Fuel Efficiency
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Once in awhile, High Gear Media editors get lucky. Last Thursday, our own Bengt Halvorson managed to snag a drive in the 2010 Mazda MazdaSpeed3 before any other reporter. Which means those sites that just posted their reviews yesterday (they know who they are ...) were just a tad behind the curve. Not that we're crowing or anything. That would be rude. Mileage: Not so great, but oh, the driving! All of us tend to love the Mazda3, which is practical, sporty, and just a total blast to drive. So the hot-rod MazdaSpeed version promised to be exceptional--and, says Bengt, it is. Mostly. His...
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Want a Cash-For-Clunkers Rebate? Do It RIGHT NOW. Today!OK, kids, this is it. If you have a clunker and you want to trade it in and get a $3,500 or $4,500 rebate for a new vehicle under the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program ... STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING. Do it right now, today, and get to your dealer no later than 4 pm. Today. But call first, to...
John Voelcker -
BREAKING: Cash-For-Clunkers May Be Over, Out Of Money, KaputAs we enter the news day on Thursday, it appears that the "Cash For Clunkers" program could well be out of cash. The National Association of Auto Dealers (NADA) asked the US government to suspend the program as of midnight last night, and warned dealers they are at risk of not getting reimbursed if...
John Voelcker -
2011 Scion iQ To Go On Sale By End of Next YearIn March, when Toyota unveiled a concept version of the 2011 Scion iQ at the New York Auto Show, it said only that it was studying the idea of bringing the "micro-subcompact car" into the US. Now it looks like the iQ will arrive by September or October of 2010. That's a few months earlier than the...
John Voelcker -
Yet Another Reason To Buy a Toyota Prius: Cheap Insurance!There are many excellent reasons to buy a Toyota Prius, new or used, leading off with the hybrid's superb fuel economy: 50 miles per gallon for the new 2010 Toyota Prius. Now you can add to that list another justification. It turns out that the Toyota Prius will save you money on insurance. The...
John Voelcker -
2010 Honda Insight a Top Safety Pick By IIHSIt may be subcompact in size, but the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid just got handed a big award. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded the 2010 Honda Insight EX its "Top Safety Pick" designation, which it bestows on vehicles that do the best job of protecting their occupants in front...
John Voelcker -
Today seems to be Ford day; this morning's e-mail included a news release on the early sales success of the 2010 Ford Transit Connect small delivery van, just while we're in the middle of writing up our four days of travel in a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid. We first drove the 2010 Transit Connect in late May, visiting three small businesses in the heart of Manhattan that could show off the van's flexibility and usefulness in the urban areas where it's expected to sell best. Indeed, says Ford, the first shipment of Transit Connects has been selling from dealer lots in an average of eight days. The...
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Former President Clinton Suggests Cash For EVsThough he's no longer in politics, former President Bill Clinton is still a busy guy. A week ago he was negotiating the release of reporters, Euna Lee and Laura Ling from North Korea. On Monday he stopped in Las Vegas at the National Clean Energy Summit. The summit focused on ideas to promote...
Robert Scardino -
Cashing In On Clunkers: Ford Faces Focus FamineNow that Congress has voted another $2 billion in funding for the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," the program's success means carmakers are starting to face shortages of their most popular high-mileage models. The latest manufacturer to face a...
John Voelcker -
2010 Toyota Prius: Solar Sunroof Smash Success, Hard To GetBy now, anyone who's shopping for a 2010 Toyota Prius knows that Toyota's newest hybrid is a smash hit. Global demand is high, the company is making as many cars as it can get battery packs for, and the US Cash-for-Clunkers program has boosted sales of the new hybrid even above already-high demand...
John Voelcker -
2010 Honda Insight Sales To Fall Short of Goal?Before it launched in the US in March, the 2010 Honda Insight generated huge buzz. It was the "affordable hybrid," the "Prius killer," Honda's triumphant re-entry into the dedicated hybrid market it abandoned with the first generation Insight in 2006. So how's it going? Well, 2010 Insights are...
John Voelcker -
GM's 'Bare Necessities' Concept: How Little Car Do You Want?Among the many vehicles shown, described, or teased at this morning's big General Motors press briefing was this unusual green concept from GM Labs, called 'Bare Necessities'. The two vehicles--a car and a truck--are meant to be maximally minimal. While the event itself focused on the next two...
John Voelcker -
UPDATE: GM confirms that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will get 230 mpg city, and a composite fuel economy (city and highway) of more than 100 mpg according to draft regulations being developed at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If the rumors are correct, this morning General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson will finally reveal what the company's mysterious '230' ad campaign was about. It appears to be the official mileage rating for GM's upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car. A number like that seems outlandish, absurd. How can the US Environmental Protection Agency...
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Clunkers Success: 2010 Toyota Prius Almost Sold OutLast Tuesday, we noted that sales of the 2010 Toyota Prius have soared due to the Cash-for-Clunkers program. In fact, it's the fourth most popular vehicle purchased to replace a clunker trade-in. The unexpected success of the Clunkers trade-in system, formally known as the Car Allowance Rebate...
John Voelcker -
Top Clunker Buys Compared: Toyota Corolla vs Ford Focus vs Honda CivicThinking about trading in your clunker for a nice, new, fuel-efficient car? Take a breath; the first-week success of the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," looks to be continued at least through Labor Day. Last Friday, the US House of Representatives...
John Voelcker -
UPDATE: Cash-For-Clunkers Adds $2 Billion, Lasts Through Labor DayAs expected, the US Senate voted yesterday to add $2 billion more to the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program--better known as "Cash for Clunkers". President Barack Obama is expected to sign it today. The vote approved a bill identical to the one passed last Friday by the US House of...
John Voelcker -
Clunker Dollars Data: Minnesota Wins, Mississippi LosesThis morning's Detroit News lists the amount of cash each state has gotten thus far under the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers". The paper notes, "Michigan ranks No. 1 in the nation ... with $34.4 million requested from the federal government as of...
John Voelcker -
2010 Toyota Prius Sales Soar, Boosted By Clunkers CashNever let it be said US car buyers don't know a good deal when they see one. The Toyota Prius has become the fourth-most popular car purchased under the first 80,000 Cash-for-Clunkers vouchers processed by the US Department of Transportation. In fact, Toyota sold 19,173 Priuses during July, almost...
John Voelcker -
Who knew? Turns out Americans just needed a little nudge to visit their car dealers, but the promise of an extra $3,500 or more in incentives was enough to push car buyers over the hump and get them to trade in their clunkers. And how. As we reported Friday on our sister site TheCarConnection.com, the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, usually called "Cash for Clunkers," has been so successful that it may have run through its allocated $1 billion in funds in just one week. That led the US House of Representatives to vote to transfer $2 billion to the CARS program from an energy-loan...
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July's Most Popular Prius Posts: 2010 Reference Guide Rocks, AgainIt's the very last day of July, so it's time again for us to recap the five most popular posts of the month on AllAboutPrius.com. Compared to June's most-popular list, we're back to the basics, with our posts on the the making of the "Harmony" commercial and the followup MPG advertisement falling...
John Voelcker -
2011 Chevrolet Cruze: Good Reviews for US-Bound Global CompactWe write about a lot of advanced technologies here, including hybrids, diesels, electric cars, and even natural-gas vehicles. But the hard truth is that all of those added together will be only a small fraction of cars sold in the US, even 10 years from now. Most of the green cars of tomorrow will...
John Voelcker -
Surprise: Heavier, More Powerful Cars Get Worse Gas MileageHere at GreenCarReports.com, we read a lot. And increasingly, our friends send us stuff they think we'd be interested in. Which is how we came across an abstract of a study done by one Christopher R. Knittel at the University of California-Davis. Knittel looked at the factors affecting carmakers'...
John Voelcker -
Prius Perks In Peril From Plug-In Privileges?There's been a fair amount of grumbling about so-called "Prius perks," including parking spaces set aside for hybrid vehicles at Ikea, Whole Foods, and other retailers. In fact, the spaces--although designated "hybrid"--are more properly allocated to any alternative-fuel vehicle. That includes...
John Voelcker -
2010 Toyota Prius Shortages Ahead Due To Global Demand?Last summer, with $4/gallon gasoline, you couldn't find a Toyota Prius on dealer lots anywhere. Early this year, in the depths of the economic doldrums, US dealers could hardly give away the high-mileage hybrids. Now, once again, the Tsutsumi factory in Japan is cranking out hybrids as fast as it...
John Voelcker