Green Car News
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Today, electric postal vans, jobs in renewable energy, better used Tesla prices, and a plug-in hybrid minivan recall. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Fully electric Ford Transit vans will be delivering mail within months under a deal announced by Deutsche Post and Ford. Coal has been in the news quite a lot lately, but jobs in solar energy have grown at 20 percent a year since 2012; wind energy is also adding jobs. To encourage buyers thinking of putting down deposits for Tesla Model 3 cars they may not receive for a year or two, Elon Musk announced warranty improvements and price...
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VW too will launch electric-car joint venture in China with partnerVolkswagen is following the lead of many other global automakers: it has signed a deal for a new electric-vehicle joint venture in China. The German automaker said this week it has partnered with Chinese automaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. (JAC) to produce electric vehicles, as well as to...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla changes warranty, cuts used Model S prices, to lure Model 3 buyersTesla has given its used electric-car sales a jolt and sweetened the deals for potential buyers. CEO Elon Musk announced changes to the Tesla Model S sedan's warranty structure and major price cuts on used examples during the annual shareholder meeting held June 6. "Maybe somebody wants to buy a...
Sean Szymkowski -
Solar jobs have grown 20 percent a year since 2012; coal, not so muchHere's a little quiz on a topic much discussed over the past couple of years: jobs. How many people work in the U.S. coal industry? Not just miners, but office staff, too. And, how many people work for solar-energy companies in the U.S.? DON'T MISS: Clean energy provides far more U.S. jobs than...
John Voelcker -
Deutsche Post and Ford to build Transit-based electric vanDeutsche Post, the German mail service, has long hoped to replace its fleet of 30,000 internal-combustion delivery vans with electric vehicles. In 2014, it bought the company Street Scooter, which has since built thousands of small car-sized electric delivery vans. Now Deutsche Post has announced...
John Voelcker -
Michigan vs electric cars, Bolt EV road trip, Honda Clarity pricing, C-Max efficiency: Today's Car NewsToday, we have another Bolt EV road trip, scratch our heads at Michigan, look at electric-car lease pricing, and consider a type of hybrid we may never see in North America. All this and more on Green Car Reports. You still can't buy a Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car in much of the Midwest, so one...
John Voelcker -
As Kermit the Frog sang, sometimes it's not easy being green. That appears to be particularly the case in Michigan, home to the three largest U.S. automakers. The Great Lakes State is a global hub of automotive technology, the bulk of it centered around internal-combustion engines. CHECK OUT: Michigan Gov Snyder Signs 'Corrupt Politics At Its Worst' Anti-Tesla Bill (Oct 2014) If you want to buy or drive an electric car in Michigan, however, the odds appear to be stacked against you at the moment. Consider the following hurdles: (1) BAN ON TESLA SALES It's still not possible for Tesla to sell...
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How to drive Ford C-Max Hybrid for best gas mileage? Owner video explainsPurchasing a hybrid vehicle makes for a slightly different ownership experience than a traditional gasoline-only car. There are always a few tips and tricks for owners to return the best mileage and range from electrified vehicles, and now a 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid owner has shared his secrets...
Sean Szymkowski -
Electric-car leases in California: Leaf, Volt, Focus vs ClarityThe state of California is undeniably the United States' premier market for electric vehicles. It's also a market where automakers actually need to sell certain volumes of zero-emission cars, which means some of the nation's best lease deals on electric cars can be found in the Golden State. There...
Sean Szymkowski -
Nissan Gripz Concept uses Note e-Power series-hybrid systemThe series-hybrid powertrain, in which motive power is provided exclusively by one or more electric motors that run on electricity produced by a combustion engine, has been popular in trains and boats for many decades. In cars, it's been confined to the BMW i3 REx and the Fisker Karma (now Karma...
John Voelcker -
Driving a Chevy Bolt EV electric car halfway across the U.S.: what it takesHow badly do you want a new, affordable, long-range electric car? Badly enough to drive it more than 800 miles without a unified fast-charging infrastructure? That's exactly what Bill Massmann, a professional land surveyor in St. Louis, Missouri, did to become the proud owner of a new 2017...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace imminent, coal subsidies, Texas vs Tesla, self-driving Bolt EVs: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got electric cars that drive themselves, electric luxury SUVs that will arrive sooner than you think, a small crossover that'll offer an electric version, and yet another Tesla battle with a state legislature. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The Hyundai Kona small crossover...
John Voelcker -
Ah, Texas, the state that was formerly a nation and continues to do things slightly differently. Its politics is bare-knuckle, its hats are big, and so are its ranches. It also generates more renewable wind energy than any other state in the union. Its auto-dealer lobbyists, however, are equally large and powerful. DON'T MISS: Tesla Loses Legal Battles To Texas, North Carolina Dealers (Jun 2013) At the end of the last session of the Texas Legislature in May—a body that meets only every other year, it should be noted—buyers of electric cars got a bonus. The state reauthorized a...
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Ohio bill would grant permanent subsidies to coal-fired power plantsIt's now widely acknowledged that the energy and electricity-generation landscape is changing rapidly. The U.S. has vastly increased its oil and gas production, driving down prices of fossil fuels globally. At the same time, ever-cheaper renewable energy—not only solar, but surprisingly...
John Voelcker -
Self-driving Chevy Bolt EV electric test cars to be deployedIt's widely acknowledged that most, if not all, of the autonomous vehicles expected to reach our roads in volume will be electric cars. Without the complexity of a combustion engine and transmission that must be electromechanically controlled, the task of automating the driving of a vehicle is...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV being built now; Europe launch this year, U.S. in 2018?While Audi and Mercedes-Benz have trumpeted the electric crossover utility vehicles they will offer in 2018 and 2019, a smaller competitor is keeping pace with the German giants. The British brand Jaguar won praise for the design of its I-Pace electric SUV on its debut at last November's Los...
John Voelcker -
Hyundai Kona small SUV revealed, with electric version to comeHyundai has finally shown the world its subcompact crossover utility vehicle, the 2018 Hyundai Kona. The 2018 Kona marks the brand's first foray into the subcompact SUV segment and will likely arrive in the United States next year or for 2019. The Kona name comes from the tourist spot in Hawaii and...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model X safety, Fisker battery news, fuel economy rules, Mercedes electric cars: Today's Car NewsToday, another award for the Tesla Model X, a BMW investment in electric buses, Mercedes will build luxury electric models in China, and our readers really, really care about fuel-economy rules. All this and more on Green Car Reports. You've no doubt heard that the Trump Administration wants to...
John Voelcker -
You can't buy one at your local car dealer, but electric transit buses have a significant role to play in reducing vehicular emissions and expanding the spread of electric-vehicle technology. Two companies have a majority of the U.S. market for electric buses, which is growing quickly if perhaps more quietly than that for electric cars. The U.S. company Proterra has 60 percent of the market for such vehicles, and now it has a new backer. DON'T MISS: One third of new transit buses will be electric in 2020, all by 2030: Proterra CEO BMW i Ventures, the venture-investment arm of German luxury...
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Mercedes to make electric cars at its China factory with BAICIt's not only electric cars: China is also now the world's largest market for luxury cars. Audi got an early foothold among party officials and high-ranking government officials, but the allure of global brands has ensured that Mercedes-Benz and BMW sell lots of cars there as well. Now, Mercedes...
John Voelcker -
Fisker EMotion won't launch with graphene battery; 400-mile range still promisedHenrik Fisker, the man behind the relaunch of the company that bears his name, has released some new details on the upcoming EMotion sedan. However, the news isn't necessarily the best that electric-car fans and advocates could have hoped for. The graphene battery technology Fisker has frequently...
Sean Szymkowski -
California joins Germany in climate coalition to support Paris pactThe 50 states that make up the U.S. don't get to set their own foreign policies (neither do Canadian provinces). But that doesn't necessarily prevent them from working with other countries on matters of mutual interest. And that's just what California is doing in an agreement announced this weekend...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model X gets uniform 5-star safety ratings from NHTSA, first SUV to do soTesla's Model X has secured a major accomplishment: it is officially the first SUV to receive 5-star crash-test ratings in every single category. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Model X uniform 5-star ratings, which Tesla says is due to the design of the all-electric...
Sean Szymkowski -
How much would relaxing U.S. fuel-economy rules matter? Poll resultsOne of the earliest acts of the Trump Administration was to announce that it would re-examine emission rules finalized by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration. Making good on that promise, EPA administrator (and climate-science denier) Scott Pruitt reopened the commenting period...
John Voelcker