2018

  • 2018 Mercedes-Benz C350e, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2017

    It's been two and a half years since we drove the plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan at its San Francisco launch event. It took a while for the car to go on sale in the U.S., which it did in January 2017. Now we've had a chance to spend a weekend with the Mercedes-Benz C350e and get a sense of what it's like to live with in the real world. DON'T MISS: Mercedes-Benz C350e Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive (Jun 2015) When we got the car, a 2018 model, in late November, its electric range and fuel-economy ratings still hadn't been finalized on the window sticker by the EPA. That...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car, test-driven by Shiva of Fremont, California, Oct 2017
    2018 Nissan Leaf: an early Leaf driver's impressions (he has a Tesla too)

    First sales of the 2018 Nissan Leaf, the second generation of the pioneering electric car, should come this month. But Nissan has quietly been showing the 2018 Leaf to electric-car shoppers for several months now, hosting drives at dealerships and other venues. Several of our readers and...

  • 2018 BMW i3s
    2018 BMW i3s: range, efficiency lower for sportier model of electric car

    As a given generation of any vehicle ages, German companies in particular often spice up the allure of the aging car with new and sportier versions. Porsche is a master at rolling out new versions of its models across the entire life of a generation, but BMW has learned the trick too. Thus in the...

  • 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet, First Drive
    2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet first drive review: the perfect city car

    I try very hard to go into each review with an open mind, but in the case of the 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet, I was prepared to dislike it. I expected an anemic driving experience in a vehicle that was somehow both small and cumbersome. I thought the Smart would be an automotive...

  • 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, Dec 2017
    2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid first drive review (pricing from $28,840)

    Some plug-in hybrid models are easily distinguishable from the rest of the cars their maker sells. Others, like the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, are all but invisible. It takes a sharp eye to see the charging port door on the left-front fender or the trim and badging differences that distinguish...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid   [photo: owner 'Viking79']
    2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: early owner's first impressions

    We only published our first-drive report on the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid last week, and the car is just now showing up at Honda dealers across the country. But that means the first examples are already been bought and driven. A couple of readers indicated that they were among the buyers...

  • Frame from 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid "Beyond the Battery" ad

    With the launch of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid sedan, the Chevrolet Volt now has its first serious competition among long-range plug-in hybrids. About 25,000 second-generation Volts were sold last year, and this year's number will be about 20,000. Honda says it may sell about the same number of plug-in Claritys. On a media drive last week to give automotive journalists a look at the Clarity Plug-In just as it hit dealers, Honda addressed the question of marketing. DON'T MISS: Plug-in hybrid problem: buyers don't understand them at all The company showed the 30-second advertisement...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid drive, Napa Valley, Caifornia, Dec 2017
    2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive

    There's a new plug-in hybrid in town, and it could expand the audience for cars that provide useful electric range for daily driving while retaining an efficient gasoline engine for longer trips. The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is the third and most important model in the Clarity lineup...

  • First 2018 Nissan Leaf produced at assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, Dec 2017
    2018 Nissan Leaf electric car now rolling off lines in Tennessee

    The 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car will start to appear at Nissan dealers in January, the company said Monday. That availability came in an announcement that the second-generation electric car officially went into production the same day at Nissan's sprawling assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee...

  • 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE, Willamette Valley, Oregon, June 2017
    2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid video road test

    The 2018 Toyota Camry is the latest generation of the car that launched a category—the mid-size hybrid sedan—way back in 2007. While competitors in that segment now include the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima, the Camry Hybrid remains one of the most...

  • 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV preview

    The 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car is now arriving at Chevy dealers with no major changes—though drivers may find the heated steering wheel now turns itself on and off. Otherwise, the deletion of the map pocket on the back of the passenger seat from the 2LT trim level is the sole other...

  • 2018 Volvo XC90
    2018 Volvo XC90 plug-in hybrid SUV: bigger battery, slight range boost

    It's a shock to realize that the Volvo XC90 large luxury SUV is now in its third model year. The first new Volvo in more than five years when it debuted in 2016, the seven-seat XC90 was an entirely new design that redefined luxury in a Swedish vein and won numerous awards, including North American...

  • 2018 Jeep Wrangler

    Ahead of the next-generation 2018 Jeep Wrangler's debut, the EPA released fuel-economy estimates for the V-6 powered model of the archetypal SUV. They're higher, as are the ratings for pretty much every new model, courtesy of steadily rising corporate average fuel-economy rules for model years 2012 through 2025. The biggest help for the Wrangler is the addition of an 8-speed automatic to replace the archaic 5-speed automatic transmission in the current Jeep. DON'T MISS: Jeep Wrangler Diesel To Come Well Before Wrangler Hybrid New Wranglers equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission see...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid
    2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid starts at $34,290 with 47-mile range

    The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid will start at a recommended price of $34,290 including delivery, making it the least expensive plug-in hybrid sedan on the market this year. Honda says it will go on sale December 1, and it will be offered at all Honda dealers in the U.S. That means that for...

  • 2018 Hyundai Ioniq
    Finalist for Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2018: Hyundai Ioniq

    Hyundai is known in the auto industry as an aggressive and very capable competitor, and the world's largest makers watch it closely and take it very seriously. The company didn't introduce its first hybrid car in the U.S. until 2011 and, frankly, that year's hybrid Sonata sedan wasn't very good...

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf
    Finalist for Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2018: Nissan Leaf

    If any electric car aside from the Tesla Model 3 can be called "long-awaited," it would be the redesigned 2018 Nissan Leaf. First thought to arrive as a 2016 model, it was widely assumed to be a 2017 to go head-to-head with the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV launched last December. In the event, the...

  • 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV: minimal changes, same range and price

    With sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car rising every month, shoppers are inevitably curious about any changes to the Bolt for the 2018 model year, its second. Now the information is out, and buyers will find the 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV is virtually the same car as the 2017 model—with...

  • 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
    Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2018 finalist: Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid

    If ever a green family vehicle had a rocky launch, it would be the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. Only two months after deliveries of the eagerly awaited plug-in hybrid seven-seat minivan began in April, sales were halted for several when a potentially faulty diode was identified. In June, 1,368...

  • 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Feb 2016

    Toyota's popular RAV4 crossover utility vehicle will gain a new entry-level hybrid trim for the 2018 model year, offering a remarkably good price against a gasoline-only RAV4 crossover. The 2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid LE trim lets buyers choose the greater fuel efficiency of a hybrid powertrain for only $1,325 more than an equivalent gas-powered RAV4 LE with AWD. The LE version of the RAV4 Hybrid bundles hybrid power, additional amenities, and all-wheel drive at a starting price of $28,130. DON'T MISS: 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid: Gas Mileage Review News of the hybrid crossover's release came from a...

  • 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid
    2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid gas-mileage review: going the distance

    Toyota can’t be blamed for a lack of effort: The 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid is dripping with it. From the creased hood and cascading brow to the Modernist center console enclosed by flickers of chrome, the mid-size stalwart is anything but lazy. Our first, limited exposure to the hybrid sedan...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius Prime, Dallas, Texas
    2017 Toyota Prius Prime real-world gas mileage, electric range review

    The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is an automotive enigma. It proudly flaunts its eco-friendly credentials, yet its factory-rated 25 miles of electric range simply pales in comparison to the 53 miles advertised by the Chevrolet Volt. I hopped into a Titanium Glow (think beige) 2017 Prius Prime for a...

  • Nissan Leaf Nismo Concept, 2017 Tokyo Motor Show
    Sportier Nissan Leaf Nismo Concept for Tokyo show; powertrain upgrades unclear

    After announcing the 2018 Nissan Leaf in September, Nissan hinted that a Nismo variant was on the way to tap into a rather different electric car market. Now we've learned that a Nissan Leaf Nismo Concept is headed to the Tokyo Motor Show later in October, and that it will be more than just a...

  • 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid
    2018 Honda Accord Hybrid first drive review: lighter shade of green

    It’s easy for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid to get lost. Short of small “Hybrid” badges on the front fenders, not much on the car’s exterior says it's powered by electrons. There’s no plug-in variant for now (a role reserved to the Clarity Plug-In sedan), and the latest...

  • 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Catalina Island, CA, Sep 2017
    2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV: first drive of plug-in hybrid SUV

    Not too many people will ever drive the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, the plug-in hybrid version of the company's mid-size crossover utility vehicle. So it was fitting that the company launched the vehicle on dusty roads in the back country of Catalina Island: roads that not many people are...

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