Green

  • Shell charging station in Britain (higher res)

    Electric cars are getting the attention of oil companies. On Wednesday, one of the largest fast-charging networks in the U.S., Greenlots, announced that it had been bought by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell—via the subsidiary Shell New Energies US LLC. Greenlots supports mainly DC fast charge stations across the U.S., the kind electric cars drivers are meant to visit occasionally when they need a quick charge to complete a long trip—kind of like using a gas station. CHECK OUT: Shell buys its first electric car charging station firm in Europe For now, that doesn't mean that DC fast...

  • Volkswagen Geneva Show Electric Buggy concept
    Volkswagen confirms electric dune buggy concept for Geneva auto show

    A VW beach buggy made for blasting over the sand may ride again. Volkswagen confirmed Wednesday that it will show a concept electric dune buggy at the Geneva auto show in March. Rumors circulated in December that the brand was considering such a move. READ MORE: Fun revival: Electric dune buggy...

  • Stanley Robotics car parking robots
    2019 Nissan Leaf Plus, GM EV investments, electric Ford F-150, coal power: Today's Car News

    California documents show that higher-trim versions of the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus won't achieve the estimated 226-mile range. GM will double its investment in engineering new electric and self-driving cars. A new study shows that electric cars are cleaner than gas, even when using electricity from...

  • Smokestacks pollution air quality
    Don't worry about coal, electric cars are still cleaner

    One of the easiest ways for electric-car drivers to get in an argument is discussing how much coal-fired electricity contributes to pollution. Now a new study by BNEF (a Bloomberg spinoff) can help give electric-car drivers some peace of mind in these arguments. It shows that electric cars are...

  • Future Cadillac long-range electric large luxury utility vehicle (rendering), 2019 Detroit auto sho
    Barra blogs again: GM plans to double EV, self-driving investments

    Following a round of layoffs late last year, GM is planning to renew its focus on creating electric cars and autonomous vehicles. For the second time in four months, CEO Mary Barra took to LinkedIn to reiterate that the company is shifting its focus to electric cars. The first time preceded...

  • 2019 Ford F-150
    How soon do you expect an electric Ford F-150 to arrive? Twitter poll results

    We've called this year the year of the electric SUV, for the number of such vehicles expected to hit the streets in 2019. So far, though, the news seems recently seems to be all about electric pickups. After Michigan startup automaker Rivian debuted its concept R1T electric pickup at the LA auto...

  • 2019 Nissan Leaf

    New California regulatory compliance documents hint that lower trim levels of the upcoming 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus will be the ones with the longest range. To get the maximum range of 226 miles that Nissan estimates, buyers will likely have to stick to the base S trim level, according to documents, based on California emissions tests and obtained by Automotive News. Higher-trim SL and SV models are likely to have shorter range estimates, which Nissan estimates at 215 miles. READ MORE: 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus revealed: 226-mile range, quicker acceleration In the tests, the base 62-kwh Leaf Plus...

  • Electrify America DC fast chargers
    Some of the fastest electric-car chargers were down: Would anyone have noticed yet? (Updated)

    UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning Electrify America said that it is "restoring full capacity to its entire network" after the potentially affected charging cables cleared extensive testing, and it called the original incident spurring the shutdown "an isolated event" at a private facility with a...

  • Porsche Taycan prototype
    Porsche Taycan, Electrify America shutdown, Mazda plans: Today's Car News

    Porsche plans to include three years of free DC fast charging from Electrify America with its new Taycan electric car. For now, it's a good thing the car isn't arriving too soon, as Electrify America has had to shut down many of its CCS Combo fast charge plugs over safety concerns. Mazda balances...

  • 2014 Tesla Model S in China
    US has world's second highest electric-car population

    The race is on to see which countries can sell the most electric cars in an effort to reduce global warming. As with many things counted in raw numbers, China is far ahead, with 1.28 million electric cars on the road. As with most things Chinese, however, the population numbers—of people or...

  • 2019 Ford F-150
    Ford Mustang Hybrid, wind power, EPA holdups, American electrics: Today's Car News

    Wind power is expected become America's top renewable energy source in 2019. The recent government shutdown may have held up the sale of some new fuel-efficient cars—and another one may hold up even more. Our latest Twitter poll asks how important it is to our readers for electric cars to be...

  • Volkswagen ID Crozz concept
    How important is it that your next electric car be made in the U.S.? Take our Twitter poll

    Thus far, the vast majority of the electric cars sold in the U.S. have been made here. Now that the market is expanding, with new competitors arriving from both Europe and Asia this year, that may no longer be true. Hyundai and Kia, plan to import new electric models, the HyundaI Kona Electric, and...

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]

    Now that the government has reopened after a 35-day shutdown, EPA employees are going back to work facing a backlog. Toward the end of the shutdown last week, executives at all three major Detroit automakers expressed concern about certification delays that could affect new models they plan to bring to market. It can now begin addressing that backlog, but any further delays could still threaten to postpone some new models—especially those with new technology designed to make them cleaner or more efficient. DON'T MISS: Trump administration releases proposal to weaken fuel economy...

  • Mystery Ford Mustang teaser
    Ford Mustang Hybrid: Oughta have a V-8?

    In an era of spreading electric cars and more stringent fuel-economy and emissions standards, some muscle cars are losing their signature V-8 engines. The Ford Mustang, despite the company's announcements that it will be offered as a hybrid, may not be one of them. According to new patent filings...

  • Mulan wind farm [CREDIT: Global Climate Budget 2018]
    Blowing away dirty energy: Wind to pass hydro as top renewable in 2019

    For electric-car drivers looking to emit less pollution as the drive, 2019 could be a banner year. The U.S. electric grid has been getting gradually greener as utilities replace coal fired powerplants with primarily wind and natural gas. That trend is due to reach a tipping point in 2019, according...

  • George Parrott's 2018 Tesla Model 3 with orange wrap [CREDIT: George Parrott]
    Tesla Model 3 vs Model S: Tighter dragstrip times, sharper traction system

    Tesla claims some astonishingly quick acceleration times, and for some of us, testing and verifying those times are part of the fun. To do that, the drag strip is the only safe and fully reliable source for accurate numbers. In February of 2015, I migrated to a Model S Performance, after owning a...

  • Rivian R1T electric pickup concept
    Electric pickups, Byton tech, battery business, EV affordability: The Week in Reverse

    Which company is looking for new battery suppliers outside the U.S.? What upcoming electric car is not designed to drive but to ride in? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending January 25, 2019. This week included much news about...

  • Porsche Taycan prototype
    GMC electric pickup, Silverado mileage, best deals, EPA enforcement: Today's Car News

    What our corner of the world seems to be waiting for is electric pickups. We check out the best deals on hybrid, plug-in, and electric cars for this month. And a new report shows how much enforcement efforts have slacked off at the EPA under President Trump. All this and more on Green Car Reports...

  • Smokestacks pollution air quality

    Not only do polluters have lower standards to meet under the Trump administration, they may not really have to meet those standards at all. That's the conclusion of a new study, published by the Washington Post, that shows enforcement activity has fallen drastically in the past two years since President Trump took office. The study, conducted by a former EPA official under the Obama administration shows that fines paid to the agency have dropped 85 percent below the historical average in the past two years, to the lowest level since the EPA began its enforcement division in 1994. DON'T MISS...

  • 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
    Chevy Silverado mpg: Turbo-4 lower than V-8 in gas mileage test

    Until all cars can become electric, it makes sense to support making internal-combustion passenger cars as fuel-efficient as possible. It makes even more sense for popular, thirsty large pickups, where each mpg improvement can save a lot more gallons of gas. Unfortunately, some of the latest...

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

    The new year brings new deals, and our partners at CarsDirect.com have found deals on some new models that have never made our list before for the beginning of 2019. While the new year often isn't the very best time to find a great deal on a new car, winter weather keeps many buyers at home, which...

  • 2019 GMC Sierra
    GMC could join electric-pickup tailgate party

    General Motors has remained mum on its plans for making its pickups all-electric—until now. It's something of a fait accompli, really, since GM's CEO Marry Barra has said the company plans to move to a 100 percent electric lineup, eventually. READ THIS: Cadillac to become “lead electric...

  • Path projection system for self-driving cars
    Dyson gets serious, charging with AI, Ghosn resigns: Today's Car News

    Americans are taking climate change more seriously, and a majority think the government should do something about it, two new studies show. A startup company thinks it has a software hack to help electric-car batteries charge faster. And Nissan's Carlos Ghosn has resigned as Chairman and CEO of...

  • Carlos Ghosn
    Carlos Ghosn, electric-car proponent and embattled executive, quit as Renault boss

    The past two months haven't been kind to Carlos Ghosn. The former auto executive was arrested late last year in Japan on charges that he bilked Nissan for millions in unauthorized pay and perks, including financial dealings with business partners that weren't formally disclosed. Shortly after his...

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