Future Cars
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The Nissan Leaf is by far the highest-volume electric car ever built, with 110,000-plus on the roads now. And three and a half years after its launch, Nissan is pushing hard to boost its sales all over the world. But what about the next Nissan Leaf, one designed with several years of battery development since the original? DON'T MISS: Nissan Leaf Likely To Offer Larger Battery For Longer Range We now know that the next-generation Leaf--likely a 2017 model--will remain a compact five-door hatchback, the most popular body style globally. But the next Nissan Leaf will have slightly less oddball...
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Chrysler Confirms Plug-In Hybrid Minivan, Big SUV In 2016 And LaterFive years ago, then-new Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and a new executive team held a marathon day-long presentation session on the company's future, laying out a product plan in conjunction with Fiat following its government-backed restructuring. Today, what is now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles...
John Voelcker -
Will GM Offer A Five-Seat Hybrid Or Volt To Target Prius V, Ford C-Max?With the anticipated launch of the revised 2016 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car now less than a year away, expectations are that it will be a compact hatchback similar to the current model. Whether it has four or five seats remains up in the air, though the addition of a fifth seat would...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf Likely To Offer Larger Battery For Longer RangeEvery electric-car owner wants more range; it's practically an immutable law. Now Nissan executive Andy Palmer has come close to confirming that a longer-range Nissan Leaf is in the cards, though likely not until 2016 or even 2017. In an interview at last week's New York Auto Show with Palmer, who...
John Voelcker -
GM Is Serious About Electric Cars, Despite Grumbling By AdvocatesSometimes memories are short. Electric-car advocates often forget that it took seven years from the first Toyota Prius hybrid, launched in Japan in 1997, until sales of the second-generation Prius started to grow in global markets. Now, General Motors appears to be the subject of suspicion and...
John Voelcker -
Is This A Tesla Model S AWD Prototype Caught Testing? (Video, Photos)It's long been expected that sooner or later, the Tesla Model S electric sport sedan will be offered with all-wheel drive. Now, two different Tesla fans have captured photos and video of what appears to be a prototype test vehicle with external instrumentation driving around the San Francisco Bay...
John Voelcker -
In the world of green cars, Nissan is best known for its Leaf electric car--which is the world's best-selling electric vehicle ever, with more than 100,000 delivered. But like any global automaker, Nissan is pursuing a variety of powertrain and other technologies to boost the efficiency of all its vehicles. At last month's Detroit Auto Show, Green Car Reports sat down with Carla Bailo to discuss the full range of Nissan's green-car activities. Bailo was the senior vice president for research and development in the Americas, working for Nissan North America but up to date on the company's...
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2015 Tesla Model X Will Have All-Wheel Drive Only, Company ConfirmsWith less than a year to go before the first production Tesla Model X all-electric crossover utility vehicles are scheduled to roll off the assembly line, the company has confirmed that every Model X will come standard with all-wheel drive. Previously, four driven wheels were listed as an option...
John Voelcker -
Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid SUV Now Delayed Til 2015 In U.S.The Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid has generated a fair bit of attention, as the only plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle thus far that will be offered for sale in the U.S. But potential buyers will have to wait a little longer, it turns out, due to high demand in other parts of the world and...
John Voelcker -
Is The 2015 Honda Fit Sedan India's Just-Launched Honda City?We know what the all-new 2015 Honda Fit hatchback will look like; that car was unveiled in Japan last July, and then went on sale in September there. But have we now seen what the sedan model of the 2015 Fit will look like as well? Yesterday, Honda Cars India unveiled the latest version of the...
John Voelcker -
Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid: U.S. Sales In Fall 2014, MaybeThe Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid promises to fill an empty niche in the new-car market: a mid-size crossover utility vehicle with up to 30 miles of all-electric running, plus a plug-in hybrid powertrain for unlimited range. But a U.S. Mitsubishi executive says that high demand in other...
John Voelcker -
Future Mazda CX-3 Subcompact Crossover To Take On Honda, OthersCrossover utility vehicles are popular the world over, and they're going to get smaller. What started out as full-size and mid-size trucks are now most popular as car-based compacts--and subcompact crossovers are coming fast. MORE: 2013 Mazda CX-5 & 2012 Mazda 3: Real-World Mileage Boost From...
John Voelcker -
It looks like the success of the Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sedan may be starting to get under GM's skin. CEO Dan Akerson told the Detroit News that General Motors will compete with Tesla Motors--"ultimately"--through its Cadillac luxury brand. But, Akerson said, he remained unconvinced that battery-electric vehicles were "the panacea that I think the American public wants." That may indicate that GM believes a plug-in hybrid version of its future large Cadillac LTS sedan will be its Tesla Model S competitor. $30,000 electric Chevrolet? On Monday, Douglas Parks, the company's vice...
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GM Developing Tesla Model E Rival: 200-Mile, $30,000 Electric Car?GM's Tesla-rivaling electric car could be powered by a new type of battery with greater energy density, which would create more range without dramatically raising price.
Stephen Edelstein -
BYD Plans Electric Supercar, More Powerful Plug-In HybridBYD Auto hasn't been in the news much lately, but the largest privately-owned Chinese carmaker hasn't backed away from its ambitious plans. According to China Car Times, BYD will launch a new plug-in hybrid model next year, to be called the Tang, to be followed by an electric supercar. Both...
John Voelcker -
Startup Elio Motors Doesn't Get To Buy Ex-GM Plant After AllElio Motors new home was saved from potential demolition, but the startup carmaker will not control its fate.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan Will Add Murano Hybrid, Rogue Hybrid In 2015 (Or So)The 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid hasn't quite hit the dealerships yet, but already Nissan is promising more models that use the same hybrid system. When they're redesigned during the next couple of years, both the Murano and Rogue crossovers will be offered with a hybrid option, Nissan said. The...
John Voelcker -
2016 Toyota Prius Spy Shots: Next-Gen Hybrid Breaks CoverThe Toyota Prius has one of the most distinctive profiles on the road, and as new spy shots reveal, that familiar silhouette is unlikely to change for the next generation. The full set of spy shots, coming to us via our sister site Motor Authority, clearly shows the Prius's aerodynamics-influenced...
Antony Ingram -
Toyota is one of few automakers still using nickel-metal hydride batteries in its hybrid vehicles, but that could change for its next generation vehicles. Reuters reports that the company aims to boost production of more common lithium-ion technology by six times for its future products. Toyota has intended to use lithium-ion batteries before, including in its big-selling Prius hybrid. However, the company admitted in 2010 that it had looked into the wrong sort of lithium-ion chemistry when developing the third-generation Prius, and came to the conclusion it would be uneconomical to produce...
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Low-Cost Truck For Developing Countries To Come In Flat PackageThe dispersal of automobiles is quite an uneven one. For every three or four-car household in the developed world, there are huge swathes of land in developing countries without access to any sort of motorized transport however badly they may need it. One British entrepreneur hopes to change that...
Antony Ingram -
3-Wheeled, 84 MPG Elio Moves A Step Closer To RealityRemember Elio Motors? If you're one of their 17,000 or so Facebook fans it'll be hard to forget, as the company's little green three-wheeled vehicle will be a regular fixture on your timeline. As The Detroit News reports, Elio has just released a new prototype of the tiny gasoline-powered vehicle...
Antony Ingram -
Are Hybrids, Electrics The Car's Future--Or Should Cars Be Shunned Like Cigarettes?Many people who frequent this website with any regularity probably own a hybrid or electric vehicle. Many of those probably think they're already driving the future--or an approximation of it at least. But just how big a part do cars of any sort play in the future of transportation? Some would have...
Antony Ingram -
Edison2 Unveils Next Iteration Of Very Light CarIt seems like fairly recently that Edison2 walked away with the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, but it was actually back in 2010. Since then, the company has been hard at work developing the latest version of its Very Light Car (VLC). The name may not be imaginative but it is at least...
Antony Ingram -
Six New Plug-In Electric Cars Coming For 2014This is an exciting time for electric car enthusiasts. From just a handful of choices only a few years ago, buyers in some states now have access to as many as a dozen different plug-in vehicles. It's set to get even better--over the course of the next few years, another six electric vehicles are...
Antony Ingram