Green

  • 2019 Ford Ranger

    Ford announced on Thursday that it opened an investigation into the fuel economy testing it does to receive official EPA ratings and federal certification to sell its vehicles in the U.S. The company plans to start by retesting its 2019 Ranger midsize pickup, after employees raised concerns through Ford's internal reporting channel called Speak Up. The concerns involve how Ford measures the energy required to drive a car down the road, called "road load," which then becomes a factor in further fuel economy measurements. MUST READ: Ford Cuts Gas Mileage On 6 Models: What You Need To Know, And...

  • 2019 Tesla Model 3 Performance
    Satisfying, but not so reliable: Tesla Model 3 joins ranks of enthusiast cars

    This article has been updated to include a response from Tesla. Consumer Reports pulled its recommendation for the Tesla Model 3 again, after new survey data from its subscribers showed the car has below-average reliability, the organization announced today. CR surveys its subscribers annually...

  • Piech Mark Zero concept
    Volvo batteries, California superhighways, more efficient motors: Today's Car News

    Falling reliability costs the Tesla Model 3 its Consumer Reports recommendation. Could high-speed rail be replaced with high-speed highways? Volvo is pulling depleted batteries out of electric buses to use as energy storage for solar in a large apartment complex in Sweden. Argonne National Lab has...

  • Riksbyggen Viva co-op housing complex, Gothenberg Sweden [Credit: Riksbyggen, Creative Commons]
    Volvo reuses bus batteries for solar storage

    As solar installations ramp up and electric vehicles have been on the market for a few years, automakers are starting to look for ways to get more life out of old electric-car batteries, repurposing them for stationary storage. And if you're going to use vehicle old batteries for storage, you might...

  • Freeway, Los Angeles, 2009 (photo by Myriam Thyes via Wikimedia)
    California Autobahn: Bill proposes to cut emissions by adding fast lanes

    In the wake of the debate over California’s complicated, delayed, and over-budget Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed rail project, a bill introduced to the California State Senate last week comes up with a simpler solution: just add more freeway lanes, and get rid of the speed limit...

  • Wind farm outside Fort MacLeod, Alberta, Canada   [photographer: Joel Bennett]
    Argonne develops lighter, cheaper, more efficient motor for EVs, charging

    Saving weight and increasing efficiency and power are among the most common goals for electric-car engineers. The biggest breakthroughs in those specs generally come in batteries. But it's not the only place. Now scientists at Argonne National Labs have developed a lighter, cheaper, and more...

  • Citroën Ami One Concept

    Honda teamed with student designers for its latest EV concept. VW is cleaning up its emissions act, not just in cars, but in its factories. Ford is recalling 2019 Fusion Energis for an electric-shock hazard. And readers weigh in on the Green New Deal in our latest Twitter poll. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As Volkswagen transitions to building electric cars, the company has instituted new standards up and down its supply chain to lower carbon emissions from the cars' production. Honda is updating its Urban EV concept for the upcoming Geneva auto show with its new electric Tomo...

  • San Luis Obispo, CA National Drive Electric Week 2018 [Credit Justin Bradshaw SLO Climate Coalition]
    What effect do you expect the Green New Deal to have for electric cars? Twitter poll results

    If the goal of the Green New Deal proposed by Democrats in Congress is to get people talking about a transition to renewable energy, then it looks to be gaining traction. The Senate generated controversy on both sides of the aisle by proposing to hold a token vote on the proposal. Studies have...

  • 2019 Ford Fusion Energi
    Ford recalls 2019 Fusion Energi over high-voltage shock risk

    Ford has recalled 2,100 2019 Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid sedans over the risk of a high-voltage electrical shock. The company discovered a gap in the access panel to the car's high-voltage electrical drive system that could allow owners, or more likely mechanics, to accidentally touch the...

  • Volkswagen ID Neo concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Ahead of electric-car production, VW demands suppliers cut carbon emissions

    As Volkswagen ramps up to build a new generation of mass-market electric vehicles in the aftermath of its diesel scandal, regulators and environmental groups will likely be paying close attention to their emissions—especially the emissions created in making them. The Financial Times, in a...

  • Audi traffic light recognition
    2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid, Bill Gates, GM e-bikes: Today's Car News

    Microsoft founder Bill Gates weighs in on electric cars. General Motors launches a pair of compact electric-bikes. Ford prices its 2020 Explorer Hybrid—high. And our latest Twitter poll asks about wireless charging. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Ford released pricing for the 2020...

  • ARĪV eBike from General Motors
    GM launches Arīv electric bikes, but not for U.S.

    Back in November, General Motors held a naming contest for a new electric vehicle—not a car, but a foldable electric bicycle. Now the company has announced the name, and says the bike will go on sale in Europe later this spring. Known as the Arīv Meld and the Arīv Merge, the...

  • 2018 BMW 530e iPerformance wireless charging

    Last week, news came that could make finally help bring wireless charging to more electric-car drivers. Qualcomm, one of the biggest players sold its Halo wireless charging business to one of its biggest rivals, WiTricity. Not unlike DC fast charging, one of the biggest problems bringing the new technology into widespread use was competing standards. DON'T MISS: Qualcomm sells wireless charging patents to WiTricity No one wants to have a wireless receiver on their cars—and expensive home charging pad—only to find later that they can't charge at the majority of wireless public...

  • Bill Gates
    Bill Gates calls Tesla “an amazing product,” doesn't see electric trucks working quite yet

    Electric cars may be seen by some as part of a seemingly unstoppable, powerful technological wave that will disrupt not just the auto industry but most other forms of transportation. Don’t count on Bill Gates as one of those bright-eyed EV cheerleaders; on the other hand, don’t dismiss...

  • 2020 Ford Explorer hybrid
    2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid will carry a price tag over $50k

    Although Ford plans to woo electric-vehicle fans—and attract a new crowd to plug-in vehicles—with its upcoming, Mustang-inspired all-electric crossover, arriving next year, it’s the fully redesigned Explorer that will probably continue to do the heavy lifting for Ford on the...

  • Porsche Taycan prototype
    Porsche Taycan testing, Ford electric SUV: Today's Car News

    New spy shots reveal quite a bit about the new Porsche Taycan. And on an abbreviated holiday schedule today, we run down what we know about Ford's upcoming 300-mile SUV. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Spy photographers caught a Porsche Taycan undergoing winter testing with a bare minimum...

  • Porsche Taycan prototype
    Production-bound Porsche Taycan electric car spotted cold-weather testing

    Porsche's first electric car, the 2020 Taycan sedan, is sold out for a year—with a significant chunk of reservations held by Tesla owners. Now those buyers can get the best look yet at the new car, with photos from a spy photographer at our sister site Motor Authority, who caught the car...

  • Rivian S1T, 2018 LA Auto Show
    Rivian deal, Corolla Hybrid, Tesla dog mode, charging tech: The Week in Reverse

    Which non-automotive company just made a big bet on electric vehicles? What car just got safer for dogs? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Feb. 15, 2019. This week's headlines had a lot to say about new (and potential)...

  • Audi Q4 e-tron concept teaser sketch

    It's official on Rivian and Amazon. Tesla introduces a new Dog Mode to keep dogs cool in parked cars. Final EPA range estimates are released for the 2020 Kia Soul EV. We run down the best deals on hybrid, plug-in, and electric cars for February. And Toyota falls back on an old advertising theme: You don't really want plug in, do you? All this and more on Green Car Reports. Rivian is getting a significant investment from Amazon. Tesla's new Dog Mode shows off a unique feature of electric cars: the ability to run the air conditioner when the car is parked. The new mode will let owners set the...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius Prime, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2016
    Commentary: Toyota Corolla Hybrid ad brags about not plugging in

    In Toyota's latest ad for its new Corolla Hybrid in Britain, it's 2002 all over again. The ad shows the new Corolla Hybrid (in non-U.S. hatchback form) bypassing all kinds of road transportation alternatives from different eras—from a stagecoach and an early brass-era car to 1950s hot rods...

  • 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
    Best deals on hybrid, plug-in, and electric cars for February 2019

    Presidents' Day Weekend typically brings deals in car showrooms. And this month is no exception. As electric-car fans wait for a slew of new models to hit the market this spring, some of the same cars that have made up recent months' best deals appear again. Two, however, are recent entrants. Our...

  • Tesla Dog Mode
    Dogs are cool, especially in Teslas with new Dog Mode

    Judging from recent news reports, it's all too easy to focus on the limitations on electric cars—range, recharge speeds, and most recently, their cold weather performance. Some things, though, electric cars can do that others can't. Take Tesla's new Dog Mode, announced by CEO Elon Musk on...

  • 1965 Fiat 500 at New York Museum of Modern Art
    VW auto shows, EV shoppers will pay more, Chrysler fines: Today's Car News

    As Volkswagen and other automakers dial back from auto shows, in the U.S. it sees them as a way to explain electric cars to shoppers. A new survey reveals that most car shoppers are willing to pay extra for alternative fuel. A new bill in Washington could add the state to the roster of those that...

  •  2019 Ram 1500 North Edition
    Mileage or money? Fiat Chrysler pays for missing fuel economy targets

    It turns out there's more than one way for automakers to meet fuel-economy targets. One is to develop and sell more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The other—as demonstrated over the years by quite a few automakers—is to pay fuel economy fines to the U.S. Treasury as a course of doing...

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