Hybrids

After Lexus introduced a new ES 300h hybrid yesterday, we finished out test drive in the considerably more luxurious LC 500h coupe. Honda introduced its new electric car for China, and it's based on the small HR-V SUV that it sells here. And we take a deep dive into the next technology that will...

As the industry marches toward greener cars, battery and hybrid drivetrains are expanding into vehicle segments never before concerned with fuel economy ratings or much with emissions. No segment is excluded from this progress, not even luxury grand tourers. Toyota, along with its luxury division...

Lexus unveiled Tuesday its newest ES sedan, and the mid-size luxury stalwart appears to have an edgier attitude. The big news for readers interested in green cars is that the new ES 300h hybrid is rated at 44 mpg, up 10 percent from the previous model. The ES has always been a version of a Toyota...

Hyundai drops prices on refreshed Sonata Hybrid models, and adds features

Often, to sell electric cars, supporters and salespeople argue that buyers will save money in the long run from lower fuel (or power) bills. With deals up to $15,700 off and payments as low as $179 a month, several hybrid, electric, and fuel-efficient cars will cost less this month right up front...

Teased in January as a "concept" without an interior, the production version of the 2019 Honda Insight hybrid sedan has been revealed just before this week's New York auto show. EPA ratings aren't yet final, but Honda says the new Insight is projected to achieve "up to 55 mpg" on the city cycle...

With buyers showing no signs of letup in their enthusiasm for crossovers of all sizes and shapes, the redesigned 2019 Toyota RAV4 couldn't be coming at a better time. The Toyota RAV4 small SUV became the company's single best-selling model in the U.S. last year, surging past its long-time champion...

After a gestation period of 18 months, the 2019 Lexus UX small crossover utility vehicle is emerging in its U.S. form at this week's New York auto show. One full size smaller than the Lexus RX that launched the luxury crossover segment 20 years ago, the UX gives Toyota's luxury brand an entry in...

Ford was the first U.S. carmaker to sell a hybrid-electric vehicle, as well as the second to offer a plug-in hybrid. But since 2013, the carmaker hasn't released a single new electrified vehicle—including battery-electric cars as well as the two types of hybrids. Now, Ford has released...

While mid-size sedans are losing the U.S. sales battle to crossover utility vehicles, they still sell hundreds of thousands of units each year. An entirely redesigned Honda Accord launched for 2018 just a few months after a redesigned version of its U.S. arch-rival the Toyota Camry, but the Accord...

Ford hasn’t given up on hybrids and electric cars, despite letting its existing models languish since 2013. That was the message conveyed by various executives at an event Thursday morning at the Ford Product Development Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The company will build a hybrid version of...

Tomorrow, Ford is hosting journalists at an unusual event called "Ford Uncovered," at which it may discuss some of its future products for 2020 and beyond. Key among the questions that attendees will undoubtedly ask will be those about the company's strategy for electrified vehicles. While Ford was...

The EPA has now released the fuel-efficiency ratings for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid, and they came in 1 mpg below the combined number the company had hoped to reach. At a drive event last fall, Honda said it hoped the redesigned Accord Hybrid could manage the same fuel-efficiency ratings as last...

Not a lot has changed since last month: Buyers continue to move from passenger sedans to crossovers and trucks, and gasoline remains relatively cheap. That means you can pick up some bargains fuel-efficient and electrified vehicles. DON'T MISS: Lexus lowers hybrid prices a lot to cut premium over...

Remember hatchbacks? Actually, come to think of it ... remember passenger cars? You know, the sedans and wagons and hatchbacks that don't have all-wheel drive and aren't jacked up 6 to 9 inches off the ground? They used to roam this fair land of ours, but lately, they seem to have been routed by...

A funny thing happened to Toyota Prius hybrid sales last month. Almost one in three Prius hybrids sold in the U.S. were the Prius Prime model—the one with a plug. Toyota may be the large automaker least friendly to cars that plug in, so what's that all about? DON'T MISS: Toyota Prius hybrid...

The idea of adding noise-makers to vehicles that are "too quiet" didn't exist until the first hybrid-electric cars hit the market in 2000. Within a few years, however, organizations representing the blind began to raise alarms that cars operating at low speeds solely on electric power couldn't be...

The Honda CR-V Hybrid, a more fuel-efficient version of the company's best-selling compact crossover, has been around for almost a year now. It's on sale in China, announced for Japan, and now, as of Tuesday, it's slated to arrive in European markets early in 2019. As for North America? The company...

The global new-vehicle market is moving toward crossover utility vehicles and SUVs, along with vehicles that look like them. Now the production version of another crossover, shown in concept form more than a year ago, will launch at the Geneva auto show—and Lexus has released one photo and a...

The idea of a Ford F-Series hybrid pickup truck has now been around since August 2011, but its maker now expects to launch such a truck sometime during 2020. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Boston-based XL Hybrids unveiled both a Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup fitted with its XLH hybrid system and an F-150...