GCR Best Car to Buy
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As promised, we'll be announcing our nominees for the Green Car Reports 2016 Best Car To Buy award this week. But first, it's time note all those candidates that didn't make the final cut. This year, we're explaining why each one isn't on the final nominees list. Remember, to qualify for consideration, a car must be all-new or substantially updated from the previous model year, it must be available for purchase in North America by next April, and at least one High Gear Media editor--preferably several--must have driven and reviewed it by December 1. DON'T MISS: Green Car Reports Best Car To...
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Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2016 Award: Nominees Coming Next Week
We find ourselves, once more, in December, the last month of another year. And that means it's time once more for our annual Best Car To Buy award. Somewhat to our surprise, this is now the sixth time we've chosen the one car or lineup--newly introduced for the coming model year--that represents...
John Voelcker -
2015 Volkswagen Golf: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2015
Our Best Car To Buy award can go one of several ways here on Green Car Reports. Sometimes it goes to a moonshot car, like the first Nissan Leaf (in 2011) or the Tesla Model S (in 2013). Those are cars that radically redefined what green transportation could be, changing the auto industry forever...
John Voelcker -
Which Car Did Readers Say Should Win The Best Car To Buy 2015 Award?
Tomorrow morning, we'll be revealing the winner of our Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2015 award. But as we wrote about each nominee over the last week, we also polled our readers to find out which of the five contenders they felt was most deserving of the award. DON'T MISS: Green Car Reports'...
John Voelcker -
2015 Volkswagen Golf Range: Best Car To Buy 2015 Nominee
The fifth and final of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Volkswagen Golf range. It's a completely new, top-to-bottom makeover of the classic compact five-door hathback, now in its seventh generation since launching in 1974. DON'T MISS: Green Car...
John Voelcker -
2015 Kia Soul EV: Best Car To Buy 2015 Nominee
The fourth of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Kia Soul EV. It's the Korean maker's first-ever electric car sold in the U.S., and an adaptation of the popular compact "tall wagon" that was entirely redesigned for the 2014 model year. DON'T MISS...
John Voelcker -
The third of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco, the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid version of the Korean maker's mid-size sedan. This new-for-2015 version of the Sonata is the sole model to use a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine, in this case producing 178 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. DON'T MISS: Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy: The Nominees (Video) It's also the only one that offers Hyundai's own seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which replapces than the conventional six-speed automatic used in other...
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2015 Honda Fit: Best Car To Buy 2015 Nominee
The second of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Honda Fit, the well-regarded subcompact five-door hatchback. It's the third generation of the car sold in North America, and it's got a new powertrain, dubbed with Honda's EarthDreams label, that...
John Voelcker -
2015 Audi A3 TDI Diesel: Best Car To Buy 2015 Nominee
The first of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Audi A3 TDI, the diesel version of Audi's new compact luxury sedan. All-new this year, as are most of its competitors, the TDI diesel version will be the highest-efficiency A3 model until the e-tron...
John Voelcker -
Which Car Should Be Named Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2015? (Poll)
New-car ratings, driving impressions, and a lot of lengthy discussions go into picking our Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy award winner each year. We explained our process yesterday, along with all of our nominees for the 2015 award, but this year we thought we'd add a new element. DON'T MISS...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy: The Nominees (Video)
It's time once more for our annual Best Car To Buy award. It's the fifth time we've chosen the one car or lineup, newly introduced for this model year, that represents the best new green car to enter the market. To qualify, a car must be all-new or substantially updated from the previous model...
John Voelcker -
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Supplies Tight In 'Rolling Release'
The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid is proving unexpectedly popular, both in Japan and the U.S., and that's causing supply challenges for Honda. Two readers have contacted us in the last week to complain that they were unable to purchase the new Accord Hybrid, which Green Car Reports named its 2014 Best...
John Voelcker -
For 2014, our fourth annual Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy award goes to the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. This new model of the redesigned Honda Accord sedan introduced last year is comfortable, quiet, stylish--and delivers real-world fuel economy from 40 mpg to as much as 52 mpg. And that's Toyota Prius liftback territory, in a mid-size sedan that's neither as polarizing nor limited to the underwhelming performance of Toyota's quintessential hybrid. Alert readers noticed we didn't post a nominee description of the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid; that's because we've spent the last week driving...
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Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy: Winner To Be Named Tomorrow
We've driven the cars. We've discussed their pros, their cons, the overall technology trends, and the many unanswered questions about the future of green cars. Now we've chosen a winner. This being a teaser post, we're not going to tell you what it is yet. That has to wait a day. But to refresh...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Mazda 3
Even conventional gasoline cars--no plugs, no hybrids, no turbos--can be green. And we've long been looking forward to the debut of the 2014 Mazda 3, an all-new generation of the compact hatchback and sedan that have always been among the more rewarding cars to drive in the segment. With Mazda's...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV
What do you call an all-electric minicar that has elements of the Chevy Volt, can spin its drive wheels if you have a heavy foot--and still ranks as the most efficient plug-in car sold in the U.S. this year? We'd call it the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. And it's one of our five nominees for Green Car...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel
The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is a somewhat daring car, and one that diesel fans have been urging a U.S. maker to sell for years, if not decades. It's the first diesel-engined passenger vehicle sold by General Motors since 1986, and it's a fully modern car with the latest in emissions control...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 BMW i3
The 2014 BMW i3 is the most audacious expansion of a well-known car brand in many years. BMW--the maker of "ultimate driving machines"--is using electric propulsion, a carbon-fiber reinforced body, and a Scandinavian Modern interior not in an expensive luxury sedan, but in a subcompact hatchback...
John Voelcker -
Yesterday we listed the nominees for Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014 award: two battery-electric vehicles, one hybrid, one diesel, and one very fuel-efficient gasoline car. But what do our nominees say about the state of green-car design this year? Overall, they highlight four trends to keep in mind as you shop for your next car. (1) Electric cars are getting more efficient. The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV has the highest EPA combined efficiency rating of any plug-in electric car sold in the U.S. today: 119 MPGe, or miles-per-gallon-equivalent. (MPGe is a rating that looks at how far an...
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Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014: The Nominees
We're heading into the last two months of the year, which means it's time for our annual Best Car To Buy award. This is our award that picks one vehicle--or a line of vehicles--that we consider to be the greenest new vehicle(s) launched for the new model year. (That means they have to be all-new or...
John Voelcker -
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid: First Drive Report
Does the all-new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid really get 50 miles per gallon? And does it drive as well as a regular four-cylinder Honda Accord? To cut right to the spoiler: yes and yes. For some shoppers who already know and like the Accord, that might honestly be enough—once they run the...
Bengt Halvorson -
2013 Tesla Model S: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2013
Two years ago, our first-ever Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy award went to the first modern battery-electric car sold in the U.S. How far we've come. This year, our third annual winner is the 2013 Tesla Model S, a car that takes the all-electric vehicle to a new and far more elevated level. But...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports 2013 Best Car To Buy: Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, Honorable Mention
Volkswagen has sold small numbers of its Touareg Hybrid crossover utility vehicle for two years now, but it's never had a mass-market hybrid entry. That will be the role of the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, a new entry this year that complements VW's long-established line of fuel-efficient TDI...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports 2013 Best Car To Buy Nominee: Nissan Altima
Not all green cars are hybrids, diesels, or plug-ins. And with new fuel economy regulations now set through 2025, all cars are going to get more efficient--gasoline cars first and foremost. The new 2013 Nissan Altima mid-size sedan has the highest EPA rating for combined gas mileage of any gasoline...
John Voelcker