Featured (was)
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It’s only four months since General Motors announced that it was upping production of its 2011 Volt to meet the strong consumer demand for its first full-scale production plug-in vehicle, but now the automaker has said it will be undertaking a series of upgrades to its Detroit-Hamtramck factory to ensure that even more Volts hit the road this year. The plug-in hybrid, which features an all-electric range of 35 miles and a total extended range of 379 using a combination of its battery pack and on-board gasoline-powered generator, was initially launched in select markets throughout the...
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Aston Martin Cygnet Edges Towards Reality, Electrifies SpiesEvery self-respecting spy need the latest gadgets to keep them safe, suave and sexy. But while James Bond would be nothing without the technological prowess of Q, his favorite brand of automobiles looks to be turning its attention towards its own electric wizardry in the form of the all-electric...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Subaru Impreza: Video Walkaround Of New 36-MPG AWD CarThe list of compact cars offered with all-wheel-drive as an option is short. The list of compact cars that come with all-wheel-drive standard is even shorter: Subaru Impreza. For 2012, Subaru has restyled its Impreza compact sedan and hatchback, and fitted them with a new and more fuel-efficient...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Shares Nismo RC Electric Race Car Shakedown, Future Vision (Video)It may have been bathed in lights better suited to the local nightclub, but when we set our eyes on the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC at the New York Auto Show back in April we were keen to see just what the 2011 Nissan Leaf derived electric race car was capable of on the track. We haven’t had long to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Need To Recharge An Electric Car? Check The Charging Station FirstOne of the liberating benefits to owning an electric car is the ability to plug in and charge up wherever there happens to be a purpose-built charging station, or indeed a standard domestic power outlet. But while most of the electric cars on sale in the U.S. today comply with the J1772 standard of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas: Video Of Alternative-Fuel CarOK, so gas prices are hovering around $4 a gallon, and dispensing with gasoline altogether is getting more and more attractive. But for whatever reasons, plug-in cars aren't for you. Maybe it's the limited range of battery electric vehicles, maybe it's the $41,000 cost before incentives of the 2011...
John Voelcker -
There's nothing like a story translated from overseas media, concerning a related but not-quite-the-same model of a new hybrid car, to get people all in an uproar. So here's the real deal on the 2012 Toyota Prius V station wagon/minivan: It will still arrive in U.S. dealerships this fall. That's the official word from Toyota Motor Sales, which issued the following statement late yesterday afternoon: Following Toyota Motor Corporation’s (TMC) announcement in Japan today that delivery of the Prius alpha will be delayed, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) announced that the Prius v is...
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Exclusive: Hey Top Gear, You Have To Fill Up Electric Cars Too, Duh!Have you ever been on those roads in North Dakota where you pass a sign that says “No gas for next 80 miles"? Or perhaps you’ve traveled through the frozen wastelands of Northern Canada or Alaska and learned that the gas station you just passed was the last one for more than 100 miles...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
U.S. Carmakers To Japan: Don't Need Your Stinkin' Fast-ChargeSo you bought a 2011 Nissan Leaf, and paid for the optional $700 quick-charge connector. Now you're able to get an 80-percent battery recharge in just 30 minutes, albeit from very few places right now. Promising, right? Not so fast, sonny. It appears that U.S. makers of electric cars are likely to...
George Parrott -
Guide: How To Get Good Gas Mileage AND Third Row Seats?"We have not yet fully accepted the fact that we need a new car. Some call it denial. But we do need one." That's how our friend Gordon Platt began a note asking our advice on what cars he should consider as he sets out to replace the family's aging 2003 Toyota Sienna minivan. "What are your...
John Voelcker -
BREAKING: BBC Top Gear Caught Filming Latest Electric Car ‘Stunt’Uh-Ho. Despite being embroiled in a sordid libel court-case with californian electric car maker Tesla Motors for false representation of its $109,000 sexy all-electric sportscar. the BBC’s Top Gear program has just been spied in Lincoln, England - filming its latest electric car escapade. The...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Feds To Mandate Up To 62 MPG By 2025; What Does It Mean For You?Two days ago, the NHTSA said that it would require annual gas-mileage improvements of somewhere between 2 and 7 percent each year between 2017 and 2025. Corporate average fuel economy requirements have already been set through 2016, an action facilitated by the Obama Administration soon after...
John Voelcker -
Recalls, whether mandated by law or entered into voluntarily by an automaker are part of modern day car buying. Often car owners ignore the advice of the automaker for non-safety related recalls and updates such as the recent 2011 Nissan Leaf software update to rectify a software fault which could lead to potential start failure, choosing instead to operate on the assumption that if it isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix it. However, here’s five reasons why you’ll want to listen to Nissan and send your Leaf in for what we think is an essential upgrade. Not applying...
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First Drive Report: Delta Motorsport E-4 Electric CoupeOn Monday we showed you the first pictures of the Delta E-4 Electric Coupe, an all-electric sports car designed and built by Delta Motorsport. Now it’s time to bring you our very own first person report from behind the wheel at the iconic Silverstone racetrack, home to the British Grand Prix...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Honda Civic Hybrid: Multi-Day Drive ReviewThe 2012 Honda Civic range, launched at last month's New York Auto Show, includes two models devoted to wringing out as many miles as possible from every last drop of gasoline. The one with the highest gas mileage is the 2012 Civic Hybrid, rated by the EPA at 44 mpg on all three test cycles: city...
John Voelcker -
Ford Steps Closer to 2012 Focus Electric Launch With New WebsiteIt might seem a long while since Ford unveiled its 2012 all-electric Ford Focus at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, but in reality we’ve only known about Ford’s five seat electric hatchback for four months. But with the car due to launch some time before the end...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The Fastest, Coolest, Sexiest Supercars Now Come With PlugsSupercars: sleek, blindingly fast, ultra-expensive objects of lust for 14-year-old boys and sober-suited executives alike. For decades, supercars were powered solely by gasoline. But now there's a new gang in town, and they've upended all the rules. The newest, coolest, most jaw-dropping supercars...
John Voelcker -
U.S. Gas Price Now Above $4 A Gallon, On AverageWell, it's official. Despite news last week of a sudden drop in the wholesale price of oil, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. rose to precisely $4 a gallon, according to the respected Lundberg Report. That's 12 cents higher than just two weeks ago. Your price will likely be...
John Voelcker -
It's not every day that a brand-new electric sports coupe is launched, much less at a fabled race course. So we're delighted to bring you these live photos from Silverstone race track in the U.K., where the Delta Motorsport E4 Electric Coupe is about to take to the tarmac. The sleek electric performance car is powered by high-output direct-drive electric motors that produce 90 kilowatts (120 horsepower) and weigh just 50 pounds (23 kg). The E4 Coupe's chassis is fabricated from carbon composite, and weighs just 190 lbs (85 kg). Delta claims a range of 200 miles per charge from the lithium-ion...
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Could Gas Prices Fall This Summer? Don't Count On ItEvery year, as the weather improves in the spring, gasoline prices start to creep higher. But this year, could it be that the pattern is broken? The recent run-up to record levels--California is now paying an average of $4.26 per gallon--might be halted, even reversed, if wholesale oil prices...
John Voelcker -
Theory Meets Reality: How Expensive IS The 2011 Think City?It’s well known that any sales material always uses the most attractive pricing option as a way of enticing customers to buy a product. But is it helpful, confusing or downright misleading for an electric automaker to advertise an electric car for sale at more than $17,500 less than its own...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Honda Civic HF 41-MPG Model: Video Tour, NY Auto ShowOf the five separate 2012 Honda Civic models featured at last month's New York Auto Show, the Civic HF sedan is probably the most affordable tradeoff between gas mileage and purchase price. Its base price is $19,455. It's EPA-rated at 29 mpg city, 41 mpg highway, toward the top of the 2012 Civic...
John Voelcker -
In Brazil, Even Humble Power Outlets Love The Nissan LeafOver the years we’ve seen a whole load of electric vehicle ad campaigns, ranging from the clichéd to the quirky and from the aspirational to the downright bizarre. Some companies have even created electric car adverts aimed directly at children. But one Brazilian ad agency has gone a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Honda Civic Hybrid: 44-MPG Compact's High Points (Video)The largest single model launch at the New York Auto Show two weeks ago was the 2012 Honda Civic line, with five separate models, new styling, and better fuel economy. The highest gas mileage in the entire lineup comes from the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid. Honda projects it will achieve 44 mpg for each...
John Voelcker