Green Car News
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There's a lot of good data to be found in public reports from national labs and other government research papers, but it's not always easy to find or easy to parse. For years, federal Department of Energy collected and published that information—but it has eliminated that effort under the Trump Administration. So the Natural Resources Defense Council has stepped into the breach, releasing a new tool to track the reduction in cost and increase in adoption of solar and wind power, electric-vehicle batteries, and LED lightbulbs. READ MORE: Trump to slash clean-energy funding 72 percent...
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GM, EVgo to build Chevy Bolt EV fast-charging network, for Maven drivers onlyGeneral Motors has consistently declined to fund public charging stations that increase the utility and long-distance potential of the electric cars it sells. The company said firmly two years ago it had no intention of spending money on a charging network, a stance that distinguished GM from BMW...
John Voelcker -
Deal between EPA, California on auto emissions may still be possibleOver the many months EPA administrator Scott Pruitt signaled his intention to revisit the Obama administration's emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles, California warned that it would not go along with any reductions. The state has been allowed to set its own emission standards for...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model Y production to start Nov 2019 (also, Musk doesn't have time to shower): reportsAmidst nine months of "production hell" for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, the company's next vehicle has somewhat fallen off the radar. According to a report Wednesday by Reuters, Tesla has now put out requests to suppliers for initial bids on parts for the Tesla Model Y, its high-volume...
Eric C. Evarts -
Electric Buicks, restyled Prius hybrid, green-car deals, vanishing sedans: Today's Car NewsThree new Buicks with plugs are coming for China, the Prius hybrid may get a restyle, sedans and small cars continue to depart Detroit, and we've got this month's best green-car deals. All this and more on Green Car Reports. If a report from a Japanese site is correct, the 2019 Toyota Prius hybrid...
Eric C. Evarts -
More sedan, smaller, entry models bite the dust in DetroitTwo years ago this month, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles essentially threw in the towel on the "automobiles" part of its name. Canceling the compact Dodge Dart and the mid-size Chrysler 200 sedans, the company doubled down on the pickup trucks and utility vehicles that had long been its profit centers...
John Voelcker -
For 15 years now, Buick has been a far more important brand in China than it is in North America: four out of five Buicks sold globally are purchased by Chinese buyers. The brand has a wider range and variety of vehicles in that country, along with numerous models U.S. buyers never lay eyes on. So Buick's announcement that it will take the wraps off a new model with both plug-in hybrid and battery-electric versions inevitably leads eager U.S. plug-in electric car fans to wonder if those cars will appear Stateside. DON'T MISS: GM to launch two new electric vehicles within 18 months, 20 by 2023...
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Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for April 2018Often, 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...
Eric C. Evarts -
Your predictions for electric-car growth: Twitter poll resultsPredictions range all over the map on when electric-car sales are going to take off, depending on whether you're talking to a Wall Street bull or bear, what happens to gas prices, and even who's in office. With that in mind, we thought we'd ask our Twitter followers with an interest in electric...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Toyota Prius will be restyled to look more like Prime: reportGlobal sales of compact hatchbacks are hardly surging, and fuel economy for all types of vehicles is steadily improving. Even given those factors, though, the fourth-generation Toyota Prius hybrid has had an especially rough road since its launch as a 2016 model. At just 108,661 deliveries across...
John Voelcker -
SF Motors electric cars, emissions vs gas mileage, Honda Clarity poll, UK engine ban: Today's Car NewsA Tesla founder has a new startup car company, the British utility would be OK with more electric cars sooner, reporters are getting a crucial distinction wrong, and we've got a new Twitter poll on the Honda Clarity. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The national electric utility in the U.K...
John Voelcker -
Which Honda Clarity would you buy: electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell? Take our Twitter pollThe Clarity sedan will encompass three models: a battery electric with 114-mile range, a 42-mile plug-in hybrid, and a fuel-cell vehicle
Eric C. Evarts -
Journalism as an industry is under great pressure these days. There are far more people writing "content" than in past decades, and in general they are having to produce more of it for less money than they did 10, 20, or 50 years ago. That's no excuse, however, for getting the basics wrong. DON'T MISS: Hey, media, get it straight: "electrified" is NOT "electric," and the difference matters We've seen many recent stories, both in automotive outlets and more general media, that reported on embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt's determination that emission standards for 2022 through 2025 model-year...
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Tesla founder, Chinese company launch SF Motors electric carsSF Motors revealed its first two electric cars, to be produced next year at the Hummer factory in South Bend Indiana
Eric C. Evarts -
Britain's electric utility backs earlier ban on new cars with engines, in 2030Norway and The Netherlands started the trend a few years ago, though they're relatively tiny car markets. Then France and the U.K. joined in. China, the world's largest new-car market by far, is doing it—though the country hasn't decided when. All of those countries plan to ban, or work the...
John Voelcker -
Nikola hydrogen semi deposits, EV around the world, climate forecast grim, EPA sloppy: Today's Car NewsA startling announcement from a zero-emission truck maker, some grim news on climate change, sloppiness from the Trump administration's EPA, and a quixotic round-the-world electric-car trip. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we do every seven days, we ran down last week's...
John Voelcker -
Pruitt's EPA emission rollback reasoning may well fail in courtDespite the sturm und drang around the announcement by embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt that he will relax emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles, not much will happen immediately. His determination last week that the Obama administration was "incorrect" and that the limits on those...
John Voelcker -
Paris climate accords look more and more like fantasy; the reality could be far worseNew York Magazine article draws dire conclusion that catastrophic climate change is nearly inevitable, with or without Paris climate accord.
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla's most direct competitor announced it would refund all deposits it has taken.
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Driving a converted electric car from Holland to Australia, relying on giftsWhat do you do when the year you planned for your round-the-world trip in an electric car turns into two—and you still haven't reached your destination? If you're taking such an ambitious trip, it helps to have a name as whimsical as Wiebe Wakker. He's the Dutchman undertaking this adventure...
Eric C. Evarts -
Bolt EV vs Tesla, Jaguar I-Pace drive, Kona Electric info, Model 3 production: The Week in ReverseHow many Tesla Model 3 cars did the company make and deliver during the first quarter of this year? Why did one reader trade in his year-old Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car for a used Tesla Model S? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace style, all-electric Smart, 2018 Nissan Leaf charging, EPA battle: Today's Car NewsToday, the Jaguar I-Pace shows how electric cars can lead to new designs, Daimler said Smart will be all-electric by 2020, owners of 2018 Nissan Leafs spot fast-charging problems, and the EPA refutes 1,217 pages of its own scientific analysis with 38 pages of completely different conclusions. All...
Eric C. Evarts -
2018 Nissan Leaf electric car: Is there a fast-charging problem?Nissan Leaf owners have found that the car's electronic controls dial back charging speeds with each successive fast charge on any given trip.
Eric C. Evarts -
Pruitt's EPA decision: 38-page intention vs 1,217 pages of analysisWhile the name of EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is often preceded by "embattled" these days, his agency is now on record as rejecting its own recommendation of just 16 months ago. It concluded in July 2016 that the auto industry had handily met lower carbon-emission limits from 2012 through...
John Voelcker