Green Car News

  • Nio EP9

    Today, an electric car smashes a lap record, Toyota's CEO worries about passion, the EPA gets feedback on eliminating pollution regulations, and Tesla turns down Uber. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Toyota's CEO and namesake, Akio Toyoda, worries that electric cars will lack excitement, not to mention costing the company a lot to develop. A new video compares the electric and hybrid versions of the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq, using both on the same unplanned road trip in Canada. Tesla has parted ways with automation guru Klaus Grohmann. And the EPA received almost 30,000 comments on its...

  • Smog obscures George Washington Bridge, 1973 [From EPA Documerica series]
    EPA gets 29,000 comments on proposed elimination of environmental rules

    Much of the news out of Washington, D.C., these days has to do with the possibility of political scandal. But the wheels of government keep turning, and significant changes are happening at numerous agencies charged with missions as diverse as collecting intelligence, supporting education, and...

  • Elon Musk plugs a Tesla Model S into a Supercharger (Image: deanslavnich on Twitter)
    Musk fires head of automation firm key to Tesla Model 3 factory

    Tesla and Klaus Grohmann have parted ways. Reuters reports Tesla CEO Elon Musk ousted Grohmann over the executives concerns over how his company's legacy clients, including Tesla rivals like Daimler and BMW, would be served in the future. Grohmann's company, Grohmann Engineering, specializes in...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid
    Hyundai Ioniqs: pitting hybrid vs electric on video

    Road trips have been a staple of automobile culture for decades, but with the rise of electric vehicles, charging infrastructure has thrown them a curve ball. Unlike gasoline-powered vehicles, which can refuel almost anywhere in a populated area, electric vehicles require a little more planning to...

  • Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda, at Tesla stand, 2011 Detroit Auto Show
    Shift to electric cars will cost money, may lack excitement: Toyota CEO

    Every automaker is now working on one or many electric cars, but some are at the head of the pack and others lag behind. General Motors already sells the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV, and Volkswagen has firm plans for multiple electric cars by 2020 and as many as 30 by 2025. That leaves Toyota, the...

  • 2017 Karma Revero deliveries start on May 12, 2017
    Mini E to return, Mercedes electric SUV driven, diesel NOx emissions bad, Karma redux: Today's Car News

    Today, two cars with plugs return—one luxury plug-in hybrid, and one all-electric minicar in a couple of years—plus grim news about diesel emissions, an ambitious electric motorcycle ride, a phone app for British electric-car drivers, and a scary IIHS video. All this and more on Green...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car concept  [photo: Axel Harries]

    Mercedes-Benz has big plans for electric vehicles in the future, but its main nod to what those plans will bring thus far is the EQ Concept. Shown at the Paris Motor Show last year, the vehicle represents a conceptual version of the first of many electric vehicles to come from the Germany luxury marque. In fact, parent company Daimler has already divulged plans to bring what it says will be 10 different battery-electric electric vehicles to market combined by 2022. DON'T MISS: Mercedes-Benz electric cars to arrive sooner as urgency increases On deck is the EQ Concept, which previews the...

  • Chargie chargepoint service
    Chargie app connects electric-car drivers, UK homeowners; 'AirBnB' for charging?

    The internet has transformed how many perceive property, allowing the rental of other peoples' personal vehicles, apartments, and other spaces when owners are not using them. Now, the idea is being applied to charging stations across the United Kingdom with the introduction of the Chargie...

  • Freightliner Inspiration Truck self-driving truck concept
    Real-world diesel emission study shows latest standards must be applied to heavy trucks

    When a major lobbying group issues a statement replying to an academic study the same day that study first hits the media, you know it's major. On Monday, the Diesel Technology Forum responded to an article in Nature with a statement that supported "improved real-world testing" of diesel emissions...

  • Waymo self-driving car prototype
    GM electric-car goals, EPA test worries, 5-minute battery recharge, Google vs Uber: Today's Car News

    Today, uncertainty over EPA emission testing, GM's electric-car goal, concern over the fate of more capable start-stop systems, and a 5-minute battery recharge? All this and more on Green Car Reports. Romania has doubled its electric-car purchase incentives; they're now more than $10,000 for a new...

  • StoreDot shows fast-charging battery cell, Cube Tech Fair, Berlin [via Periscope: Gruendermetropole]
    Israeli firm StoreDot claims battery with 5-minute charging time

    It's one of the Holy Grails for battery researchers and electric-car advocates alike: a battery that could recharge in the same amount of time as it takes to stop for gasoline. Some of that can be provided by charging at higher rates, as Porsche's proposed 800-volt system for 15-minute fast...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid debuts at 2017 New York auto show
    Would weaker EPA rules kill advanced start-stop hybrid systems for U.S.?

    Today's political climate has made for fluid motion in regulations, and corporate average fuel economy targets haven't been left out. Suppliers and automakers have already begun investing heavily into vehicles to be sold in 2022 through 2025, which will include various fuel-saving and...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016

    Automotive innovation rolls out over many years, usually decades, and usually only a few companies lead. Others hang back, waiting to see if buyers will accept new features, new powertrains, and new types of vehicles. More than six years after modern electric cars hit the market in volume, many automakers are only now deciding on their strategies. DON'T MISS: Has GM really 'already lost' the electric-car race to Tesla? General Motors, however, is quite clear on its goal: it wants to be the first car company in the world to sell large numbers of electric cars profitably. That's the news...

  • The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]
    EPA's Ann Arbor test lab threatened; emission tests in the balance

    The 436 scientists who spend their days testing new vehicles and enforcing environmental rules at the National Fuel Emissions Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan, face a very uncertain future. The lab sits in the crosshairs of President Trump's proposed budget, which eliminates 99 percent of its funding, as...

  • Cash for Clunkers banner with Mercury Sable, Albany, New York
    Romania doubles electric-car subsidies, adds 'cash for clunkers' program

    In recent years, governments have increasingly worked to encourage the sales of plug-in electric vehicles. Incentive programs for the purchase of a low-emission vehicle have been adopted across the world. The amounts granted and the mechanisms vary according to the individual program, but the goal...

  • 2017 Hyundai Elantra IIHS crash test
    Trump vs California, Honda Clarity explained, Tesla Roadster redux, VW diesel V-6 pact: Today's Car News

    Today, a Lotus powered by Tesla that recalls the legendary Roadster, another VW diesel settlement, a look at California's emission status and whether it'll stay that way, and why the Honda Clarity lineup emerged the way it did. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As always, the Renault Zoe...

  • Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California
    Will Trump EPA target CA electric-car, emissions rules? Not yet, maybe; here's why

    California began regulating vehicle emissions within its boundaries before the Environmental Protection Agency was even a gleam in President Richard Nixon's eye. Since that agency was founded in 1971 with an executive order by Nixon, the state has retained the right to set its own—more...

  • Honda Clarity lineup: Electric, Plug-In Hybrid, Fuel Cell, at 2017 New York auto show
    Assessing the Honda Clarity range: how electric cars fit in, and why

    The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell is the only model of Honda's newest sedan presently on sale, though an all-electric version will arrive later this year. The hydrogen-powered mid-size sedan with a rated 366 miles of range is the one that's gotten by far the most publicity from Honda, as its...

  • 2014 Audi A6 TDI

    The Volkswagen diesel cheating saga has closed another chapter as a U.S. judge approved a proposed settlement for V-6 powered vehicles, the final major U.S. piece of the entire scandal. In total, Volkswagen will pay $1.22 billion, both in settlements to owners and to cover the cost of modifying or buying back 88,500 3.0-liter V-6 TDI powered vehicles in the United States, reports Reuters. The 3.0-liter diesel V-6 engines are found in Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche vehicles. DON'T MISS: VW pleads guilty to felonies in diesel emission scandal Owners and lessees will receive monetary compensation...

  • Longer-range Renault Zoe electric car, introduced at 2016 Paris Motor Show
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-Mar 2017

    The first quarter of 2017 is now behind us, which means we get to take a peek at the European plug-in electric vehicle sale numbers. The year-to-date numbers show a significant growth in sales for most electric models, according to the recent European Alternative Fuels Observatory report. The...

  • 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4Matic, Finger Lakes region, NY, April 2017
    Two-Bolt EV family, Ioniq Hybrid driven, VW vs Tesla, EPA firings: The Week in Reverse

    Why did we test a $71,000 luxury sedan with an EPA rating of just 25 mpg? What did a top Volkswagen executive say that riled up Tesla fans? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, May 12, 2017. Friday, we wrote about...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid
    Electric-car cash in California, cheap Bolt EV ad, VW diesel deceit details, burning BMWs: Today's Car News

    Today, we're heartened by a cheesy ad, we've got details on the Volkswagen diesel deception, California hopes to improve its electric-car incentives, and some owners say their BMWs are spontaneously combusting. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Electric cars are slowly moving into the...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Limited, Catskill Mountains, NY, May 2017
    2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage review

    The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq comes in two versions: a nationally distributed hybrid-electric version, and an all-electric model that will be sold mostly in California and a handful of other states. There'll also be a plug-in hybrid version coming for 2018. We liked the Ioniq Hybrid when we first drove it...

  • Coal, by Flicker user oatsy40 (Used Under CC License)
    Russia falls further behind in renewable energy as oil keeps Putin in power

    It's difficult to invest in renewable, alternative sources of energy when state-run oil pays the bills. And it's even harder for renewable energy when gasoline is all but free, courtesy of the same state. Now The Financial Times has taken a look at Russia's growing lag in embracing renewable energy...

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