Green

  • 2019 Tesla Model 3 Performance

    For the second time in barely more than a month, Tesla has cut the price of its entry level Model 3. On Jan. 1, the company cut prices $2,000 on all its models to partly compensate for a $3,750 reduction in the federal tax credit its buyers can receive. (Tesla's tax credits are phasing down as originally scheduled after it reached 200,000 sales last year.) Last week, it revealed a $1,000 price cut on Model S and Model X. Now the company has also cut prices by $1,100 on the Model 3. The move comes after the company ended its customer referral program in January, which offered buyers free...

  • 2021 Kia Soul EV
    Tesla batteries, EPA comments, Hyundai and Kia plug-in availability: Today's Car News

    Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said electric cars are "not grounds for concern" at the EPA—yet highway safety and car prices are. Tesla buys a company that builds ultracapacitors. Hyundai and Kia aim to avoid the dreaded "compliance car" label with their EV sales—barely. We...

  • Jay Leno drives the 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC400
    How important is it that your next electric car be made in the U.S.? Twitter poll results

    As automakers scramble not to be left behind in the race to electric cars, nations are increasingly doing the same. It's looking more and more like electric transportation could be the next technological revolution, and countries (or automakers) that don't build up robust battery supplies and...

  • Tour of Tesla battery gigafactory for invited owners, Reno, Nevada, July 2016
    Tesla buys ultracapacitor company to boost energy density

    Maxwell Technologies, a San Diego company that specializes in ultracapacitor energy storage, announced Monday that it is being bought by Tesla in a stock swap valued at $218 million. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that he expects ultracapacitors could provide a more likely bet for a...

  • EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler
    Analysis: Wheeler says electric cars "not grounds for concern" at the EPA. Really?

    The EPA may publish window stickers for all new cars that list their fuel efficiency, but it's not clear the agency's acting administrator has read them. At BloombergNEF's Future Mobility summit in San Francisco, on Monday, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler told Bloomberg, "It is not the...

  • 2015 Mercedes-Benz V-Class equipped with AMG Line package
    Solar primer, Tesla Powerpacks, Mercedes diesel lawsuit, GCR turns 10: Today's Car News

    A longtime reader and plug-in car owner lays out an effective roadmap for going solar. Tesla and Electrify America reach an agreement to install Tesla stationary battery storage at some EA DC fast-charge stations. Mercedes-Benz joins the ranks of automakers whose diesel engines are involved in a...

  • 2007 Chevrolet Volt Concept

    Ten years ago this week, in February 2009, Green Car Reports published its first story—one packed with insight regarding the Chevrolet Volt, which was then still nearly two years away. Despite all that could have happened to the Volt in GM’s bankruptcy, it arrived on time and was everything we expected. But many things haven’t gone as planned—or have been surprising, or jaw-droppingly scandalous—and they have made our role so challenging and fulfilling over the years. In early 2009, the only all-electric fully fleshed passenger car was the Tesla Roadster...

  • 2014 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec 4Matic
    Diesel lawsuit proceeds against Mercedes-Benz

    While Volkswagen has reached a historic settlement and had to buy back hundreds of thousands of its diesel cars in the U.S., it isn’t the only automaker to be investigated for cheating on diesel emissions. Fiat Chrysler recently agreed to recall its Ram and Jeep EcoDiesels and pay owners for...

  • Electrify America chargers at San Francisco Premium Outlets
    Tesla battery packs coming to Electrify America chargers

    Electrify America has been billed as a charging network to compete with Tesla's Superchargers. Now it turns out, they may be partners as well. In an announcement on Monday, Electrify America said it would install Tesla stationary battery packs at 100 of its locations to balance power demand and...

  • George Parrott's home solar installation [Credit: George Parrott]
    How to charge your electric car from the sun, at home

    With the big upturn in electric-car adoption driven by the Tesla Model 3, incoming Kia and Hyundai options, and the highly competitive Chevrolet Bolt, many drivers will be moving to vehicles that will be primarily charged at home. This means that their household electric bills are likely to show a...

  • 2019 Kia Niro EV first drive  -  Santa Cruz, CA  -  February 2019
    Kia Niro EV drive, Tesla service, electric car ads: Today's Car News

    Tesla plans to make service quicker, easier, and automatic. National Electric Vehicles Sweden bought a stake in Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg. And our latest Twitter poll asks for readers' opinions about electric-car ads. All this and more on Green Car Reports. In our first chance to drive the...

  • Audi electric-car Cashew ad from 2019 Superbowl
    What EV advantages should ads emphasize for the masses in 2019? Take our Twitter poll

    With as many as ten new electric-car models arriving on U.S. roads in 2019, automakers are showing a new willingness to advertise them. Notwithstanding Audi's ad for its upcoming lineup of electric cars in Sunday night's Superbowl, few automakers until now have put the kind of marketing muscle...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S

    Soon, if your Tesla breaks down, you may not even have to call a tow truck. Your car will do it for you. That was one of the goals Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out for 2019 in a conference call with investors last week as part of a larger push to streamline the company's service processes. Musk didn't confirm how the service will work, but said he imagined that that if the car detected a fault, it would automatically notify Tesla, and the company would automatically send a flat-bed with a service loaner—and an ambulance if need be—to the location, drop off the loaner, and pick up the...

  • Koenigsegg Agera FE Thor and Vader
    Swedes unite: NEVS pairs Saab with Swedish supercarmaker Koenigsegg

    Swedish automakers all seem to be going electric, and Chinese investors are bringing them together. In the latest announcement last week, Hong Kong health-insurance conglomerate Evergrande Health flexed its muscle to scoop up a second Swedish automaker. Last month, Evergrande, which became most...

  • 2019 Kia Niro EV first drive  -  Santa Cruz, CA  -  February 2019
    2019 Kia Niro EV: first drive of 239-mile electric crossover

    Just before reaching a tight series of esses on the Monterey Peninsula’s famous 17 Mile Drive, I clicked the left steering-wheel paddle to bump the Niro EV up a regeneration level—a motion that mimics downshifting in a gasoline vehicle—then clicked the right paddle to ease things...

  • 2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017
    Tesla profits, GM doubles down on EVs, Mustang and 911 hybrids: The Week in Reverse

    Which company showed a new hybrid system this week? What new retro-themed electric car does Volkswagen plan to build? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Feb. 1, 2019. The news this week centered around Tesla, as it often...

  • 2020 Subaru Legacy teased ahead of 2019 Chicago Auto Show debut
    Tesla squeeze, broadband charging, EV education, EPA science: Today's Car News

    The British parent of Virgin Media plans to use Virgin's broadband wiring to build public electric-car charging stations. Electric-car charging info site Chargeway sets up its first installations in Portland, Oregon. And the EPA appointed a noted skeptic of climate action. All this and more on...

  • EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler
    EPA adds climate skeptic to science board

    Science at the EPA has been a topic of much debate, and a lot of turmoil since President Trump took office. In that way, the addition of eight new members to the agency's much discussed Science Advisory Board isn't surprising. What may more surprising to some is the makeup of the new members...

  • Chargeway Beacon  -  Forth electric vehicle showcase, Portland

    Multiple electric vehicles arriving this year promise a driving range of more than 200 miles. While that’s great news, and it’s bound to convince more households to make the jump to a fully electric vehicle—and to take road trips with it—it presents a new challenge to automakers: making public charging options at least as easy to figure out as filling up your gas tank ever was. That’s a role that Chargeway hopes to help with. The Portland, Oregon EV-related software startup has created Chargeway Beacons—tall-standing interactive kiosks with 43-inch touch...

  • 2017 Tesla Model 3
    Commentary: Tesla races to outrun perfect storm from tax credit, production, cost hurdles

    Tesla's earnings call on Wednesday showed the company making money—but struggling to keep doing so. Based Tesla's financial reports as well as its recent moves to restructure its model lineup and cut prices in response to a cut in federal tax credits for its buyers, there are a few things...

  • Ubitricity electric-car charging cord
    Forget light poles, British firm to build chargers from cable boxes

    The future of electric-car charging may be down in the trenches. At least British broadband provider Liberty Global hopes so. The company, which owns Virgin Media, plans to start a pilot project using Virgin Media's cables and trenches that run to thousands of neighborhoods around Britain. Since...

  • 2018 Tesla Model S and 2018 Tesla Model X
    VW buggy, Porsche 911 Hybrid, Shell chargers, Tesla profits: Today's Car News

    Tesla reported profits, and revealed new model lineups for its Model S and Model X—and another price cut. Volkswagen announced it will build a concept electric dune buggy for the Geneva auto show. Details of the upcoming Porsche 911 Hybrid have emerged. And Shell has bought its first charging...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S
    Tesla revamps Model S and X lineups without battery size numbers

    As Tesla struggles to balance prices to maintain profitability in the face of lower tax credits for its cars, the company is simplifying its Model S and Model X lineups. After Tesla cut prices across the board to make up for a reduction in the federal tax credits and CEO Elon Musk announced earlier...

  • 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S, Valencia, Spain, January 2019
    Porsche 911 Hybrid sports car tech will arrive in two forms

    Porsche is known as an engineering company. Its technical solutions are often complex and unusual, but often provide inspiration for others to follow. Now details have filtered out about Porsche's new hybrid-electric powertrain for its upcoming 911, which could inform what engineers are thinking...

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