Advice

The Toyota Prius is by far the most common hybrid car on U.S. roads, which means there are a lot of them out there for sale as used cars. A reader wrote to ask what she should keep in mind when starting to shop for a used Toyota Prius hybrid. What follows are some quick notes from our editors...

Slowly, the economic recession is winding down and consumer moods are improving. Plus, today's new cars get better gas mileage than they did just a few years ago. Is this year the best time to buy a new car? According to several industry analysts quoted in The Detroit News, the answer is...

We get asked a lot whether winter weather makes electric cars impractical. Short answer: No. We even rounded up some of the best electric-cars-in-winter stories last month. But it's a fact of physics that a plug-in electric car will have a longer range in temperate Southern California than in the...

The average household in America consumes more than 11,000 kWh of electricity per year, much of it during certain peak daytime hours. Many utility companies benefit from this by applying the law of supply and demand; as demand goes up, so do prices. Off-peak (late at night, for example)...

Volkswagen has sold small numbers of its Touareg Hybrid crossover utility vehicle for two years now, but it's never had a mass-market hybrid entry. That will be the role of the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, a new entry this year that complements VW's long-established line of fuel-efficient TDI...

The new 2013 Ford Fusion is stunning on the street; it may well be the best-looking mid-size sedan on the market. And it comes with no fewer than five different powertrains, all of them as or more fuel efficient as those in the previous Fusion sedan. The first Fusion in 2005 started to re-establish...

Last week, we announced all six nominees for the Green Car Reports 2013 Best Car To Buy award. Now, you can see them all on video, courtesy of last week's Los Angeles Auto Show and our crack video-editing team. As we revealed, our nominees for the Best Green Car To Buy 2013 award are: 2013 Chevy...

The 2013 Ford C-Max is the first car from any U.S. manufacturer to take aim directly at the legendary Toyota Prius hybrid. Derived from a small "people carrier" of the sort that are common in Europe, it's Ford's first-ever dedicated hybrid--a vehicle sold with no gasoline-only equivalent (at least...

There's nothing like a bargain price on a brand-new car. And since Suzuki has announced that it'll stop selling cars in the U.S., there are bargains galore on new Suzuki models. But is buying a brand-new car from a departing manufacturer a good deal? That depends on how the carmaker exits; unlike...

Imagine the following scenario: you and your partner are rapidly approaching retirement, looking to downsize your car, and trying to plan for your financial future. You’re ready to buy a new car, but you want something that’s relatively green and cheap to run. Could the 2013 Chevrolet...

If you drive an electric car, hybrid, diesel or other green vehicle day-to-day, you might like to know that you can rent similar when you go abroad, or even when you fly across country to visit relatives. Luckily, many rental and car-sharing firms offer green vehicles on their fleets, and some even...

Just like humans, lithium-ion battery packs don’t like extremes of temperature, which is why automakers often build plug-in cars with liquid-cooled battery packs. Unlike the 2012 Chevrolet Volt and 2012 Tesla Model S however, the Nissan Leaf doesn't have any liquid cooling for its battery...

General Motors is recalling 413,418 Chevrolet Cruzes in the U.S. to modify the engine shield under the vehicle. The recall, which affects 2011 and 2012 model year vehicles, is designed to fix the engine shield to prevent liquids becoming trapped in it, creating a fire risk. GM will also fix some...

Round, black, and easily forgettable--that's your average car tire. Often, we don't think about them until we need to change them, whether the tread is wearing low or we get a puncture. However, it's well worth considering them more often, as not only are they vital to your safety, but tires also...

Remember Michael DeGusta, the guy who indadvertedly ‘bricked’ his oh-so-expensive Tesla Roadster after storing it in an almost-empty state for nearly two months? In the case of DeGusta’s Tesla, the car used most of the remaining charge trying to keep itself warm, but the story did...

If you drive a plug-in car or a hybrid, the chance are you’ll be familiar with the concept of regenerative braking. But although regenerative braking might be the preferred way to slow down a plug-in or hybrid car, it could mean that your car’s traditional friction brakes don’t...

A little over a week ago, we told you that Nissan had announced a complementary voluntary service campaign for all 2011/12 Nissan Leafs. With Nissan strongly encouraging owners to have their Leafs updated to the latest operating system, we decided to get the software in our own 2011 Leaf upgraded...

We get a lot of questions about greener or more fuel-efficient cars. But we rarely get questions about how to drive less. A cheerful little post and infographic by the delightfully named Mr. Money Mustache highlights the true cost of commuting to jobs that are no longer within walking or biking...

It’s October, and for thousands of motorists in colder states that means only one thing: winter is on the way. But as the trees start to turn to golden reds, the winds start to blow and fall quickly turns to winter, here are five things you should do to help your car keep its gas mileage high...

We all know that the venerable Toyota Prius is the most well-known of all hybrids on the market today, both in terms of numbers made and its impressive gas mileage. But if you’re in the market for a used hybrid you might be surprised to know that a used 2006-2010 Honda Civic Hybrid might be...