2018
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As the industry marches toward greener cars, battery and hybrid drivetrains are expanding into vehicle segments never before concerned with fuel economy ratings or much with emissions. No segment is excluded from this progress, not even luxury grand tourers. Toyota, along with its luxury division Lexus, is the king of hybrids, so it was no surprise when the stunning LC 500 unveiled in 2016 included a hybrid variant--the LC 500h. In a week of testing the 2018 Lexus LC 500h it’s clear that choosing the hybrid model is no compromise over the V-8 model. ALSO SEE: 2019 Lexus ES revealed...
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Nissan Leaf Pro-Pilot Assist and range-anxiety review
Airport runs are a regular challenge for electric cars. You need to use less than half the range so you can get home, and leave plenty of margin.
Eric C. Evarts -
All else equal, which Honda Clarity would you buy? Twitter poll results
A majority of those who took the poll—53 percent—were most interested in the Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, with its 48-mile electric range, backed up by another 292 miles of range from its gas tank.
Eric C. Evarts -
2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: weekend drive review
For several years, the Chevrolet Volt was the sole plug-in hybrid with electric range notably above 20 miles—though it became clear Chevy never figured out how to market its virtues to the public at large. Now it has a strong competitor in the form of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, a...
John Voelcker -
2018 Nissan Leaf electric car: Is there a fast-charging problem?
Nissan Leaf owners have found that the car's electronic controls dial back charging speeds with each successive fast charge on any given trip.
Eric C. Evarts -
2018 Hyundai Ioniq Electric "Unlimited" subscription more limited this year
While global demand for the Hyundai Ioniq Electric appears to be strong, supplies have remained limited. The battery-electric compact hatchback, rated at 124 miles of range by the EPA, forgoes the "weird styling" of contenders like the previous Nissan Leaf. In the U.S., however, the all-electric...
John Voelcker -
“The Tesla Model S was a moment. The Model 3 is a product.” That pair of sentences perfectly summarized the several hours we spent last month with the 2018 Tesla Model 3 kindly loaned to us by reader Jeff Southern of Atlanta. We’d covered more than 100 miles on a variety of highways, back roads, and suburban stop-and-go arterials, testing everything from full-on acceleration to cruise control, on routes from straight-ahead six-lane Interstates to twisty mountain back roads. The Tesla Model 3 turns out to be better, in some ways, than its advance press made us fear...
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Battery life of 2018 Nissan Leaf vs 2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric cars: what manuals suggest
It's one of the major questions for any electric-car buyer: How long will the battery pack last? And what would it cost to replace it if I do need a new one sometime down the road? Now a new video looks at that question, comparing the different thermal-management technologies in the batteries of...
John Voelcker -
2018 Honda Accord Hybrid sedan to go on sale Friday, March 23
While mid-size sedans are losing the U.S. sales battle to crossover utility vehicles, they still sell hundreds of thousands of units each year. An entirely redesigned Honda Accord launched for 2018 just a few months after a redesigned version of its U.S. arch-rival the Toyota Camry, but the Accord...
John Voelcker -
2018 Honda Accord Hybrid rated by EPA at 47 mpg combined
The EPA has now released the fuel-efficiency ratings for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid, and they came in 1 mpg below the combined number the company had hoped to reach. At a drive event last fall, Honda said it hoped the redesigned Accord Hybrid could manage the same fuel-efficiency ratings as last...
John Voelcker -
2018 BMW i3s first drive review: sportier and nearly as efficient
BMW's Test Fest in Palm Springs, California, at The Thermal Club attracts a broad range of cars. The star of the show is the 600-horsepower 2018 BMW M5. But before I can test that wild sport sedan on the track, I’ll do my best to balance my carbon footprint in the new 2018 BMW i3s. BMW has...
Kirk Bell -
For six months, one in five Prius sales has been a plug-in hybrid
A funny thing happened to Toyota Prius hybrid sales last month. Almost one in three Prius hybrids sold in the U.S. were the Prius Prime model—the one with a plug. Toyota may be the large automaker least friendly to cars that plug in, so what's that all about? DON'T MISS: Toyota Prius hybrid...
John Voelcker -
The first generation of mass-priced electric cars with ranges of 60 to 90 miles simply didn't have enough range to be used outside predictable daily commute duties and local errands around town. Sure, four-fifths of vehicles in the U.S. cover less than 40 miles a day—but that other fifth matters a lot when paying $30,000-plus for a new vehicle. So we were eager to get our hands on a 2018 Nissan Leaf, the second generation of the world's highest-selling electric car, EPA-rated at 151 miles of range. DON'T MISS: 2018 Nissan Leaf review We spent four days with a 2018 Leaf SL, the...
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2018 Fiat 500e preview
When the Fiat 500e electric minicar launched in 2013, its range was rated at 87 miles, but its most distinctive feature was its wickedly fun-to-drive character. Six years later, the fun driving remains the same—and the range has fallen slightly to 84 miles, based on changes to EPA test...
John Voelcker -
2019 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid video preview
As they say: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The first Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, launched for 2011, wasn't one of the better examples of the class for drivability. But Hyundai has updated its mid-size hybrid three times since then, with each generation getting markedly better. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
2018 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid released at Chicago auto show
What the auto industry calls a "mid-cycle refresh" can range from indistinguishable to very evident. The 2018 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid falls into the latter category, with new front and rear styling, changes to the interior and dashboard, and numerous added safety and connectivity features. The hybrid...
John Voelcker -
2018 Lexus RX 450hL hybrid three-row SUV priced from $51,600
Lexus invented the idea of a luxury hybrid utility vehicle in a version of its RX crossover well over a decade ago, but sales haven't been strong of late. Cheap gasoline, better fuel efficiency from all types of vehicles due to rising CAFE rules, and a lack of interest in hybrids have all hurt the...
John Voelcker -
Why a Fiat 500e driver got a Honda Clarity Fuel Cell as his next green car: low cost
When marketing executive Chris Baccus leased a 2015 Fiat 500e three years ago, he intended to keep his 2007 BMW 335i as a "fun car," and use the electric Fiat just for commuting. Within six months, he'd sold the BMW altogether. Part of his interest in the Fiat, he admitted, came from an article...
John Voelcker -
Nearly a year ago, we published a gas-mileage review on the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid, the South Korean brand's Toyota Prius challenger. We saw 49.5 miles per gallon over 565 miles of driving. Now, we've tested the Ioniq Hybrid in more extreme conditions, on the cold, wintry roads of Detroit, Michigan. Not only did we cover exactly 400 miles on those frosty roads, we did it during the madness of the Detroit Auto Show, which led us to spend more time than usual driving in stop-and-go city conditions. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage review The Ioniq Hybrid is by far the most...
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2018 Kia Niro preview
Most highly fuel-efficient dedicated hybrids are compact five-door hatchbacks, the most popular vehicle segment globally. When Korean maker Kia was drawing up plans for its first dedicated hybrid vehicle, it took a different path. The wagon it came up with—it calls the Kia Niro a crossover...
John Voelcker -
Looking at leases on 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car: how do they stack up?
This past Tuesday, the 2018 Nissan Leaf—an entirely redesigned second generation of the pioneering electric car—officially went on sale in the U.S. It's quicker and has more features than its predecessors, not to mention a significantly longer range: 151 miles combined, according to the...
John Voelcker -
2018 Nissan Leaf electric car gets 151-mile EPA range rating
When the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car was unveiled last fall, the company said it would have a range of "140 miles or more." That had risen to "150 miles or more" by the end of last year, and now we have the final confirmed figure. The EPA combined range rating for the second-generation Leaf is...
John Voelcker -
Special-edition 2018 Smart Fortwo electric minicar marks 10 years of two-seater in US
Birthed from the uncommon alliance between watch company Swatch and Mercedes-Benz, Smart's goal was to bring a stylish city car to the masses with a level of personalization not seen in other models. The first Fortwo rolled off the line at Smartville (in Hambach, France) almost 20 years ago, but it...
Mark Stevenson -
2018 Kia Soul EV gets bigger battery, range boost from 93 to 111 miles
Updates to conventional cars come in a predictable pattern. Once a new model is launched, it gets only minor tweaks to features, prices, and paint colors for two or three years. Then in the third or fourth year, it gets what the industry calls a "mid-cycle refresh": some updated sheetmetal, perhaps...
John Voelcker