Fuel Efficiency
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It's the mystery model, the all-but-legendary vehicle still just beyond reach, years after its maker first announced plans to offer diesel engines. Specifically, it's the diesel version of the Mazda CX-5 compact crossover utility vehicle, first revealed in 2016 and later announced as a 2018 model. In November 2016, a Mazda executive confirmed the CX-5 diesel would arrive in showrooms during the fall of 2017, following the launch of a redesigned and updated CX-5 that spring. DON'T MISS: Mazda diesel to arrive fall 2017, it says, in new CX-5 crossover The redesigned CX-5 arrived on schedule;...
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2019 Hyundai Santa Fe launched with diesel; hybrid, plug-in hybrid for US or not?
Along with the 250-mile 2019 Kona Electric hatchback it launched Wednesday at the New York Auto Show, Hyundai unveiled an entirely redesigned version of a much higher-volume vehicle. That's the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe mid-size crossover utility vehicle, which gains size, features, and considerably...
John Voelcker -
Auto parts suppliers support current fuel-economy rules, overwhelmingly: survey
As the auto industry and environmental groups count down the days until the NHTSA releases proposals to revise fuel-economy standards, surveys show one industry wants the standards to stay just as they are. That is the auto-parts supply industry, according to a study released Thursday morning by...
John Voelcker -
CA attorney general: we will fight looser fuel-economy, emission rules
Last Tuesday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency does not intend to let California set the agenda for national emission limits on vehicles. He suggested to Bloomberg the EPA plans to cut emission rules aggressively to respond to carmakers' pleas for easing of the corporate average fuel...
John Voelcker -
Cutting carbon, meeting real-life emission tests, new electric cars to hurt profits, VW says
Well, that's awkward. At its annual media briefing on Wednesday, Volkswagen Group executives said the costs of meeting new emission tests in the EU, lowering carbon emissions globally, and launching multiple new electric models would eat into the company's profits. With the company's diesels in...
John Voelcker -
How 2019 Volkswagen Jetta inched up its EPA fuel-economy ratings
While plug-in electric cars get lots of media attention, they remained just 1 percent of U.S. vehicle sales last year. And while the Trump Administration appears dead-set on rolling back emission limits and fuel-economy requirements established years ago, that effort will undoubtedly face lengthy...
John Voelcker -
Not a lot has changed since last month: Buyers continue to move from passenger sedans to crossovers and trucks, and gasoline remains relatively cheap. That means you can pick up some bargains fuel-efficient and electrified vehicles. DON'T MISS: Lexus lowers hybrid prices a lot to cut premium over gasoline Our list of deals for March, courtesy of CarsDirect, includes a variety of discounts: low financing rates, cheap leases, and money off sticker prices. They cover a variety of vehicle types, with hybrids among the heavily discounted. Hybrids As it's done for a few months now, the 2018 Kia...
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Toyota details next-generation hybrids, more efficient gasoline engines
Cars with plugs may be the cleaner and greener future, but at the moment, they make up only about 1 percent of global sales approaching 100 million vehicles a year. That means that automakers continue to work ceaselessly on more efficient gasoline engines and lighter vehicles to put them in. Last...
John Voelcker -
Lexus lowers hybrid prices to reduce premium over gasoline substantially
Gas is cheap in the U.S. and has been for years. Hybrids are no longer a cutting-edge or cool technology; they're just another powertrain. The result is that hybrids have been quietly ebbing as a proportion of total vehicle sales. DON'T MISS: 2018 Lexus RX 450hL hybrid three-row SUV priced from...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius recall in 2014 failed to fix problem, lawsuit says, may have cut mileage
Early in 2014, Toyota filed a voluntary recall notice with the NHTSA to fix a defect in roughly 800,000 third-generation Prius Liftback hybrids sold in the U.S. from 2010 through 2014. The company said it would make unspecified changes to software that controlled the vehicle's inverter, which...
John Voelcker -
Porsche kills off its diesels, because customers no longer want them
Of the three brands caught up in the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal in the U.S., Porsche was by far the least affected. It had sold only one diesel model, a version of its Cayenne performance SUV fitted with a 3.0-liter turbodiesel developed by its VW Group sibling Audi. Regulators approved...
John Voelcker -
Start-stop systems on U.S. light trucks doubled to one in five in a single year
Electric cars may be all the rage, but for now, all but a tiny fraction of the 250 million vehicles on U.S. roads burn gasoline or diesel fuel. One of the ways that new vehicles are boosting fuel efficiency is the use of what are called "start-stop" systems, which switch off the engine while the...
John Voelcker -
With the release of proposed new and lower fuel-economy rules expected from the NHTSA by March 30, many eyes have turned to the powerful California Air Resources Board. The state's pioneering role in reducing emissions and cutting air pollution predates even the existence of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That agency, now run by Scott Pruitt—an unabashed proponent of burning fossil fuels and a climate-science denier—will shortly issue its own related proposal for boosting the carbon-dioxide emissions allowed from road vehicles. DON'T MISS: NHTSA could cite safety of...
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NHTSA could cite safety of heavier cars in slashing CAFE rules: reports
It's been clear that under the Trump administration, the NHTSA and EPA plan to roll back linked fuel-economy rules and emission limits on new vehicles. Now a possible justification that will be used has emerged—and it's not the one many advocates had expected. According to a Bloomberg report...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius hybrid sales have tanked: here are 4 reasons why
The Toyota Prius hybrid has been its maker's "halo car" and an example of its most advanced technology for two decades. Launched from an early-1990s project to halve the fuel consumption of a small car, its hybrid-electric powertrain pioneered mass electrification of passenger cars. But the sales...
John Voelcker -
Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for February 2018
With gasoline cheap and buyers continuing to shun passenger cars for crossovers and trucks, there are bargains to be had in fuel-efficient and electrified vehicles. This month's deals, courtesy of CarsDirect, includes cheap leases, low financing rates, and money off sticker prices. They cover a...
John Voelcker -
2019 Ford Transit Connect Wagon gets "EcoBlue" diesel option, no hybrid so far
The last time Ford released a new hybrid or plug-in electric model was for the 2013 model year, and that's a long time ago in electric-car years. Detroit's second-largest automaker continues to work on boosting the fuel-economy ratings of its vehicle lineup, however. The latest example is a new...
John Voelcker -
New Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatchback to spawn CLA sedan, EQA electric car
The Mercedes-Benz CLA compact sedan made a big splash when it first arrived as a 2014 model, complete with a much-discussed Super Bowl ad spot the previous year. The small, coupe-like sedan was built on the underpinnings of the smallest Mercedes on the market, the A-Class sold in Europe since the...
John Voelcker -
Nearly a year ago, we published a gas-mileage review on the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid, the South Korean brand's Toyota Prius challenger. We saw 49.5 miles per gallon over 565 miles of driving. Now, we've tested the Ioniq Hybrid in more extreme conditions, on the cold, wintry roads of Detroit, Michigan. Not only did we cover exactly 400 miles on those frosty roads, we did it during the madness of the Detroit Auto Show, which led us to spend more time than usual driving in stop-and-go city conditions. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage review The Ioniq Hybrid is by far the most...
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What percent of US full-size pickup trucks will plug in by 2025? Twitter poll results
If the U.S. is serious about reducing carbon emissions from road vehicles—under the current administration, the jury remains out—pickup trucks are key. More than half of the reduction in fuel consumption in pickup trucks projected under corporate average fuel economy rules comes from...
John Voelcker -
Ford Model T: what was its fuel economy, really?
In a recent video posted to YouTube, environmental advocacy group The Sierra Club dialed up production values to call out Ford's lobbying efforts to roll back fuel-economy standards. The video showed a man getting into a modern-day Ford, starting the engine, then noting the shift lever had an array...
Mark Stevenson -
Ford CAFE rollback efforts, countering sustainability claims, slammed in Sierra Club video
The production values are high and the message is clear in a video released Tuesday by The Sierra Club. The environmental advocacy group 's goal is simple: highlight the contrast between Ford Motor Company's claims of sustainability goals and its behind-the-scenes efforts to roll back U.S...
John Voelcker -
What green tech best suits pickup trucks in 2030? Twitter poll results
U.S. car buyers have increasingly ignored passenger sedans and hatchbacks and replaced them with utility vehicles of various sorts, and that's a trend that shows no sign of abating. One reason is that crossovers and SUVs now get better fuel economy than they did 10 years ago, when owning one...
John Voelcker -
More efficient gas engines as well as electric cars required to cut carbon emissions
As nations, automakers, and utilities contemplate how to tackle climate change in real terms, a perfect storm of competition is brewing that will—ideally—produce positive change for the rest of us. Automakers and electric utilities have been incentivized to build electric vehicles and...
Mark Stevenson