Green Car News

  • David Edwards' Chevy Bolt EV draws a crowd while charging

    Readers like David Edwards periodically send letters about road trips they’ve made in their electric cars. While long road trips are becoming somewhat commonplace with Teslas, he points out that they still aren’t common for other electric cars. Just last year, reader Jay Lucas sold his Chevy Bolt EV after finding it too difficult to visit his wife 325 miles away. Edwards says that now is the golden time for such stories, where trips in electric cars other than Teslas are just becoming convenient enough for most drivers, yet still aren’t an everyday occurrence. His...

  • 2019 Audi e-tron prototype drive, Pikes Peak
    Audi e-tron first ride, Nio financing, fuel-economy standards, and back to school: Today's Car News

    We get our first chance to ride in Audi's new electric e-tron SUV. Chinese electric carmaker NIO plans to start its expansion in the U.S. by raising money. We look at why fuel-economy standards don't need be loosened to keep cars safer, and we ask followers for their back-to-school thoughts in our...

  • 2019 Audi e-tron prototype drive, Pikes Peak
    2019 Audi e-tron prototype first ride: Soothingly familiar

    At 5 o’clock in the morning, the only sound heard at the summit of Pikes Peak, 14,114 feet above sea level, is the ceaseless whipping of the wind. Inside the Audi e-tron electric crossover SUV prototype, I hear almost no sound at all. Silence, like the e-tron itself, is soothingly familiar...

  • Nio Formula E race car, EP9, ES8 and Eve concept car
    Chinese electric carmaker Nio seeks public funding in US

    Chinese electric carmaker Nio has filed for an initial public offering to sell its stock in the U.S., according to a Reuters report Tuesday. The company, which has built a Formula E race car, an exotic electric sports car, and an electric SUV for China, is looking to ramp up production and build a...

  • Petro-Canada gas station, Crossfields, Alberta, with electric-car charging station
    Commentary: Fuel-economy standards don't need to be rolled back to make cars SAFER

    Smaller, lighter cars always get the blame when politicians want to lower fuel-economy standards. They lobby that too many Americans will be driving lighter cars and that that will lead to more deaths on America's roadways. That's exactly the argument that the Trump administration made earlier this...

  • Zipcar will add the 2012 Ford Focus to its college car-sharing locations
    What plug-in car would you send your kids back to school in? Take our Twitter poll

    Kids are getting ready to go back to school and many will need wheels. Yet many environmentally conscious youngsters—and parents—may no longer accept a gas-burning machine, or at least not one that has to burn gas everywhere it goes. Last week, we suggested seven plug-in cars that would...

  • Electrify America chargers by BTC Power

    The VW TDI settlement nears completion. Elon Musk reveals more details about his privatization plan for Tesla. And Electrify America rolls out the "Jetstones" to promote electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Owners of 2.0-liter VW TDI models have until Sept. 1 to file for settlements with the company over the diesel emissions cheating scandal. Owners are eligible for at least $5,100. Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed Saudi interest in his plan to take the company private in a new letter to shareholders. Electrify America released its first ad for electric cars that riffs on two...

  • Tesla factory, Fremont, California
    Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals talks with Saudi fund to take Tesla private, others express doubt

    In a public letter to investors Monday morning, Tesla CEO Elon Musk expanded on details of his plan to take the company private. Musk announced Aug. 4 on Twitter that he was considering a privatization plan and had funding "secured." In the letter Monday, he revealed that he has been in discussions...

  • Volkswagen turbodiesels await their fate near Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado Springs
    Time is running out for VW diesel claims

    Time is running out for owners of 2.0-liter VW TDIs to file their claims against the company and receive a settlement that could be worth at least $5,100. All claims in the diesel emissions lawsuit must be filed by Sept. 1. So far, Volkswagen has bought back more than 350,000 TDIs and repaired...

  • Electrify America 350 kw chargers at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.
    Electrify America launches "Jetstones" ad campaign

    If regular automakers aren't advertising their electric cars well enough, maybe purveyors of electric-car infrastructure can fill in the gaps. Electrify America, VW's court-mandated effort to build a nationwide DC fast-charge network, is launching its first ad campaign Monday on behalf of all...

  • Sandvik DD422iE in Goldcorp Borden mine
    Canadian gold mine cleans up its act with electricity

    Mining operations get a lot of flack for creating environmental problems around the world. Yet they provide much of the basic material that keeps the global economy humming. Some mining companies are drilling down in their efforts to clean up their acts. As the world’s fourth-largest gold...

  • Tesla Model S Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]
    Taking Tesla private, Autopilot testing, Mazda CX-5 diesel, Nissan Leaf batteries: The Week in Reverse

    Which company got a new diesel approved for U.S. sale? What new feature did the IIHS test? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Aug. 10, 2018. Friday, we reported on the IIHS tests of self-driving systems, including two...

  • 2018 Toyota Prius c

    The 2019 Toyota Prius C gets a price increase. The IIHS compares Tesla's Autopilot to other "self-driving" systems. We provide a guide to electric-car incentives and tax credits by state. And how Superchargers may defend Tesla against oncoming competition. All of this and more on Green Car Reports. For 2019, the Prius C will cost $900 more and has fewer options. The tiny hybrid includes just two trims now. The IIHS said self-driving systems are not ready for prime time and compared Autopilot to other manufacturers' systems. Each made potentially-fatal mistakes. There's more than just a...

  • Tesla Supercharger site in Rocklin, California, before expansion    [photo: George Parrott]
    Tesla builds Supercharging "moat" to keep out competition: analysis

    Competitors are coming for Tesla. Just as the young company begins to ramp up production of its bread-and-butter Model 3 to what CEO Elon Musk has called sustainable levels, Tesla's European rivals are beginning to roll out their own electric cars. That has some investors worried about whether the...

  • 2018 Toyota Prius c
    2019 Toyota Prius C preview: $900 price increase, fewer options

    The most affordable hybrid on the market just got a little less so. The 2019 Toyota Prius C will cost $900 more, with a sticker of $22,450, including destination, based on a recent official price list released by Toyota and shared by our partners at CarsDirect. Toyota has replaced its traditional...

  • Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland   [photo: Forth]
    Beyond the federal tax credit: a guide to clean-car incentives

    The king of all financial incentives for plug-in cars is, of course, the federal tax credit of up to $7,500. It’s not the only one, though. With Tesla’s federal tax credit already on its way to expiring and GM’s close behind, it’s worth knowing where to look for other...

  • Tesla Model S Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]
    IIHS: Self-driving systems aren't that, and aren't ready for prime time

    Self-driving systems aren't ready for prime time, says a new report by IIHS. The Institute tested five cars: two Teslas, a BMW, a Mercedes-Benz, and a Volvo, all with systems that earned top marks in its tests of advanced driver safety aids. In new tests on its track and on public roads, all of the...

  • 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e PHEV
    SEC investigates Musk's Tesla tweet, Land Rover plug-in pricing, and CX-5 diesel ratings: Today's Car News

    Federal financial regulators may be investigating Tesla CEO Elon Musk's tweet about taking the electric-car maker private. Land Rover releases pricing and specs for the Range Rover plug-in hybrid SUV. The EPA rolls out official fuel economy ratings for the Mazda CX-5 diesel. The California Air...

  • 2018 Mazda CX-5

    The Mazda CX-5 diesel took one step closer to production by receiving an EPA rating. Jalopnik made the find and reported the ratings on Wednesday. With front-wheel drive, the CX-5 diesel is rated at 28 mpg city, 31 highway, 29 combined. With all-wheel drive those numbers each drop by 1 mpg for ratings of 27 city, 30 highway, and 28 overall. The 2.2-liter diesel inline-4 gets no better ratings than the gas engine in the CX-5 on the highway, but it does boost city fuel economy ratings by 3 mpg across the board. Where the diesel shines is in torque, where it produces 280 pound-feet of torque and...

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]
    OpEd: Who pays for principle in Trump's war on lower emissions and trade?

    Last week the Trump administration unveiled a broad drawdown of fuel-economy regulations that had been aimed at cutting emissions from passenger vehicles. In the 978-page proposal, administration officials argued those rules implemented by the Obama administration would create lighter, potentially...

  • Traffic at the I-10 & I-405 interchange in Los Angeles, California (by Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz)
    California warns it won't follow lower EPA fuel economy, emissions rules

    In response to an EPA proposal to freeze emissions and fuel economy standards, California said it will not honor federal vehicle certifications if the proposal goes through. "The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed amending the California Low-Emission Vehicle III Greenhouse Gas...

  • 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e
    2019 Land Rover releases pricing for Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid

    By 2024, Land Rover will have a whole new lineup of hybrid and electric luxury SUVs. As we learned yesterday, that lineup will include plug-in hybrid and electric versions of its small Evoque crossover SUV. Now the company has released pricing for its largest, most luxurious plug-in hybrid, the...

  • Teen driver - busy street- AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
    Multi-speed transmissions and turbochargers don't save much fuel–oh, really? Analysis (Updated)

    In President Trump's plan to freeze fuel economy standards last week, the EPA and NHTSA made a strange statement. They said that two of the main technologies used to improve fuel economy standards—turbocharging and multi-speed transmissions—were not as effective as had been expected...

  • Elon Musk at Tesla Model 3 reveal
    Report: SEC investigating Musk tweet about taking Tesla private

    The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that federal financial regulators may be investigating a series of tweets sent by Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggesting that the automaker was considering a large-scale stock buyback to take the company private. SEC investigators may be considering a range of...

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