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Have Nissan Leafs in hot states suffered premature battery aging, or is the apparent loss in capacity down to a malfunction in the Leaf’s dashboard display? That’s been the question on the lips of Nissan Leaf owners worldwide after some owners in Phoenix, Arizona, began reporting that...

What are you doing this Sunday? If you're an electric-car advocate or fan, you probably already know that Sunday is the second annual National Plug-In Day. And if you're considering the purchase of a plug-in electric car--or just interested in learning more--you should definitely make a note to...

It's been a long time coming, but the 2012 Coda Sedan is now on sale at a handful of dealers in California. Six months after the very first Coda compact electric cars were delivered to buyers, the company is gearing up a major publicity push to sell the electric sedan--which we've now driven. Our...

Last week, Honda released the specs and photos for its 2014 Accord Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid. Now, we can talk about what it's like on the road. The short answer? Like the Ford C-Max Hybrid, it offers new and strong competition for a model of the well-established Toyota Prius--in this case, the...

The verdict is in: At last, the fabled Toyota Prius hybrid has a viable competitor. If you're in the market for a five-door hybrid hatchback with very high fuel economy--an EPA rating of 47 mpg combined--you should drive a C-Max Hybrid before you trot down to your local Toyota dealer and sign the...

Diesel passenger cars have long been the domain of German carmakers, but that will change early next year with the launch of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze diesel four-door compact sedan. The eagerly awaited model, the first GM (NYSE:GM) passenger-car diesel since the early 1980s, was confirmed more than...

Honda was the second carmaker in the world to launch a line of hybrid vehicles, though its compact and subcompact mild hybrids have long been overshadowed by Toyota's dominant Prius models. That may be about to change. Early next year, a new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid--and equally significant, a 2014...

While car sales often lag during August, when family vacations take priority, the Chevrolet Volt proved an exception to the rule last month. During August, 2,831 of Chevy's range-extended electric car found buyers--along with 685 Nissan Leaf battery electric cars. The third high-volume plug-in car...

Ford’s all-new 2013 Escape compact crossover may have only been on sale for a few months, but it is already proving a strong seller at Ford dealerships across the U.S. On paper, there’s little difference between the gas mileage figures of the entry-level 2.5-liter, four-cylinder Ford...

After a long, political battle, both on Capitol Hill and in Detroit, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Obama administration have confirmed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for all cars made between 2017 and 2025. The final ruling, originally due two weeks ago but delayed...

Yeah, we drove the pink one. The 2013 Chevrolet Spark, the first Chevrolet minicar in many, many years, comes in a remarkable array of pastel colors, including one called Techno Pink. One of two Sparks we tested yesterday came in that very distinctive shade; the other was Salsa (lime green). Other...

We liked the 2012 Mitsubishi i electric minicar we drove last week rather more than we expected. Its main handicap, even in city usage, is its low electric range. We didn't test the car to its limits, and indeed the range indicator may be slightly pessimistic (much safer than being optimistic...

It took a while, but we've finally had a chance to spend time with the smallest plug-in electric car sold in the U.S. The 2012 Mitsubishi i (also known as the i-MiEV) is a battery electric minicar roughly the size of a Mini Cooper. The little hatchback has four doors, four usable seats, and a lot...

As far as many people are concerned, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has done the hard bit already. They've started a company from scratch. Built and sold a sports car. Developed a new model. Put it into production. Started selling it to an adoring crowd. No vaporware to see here, folks. However, even...

The 2013 Nissan Leaf that will go on sale in January will be a slightly different car from the 2011 and 2012 models sold in the U.S. so far. We already know the electric car will offer leather seats and a 6.6-kilowatt charger as options, along with a more efficient heating system. Now a report from...

In an unexpected announcement, struggling startup electric-car maker Fisker Automotive this morning named Tony Posawatz its new CEO and President. He replaces Tom LaSorda, himself appointed CEO only in late February. LaSorda will leave the company but remain available as an advisor. Posawatz spent...

Given the hurricane of bad publicity for the Chevrolet Volt last year over a battery-pack fire (in a crash-testing vehicle, a week after it was wrecked), any fire at all in a plug-in car is one too many. So the occurrence of a second fire among only 1,000 Fisker Karma range-extended electric luxury...

In the world of plug-in cars, making an affordable car with a range equal to that of a conventional gasoline car is something of a Holy Grail. According to General Motors CEO Dan Akerson talking at a GM employee meeting last night, that dream could become reality in the next two to four years...

Used to be, cars were unveiled at auto shows. These days, their makers reveal them in little bits and pieces, just as the best ecdysiasts do (that's "strippers" to you). So today we have the first images of the redesigned 2013 Honda Accord sedan and coupe, the powerhouse mid-size line that competes...

Tesla likes to do things its own way. So while the company still refuses to report sales in the usual manner--at the end of every month like every other automaker--it does release bits and pieces of data on its corporate publicity site. On Thursday, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] said that since June 22...