Green Car News
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It’s easy for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid to get lost. Short of small “Hybrid” badges on the front fenders, not much on the car’s exterior says it's powered by electrons. There’s no plug-in variant for now (a role reserved to the Clarity Plug-In sedan), and the latest hybrid Accord is built alongside other Accords in Ohio this time around. Even the battery packs, which have been moved from the trunk to underneath the rear seats, don't intrude the way like they used to. Will buyers miss having less trunk space than other Accords? (Editor's Note: Probably not.)...
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2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV: first drive of plug-in hybrid SUVNot too many people will ever drive the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, the plug-in hybrid version of the company's mid-size crossover utility vehicle. So it was fitting that the company launched the vehicle on dusty roads in the back country of Catalina Island: roads that not many people are...
Sebastian Blanco -
Leaf vs Bolt EV, Outlander PHEV prices, China wants electric cars, will Tesla win? The Week in ReverseWhat did China do last week that rocked the automotive world and likely altered its future direction? Which upcoming electric car turned out to have more orders than anyone expected? (It's not a Tesla ....) This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for...
John Voelcker -
China's huge EV sales rules, Tesla vs Germans, Pacifica Hybrid monster, diesels down: Today's Car NewsToday, China changes the world, a monster markets a minivan, AM radio may vanish, diesels drop for 2018, and we cast a sceptical eye on Tesla's chances of destroying all German luxury brands. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The biggest news of the week, and very possibly the year, is the...
John Voelcker -
Will Tesla steamroller German luxury makers? Perhaps notIt has become an article of faith among some Tesla fans and owners that the company will inevitably rise to compete with and ultimately defeat the titans of the global auto industry. This belief is especially prevalent for the luxury sector, where three German carmakers dominate the global market...
John Voelcker -
BMW i3 electric car quirk: no AM radio offered, but why? (update)The BMW i3 electric car is a tour de force of advanced engineering--and it was the most energy-efficient car sold in the U.S. in 2014 and 2015. Its body shell is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, riding on an aluminum platform containing the lithium-ion battery, the electric motor, and the...
John Voelcker -
The 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is a one-of-a-kind vehicle, the sole plug-in hybrid minivan offered for sale in North America. Its early months were plagued by a powertrain recall for a potentially faulty diode within the power inverter module. Now, the Pacifica Hybrid is back on sale in its second model year, and the minivan with 33 miles of electric range has some new support from familiar faces. DON'T MISS: 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid sales have resumed after recall Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced a new ad partnership with both Sesame Street and actor Dax Shepard to support the...
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China electric-car rules to start in 2019; aggressive totals are world's highestYou may not have heard it happen, but the global automotive industry changed forever on Thursday. China released its plan to require substantial sales of plug-in electric cars by all makers who want to sell in the world's largest car market, and they start in little more than a year. The levels far...
John Voelcker -
2018 Hyundai Accent small sedan debuts at minor auto showHyundai decided to skip the major auto-show circuit and debut its redesigned Accent subcompact sedan at a relatively minor auto show. The Korean automaker revealed the 2018 Hyundai Accent at the Orange County Auto Show in California, which boasts a new design, more interior space, and an updated...
Sean Szymkowski -
Outlander PHEV prices, Dyson electric, BMW wireless charging, Toyota ❤ Mazda: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a wee bit more news on the Toyota electric car for 2020, prices for the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, wireless charging for two German luxury sedans, and a teaser to get you to come back a bit later. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Yesterday afternoon, we got prices for...
John Voelcker -
BMW, Mercedes to offer wireless-charging options for plug-in hybrids next yearEvery one of the modern electric cars on the market for almost seven years requires plugging in a cord to recharge the battery using grid electricity. Inserting the cord into the socket takes just a few seconds, and most cars today are charged overnight. But soon there will be another option...
John Voelcker -
Dyson electric car for 2020 draws executives from Aston Martin, TeslaDyson, the British appliance company best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, has cleared up speculation that has persisted for nearly 10 years. Founder and chief engineer James Dyson officially confirmed his company is developing an electric car and is planning for a 2020 launch. Not only has...
Sean Szymkowski -
Very little is known for sure about the long-range electric car Toyota will launch around 2020. Over the last two years, the company—by far the industry's strongest proponent of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles—has concluded it must field a battery-electric vehicle to stay competitive. Toyota is likely unhappy about it, but regulations in China will require every automaker to sell fast-rising numbers of electric cars, starting very soon. DON'T MISS: 2020 Mazda electric car to share Toyota underpinnings, technology On Thursday morning, one small piece of the puzzle came into focus. A...
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Owning a Tesla, 48-volt mild hybrids, Indian electric cars, CA to ban cars with engines? Today's Car NewsToday, we've got important news from California, some reflections on owning a Tesla, and how diesel's decline is helping hybrids. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over seven years of modern electric cars, it's widely accepted that they lose money for their makers if all costs are fully...
John Voelcker -
How Tesla Model S alters car ownership: a buyer's one-year notesIn late July, we published an article describing one electric-car driver's experience in adding solar panels to his home to help with charging his family's five electric cars. That reader, who'd like to be known just as Shiva, has now owned a 2016 Tesla Model S for a year. He recently outlined for...
John Voelcker -
California mulls ban on new cars with engines, joining China in climate actionWith China mulling an eventual ban on sales of cars with gasoline or diesel engines, the world's largest car market made it clear earlier this month that it intends to force a conversion to zero-emission vehicles. Now California, which has led the U.S. in environmental awareness and emission...
John Voelcker -
Which electric car will sell best in 2018, globally? Poll resultsNext year is shaping up to be a banner year for electric cars globally. The new, longer-range second-generation Nissan Leaf will be in production at three factories around the world, the Tesla Model 3 should hit volume production, and the Chevy Bolt EV will be fully available in North America...
John Voelcker -
48-volt mild hybrids heading toward ubiquity in Europe as diesel declinesPublic concerns over diesel cars, and their ebbing sales, have become a well-documented phenomenon in Europe after decades of popularity. When the VW diesel scandal exposed deliberate cheating, and real-world testing revealed that virtually no diesels certified for sale actually met emission...
Sean Szymkowski -
The market for electric cars continues to grow, but vehicles powered by fossil fuels remain dominant across the globe. Many analysts believe electric cars will reach price parity with vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines sometime within the next decade. Indian maker Mahindra, however, says its own small, limited-range electric cars are already on the brink of profitability today—and it plans to fully embrace battery-electric cars moving forward. DON'T MISS: India actually beat China to all-electric new-car pledge, targets 2030 As the business case for electric cars becomes...
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Lots of luxury electric cars, Volvo XC40 subscription, Drive Electric Week roundup: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got news on luxury electric cars from Volkswagen and from Jaguar, and a poll asking your opinion on them, as well as a prediction about car-subscription services replacing some sales . All this and more on Green Car Reports. This year's National Drive Electric Week, the eighth one, was...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV has already accumulated 25,000 orders: CEOIn the rarified but still high-volume world of global luxury auto brands, Jaguar is still a tiny player. The British brand sold fewer than 150,000 cars globally last year, one-third of the number of Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs from its sister brands within Jaguar Land Rover. Audi sold 1.9...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen to show flagship all-electric ID sedan in Geneva: Phaeton successor?The long, strange, sad saga of the now-defunct Volkswagen Phaeton will likely go down as an asterisk in VW's long history. The pet project of now-departed VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech, a member of the Porsche family that controls the carmaker, it was a $70,000-and-up luxury sedan from the...
John Voelcker -
Which maker will sell most electric luxury cars by 2020? Take our Twitter pollIt has taken several years for European luxury makers to sort out what to do about the unexpected arrival of Tesla and its electric cars into a market they've dominated for decades. Sure, Lexus and a host of lesser Asian makes have competitive products somewhere between premium and luxury, but...
John Voelcker -
Car subscription services to take 1 of 5 sales by 2023, Volvo CEO saysThe 2019 Volvo XC40 not only represents the Swedish brand's first compact crossover to be sold in the U.S. but its first shot at a new model for drivers to obtain cars: a subscription service. During the XC40 launch, Volvo revealed it would introduce Care by Volvo, a subscription service giving...
Sean Szymkowski