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For 2014, BMW offers diesel engines in its three sedan lines, and now we've spent a long weekend with the mid-size 5-Series sedan fitted with the fuel-efficient engine. Given the depth-of-winter test schedule, its xDrive all-wheel-drive system was very welcome--and almost a necessity for our unpaved mountain driveway. The 255-horsepower 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six diesel is paired to BMW's new eight-speed automatic transmission, with the extra ratios letting it stay right in its most efficient output zone. It puts out a substantial 433 ft-lbs of torque, and moves the car along in...
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Life With Tesla Model S: UPDATE On Pedal Placement ProblemTwo days ago, I described in this article a frightening incident in my Tesla Model S. Approaching a downhill intersection, I inadvertently stepped on both the brake and accelerator pedals simultaneously. The car barely slowed, and it appeared I was headed for a collision with another car...
David Noland -
Volkswagen Golf GTE Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive Of PrototypeVolkswagen is on an electric-vehicle model offensive right now. Not only is the e-Up electric minicar on sale in Europe, dominating Germany's electric sales charts, but the automaker has now launched the e-Golf, an electric version of its popular compact--a car that will make its way to U.S...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid: Gas Mileage ReviewIf ever any car brand should have offered a hybrid before now, it would be Subaru. Now we've driven the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, its very first hybrid offering. It's a much better car than the Crosstrek on which it's based, but little of that improvement has anything to do with the hybrid...
John Voelcker -
2015 Volkswagen e-Golf: Drive Report, First U.S. Sale DetailsThe 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf is the German maker's first production electric car to be offered for sale in the U.S. On sale late this year, it adds a plug-in electric powertrain option to the all-new seventh generation of the classic Golf five-door hatchback, now celebrating its 40th birthday. While...
John Voelcker -
Good News For Tesla: AZ Bill Would Legalize Direct Sales As State Angles For GigafactoryWhen the possibility of new jobs clashes with the desires of powerful campaign contributors, sometimes jobs can take priority. That may be what's happening in Arizona, where a new bill in the state legislature would legalize the direct-sales model of electric-car maker Tesla Motors--to the intense...
John Voelcker -
As vehicles all over the world slowly get more fuel-efficient, the energy required to make them--and their thousands of parts--is coming to represent a higher proportion of their lifetime energy footprint. And this, in turn, is leading carmakers to focus on cutting the energy required to manufacture new cars wherever possible. A recent study by Volkswagen looked at the carbon footprint for the most fuel-efficient model of its new Golf hatchback, known as the VW Golf TDI BlueMotion. MUST READ: Half Of All Cars Banned From Paris Roads Over Smog; Electric Cars Exempt That vehicle, with a 103-hp...
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Volkswagen To Triple Battery Capacity With Lithium-Air Technology?Fossil fuels may not be the cleanest way of powering us between two points on a map, but there's little doubt they offer convenience. So far, scientists have struggled to find batteries for electric cars that match the huge amounts of energy stored in a gallon of gasoline or diesel. As a result we...
Antony Ingram -
NJ Hearing Today Could Ban Tesla Stores In State; Electric-Car Maker Cries FoulNew Jersey may become the latest state to ban Tesla's company-owned stores.
Stephen Edelstein -
Life With Tesla Model S: One Year And 15,000 Miles LaterWell, it's now been a year since I took delivery of my dark green 2013 Tesla Model S with the 60-kilowatt-hour battery. After almost four years of waiting, those first days after delivery were euphoric. As I recall, the words "greatest freaking car in the entire freaking Universe" (or thereabouts)...
David Noland -
Cadillac ELR Wasn't Originally Used In 'Provocative' AdIn general, getting people talking about your ad is a good way to get people talking about your car. In the case of "Poolside"--an ad for the 2014 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe aired during the Oscars and the Sochi Olympics--however, not all the talk has been favorable. MORE...
John Voelcker -
2015 Jeep Renegade - Tiniest Jeep Yet Unveiled In Geneva: Video And Live PhotosIt's often said that Jeep is the most valuable part of Chrysler, and the renewal of the legendarily tough utility brand's range is now well underway, courtesy of new owner Fiat. Introduced today at the Geneva Motor Show, the newest model is also its smallest modern-day vehicle ever: the 2015 Jeep...
John Voelcker -
Let's get one thing out of the way up front: The 2014 Cadillac ELR is rather more than a "tarted-up Volt," in the words of more than one commentator. It's a quiet, smooth, adequately powerful and very stylish coupe with a luxurious interior, and it runs on GM's most advanced range-extended electric powertrain. On the other hand, it's effectively a two-person compact car--and it appears to be priced about $30,000 too high. As Consumer Reports concluded in December, the ELR coupe is simply "priced out of its league." MORE: Cadillac Scrambles To Defend 'Provocative' ELR Ad: Not 1-Percent At All!...
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Plug-In Electric Car Sales For Feb: Leaf Up, Volt Down (Tesla Unknown As Usual)--FINAL UPDATEAnalysts worried that winter weather would put a crimp in U.S. new-car sales last month, but one electric car racked up record February sales: the Nissan Leaf. Leaf sales of 1,425 cars in February were a record for the month, more than double the 2013 total of 653 February sales (the numbers for...
John Voelcker -
Here's Why Electric Cars Will Succeed: Owners Just Adore ThemImagine you're a carmaker, and you found you could build a type of vehicle that customers all absolutely adored. Not just liked. Not just said, "Yeah, it's fine, it does what I need"--but out-and-out loved, cherished, talked about incessantly, and recommended to everyone they met, all the time...
John Voelcker -
2015 BMW i8: Sexy Plug-In Hybrid Sport Coupe Coming Later This YearWith awareness of the 2014 BMW i3 battery-electric car starting to rise--it will arrive at dealers in late April or early May--it's sometimes easy to forget that BMW has a second plug-in car following close behind. And unlike the i3, whose looks are controversial, there's very little debate over...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's Lithium-Ion Battery Gigafactory: What You Need To KnowThis afternoon, Tesla Motors released details on its proposed "Gigafactory" to build lithium-ion cells for its future electric cars. To provide enough cell capacity to build a projected 500,000 electric vehicles in the year 2020, Tesla would require more cells than last year's entire global...
John Voelcker -
Consumer Reports: Tesla Model S Electric Car Is 'Best Overall' VehicleThe Tesla Model S was named Best Overall car, while the Toyota Prius once again took Best Green Car honors.
Stephen Edelstein -
If you're driving into rural areas to spend time with nature, there's nothing more noticeable than a bright yellow New York City taxi cab to do it in. A couple of months ago, we had a chance to test out Nissan's new "Taxi of Tomorrow" for New York City, based on its NV200 small commercial van--but with a whole lot of updates. Another outlet had already done the perfect article on using a NYC taxi to transport your friends, so we went in the other direction: up to the mountains. While the NV200 Taxi is really meant mostly for city use, we covered our usual test route--267 miles this...
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Nissan Surveys Tesla Owners For Intelligence On Electric CarsNissan is very quietly gathering additional electric-car "intelligence" about satisfaction, details, and features from Tesla Model S owners.
George Parrott -
Chevy Volt Charging Cord Cut: Angry Neighbor, Electric-Car Hater?Owning a plug-in electric car, as buyers learn, is a process of educating the public at large. Mostly, people are curious when they see a car plugged in to recharge. But occasionally, uglier emotions come into play. That's apparently what happened to Matthew Cummings and Jennifer Brown. The couple...
John Voelcker -
Nissan To Work With Bhutan Toward 'Electric-Car Nation' GoalThe small Asian nation of Bhutan has a very big goal: It hopes to convert the country's vehicles to almost all electric power. Today, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced an agreement between the nation and the carmaker to work together toward that goal. Nissan Leaf...
John Voelcker -
CONTEST: Most Unusual Place You've Charged An Electric Car?We know electric-car owners will go to extraordinary lengths to plug in and recharge wherever the opportunity presents itself. It may be for just a few minutes--a kilowatt-hour here and there--or it may be overnight. Sometimes even longer. MORE: Electric-Car Drivers Charge Anywhere; Check Out These...
John Voelcker -
BMW's Toughest Task: Training Its Dealers On i3 Electric CarEarly adopters, ecology-minded citizens and, increasingly, drivers who want very low running costs are now buying plug-in electric cars. That much we know. But many have reported frustrations at the dealership, from a lack of interest to salespeople who actively steer them away from electrics...
John Voelcker