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You might remember a few weeks ago we brought you news of Australian couple John and Helen Taylor. Rather than enjoying the usual trappings of tourism, the Taylors wanted to break their own 48-U.S.-state hypermiling record, previously set in a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI at 67 mpg over 9,505 miles. Their weapon of choice for the new challenge? A 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco. With a 138-horsepower 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and a six speed manual transmission, the Cruze Eco is rated at 42 mpg highway, so the Taylors would have their work cut out to beat the diesel Jetta. Nevertheless...
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2012 Chevrolet Volt: The Plug-in Hybrid Basics You Need To KnowThe 2012 Chevrolet Volt will soon be arriving at Chevrolet dealers nationwide as General Motors makes the plug-in hybrid electric car available to all fifty states before the end of this year. But on year on from the launch of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, what are the differences between the 2011 and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid MPGs Beat Ford Fusion, Hyundai SonataThe reviews of the 2012 Toyota Camry mid-size sedan are in now, and the consensus is that it's a competitively priced mild refresh with unadventurous styling. Which may be exactly what Camry buyers are looking for. But on one metric--gas mileage--the 2012 Camry line shines. The 2012 Toyota Camry...
John Voelcker -
2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid: First DriveThe all-new 2012 Camry Hybrid gets excellent gas mileage, of up to 43 mpg city, 39 highway
Bengt Halvorson -
Our MPGs Vs Consumer Reports: Volt, Civic Hybrid, Jetta TDI, Lexus CT 200h, Fiat 500The good folks over at Consumer Reports are the ultimate rationalists when it comes to testing and buying cars. They don't use media-fleet cars, but buy their test vehicles anonymously. Their rigorous assessments make hard-nosed fleet buyers look like flighty schoolgirls in comparison. In the...
John Voelcker -
2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid: Quick DriveFord has been building hybrid-electric vehicles for seven years now, and the company has constantly refined and improved its hybrid system over that time. But it was only this year that Lincoln acquired its own hybrid sedan, the 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. That vehicle effectively replaced the Milan...
John Voelcker -
In a startling announcement, Ford and Toyota announced this morning that the two companies would jointly develop a hybrid system for rear-wheel-drive light trucks and sport utility vehicles. The system would be roughly competitive with the General Motors Two-Mode Hybrid system now used in Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac full-size sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. That system uses a different design than the "single planetary" hybrid systems used by both Toyota and Ford. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding this morning, and will now move into feasibility studies to...
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Toyota Prepares To Set New Nürburgring Electric Car RecordToyota may not have a single electric car available for sale yet, but that isn’t going to stop it from attempting to set a electric car lap record at the 12.93 mile Nordschleife at the Nürburgring in Germany -- in a car it has built for that very purpose. At 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Volkswagen Up Minicar Revealed, 3-Cylinder Engines, 56 MPGVolkswagen has been teasing us with concept versions of its Up minicar since the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2007, but finally the production version has been revealed and will make its debut at Frankfurt again in September. The Up (which VW spells "up!") is part of Volkswagen's drive towards greater...
Antony Ingram -
Cadillac Ciel Concept: GM's Next Hybrid, Maybe, Or Not? (Updated)Last night at an event before the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Carmel, Cailfornia, Cadillac unveiled its Ciel concept car, which it calls "an open-air grand touring car." Under the sleek, imposing lines, the all-wheel-drive Ciel four-seat convertible is powered by a 425-horsepower, 3.6-liter...
John Voelcker -
Mazda To Launch Hybrid Version Of Mazda6 Mid-Size Sedan SoonWhile Mazda prepares to unveil its new CX-5 crossover and launch its new SkyActiv engine and transmission technology, it's also quietly developing a hybrid model as well. In March 2010, Japan's small but scrappy maker of "Zoom Zoom" cars signed a deal to license Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive...
John Voelcker -
Volt-Based 2014 Cadillac ELR Electric Car Confirmed By GMGeneral Motors has just confirmed what this site reported last week: The Cadillac Converj concept car from 2009, based on the running gear of the Chevrolet Volt electric car, will go into production. Cadillac's electric sports coupe will be called the ELR, joining the current CTS mid-size sports...
John Voelcker -
Diesels: Dirty and slow, right? Only if you've never left the 1980s. Diesel engine technology has come along in leaps and bounds over the past two decades and the best of today's diesel vehicles easily offer a compromise between performance and economy to best equivalent gasoline vehicles. General Motors thinks that U.S. consumers want the extra performance that modern diesels provide as well as simply the economy, and is making the business case for bringing the turbo diesel Chevrolet Cruze, already on sale in Europe, to the United States. The decision was confirmed last month by GM CEO Dan...
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2012 Honda Fit Updates: More Noiseproofing, Bluetooth OptionFor 2012, Honda has improved sound insulation and other interior features on its Fit subcompact five-door hatchback.
John Voelcker -
2012 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Gets More Smart, Gains SpeedThe 2011 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive may be the smallest, most compact highway-capable electric car on the market, but its pathetic top speed, sluggish acceleration, limited range and expensive price tag haven’t gained it many fans. But that may all change in a little under a month as...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show PreviewYou might have just one week left to register your interest in buying a 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, but we still haven't yet seen a production version of Toyota's first plug-in hybrid yet. That will all change in Frankfurt in just under a month, when Toyota will unveil the official production...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Futuristic Electric-Car Dream Dead? Aptera To Refund DepositsIt was great while it lasted, but the dream of being able to buy a sleek, three-wheeled Aptera 2e electric car seems to be receding into the distance. A month ago, the company stopped taking deposits for new Apteras, blaming an issue with the escrow account in which they were held. Now, the company...
John Voelcker -
Secret Tesla Video? Model S Sedan, Roadster Shown On The Road TogetherTesla Motors has now released a few videos (here and here) of the all-electric 2012 Model S sports sedan it plans to launch next year. But we haven't yet seen one showing the Model S driving together with the equally all-electric 2011 Tesla Roadster. That's what the video below shows. According to...
John Voelcker -
Which electric car charging station is the best? And just how are public charging stations getting used? These are just two of the questions Portland State University and Portland General Electric Co. are hoping to answer with a two-year research project into electric car charging stations and their usage. Rather than concentrate on just one charging station, the research team will be collecting data from a whole block’s worth of charging stations made by a variety of charging station manufacturers. As well as examining how the charging stations are used by local electric car owners...
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Cadillac's Volt-Based Converj Electric Car Gets Green Light: ExclusiveSometimes, like Lazarus, dead cars rise again. We've learned from an inside source at General Motors, a person close to the project, that the electric Cadillac Converj luxury coupe is now back in the GM product plan. The Converj was recently approved for production by GM product executives. It will...
John Voelcker -
Want a 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV? You’d Better Live in CaliforniaNext year, we’re seeing a whole new group of all-electric car hit the streets, including the much-anticipated rebirth of Toyota’s all-electric crossover, the 2012 RAV4 EV. With a drivetrain engineered by Tesla motors, a 100 mile range and a legendary reputation to live up to, the 2012...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Frankfurt Auto Show: Audi Gives More Details on Electric Urban ConceptYesterday we brought you news of a highly camouflaged all-electric minicar spotted in the center of Berlin and wearing the unmistakable linked ring Audi badge. At the time, we postulated that the tiny electric runabout was probably Audi’s e-tron city concept car. Now Audi has confirmed that...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Welcome To The All-New, Redesigned Green Car Reports!It's here! It's done! It's live! Yes, you are now reading the all-new, totally redesigned Green Car Reports, with our sister site All Cars Electric incorporated to provide the in-depth electric car coverage it's always been known for. As always, our goal is to provide the best, more comprehensive...
John Voelcker -
Mazda Next-Gen Sky-D Diesel: Cleaner Than VW TDI?The Mazda 2.0-liter Sky-D clean-diesel engine, when it makes its debut in a year or two, will almost certainly be the cleanest of the lot.
Bengt Halvorson