Fuel Economy

For the Friday files, some cool new technology: How about a car that plugs in, but doesn't use that electricity to power the car? Nope, we're not talking about battery electric cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf. Or range-extended EVs like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Or even conventional hybrids adapted...

Hyundai already boasts the title of most fuel efficient automaker in the U.S., with its fleet-wide fuel economy of 30.9 mpg, but the automaker is confident it can do better, much better. Hyundai announced yesterday that its fleet-wide fuel economy in the U.S. will average 50 mpg by 2025, an...

If you've been to New York City lately, you may have noticed an increasing number of hybrid taxis on the roads: mostly Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs, but also Toyota Camry Hybrid and Nissan Altima Hybrid sedans, and a scattering of others too. It's part of a long-term plan to green the fleet of 14,000...

If you're one of the 50 million Americans reached by Ford's marketing today, you'll know by now that the company launched a new 2011 Explorer sport utility. High Gear has covered the 2011 Ford Explorer from pretty much every angle, including our post earlier today on some fuel-saving tricks  it...

Almost a year ago, General Motors launched a little marketing campaign connecting its 2011 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car to the figure "230 mpg." As we pointed out at the time, they were basing that projection on a proposed formula for fuel usage patterns that made a lot of assumptions...

It's the Friday before a long holiday, which means most of you aren't around to read this. But for those who are, here's our bit of green-car randomness to launch the Independence Day celebrations. How would you like to own a semi-derelict, half-century-old, very odd-looking German car that holds a...

Like many site editors, we read our traffic stats religiously. Perhaps unlike other site editors, ours frequently make us laugh. We try to provide practical information on navigating your way through the confusing claims made about 'green' cars, whether they're hybrids, clean diesels, or just very...

The 2011 Hyundai Sonata has been a huge sales hit for the Korean car company, outpacing the Chevrolet Malibu and Nissan Altima in recent months. The news could get better for Hyundai later this year, as the new sedan gets a greener version that could hit a class-best fuel economy target. Hyundai's...

One million gallons a day is a lot of oil. According to estimates late last week, that could be the daily rate of oil escaping from the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. To put that number in perspective, we decided to look at what it would take to compensate just for the lost gasoline...

New Federal standards for higher average gas-mileage in vehicles sold from now to 2015 will save consumers money on fuel. But the cars themselves are likely to cost more, according to a study released yesterday by the National Research Council. Regular readers know we've been saying that it'll be a...

We're eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, the first truly modern subcompact from Ford in many years. The greenest Fiesta is rated at 40 miles per gallon on the highway, and the car has been widely praised for its dynamic styling, the high-quality interior, and an array...

Over the last year, the U.S. Department of Energy has granted almost $9 billion of low-interest loans to help automakers retool for more fuel-efficient cars. But until now, General Motors and Chrysler had been shut out while Ford, Nissan, and Tesla were awarded loans last June, joined by Fisker in...

The 2011 Ford Fiesta is officially the most fuel efficient model in its class, with the EPA announcing today that the ultra-funky hatchback and sedan rates in at 29 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway when equipped with the smooth shifting six-speed PowerShift dual clutch transmission. To put...

Yeah, yeah, we know. The only people who buy hybrids are the ones who want to show off their green credentials. They're effete, elite coastal residents who probably drove Subarus before they got their hybrids. Uh huh. Tell it to the Marines. Or, more accurately, tell it to the Israel Defense...

Everyone has opinions. But if you had to wrap up what's happening in green cars today by naming three trends, what would they be? The ever-eager publicists at auto-classified site AutoTrader.com sent us their list of three changes in the world of eco-friendly vehicles. We've reproduced them below...

Going green on the road may involve smaller engines, electric cars, and clean diesels, but it also requires making all engines far more fuel efficient. To that end, General Motors will announce this morning that it will invest almost one billion dollars in five separate plants to build a new, far...

What a shock! Who'd ever have thought it? Will wonders never cease? Yes, yet another survey shows that fuel efficiency matters to car and truck buyers. And that more than half say their next vehicle will get better gas mileage than their current ride. Fuel efficiency: It matters Capital One Auto...

It's been one of the most-asked questions about the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car: So what kind of gas mileage will it get? Despite confusion around Chevy's claim of 230 miles per gallon, what people wanted to know was simple: After the battery is depleted, when the car's...

We've written already about the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco high-mileage model launched at the New York Auto Show. Now we've had a chance to sit down with Gary Altman, GM's vehicle chief engineer for compact cars-North America, and find out exactly how they did it. In addition to predictable...

The other shoe has dropped: Yesterday, two U.S. government agencies jointly announced the final fuel-economy rules for model year 2012 through 2016 vehicles, giving automakers a single national set of standards and averting the threat of state-by-state regulation. Starting with 2012, automakers...