Green Car News

  • 2019 Volvo S60

    When it launches its 2019 Volvo S60 T8 Polestar Engineered next year, the Swedish automaker will nearly complete a startling turn toward electrification in less than a decade that began with a small-volume wagon in 2011 and will soon incorporate a full battery electric vehicle and every model in showrooms. Later in 2019, for buyers in the U.S., the transformation will go further. According to Volvo, all of its models will be available with either hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or battery electric options in 2019. Although Volvo's model range is relatively small compared to other luxury and...

  • Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada [CREDIT - YouTube user California Phantom]
    Tesla sues saboteur who claims he is a whistleblower

    On Thursday, Tesla sued former employee Martin Tripp for stealing trade secrets and transferring several gigabytes of data to third parties, including pictures of the company's battery assembly line at the Gigafactory in Nevada, where he worked. The details of the suit point to a testy...

  • Tesla Model 3 all-wheel drive Performance rolls off a new assembly line in a temporary structure
    Tesla Model 3 Performance awd built, 2019 Honda Insight, 2018 Kia Niro hybrid, another state joins California: The Week in Reverse

    Which state added its name to the list of those following California's tighter emissions regulations? What hybrid car aced the battery of crash tests inflicted by the IIHS? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending June 22, 2018...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt, Catskill Mountains, Oct 2012
    GM recalls 2013 Chevrolet Volts for battery software (Updated)

    GM said Friday that it will recall 3,233 2013 model year Chevrolet Volts to remedy a problem with battery cell balancing that could cause the car to shut down in traffic. The recall mirrors two service campaigns for the 2017 and 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EVs for similar behavior. Some 2017 Bolt EVs got...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt
    Tesla Solar City layoffs, Chevrolet Volt recall, and EPA staff levels: Today's Car News

    Tesla's recent layoffs have hit Solar City installers. Chevrolet issues a recall for the 2013 Volt. EPA staff levels are below legal levels. And an energy industry poll says Americans aren't fond of the electric-car tax credit. All of this and more on Green Car Reports. Last week, Tesla said it...

  • Tesla Solar Roof
    Tesla layoffs hit 20 percent of Solar City installation locations

    Last week, Tesla announced it would lay off 9 percent of its workforce in an effort to keep its doors open as it tries to ramp up production of its critical Model 3 electric car. Now internal emails obtained by Reuters show that 13 or 14 of Solar City's installation centers will be shuttered as...

  • Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland   [photo: Forth]

    Results of a study released Tuesday by the American Energy Alliance found that most voters object to tax credits for electric cars. Tellingly, the poll also shows that the public generally supports electric cars themselves. Two-thirds said they are better for the environment than than gasoline powered cars, and 50 percent (a plurality) named that as the best reason to support the sale of electric vehicles, followed by 34 percent who said they reduce dependence on foreign oil. "The fossil fuel industry, which sponsored this poll, is searching for reasons to keep us hooked on oil," says Luke...

  • EPA administrator Scott Pruitt  [photo from 2014]
    EPA loses 10 percent of enforcement staff under Trump

    If the EPA wants to reduce federal involvement in environmental protection, it may not need to roll back emissions requirements or cancel California's environmental waiver. It could just quit enforcing the law. That is already happening to a degree, according to new data from Public Employees for...

  • Elaphe in-wheel electric powertrain
    Slovenian company makes drop-in in-wheel electric motors

    Slovenian company Elaphe has created in-wheel electric motors that have been tested in the worst conditions winter could throw at them. One of the main reasons we don't see production electric cars with motors in the wheels has been that wheels take a lot of abuse, bumping over broken pavement...

  • Hyundai Nexo
    Audi and Hyundai fuel cells, Uber pays to buy electric cars, and in-wheel electric motors: Today's Car News

    Audi and Hyundai have joined forces to share fuel cell technology and combine R&D forces. Uber now pays drivers to purchase electric cars. A Slovenian company has rolled out in-wheel electric motors. And British Columbia opens Canada's first hydrogen filling station. All of this and more on...

  • First hydrogen filling station opens in Canada, in Vancouver, British Columbia
    British Columbia opens first hydrogen filling station in Canada

    Canada’s first retail hydrogen fueling station opened on Friday June 15 in Vancouver, part of a network of eight hydrogen stations expected in British Columbia in the next two years. By 2020, the program will add hydrogen dispensers at five retail stations in Metro Vancouver and one station...

  • Uber driver (photo by Uber)
    Uber starts paying drivers to buy electric

    Electric cars and fleets go hand-in-hand. That's the message Uber is trying to send to its drivers with a new program it calls EV Champions, which will pay some drivers higher rates if they drive an electric car. The pilot program starts this week and will run for a year in seven cities: Austin...

  • Hyundai Nexo

    Automakers are teaming up all over the world to prepare for the next big game in clean transportation, fuel cells. The latest partnership is between Audi and Hyundai, which announced yesterday that they will share resources to develop fuel-cell vehicles. The two said that the first fruit of this partnership will be a full-size Audi crossover SUV planned to go into production in small numbers "in the beginning of the next decade," perhaps as early as two years from now. Reading between the lines, it could be a fuel-cell version of the upcoming electric Audi e-tron SUV. Hyundai has been an...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight review, Tesla Autopilot Buddy ban, and Colorado joins CA emissions states: Today's Car News

    We review the 2019 Honda Insight and put the manufacturer's fuel-economy claims to the test. The NHTSA has banned Autopilot Buddy. Colorado plans to join the 13 California emissions states. And we take another look at the 2019 Insight with our video review of the hybrid sedan. All of this and more...

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]
    Colorado moves to follow California's low-emissions air-quality rules

    Chalk up one more state in California's column. Colorado has added its name to the list of 12 states that follow California's tighter emissions standards. Governor John Hickenlooper directed Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission to begin the legal process of bringing the state into the...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight first drive mpg review: 55 mpg from hybrid sedan

    Last week, we drove the new 2019 Honda Insight sedan and found Honda's newest compact hybrid roomy and comfortable. During our drive around Minneapolis, its exurbs, and into Wisconsin, we wanted to put to the test Honda's claims that its 1.5-liter inline-4 and 96-kw electric motor combination could...

  • 2019 Honda Insight
    2019 Honda Insight video review

    You could be forgiven for not remembering the two Honda vehicles that have worn an Insight badge before. The first was a quirky hatchback two-seater that struggled for acceptance with mainstream buyers. The second was a Prius-like Prius fighter, egg shape and all. This 2019 Honda Insight is the...

  • Tesla Autopilot
    NHTSA orders Autopilot Buddy off market, calling it a danger to road users

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday ordered the Autopilot Buddy's maker to pull it off the market in the U.S. Green Car Reports reported last week that the device tricked Tesla's Autopilot system into eliminating safety warnings. Roadshow originally reported on the device...

  • 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid

    The Kia Niro (mostly) aced the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's crash tests. Tesla has built the first Model 3 Performance AWD variant. Falling battery prices could lead to a boost in renewable electricity by 2050. And the results are in for our latest Twitter poll. All of this and more on Green Car Reports. When properly equipped, the Kia Niro hybrid passed the IIHS' crash tests with flying colors and earned a Top Safety Pick+ accolade. The first Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD variant has rolled off of a new assembly line, housed in a temporary structure. Meanwhile CEO Elon Musk...

  • Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee
    Renewables to generate half of worldwide electricity by 2050: report

    Falling prices for lithium-ion batteries will enable half the world's electricity to come from renewable solar and wind by 2050. That still won't be enough to meet global climate targets, however. Those are the conclusions of a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), released today...

  • 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid
    2018 Kia Niro hybrid nets top Safety Pick+ award, when properly equipped

    Tick all the right boxes and the 2018 Kia Niro earns a Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS, the crash-testing agency said last week. To get to the highest-rated Niro, buyers need to opt for LED headlights and automatic emergency braking, features that can be paired together only on the Niro EX...

  • Tesla Model 3 all-wheel drive Performance rolls off a new assembly line in a temporary structure
    First Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD built; Musk claims company was "sabotaged"

    After laying off 9 percent of its workforce last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a company-wide email in which he claimed an employee had committed "extensive and damaging sabotage" against the company. The news comes on the heels of another Musk tweet that congratulated employees for building the...

  • 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV
    What does a "green car" mean to you? Twitter poll results

    Our readers are nothing if not consistent. When we asked our Twitter followers last week to choose what they consider a "green car," a solid majority said nothing but a pure electric car qualifies. Under a picture of a gas-guzzling Dodge Challenger SRT8, literally painted green and parked in a spot...

  • Polestar 1
    Audi arrest, Tesla Model S fire, charging labels, and our Twitter poll: Today's Car News

    German authorities arrested the head of Audi over diesel cheating scandal. A Tesla caught fire in L.A. Chargeway labels are coming to help make charging easier. And what's the longest trip you've taken in your electric car? All this and more on Green Car Reports. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was...

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