MINI Cooper Teased With New Video

    What's the 2014 MINI Cooper going to look like? The old one, probably--a perception that isn't tarnished by MINI's latest teaser video, which gives us a hint as to the new car's form. The new car is set to be unveiled in full on November 18, the 107th anniversary of the birth of Sir Alec Issigonis...

  • 2014 Saks Fifth Avenue Special Edition Cadillac ELR
    2014 Cadillac ELR Saks Fifth Avenue: Plug-In Bling For Model S Money

    General consensus is that Cadillac's range-extended ELR coupe is too expensive. At $75,995, they may have a point--that's a lot of extra dough for a car based on the $34,995 Chevrolet Volt. So the best thing to do to draw attention to the ELR would be to make it cheaper, right? Not exactly. At...

  • 2014 Honda CR-Z HPD Supercharged
    2014 Honda CR-Z HPD: Performance Up, Economy Down For Hybrid Hatch?

    Poor Honda. It launches the CR-Z, perhaps hoping to rekindle the spirit of the much-beloved 1980s CR-X lines, but when the car is released it doesn't really please anyone. As a sporty hatchback, it isn't fast enough for enthusiasts. And as a hybrid, it isn't economical enough. The 2014 Honda CR-Z...

  • 2014 BMW i3
    BMW i3 Demand Will Be Strong In U.S. Too, Says Executive

    Early demand for BMW's i3 electric car in Europe looks set to continue when it debuts in the United States, according to the company's North American CEO. Despite plans to produce just 10,000 units in its first year, BMW has considered expanding production after 8,000 reservations were made on the...

  • 2014 Mazda Mazda3
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Mazda 3

    Even conventional gasoline cars--no plugs, no hybrids, no turbos--can be green. And we've long been looking forward to the debut of the 2014 Mazda 3, an all-new generation of the compact hatchback and sedan that have always been among the more rewarding cars to drive in the segment. With Mazda's...

  • 2014 Mazda 3, test drive, Atlanta region, Oct 2013

    The 2014 Mazda 3 is the one of the more eagerly-awaited compact cars hereabouts, and now we've had a chance to spend 90 minutes behind the wheel. During a recent test drive that brought together Best Car To Buy 2014 finalists, every High Gear Media editor got a chance to drive a variety of vehicles through the scenic rolling hills of Georgia. Collectively, we swapped cars, compared notes, and winnowed down the field to each site's final nominees. MORE: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014: The Nominees We still need to spend more time in a Mazda 3 to do a proper fuel-economy test; our...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV  -  First Drive, Portland, July 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV

    What do you call an all-electric minicar that has elements of the Chevy Volt, can spin its drive wheels if you have a heavy foot--and still ranks as the most efficient plug-in car sold in the U.S. this year? We'd call it the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. And it's one of our five nominees for Green Car...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, test drive in Hell, Michigan
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel

    The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is a somewhat daring car, and one that diesel fans have been urging a U.S. maker to sell for years, if not decades. It's the first diesel-engined passenger vehicle sold by General Motors since 1986, and it's a fully modern car with the latest in emissions control...

  • 2014 Fiat 500 Abarth
    Fiat 500 To Match MINI Cooper, Offer Endless Variants In Growing Range?

    While basing a selection of models on the same platform is nothing new these days, only MINI has managed to spin a whole range of cars off a minicar designed in the 1950s. If Fiat gets its way over the next few years, MINI won't be alone for long. According to Autocar, Fiat's global head of design...

  • 2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 BMW i3

    The 2014 BMW i3 is the most audacious expansion of a well-known car brand in many years. BMW--the maker of "ultimate driving machines"--is using electric propulsion, a carbon-fiber reinforced body, and a Scandinavian Modern interior not in an expensive luxury sedan, but in a subcompact hatchback...

  • 2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013
    BMW's 'i' Electric Car Brand Shrugs Off SUV Option

    BMW surprised its traditionalist owners when releasing the X5 SUV back in 1999, but there's no risk of the same happening in its new electric brand. The automaker has confirmed that the cleaner, greener side of the its range, BMW i, won't get an SUV option, even though a range of other vehicles is...

  • 2014 Toyota Prius V

    Receiving a 'Recommended' rating from the journalists at Consumer Reports isn't the only automotive accolade to aim for, but it's certainly one of the biggest. Losing that Recommended rating is therefore something to be avoided. It's also something the Toyota Prius V wagon has failed to avoid following the magazine's most recent assessment. Due to its poor small overlap frontal crash test performance in the recent round of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) testing, the Prius V (as well as the Toyota Camry, RAV4 and ageing Audi A4) has lost that Consumer Reports seal of approval...

  • 2014 Scion iQ
    Want A 2014 Scion iQ? Buy One Now; It May Die Next Year

    Scion's slow-selling iQ minicar might not be long for this world, and the news has come from an unusual source. Aston Martin chief Ulrich Bez has revealed to Autocar that the Cygnet was canned because Toyota itself is stopping production of the iQ--sold in most markets under the Toyota brand, but...

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta 5-door
    2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost Priced, 45 MPG Highway Too

    Ever since Mitsubishi revealed its gas-sipping Mirage was capable of 40 mpg combined, we've awaited the figures for Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost Fiesta with interest. That wait is now at an end, with Ford's customer website and the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov website both confirming the three-cylinder...

  • 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid
    New 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid Priced From $35,970

    The 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid will start at $35,970, and will be available with both FWD and AWD, and in multiple trim levels.

  • Teaser for 2014 MINI Cooper
    New MINI Cooper Teased, Win A Trip To The Unveiling: Video

    The classic Mini was one of the first true economy cars, both in terms of frugality and in offering purchase price that regular people could afford. Since BMW's resurrection of the badge its priorities have shifted a little to capitalize on the car's fashion status, but that doesn't mean the new...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV  -  First Drive, Portland, July 2013
    Chevy Spark EV Electric Car: No Retail Sales In Canada, Europe

    It's a frequently asked question: Will the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV be sold where I live? (Assuming you don't already live in California or Oregon, where the subcompact electric car has been on sale since June--or South Korea, where it's made.) General Motors had earlier announced that sales of the...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life