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Imagine a smooth, quiet, comfortable largish sedan that emits nothing, with a range of 250 miles or more--one that pegs its driver as a person in the vanguard of advanced technology vehicles. The Tesla Model S electric car, you say? No, no, no: That would be Toyota's upcoming hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, on sale next year. DON'T MISS: Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars To Come From Toyota, Hyundai, Honda Today, the dedicated sedan model is known only as the "Fuel Cell Sedan." Many years in development, it will be sold in North America, Japan, and Europe, with the company projecting volumes of perhaps...
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2018 Nissan Leaf Renderings: How Conservative Will Design Be?It's long been acknowledged that the current Nissan Leaf electric car is a radical and distinctive design, just as the landmark 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid was. But some portion of potential buyers, who may be amenable to the benefits of driving a battery-electric vehicle, won't consider the Leaf...
John Voelcker -
Ford, Hyundai Dedicated Hybrids To Target 2016 Toyota Prius?It's been a quiet period for hybrid news lately, with the 2016 Toyota Prius launch delayed and still more than a year away. But further down the road, it appears that both Hyundai and Ford now plan to offer dedicated hybrids--vehicles designed specifically around a hybrid powertrain that offer no...
John Voelcker -
Every 2014 And 2015 Hybrid Car In The U.S.: Ultimate GuideTurn back the clock by one decade, and there were just four hybrid cars on sale in the U.S. One was the first-generation Toyota Prius. The original Honda Insight was still going strong as the most efficient vehicle on sale (and only plug-in cars still better it today). Honda also offered the Civic...
Antony Ingram -
GM's 200-Mile Electric Sonic EV For 2017: What We Know So Far: UPDATEDThe arrival of a moderately-priced battery electric car with a rated range of 200 miles will change the entire market for plug-in vehicles. When that will happen, and from which maker, remains open--though the likely suspects are Nissan, Tesla, and General Motors, with BMW as a long-shot outsider...
John Voelcker -
2014 BMW i3 REx Vs Chevy Volt: Range-Extended Electric Cars ComparedUntil recently, the Chevy Volt was the only range-extended electric car available in the U.S. I've driven a Volt for almost three years now, and it's been a splendid car--quiet, smooth, peppy, and amazingly economical. New REx on the block But now the Volt has a formidable new competitor: the new...
David Noland -
The Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla Motors seems to be in the news almost every day. Over the last two weeks, the company faced fallout over glitches in early Model S cars, and upgraded its powertrain warranty. It also turned the screws on states competing for its multibillion-dollar battery gigafactory. The company even worked on hiring hackers, to keep its future cars secure. This is Green Car Reports' video news for the weeks of August 11 and 18, 2014--and this time, we're all about Tesla. The quality and reliability of the Tesla Model S were front and center, with Consumer Reports...
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2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Still In Very Short Supply: Why?The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid received very positive reviews when it was launched almost a year ago. Its EPA fuel-efficiency rating of 47 mpg combined approaches that of the 50-mpg Toyota Prius, but the Accord is a more conventional looking mid-size sedan--a plus for many buyers. Yet sales have been...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S Drivetrain Warranty Rises To 8 Years, Same As Battery PackTesla will expand the drivetrain warranty for all Model S electric cars, including ones already on the road.
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevrolet Volts In Fleet Use: Might As Well Not Have A PlugChevy Volt owners, and even Chevrolet itself, are usually quite proud of the amount of miles the range-extended electric car covers on grid electricity. The company said last week that 63 percent of all Volt miles driven have been covered on grid power, totaling more than half a billion miles...
John Voelcker -
Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars: $50 For 300 Miles--Or Free To Fill Up?Electric cars are far cheaper to run than gasoline cars on a per-mile basis--and depending on the assumptions, they can be cheaper over their entire life too. And gasoline and diesel vehicles will get steadily more fuel-efficient through 2025 under a variety of global regulations. But what about...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S Drive-Unit Replacements: How Big A Problem?It was a car company's worst public-relations nightmare. Edmunds.com, the widely-read automotive website, bought a Tesla Model S for long-term testing in February 2013. After nine months and 11,000 miles, the car developed an ominous grinding noise under acceleration and deceleration. Under...
David Noland -
General Motors confirmed this morning that the revised 2016 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car will be released at next January's Detroit Auto Show. And the company released the first teaser image of the car, showing a more rounded rear to the liftgate of what will likely continue as a compact five-door hatchback. The Chevrolet press release noted that more than 65,000 electric Volts have been sold in the U.S. since it went on sale in December 2010. DON'T MISS: 2016 Chevrolet Volt To Launch Next Year: What We Know So Far That makes the Volt the best-selling plug-in electric car in the...
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Auto Industry Doing Fine In Meeting Gas-Mileage Goals, It Turns OutThe auto industry came very near to the precipice in 2009, and it agreed to significant new regulations to enable it to step back from the brink. Now, it turns out that it's not only meeting, but actually beating, the required reductions in emissions. That means that, according to the U.S...
John Voelcker -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In July: Leaf, Volt Both Do WellSales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. continued their rise in July, as Nissan delivered more than 3,000 Leaf battery electric cars and Chevy more than 2,000 Volt range-extended electrics. It's was only the second time that the two cars together have sold more than 5,000 units in a single...
John Voelcker -
2015 Subaru Outback: Gas Mileage Review Of Crossover Wagon Utility VehicleThe new 2015 Subaru Outback is now arriving at dealerships, and it's likely to continue the small Japanese maker's striking growth over the past five years. Like every other maker, though, Subaru has to make all of its vehicles more efficient--and to do so on a considerably smaller development...
John Voelcker -
Buying A New Car Is Greener Than Driving An Old One...ReallyYou've probably heard it at some point: A friend claims his older vehicle is far greener than the new car with much higher fuel economy you just bought That's because, he says, the old car didn't require all the energy and natural resources your car consumed as it was built. But is that older car...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla: 8,763 Cars Built, 7,579 Sold, 'Potential' Nevada Gigafactory Ground Broken: Q2 Earnings ReportTesla Motors built 8,763 Model S electric cars and delivered 7,579 of them to customers during the second quarter, according to just-released second-quarter results. It expects to build about 9,000 cars this quarter, and deliver 7,800, largely due to a two-week production shutdown for retooling at...
John Voelcker -
Now it's official: Panasonic and Tesla Motors will build the "gigafactory," a huge lithium-ion cell fabrication and battery-pack production facility in the western United States. Today Tesla will report its second-quarter earnings after the market closes, and CEO Elon Musk was bound to face questions about the progress of the massive plant. Right on cue, at 12:30 am Pacific time this morning, the company issued a press release announcing that a formal agreement between the electric-car maker and the battery supplier had been signed. MUST SEE: Riding The Harley-Davidson LiveWire Electric...
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2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250: Gas Mileage Review Of Compact Luxury SedanWe've finally had a chance to test out the fuel economy of the new and very popular smallest Mercedes-Benz, the 2014 CLA 250 sedan. The company has been struggling to meet global demand for the car, which is both the smallest Mercedes in many years and one of the least expensive. We wanted to see...
John Voelcker -
Honda Ends Three Green Models For 2015: Insight, Fit EV, FCX ClarityWith the new and more fuel-efficient Honda Fit hatchback now on sale, the Japanese carmaker is slimming down its lineup a bit. For 2015, it has eliminated three low-selling green cars: the Honda Insight hybrid subcompact, the Honda Fit EV electric car, and the very low-volume Honda FCX Clarity...
John Voelcker -
Decoding Toyota's Electric-Car Disdain: A Role For Fuel CellsWhile unveiling its fuel-cell vehicle last month–priced to undercut the Tesla Model S ever so slightly–Toyota's Global R&D Chief Mitsuhisa Kato offered some dismissive thoughts on battery-electric vehicles. As quoted in Automotive News, the 39-year veteran of the Toyota Motor...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Electric Harley Ride, VW Golf Diesel Vs Electric, Ford F-150 Intrigues Buyers: The Week In Reverse (VIDEO)What's the new Harley electric motorcycle concept like to ride? And why did Tesla stop building its Model S electric sedan? This is the Week In Reverse for Friday, July 25, 2014, right here at Green Car Reports. Our writer Ben Rich was able to take a test ride on the Harley-Davidson Livewire...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf Vs BMW i3 Vs Volkswagen e-Golf: German Magazine ComparesThe BMW i3's styling has been divisive since its launch earlier this year but one thing that most agree on is its abilities--it's among the best electric cars yet. When Volkswagen launches its e-Golf though, BMW will face tough competition--and worldwide, the Nissan Leaf is still a best-selling...
Antony Ingram