Green Car News
-
At the 2017 Geneva auto show, General Motors announced the sale of its entire European operations—comprising factories and the Opel and Vauxhall brands—to PSA Peugeot Citroën. German Opel and its British Vauxhall sibling have represented GM's main presence in Europe for decades, but the U.S. automaker was willing to let them go for 2.2 billion euros (approximately $2.33 billion). As is always the case with such major business deals, a considerable amount of reporting and analysis has been generated trying to understand why GM decided to sell Opel. The company had agreed to do...
-
The oil industry doesn't care about electric cars: here's whyIt crops up in comments from electric-car advocates and clean-energy users fairly regularly. And it goes something like this: "Big Oil and Gas are on the verge of collapse, as clean energy and electric cars make them obsolete." Occasionally the sentiment is followed by an approving emoji. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
French prosecutors to investigate Fiat Chrysler for 'aggravated cheating' on diesel emissionsFiat Chrysler Automobiles continues to be dogged by allegations that it cheated on various diesel-emissions tests. In the U.S., the company faces two lawsuits alleging that diesel vehicles use "defeat device" software to circumvent emissions tests in a similar manner to Volkswagen's cheating TDI...
Stephen Edelstein -
Faster electric-car fast charging: test site in Fremont, VW plans 300 kw-plusCharging infrastructure projects for electric cars have mostly focused on expanding the number of charging sites available to the public over the last six years. But now significant effort is also being put into increasing the power those public charging stations can provide. This is due to...
Stephen Edelstein -
Fuel-economy rules & jobs, Tesla quality issues, high-volume VW electric car: Today's Car NewsToday, we look at why looser fuel-economy rules won't create more jobs, why Tesla owners love their electric cars despite significant documented quality issues, and when the first high-volume Volkswagen electric car will arrive. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The first high-volume...
Stephen Edelstein -
Another Chevy Bolt EV electric-car owner weighs in on pros and consWe've had a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car in our fleet for a handful of days, and have been thinking about our impressions of the car in everyday use. While a major snowstorm cut half the days out of our test run—with a 7-foot snowdrift blocking the road to my house—we've been...
John Voelcker -
-
Tesla electric cars have quality issues, but owners love them regardlessTesla electric cars have many notable and pioneering qualities. Faultless reliability has not necessarily been one of them. Since the Model S launched in 2012, multiple quality issues have been documented by both owners and media outlets like Consumer Reports. The Model X debuted with a...
Stephen Edelstein -
Ignore politicians: lower fuel-economy rules don't create jobs, analyst saysA common refrain among critics of current and future fuel-economy standards is that the need to comply with them produces job cuts in the auto industry. It's a theme picked up by President Donald Trump during a much-publicized visit to Detroit last week. In the hometown of the Big Three U.S...
Stephen Edelstein -
First high-volume VW electric car must arrive by 2020, CEO says, mostly for ChinaAs it tries to put the ongoing diesel-emissions scandal behind it, VW Group is focusing its future on electric cars. The Volkswagen brand within the sprawling German company has developed an electric-car specific platform called MEB, and has shown multiple concepts based on it. Those include the ID...
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevrolet Bolt EV pricing, Tesla Model 3 update, hybrid mid-size sedans: Today's Car NewsToday, Chevrolet Bolt EV pricing fluctuates, the Tesla Model 3 may skip one of Tesla's prototype phases, and we look at 2017-model hybrid mid-size sedans. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Looking for a hybrid mid-size sedan? Here are all of the 2017 models, plus one due for 2018. A bill that...
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevy Bolt EV pricing across U.S.: some discounts, some markups on electric carWith a base price of $37,495 and an EPA-rated range of 238 miles, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has no real direct competition at the moment. All other electric cars in its price bracket offer substantially lower ranges, while the 200-mile luxury electric cars sold by Tesla now start at $75,000. Just...
Stephen Edelstein -
Parking garages often aren't very well-lit, and a video tour of one may not sound like a particularly enjoyable way to spend time. But if you're an electric-car driver or advocate in North America, an 11-minute tour by electric-car advocate (and Tesla fanatic) Bjørn Nyland may be time well spent. That's because his tour of the Vulkan parking garage in Oslo, Norway, shows off what may be the best-equipped parking facility in the world for electric cars. DON'T MISS: Half of Norway's new-car sales are now hybrids or electrics Norway, of course, has taken the lead among the world's nations...
-
What's the most important fuel-cell car so far? Poll resultsAbout 600,000 plug-in electric cars have been sold in the U.S. in the past 10 years. The number for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles is lower: as of the end of last month, it's below 1,600. Nonetheless, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota today offer zero-emission vehicles powered by hydrogen in limited areas of...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3: beta phase to be skipped, will go straight to production?Development of new vehicles, especially if they're on underpinnings that haven't been used in previous models, follows a very predictable schedule. First, a concept car is revealed. Often, it's a thinly disguised version of the future production car with some added design flourishes that won't make...
John Voelcker -
Bill making it harder for scientists to sit on EPA Science Board advancesSince the election of Donald Trump, considerable attention has focused on how a candidate who campaigned on promoting fossil fuels would treat the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies charged with regulating those industries. But potential changes to the EPA do not come solely...
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 hybrid mid-size sedans: all the entries, plus what's due for 2018The mid-size sedan was once the default for a majority of U.S. car buyers. While the segment's position has been eroded by the rise of crossover utility vehicles of many sizes, these sedans still remain quite popular. Given the number of options available among hybrid mid-size sedans, that should...
Stephen Edelstein -
Michigan utility cancels electric-car charging stations after oppositionIn multiple states, electric utilities are beginning to establish networks of electric-car charging stations. But plans for such a network in Michigan recently hit a roadblock. Last week, local utility Consumers Energy withdrew its request to install public electric-car charging stations at an...
Stephen Edelstein -
Sport-utility vehicles started out as truck offshoots, essentially tall wagon bodies on truck underpinnings. Think of the first Chevy Suburban in 1935, which remained a specialty vehicle (mostly for Texans) for its first 40 years. Fast-forward another 40 years, and my, how things have changed. DON'T MISS: 2018 Toyota C-HR - full review With steadily increasing fuel-economy rules, buyers not only in North America but worldwide are migrated from passenger sedans, wagons, and hatchbacks into what are called "crossover utility vehicles." They look sort of like the old SUVs, but they're built on...
-
Electric-car range, Tesla Model S lineup shuffle, UPS grows natural-gas fleet: Today's Car NewsToday, we look at whether 100 miles of range is enough to lure electric-car buyers, the Tesla Model S 60 and 60D variants are discontinued, and UPS plans to spend $90 million on natural-gas vehicles and fueling stations. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Catch up on recent news with our Week...
Stephen Edelstein -
Hybrid Kinetic electric luxury car, with turbine range extender, to be built in ChinaSeveral Chinese or Chinese-backed automotive startups are currently trying to replicate the success of Tesla by designing and selling their own luxury electric cars. But Hybrid Kinetic likely predates most of them. Started by the founder of Chinese automaker Brilliance, the company made headlines...
Stephen Edelstein -
Has GM really 'already lost' the electric-car race to Tesla?Lots of people like horse races, win-or-lose competitions, and rankings. They're easy to understand, and definitive. They may also lose the forest for the trees, which is what we're tempted to suggest about a new article that addresses the launch of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. GM's...
John Voelcker -
Carbon emissions from making electricity could vanish by 2060: studyOne of the major sources of carbon emissions is electricity generation. It's an issue that is becoming increasingly important in the automotive sphere, due to the slow rise of plug-in electric cars. So what would it take to eliminate carbon emissions entirely from making electricity? DON'T MISS...
Stephen Edelstein -
Electric cars only need 100 miles of range, some carmakers say; is it true?Hyundai first made the argument that energy efficiency in electric cars is just as important as their range, as part of its launch of the Ioniq Electric hatchback, EPA-rated at 124 miles. Now Honda is making that argument as well, based on a news report it confirmed saying that the Clarity EV...
John Voelcker