forbidden fruit
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While U.S. buyers eagerly await the arrival of the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car at dealerships early next year, the company has updated another of its electric vehicles as well. Unfortunately, it's one that the company has no current plans to sell in North America. That's the new longer-range version of the Nissan e-NV200 small delivery van, which has been on sale for several years in Japan and various European countries. DON'T MISS: Nissan e-NV200 beats Renault Kangoo ZE in electric van sales in Europe On Monday, Nissan unveiled the updated e-NV200 at its Nissan Futures 3.0 event in Oslo...
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Long-range Renault Zoe electric car reviewed in U.K.: Forbidden Fruit
A British car magazine reviews the updated Renault Zoe electric car.
Stephen Edelstein -
2016 BYD e6 electric taxi gets range increase to 187 miles: Forbidden Fruit
How would you like an all-electric wagon with five seats, a rear liftgate, and 187 miles of EPA-rated range? Sounds pretty good, right? You'd think such a vehicle might sell well, since it would have more rated range than any other electric cars on the market except the Chevy Bolt EV and anything...
John Voelcker -
BMW X1 plug-in hybrid SUV for China only, not North America
The BMW X1 xDrive25Le i Performance will be sold in China only.
Stephen Edelstein -
Geely Emgrand EV, Chinese electric car, driven by British reviewer
Volvo owner Geely wants to sell cars in Europe under its own brand name.
Stephen Edelstein -
Honda Hybrid Minivan On Sale In Japan, Using Accord Hybrid System
A Honda Odyssey Hybrid minivan goes on sale in Japan this week.
Stephen Edelstein -
We occasionally run articles about "forbidden fruit," or cool and desirable cars sold overseas that aren't available in the U.S. With Honda down to a single hybrid vehicle for the 2016 model year--the aging and low-volume CR-Z two-seater--it turns out one reader is looking covetously at the subcompact Honda Fit Hybrid sold in Japan. The 2016 Honda Fit gets a combined 36 mpg EPA rating with the continuously variable transmission, but reader Paul Saltman wants more. DON'T MISS: Honda Fit Hybrid: Forbidden Fruit Drive Report Saltman asked if we'd heard anything new about the Honda Fit Hybrid or...
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Honda BR-V: Smallest SUV Yet, But Not For North America: Forbidden Fruit
The Honda BR-V small crossover will go on sale in Indonesia next year.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Sienta Hybrid MPV (Small Minivan): Forbidden Fruit Or Bizarre Oddity?
Toyota redesigns a minivan oddity for its home market.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan Rogue Hybrid Launched In Japan, U.S. Sales Uncertain
More than four years after launching its Leaf electric car, Nissan is by far the leading maker of electric vehicles globally. In hybrids, however, it was late to the game and has struggled to package products that will prove compelling to North American buyers. Its announcement this week that it...
John Voelcker -
Canadian Club: The Small Cars That U.S. Buyers Can’t Have
Canada is bigger than the U.S.; the distances are equally vast; and there’s way more land area per person. And yet Canadians tend to buy smaller cars. Why is this? The simple answer, at least from the south side of the border, is that Canadians are less ostentatious. They typically spend...
Bengt Halvorson -
2016 Mazda CX-3 Gets Only A Diesel Engine In Japan (Forbidden Fruit)
The 2016 Mazda CX-3 will be be diesel only in Japan.
Stephen Edelstein -
A French company offers a pickup truck conversion for the Renault Kangoo Z.E. electric van.
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Forbidden Fruit: Toyota Esquire Hybrid Luxury Minivan
The Japanese-market Toyota Esquire combines a luxurious interior with an optional hybrid powertrain.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota i-Road Electric City Car: Here's How It Leans
Toyota might not be planning to invest in a mainstream electric vehicle for the U.S. anytime soon, but now, globally, it has this oddity: the i-Road. As we caught last month in this demonstration at the Paris Auto Show, the i-Road is driven at the front wheels by twin 2-kW electric motors, and...
Bengt Halvorson -
New Nissan Pulsar Compact Hatch Rivals VW Golf, But No U.S. Sales Planned
The Nissan Pulsar is a compact five-door hatchback designed for the European market.
Stephen Edelstein -
Ford Fiesta 3-Cyl Boosted To 140 HP: Forbidden Fruit Quick Drive
At 123 horsepower, Ford's 1.0-liter Ecoboost Fiesta already develops an impressive output for its diminutive size. That it does so while delivering entertaining handling and perhaps most importantly, a 36 mpg combined rating (31 mpg city, 43 mpg highway) is even better. But Ford's powertrain...
Antony Ingram -
Toyota Aygo Minicar Driven: Much-Improved Scion iQ Alternative U.S. Won't Get
The Scion iQ has not been a success story for Toyota's youth-orientated brand. In 2013, just 4,406 iQs found homes in the U.S. That's half as many as were sold in 2012, hardly a stellar year itself. By contrast, Toyota's other small car had a bumper year in 2013. The Aygo minicar moved nearly...
Antony Ingram -
Of the three plug-in VW cars we drove in Berlin this month, the one we liked best is the one we won't get in North America. The Volkswagen e-Up battery-electric minicar is a blast. It's small, rollerskate-agile, and performs well enough that it would be our preferred vehicle in any crowded city. And it's a huge upgrade on the gasoline version, Volkswagen's least expensive car in Germany, which we loved on its own merits when we drove a European version two years ago. MORE: Volkswagen Up: The Coolest High-MPG Small Car We Can't Have But VW didn't design the Up minicar to Federalize, meaning to...
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Nissan Micra Minicar: Now Available In Canada, U.S. Still Denied
Compared to Europe and Asia, the U.S. market for subcompacts and minicars is tiny, with dozens of models available elsewhere that will never hit U.S. shores. One of those is the Nissan Micra, slotting below the Versa Note in Nissan's range. Versions of the Micra have sold for decades in other...
Antony Ingram -
Volkswagen Tiguan TDI: Forbidden Fruit Drive Report
It seems to be the season for diesel compact crossovers. Since September, we've driven the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 BlueTEC and the new 2014 Audi Q5 TDI. Now we've added some forbidden fruit to that list: the European-market diesel version of the Volkswagen Tiguan, sold in North America only with...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen XL1 138-MPG Diesel Plug-In Hybrid: Drive Report
We didn't expect the Volkswagen XL1 to be as much fun to drive as it is. Which makes it doubly a shame that Volkswagen won't be selling its radically efficient, two-seat, plug-in diesel hybrid XL1 model in North America. At a price of € 111,000 (roughly $153,000), the 250 XL1 cars that...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen Twin-Up: XL1-Powered Plug-In Minicar Revealed
VW has hinted for some time that the diesel-electric drivetrain from its XL1 eco-supercar would appear in something a little more humble and affordable. Now, writes Autocar, it's revealed the result of such a concoction, in the shape of the Twin-Up. As the name suggests, it's based on the...
Antony Ingram -
Forbidden Fruit: Europe's Ford Focus 3-Cyl EcoBoost Gets Even Greener
As the U.S. still eagerly awaits the introduction of the 3-cylinder EcoBoost Ford Fiesta, European drivers are buying Ford's tiny-engined cars in their droves. Various versions off the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder, turbocharged gasoline unit are available in both the Fiesta and larger Focus--and when...
Antony Ingram