Green Car News
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It's a technology that's been a sort of Holy Grail in the auto industry for at least a couple of decades. Now Mazda, one of the smallest global automakers, plans to introduce it in a radical new engine to be used in a future Mazda vehicle in 2019. It's called homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI: in essence it lets a gasoline engine behave like a diesel under low-power demand, vastly improving its efficiency. DON'T MISS: Mazda to launch homogeneous-charge compression engine The new engines capable of HCCI, which will be known as SkyActiv-X, are thought to be destined for the...
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Tesla Model 3 electric car: what's your take? Poll resultsWith the Tesla Model 3 electric car now in early production and an aggressive ramp rate targeted, it's getting lots of media attention. Part of that is due to the allure of the Tesla brand and fascination with company CEO Elon Musk. Some more may be due to the widespread misapprehension that the...
John Voelcker -
Model 3 MPGe, Prime vs Bolt EV vs Volt, electric SUV, Mirai for Hawaii: Today's Car NewsToday, a Tesla Model 3 EPA rating, a future electric SUV from Nissan, who loves tiny crossovers and who doesn't, and hydrogen fuel for Maui. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, we covered last week's most popular green-car news. One reviewer called the Chevy Bolt EV user...
John Voelcker -
Hawaii to get hydrogen fueling station; Toyota Mirai leases to followTropical islands are some of the best places on earth to pioneer carbon-free energy and zero-emission vehicles. Within the United States, the eight islands of Hawaii are blessed with a temperate climate, abundant sunshine, few high-speed highways, and a statewide speed limit of 60 mph, achievable...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf electric car platform to spawn more models, SUV included: reportThe 2018 Nissan Leaf apparently won't be the brand's lone electric car for much longer, if a new report with details on plans to expand the electric car's underpinnings to additional models proves accurate. Following the introduction of the second-generation 2018 Nissan Leaf, the electric car's...
Sean Szymkowski -
Smallest SUVs most popular in US Midwest, less so in west, southThe small SUV segment has ballooned into a hugely important market for many automakers, as consumers continue to shift from traditional sedans to crossovers and other utility vehicles. The smallest of the expanding array of SUVs on the market offers the flexibility of a hatchback or wagon, combined...
Sean Szymkowski -
Ten days ago, when the first 30 Tesla Model 3 electric cars were delivered to their owners at a much-publicized Handover Party, we didn't get full information on the latest Tesla model. The company didn't discuss battery capacity in kilowatt-hours, for instance, giving range in miles instead, nor did it release specs for motor output, EPA ratings, or other usual information. Now, however, one fan has uncovered what appears to be the Model 3's EPA energy-efficiency rating. CHECK OUT: Tesla Model 3 drive reports, reviews: raves for sporty electric car The news came yesterday from a Tesla Motors...
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Should we buy a Toyota Prius Prime, Chevy Bolt EV, or Volt?It's now time to shop for a new car for my wife, as her wonderful 2006 Toyota Prius has 144,000 miles and we're ready for something new. So I thought I might throw the question out to Green Car Reports readers. What car should replace our 2006 Prius hybrid? DON'T MISS: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime: gas...
John Briggs -
Chevy Bolt EV user interface: reviewer calls it best of any electric carThe 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is an amazing, long-range electric vehicle that won multiple awards for good reason. Driving the EV for an extended test for the first time, it’s obvious this is the future of driving. (Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently predicted that 50 percent of new cars will be...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
Tesla Model 3 launch, 2018 Leaf, CAFE debate, Porsche faster charging, 'dead' coal: The Week in ReverseWhat did we learn about the Tesla Model 3 electric car this week? Why is the EPA planning to remove an exhibit on climate change? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, August 4, 2017. Friday, we noted that while the...
John Voelcker -
Model Y sanity, 2018 Leaf teaser, VW guilty plea, Tesla service, Toyota-Mazda pact: Today's Car NewsToday, again we have two Tesla stories, this time on Model Y "insanity" averted plus extended service plans; a VW executive pleads guilty; Toyota and Mazda hook up; and we get another 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car teaser image. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Toyota and Mazda announced they...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model Y to be based on Model 3 after all; Musk 'reeled back' from 'insanity'It's fair to say that Tesla CEO Elon Musk probably raises more eyebrows more often than all other automaker CEOs combined. One case in point came in early May, when he mentioned during a financial-results call that the upcoming Tesla Model Y compact crossover utility would be based on a new...
John Voelcker -
The global debut of the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car is just a month away, and now another teaser image has been released. This one's a design sketch showing a drawing of the car's side profile, suitably shaded to obscure some of the details. You can compare it to a shot of the actual vehicle, captured last week in Norway while a 2018 Leaf was being filmed for an advertisement. DON'T MISS: 2018 Nissan Leaf caught without camouflage in ad shoot The release that accompanied Nissan's latest photo focuses on the aerodynamics of the second-generation Leaf. It's lower to the ground, for better...
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Life with Tesla Model S: beware Extended Service Agreement fine printA couple of years ago, as my 2013 Tesla Model S approached the end of its 50,000-mile warranty, I debated long and hard whether to opt for Tesla’s extended warranty, which they call an Extended Service Agreement (ESA). At $4,000, it wasn’t cheap. It provided four years and an additional...
David Noland -
VW exec to plead guilty to diesel cheating charges after jail, house arrestIt has been almost two years since Volkswagen changed the prospects for diesel-powered cars when it admitted to eight years' worth of cheating on emissions tests for its so-called clean diesel vehicles. The effects of the German automaker's diesel scandal are still unfolding today, not only in the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Toyota, Mazda plan joint plant in U.S., electric-car cooperation: updatedToyota is one of the largest global automakers, while Mazda is one of the smallest. This morning, the two Japanese makers announced a capital-investment deal under which Toyota would take a small shareholding in Mazda, the smaller maker would invest in Toyota as well, and the two would set up a...
John Voelcker -
Fiat 500e autocrossing, Model 3 update, Canada EV news, charging at gas stations: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got two Tesla stories covering its entire model lineup, an electric car that went racing, a news roundup from Canada, and a distracted-pedestrian idea. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A piece we published on the net number of Tesla Model 3 reservations may have contributed to...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model S, Model X electric cars updated with new featuresBefore the Tesla Model 3 officially entered production, the electric-car maker shuffled features on its Model S to provide a clear distinction between the two sedans. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has often said those looking for luxury will be happiest in a Model S, while the Model 3 remains a much more...
Sean Szymkowski -
When we published an article on one owner's experience using his Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car to compete in a local autocross, it contained a comment that riled up our reader Doug Kerr. That comment—"Outside of one high-performance electric vehicle, casual electric cars are hardly the racer’s choice"—prompted Kerr to take the family's Fiat 500e to the nearest autocross, driven by his daughter Andrea. What follows are Kerr's words, lightly edited by Green Car Reports for clarity and style. DON'T MISS: Chevy Bolt EV electric car does many things: autocrossing is one I talked...
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Canada electric-car news: EV Discovery Centre, more charging sites, ZEV mandates debatedAs Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, the plug-in electric vehicle sector has charged forward, with developments on the national, provincial and even municipal levels. Here’s our take on six of the most salient stories. Federal ZEV committee On May 26, the Canadian government announced its...
Matthew Klippenstein -
BP follows other gas-station brands, adds electric-car chargingMajor oil companies are beginning to take the threat of electric cars seriously, and the latest evidence comes from British Petroleum. BP has begun discussions with electric-vehicle makers to partner on a network of charging stations. The move comes as many European countries announce plans to ban...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model 3 net reservations clarified after 16 months: 455,000Sometimes, if you ask a question often enough for long enough, an answer will eventually be forthcoming. In the case of the net number of $1,000 reservations for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, it took 16 months for the company to cough up the latest data. It came, not surprisingly, from CEO Elon...
John Voelcker -
Plug-in electric car sales for July: Bolt EV, Prime, Volt, Teslas, Leaf lead (updated)In a U.S. car market that's coming off record numbers over the last couple of years, plug-in electric car sales continued strong last month. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, GM's 238-mile battery electric hatchback, set a new monthly sales record of 1,937 deliveries in its eighth month on sale—the...
John Voelcker -
RIP Mitsubishi i-MiEV: lowest-range, slowest electric car departs U.S. marketThe Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car deserves a place in history. It was arguably the first mass-produced modern electric car put on sale, well before the Nissan Leaf arrived in December 2010. Pre-production i-MiEVs were operating in test fleets in Japan as early as 2007, and it was on sale in that...
John Voelcker