Featured (was)
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Former General Motors product czar Bob Lutz, now retired for a few years, is largely respected within the auto industry. He stopped flying his MIG fighter jet when he turned 80, as the story goes, but he remains a larger-than-life persona in an industry with fewer and fewer of them. He's still involved with range-extended electric truck maker Via Motors--and he's still sought out for his opinions on the news of the day. DON'T MISS: Life With Tesla Model S: Battery Degradation Update Last week, he published an opinion piece in Road & Track, the enthusiast magazine, in which he suggests...
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Tokyo Intros, Tesla Battery Life, Four-Motor Honda EV: The Week In Reverse (Video)Why is one family really happy that its Tesla Model S got destroyed? And, what car did we drive this week--but plan to report on next week? This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday, October 30, 2015. Friday, we reported from...
John Voelcker -
Honda's Electric Four-Motor CR-Z Prototype: We Drive ItThe idea of the four-motor electric car has been around since the start of the 20th century. One of Ferdinand Porsche's first ideas, in fact, was the Lohner-Porsche that debuted at the 1900 Paris World Fair, with a hub motor in each front wheel. Toss four electric motors in a car and you could have...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Honda Plug-In Hybrid To Offer 40-Mile Range, Use Fuel-Cell Vehicle's PlatformThe upcoming Honda dedicated plug-in hybrid will share a platform with the company's fuel-cell vehicle.
Stephen Edelstein -
Life With Tesla Model S: Battery Degradation UpdateLast summer, I wrote in this space about an apparent loss of battery capacity in my 2013 Tesla Model S after a three-month Supercharging binge. I wondered whether, despite assurances from Tesla Motors, the two events might have been related. My doubts had started when I noticed that, after a...
David Noland -
Honda Civic, Scion iA Drives; Tesla Reliability; Nissan Electric Aims: The Week In Reverse (Video)Why does Nissan think it can boost electric-car sales by a factor of 10 in just five years? And, what did VW say about electric cars as it prepared to launch its so-called "clean diesels"--which we now know weren't clean at all? This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at...
John Voelcker -
Back in November 2009, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said 20 percent of his company's sales would be electric cars by 2020--and that electric cars would make up 10 percent of global sales. But Ghosn was widely pillored for his projections just a few years later, when Nissan Leaf sales proved slower than expected after its December 2010 launch. As the car approaches its fifth birthday, around 200,000 Leafs have been delivered. It's the best-selling electric car in history, but still just a tiny fraction of the company's sales. DON'T MISS: Nissan And Renault Have Now Sold More Than 250,000 Electric...
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Tesla Model S: Too Many Problems To Recommend, Consumer Reports SaysEvery honeymoon comes to an end sooner or later, and so it was with Consumer Reports and its former paramour, the Tesla Model S electric car. As part of its yearly reliability report on cars sold in the U.S. market, the respected consumer magazine said it could no longer recommend the Model S...
John Voelcker -
2016 Honda Civic: First Drive Of New 35-MPG Compact SedanThe 2016 Honda Civic may be the most radical redesign of the Civic in its 40-plus-year history. The tenth generation of the car that made Honda's reputation, both in North America and around the world, is longer, lower, and wider, with a racy fastback shape and its first mainstream turbocharged...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Autopilot: The 10 Most Important Things You Need To KnowTesla Motors is now rolling out its much-awaited "Autopilot" software for the Model S electric car, and it has revealed a number of things about how the autonomous driving system is intended to work. While an explanatory conference call on Wednesday afternoon lasted less than an hour, Tesla CEO...
John Voelcker -
2016 Toyota Prius: Power Outputs, Dimensions, AWD Revealed As Info Trickles OutToyota releases more information on the 2016 Prius.
Stephen Edelstein -
2016 Toyota Prius: A Few Details On Engine, Hybrid System ReleasedWhile it has unveiled the all-new 2016 Prius hybrid twice--once at a glitzy event in Las Vegas, once at the Frankfurt Motor Show--Toyota has been very stingy with technical information about the powertrain that will let the car earn promised EPA combined ratings of 55 mpg or better. At an event in...
John Voelcker -
As Volkswagen works overtime to figure out what changes it will make to 482,000 TDI diesel cars sold in the U.S. with a "cheat mode" that let them comply with emission rules, an obvious question arises. What will those cars be like to drive and own when they're fixed? Consumer Reports, one of only a few media outlets with extensive testing facilities, took its first crack at answering that question in a video released Friday. DON'T MISS: Why Did Volkswagen Cheat On Diesel Emissions In Its TDI Cars? The magazine figured out how to keep a pair of Volkswagen Jetta TDI models in their...
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Tesla Model S Electric Car: Changes From 2012 Through 2015 (UPDATED)Tesla Motors only reveals its production figures every quarter, but it has now likely built up to 90,000 of its all-electric Model S luxury sport sedan. The company also doesn't group its changes and updates into model years, but makes running changes in the cars whenever the updates are tested...
John Voelcker -
How Will VW Fix My Diesel Car, And When? A List Of All ModelsVolkswagen's U.S. CEO, Michael Horn, spent several hours yesterday testifying in front of a Congressional panel on the company's growing TDI diesel-emission cheating scandal. From that testimony, we can now break down how many cars and which models were affected, how the company expects to fix...
John Voelcker -
Should The Tesla Model X Be Called An SUV? Crossover? Wagon? Hatchback?The Tesla Model X electric luxury vehicle has widely been referred to as an SUV or a crossover utility vehicle by the media, the company, and buyers. And indeed, it's taller and somewhat boxier than the sleek Model S "sedan," which is actually a hatchback. But we've had some energetic discussions...
John Voelcker -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Sep: Waiting On Better 2016 ModelsSales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. had a low-to-average month in September, with the sole bright spot being the astounding sales of the BMW i3 electric hatchback. Two new 2016 models, the entirely redesigned Chevy Volt and the longer-range 107-mile Nissan Leaf, should start this month, but...
John Voelcker -
VW’s Diesel Mess, Production Tesla Model X, 2016 Chevy Volt Ads: The Week In Reverse (Video)We have a lot more information about VW's diesel scandal, but no official solution yet for owners; the production Tesla Model X has made its grand entrance; and there are some controversial new ads for the Chevy Volt. This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car...
Bengt Halvorson -
The 2016 Chevrolet Volt, for which deliveries began just this week, is going into attack mode against the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius in a set of new ads. But in one of those ads, it almost feels as if GM is attacking its own (upcoming) product. They build on focus-group-themed ads that Chevy has launched against Ford, and its new F-150. ALSO SEE: Tesla Delivered 11,580 Cars In Q3; Can It Meet Full-Year Goal? In that one—the “grizzly bear spot,” as it’s come to be known—members of a focus group are asked if they’d use the steel cage or the aluminum cage...
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Volkswagen Diesel Pollution: How Dangerous To The Public, Your Family?Volkswagen has underscored that its diesel cars affected by its TDI emissions scandal are safe to drive. It highlights that on a special consumer site dedicated to information about these models, which include the 2009-2015 Jetta TDI, 2009-2014 Jetta SportWagen TDI, 2010-2015 Golf TDI, 2015 Golf...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla Model X Electric SUV: 257 Miles Of Range, 92 MPGeThe Tesla Model X achieves a maximum EPA-rated 257 miles of range.
Stephen Edelstein -
Why Did Volkswagen Cheat On Diesel Emissions In Its TDI Cars?The bad news for Volkswagen just keeps on coming. In the last week, the company has fired much of its upper management, eradicated all mention of its TDI diesels from its U.S. website, and admitted that 11 million diesel vehicles have software that enabled them to pass emission tests while emitting...
John Voelcker -
Elon Musk Hints At 50 Percent More Range For Tesla Model S: VideoElon Musk says Tesla could achieve over 600 miles of range within two years.
Stephen Edelstein -
VW, Audi TDI Diesel Cars Had 'Defeat Device' That Violated EPA Rules, 500K Cars Recalled: BREAKINGThe announcement came out of the blue: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host a media call at 12 noon EST today, Friday, September 18, to make an announcement regarding a major automaker." When it was all over, German carmakers Volkswagen and Audi had been ordered to recall half a...
John Voelcker