costs

Every year, as the weather improves in the spring, gasoline prices start to creep higher. But this year, could it be that the pattern is broken? The recent run-up to record levels--California is now paying an average of $4.26 per gallon--might be halted, even reversed, if wholesale oil prices...

As of the middle of April, gasoline is approaching $4.00 per gallon across the United States and oil is surging past $110 per barrel. More and more energy observers are talking about "$5 per gallon fuel" here in the U.S. So how do you minimize your gasoline costs and maximize your mileage? What...

Yesterday Tesla Motors Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Ownership Experience George Blankenship wrote an update on the upcoming Model S electric sedan on the company blog. Alongside an update on the alpha testing of Tesla’s much anticipated seven seat sedan, Blankenship outlined the...

Turmoil in Libya is making global oil markets nervous. That means higher gasoline prices. Cue the creeping unease and outright fear that Our American Way Of Life May Be In Peril. Well, it's Monday morning, and we have a brisk message for our U.S. readers: Shut up and stop whining. So gas is over $3...

Dominion Virginia Power announced yesterday that is waiting for Virginia State Corporation Commission approval to offer two electricity tariffs exclusively to electric vehicle owners in a bid to encourage customers to make the switch to electric cars. As we’ve discovered before, more and more...

With all the talk of purchase price, charging costs, tax incentives, congestion charging exemptions and maintenance costs for EVs, there's one financial area which often gets overlooked - insuring them. With so few EVs on the road it's been difficult to gauge whether they'll cost more or less than...

Thanks to the limited availability of electric cars on the market thus far and lack of parity between EV models and their gasoline or diesel counterparts, comparing the relative costs of the three isn't the easiest of tasks. The human race wouldn't have got very far if we'd only ever done what was...

We already knew that the quintessential hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, costs a little more to repair than non-hybrid cars. Now, the news gets worse: Insurance rates for hybrids are going to rise, probably at a faster rate than auto insurance premiums overall, according to Mitchell International's...

Not a lot of buyers end up choosing between a Toyota Prius hybrid and a Cadillac Escalade full-size sport-utility vehicle for their new car. Now, in addition to its top-of-the-charts gas mileage--50 mpg on the EPA combined cycle--there's another reason to opt for the Prius: Its earlier models have...

Auto industry analysts get paid to issue reports, and most of them are vastly better at data analysis and number crunching than we'll ever be. That doesn't mean, however, that sometimes their data isn't misleading. It's important to keep context in mind, and not miss the forest for the trees...

When auto editors go on vacation, we rent cars too. Which is how a pair of very plain 2010 Toyota Corollas in South Africa taught us a few lessons about fuel economy, green value, and what other countries drive. The bottom line: U.S. buyers get a lot more car, for a lot less money, than elsewhere...

Being a pioneer isn't easy. Just ask BMW North America CEO, Jim O'Donnell. As the German automaker continues to test 450 electric Minis (aptly called Mini Es) in New York, New Jersey and L.A., creating the charging network has proven challenging. "We are learning a heck of a lot just about the...

There are many excellent reasons to buy a Toyota Prius, new or used, leading off with the hybrid's superb fuel economy: 50 miles per gallon for the new 2010 Toyota Prius. Now you can add to that list another justification. It turns out that the Toyota Prius will save you money on insurance. The...