2019

  • 2019 Kia Niro EV

    At the LA Auto Show, Kia has provided some long-awaited U.S. market details for the Niro EV. Among the most important ones: With a large 64-kwh battery pack, it will offer an EPA-rated range of 239 miles. The Niro, which Kia describes as a “multi-function crossover format,” is built on a dedicated green-vehicle platform shared with the Hyundai Ioniq, with all versions powered by at least a full hybrid system. The Niro EV’s electric motor system, making 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque, should give it perky performance; and Kia says that the floor-mounted battery...

  • 2019 Mazda 3, 2018 LA Auto Show
    2019 Mazda 3 sedan and hatch aim for an X factor–and that’s not electric

    Mazda has revealed its 2019 Mazda 3 compact car, in new-generation form, at the 2018 LA Auto Show. It’s not surprising, given the brand’s go-it-alone strategy this decade, that the new ‘3’ appears to take a different path than key global compact-car rivals in nearly every...

  • 2019 Toyota Prius
    Toyota Prius AWD-e earns 50 mpg with all-weather treads

    If you want one of the highest-mileage non-plug-in vehicles on the market—like the Toyota Prius, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Niro, or Honda Insight, there’s been one quite significant deal-breaker for many Snow Belt families: All-wheel drive simply isn’t a possibility. That’s due to...

  • 2019 Toyota RAV4
    2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid first drive review: All the bits and pieces in place

    The 2019 RAV4 Hybrid is Toyota’s way of flexing its corporate might. It’s as if the automaker called on each of its departments to create the new hybrid crossover SUV. The folks from design coughed up some 4Runner and Tacoma cues to give it a butch look. The Lexus team chiseled the...

  • 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid  -  First Drive, Santa Barbara CA, Nov. 2019
    2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid: First drive of 17-mile, 35-mpg plug-in crossover

    To understand the complicated path for Subaru’s first plug-in hybrid, first we needed to hike a mile in the automaker’s shoes. OK, more like 10 miles, actually—driving the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid gingerly up a dusty, bouldered, steep trail, past signage cautioning...

  • 2019 Jaguar I-Pace
    Finalist for Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2019: Jaguar I-Pace

    The Jaguar I-Pace is a front-runner—the first fully electric, longer-range vehicle from a long-established luxury brand. But it’s not a “Tesla-fighter” as the I-Pace has often been called. More accurately it exists not to conquest Tesla drivers but to keep...

  • 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric

    In our quest to find Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy, the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric is shaping up to be the “no drama” candidate. By now, we’ve had four distinct experiences with this small, fully electric crossover—or tall hatchback, depending on how you see it. That’s included plodding along on congestion-choked Los Angeles boulevards; zigzagging along tight canyon roads just outside LA; running over potholed, battered suburban streets and highways around Detroit; and then, specifically for our Best Car To Buy roundup, at an undisclosed location in...

  • 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
    Hyundai unplugs its electric-car subscription plan

    Hyundai’s “Unlimited+” electric-car subscription plan, which was only offered in Southern California but originally destined for wider rollout, won’t be coming back at all on the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Electric, the automaker confirmed last week. When the program was first...

  • 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric  -  First Drive  -  Hollywood, CA
    2019 Hyundai Kona Electric: first drive of affordable 258-mile crossover

    Our first test-drive time with the Hyundai Kona Electric included plenty of what’s very familiar to Los Angelenos: plodding along to the next stoplight on wide boulevards, waiting another few minutes, and repeating—with occasional squirts into traffic gaps and quick merges into the...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight recalled for rearview camera failure

    The 2019 Honda Insight hybrid hasn't been on sale for long; and yet Honda is already recalling more than 6,000 of them for a rearview camera failure. The problem affects another 226,000 vehicles—2018 Accord models, possibly including some Accord Hybrids. The screen may show up blank, with...

  • 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, photographed outside Tesla Store, Mount Kisco, NY
    2019 Jaguar I-Pace real-world review: 3 days with the sexy electric crossover

    To the world’s surprise, the first all-electric luxury utility vehicle to follow the Tesla Model X into production did not come from the German makes of Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz. Instead, it arrived from that trio’s smaller, scrappier British rival, Jaguar Land Rover. The 2019 Jaguar...

  • 2019 Volvo XC60
    Charging cord for 2019 Volvo XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid may start fire, will be recalled

    A certain charging cord included in a small number of 2019 Volvo XC60 crossover SUVs may overheat and shock owners, or start a fire, the automaker said this month. Volvo announced a recall for 35 Volvo XC60 T8 crossover SUVs earlier this month to replace the charging cords. The small number of...

  • 2019 Honda Insight

    That sound you hear isn’t the 2019 Honda Insight’s hybrid powertrain whirring along. It’s the undertaker coming for the vaunted Honda Civic nameplate. The 2019 Insight isn’t just a better hybrid, it’s a better compact car. I spent a week moseying around in an Insight Touring, a well-equipped $29,000 compact sedan with mid-size space for passengers and cargo that averaged about 45 mpg no matter how I drove it. READ THIS: 2019 Honda Insight first drive mpg review: 55 mpg from hybrid sedan With its soft leather trim, power-adjustable front seats, quality sound...

  • 2019 Chevrolet Volt
    2019 Chevy Volt gets higher prices with more equipment

    In June, we heard that the 2019 Chevrolet Volt will come with a faster charger and more luxury features. Now, CarsDirect has learned how much those features will add to the price. The price of the base Volt LT model will go up $300 to $34,395, including destination and before any applicable federal...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight hybrid earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award

    In its latest round of safety tests, the IIHS has awarded the 2019 Honda Insight hybrid its Top Safety Pick+ award. The Top Safety Pick+ is the Institute's highest award, given to cars that perform well in a wide battery of crashes, headlight evaluations, and automatic emergency braking tests. The...

  • 2019 Ford Fusion Energi
    2019 Ford Fusion Energi gets longer electric range

    Ford is boosting the battery size and electric range of its Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid sedan for 2019. The new battery will store 9 kwh, up from 7 kwh, to give the 2019 Fusion Energi a range of 25 electric miles, up from 21 miles. The bigger battery should make the Fusion Energi more competitive...

  • 2018 Toyota Prius c
    2019 Toyota Prius C preview: $900 price increase, fewer options

    The most affordable hybrid on the market just got a little less so. The 2019 Toyota Prius C will cost $900 more, with a sticker of $22,450, including destination, based on a recent official price list released by Toyota and shared by our partners at CarsDirect. Toyota has replaced its traditional...

  • 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e
    2019 Land Rover releases pricing for Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid

    By 2024, Land Rover will have a whole new lineup of hybrid and electric luxury SUVs. As we learned yesterday, that lineup will include plug-in hybrid and electric versions of its small Evoque crossover SUV. Now the company has released pricing for its largest, most luxurious plug-in hybrid, the...

  • 2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class aerodynamic testing

    Efficiency comes in many automotive forms: electric powertrains, continuously variable transmissions, smaller-displacement engines. More aerodynamic designs help efficiency, too. With the 2019 A-Class, Mercedes-Benz says it's raised the aerodynamic bar. Mercedes-Benz claims that the new 2019 A-Class sedan has the lowest aerodynamic drag of any production car in history. Aerodynamic drag consists of two parts. The drag coefficient measures how slippery the design is. It combines with the frontal area of the car, or how much air it has to push out of the way as it runs down the road. Automakers...

  • 2019 Chevrolet Volt
    2019 Chevy Volt gets faster charging, stronger regen, more luxury features

    Updates to the 2019 Chevrolet Volt will help experienced electric-car drivers maximize their electric driving and minimize the times the gas engine needs to run. The biggest improvement is a new 7.2-kw on-board charger that can effectively cut charge times in half. The advantage for Volt drivers...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight first drive mpg review: 55 mpg from hybrid sedan

    Last week, we drove the new 2019 Honda Insight sedan and found Honda's newest compact hybrid roomy and comfortable. During our drive around Minneapolis, its exurbs, and into Wisconsin, we wanted to put to the test Honda's claims that its 1.5-liter inline-4 and 96-kw electric motor combination could...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight video review

    You could be forgiven for not remembering the two Honda vehicles that have worn an Insight badge before. The first was a quirky hatchback two-seater that struggled for acceptance with mainstream buyers. The second was a Prius-like Prius fighter, egg shape and all. This 2019 Honda Insight is the...

  • 2019 Hyundai Ioniq
    2019 Hyundai Ioniq preview

    The 2019 Hyundai Ioniq returns this year as an inexpensive alternative for green car shoppers on a budget. Its lineup has fully matured now; the Ioniq is available as an affordable hybrid, a slightly more expensive plug-in hybrid, or a fully electric model available in limited areas. We say: green...

  • 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
    2019 Chevy Silverado will offer new turbo-4 that can run on 2 cylinders

    Chevrolet announced last week that its upcoming 2019 Silverado full-size pickup will offer a new turbo-4 in place of the base V-6 in some models. Like the V-8s in some of GM's large pickups, the new engine will have active cylinder management that cuts two of the four cylinders during light loads...

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