Green Car News

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric - frame from video road test

    For the first six years of electric cars, from 2011 to 2016, we've had a variety of mass-priced cars with ranges of 62 to 107 miles. This year, in 2017, we got the Chevy Bolt EV, at 238 miles. But there's a new competitor as well. This is the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid video drive review It's one of three models in the Ioniq lineup—it also has a plug-in hybrid, and a regular hybrid—and the Ioniq Electric offers a range of 124 miles. That's the highest of any battery-electric car that isn't a Tesla, or a Bolt EV. And the Ioniq Electric may...

  • Lucid Air
    Lucid Air luxury electric car: Bloomberg gets brief ride

    When it comes to luxury electric-car startups, hype is the name of the game. Lucid Motors unveiled its Air luxury sedan in December, promising a range of up to 400 miles, power of 1,000 horsepower, and cutting-edge technology. But very few people outside the company have gotten more than a glimpse...

  • Audi A5 Sportback g-tron (European spec)
    Audi A5 is third model to run on natural gas, for Europe only

    New natural-gas passenger cars from major carmakers have disappeared from the U.S. Natural-gas options are available for large pickup trucks and vans but only exist for cars through aftermarket conversions offered by specialty firms. In Europe, though, the German luxury maker Audi remains committed...

  • Tesla gigafactory, March 2016, shown in drone footage posted to YouTube by Above Reno
    Nevada treasurer, Faraday's nemesis, turns eye toward Tesla tax-credit transfer

    The state of Nevada has been fairly generous to startup electric-car makers that pledge to establish manufacturing operations within its borders. After offering a generous incentive package several years ago, the Silver State landed Tesla's lithium-ion battery "Gigafactory," which is now up and...

  • 2017 Nissan Juke
    Nissan Juke concept to get e-Power series hybrid system as well

    Nissan is a leader in electric cars, but the Japanese automaker has been slow to adopt competitive hybrid technology. In a move that could potentially rectify that situation, Nissan unveiled its new e-Power series-hybrid system in Japan late last year. The system was first demonstrated in a Nissan...

  • Owner Dawn Hall before 800-mile road trip in 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car
    Chevy Bolt EV: 800-mile trip in 238-mile electric car shows challenges remain

    With about twice the range of any non-Tesla electric car, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has generated a great deal of excitement and won numerous awards over the last year. In combination with a nascent DC fast-charging infrastructure, it offers the possibility of much longer road trips powered solely...

  • Hyundai FE Fuel Cell concept, 2017 Geneva auto show

    The Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell was actually the first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle offered to U.S. drivers in recent years. The 2016 Toyota Mirai that followed it has now outsold Hyundai's hydrogen-powered SUV, but it's been known for a couple of years that the Korean maker will replace that model. At this week's Geneva auto show, the company unveiled the Hyundai FE Fuel Concept, which gives us a sense of what the next hydrogen vehicle will be like. DON'T MISS: Next Hyundai Fuel Cell SUV to have 30 percent more range Hyundai is sticking with the SUV format, to distinguish its offering from the...

  • 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI
    Bentley electric-car concept, VW diesel health effect, Trump EPA changes: Today's Car News

    Today we have the Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e electric-car concept and more from the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, a study on the health impact of Volkswagen's diesel cheating, and a remarkable change in the wording of the Environmental Protection Agency's mission statement. All this and more on Green Car...

  • Bill Nye in new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, Jan 2017 [photo: Oskar Liners, Community Chevrolet, Burbank]
    Trump's EPA deletes 'science' from Science Office mission statement

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is emerging as one of the government entities most targeted by the new Trump Administration for change. In this case, if reports of the administration's draft budget proposal are accurate, change means wholesale elimination of staff, funding, and programs...

  • Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e concept, 2017 Geneva auto show
    All-electric Bentley convertible concept shown at Geneva

    The Volkswagen Group can't seem to get enough luxury electric cars. The Audi e-tron SUV and Porsche Mission E sedan will go into production over the next few years, with an electric version of the VW Phaeton sedan expected as well. Following that up, at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show Volkswagen...

  • 2016 Honda CR-Z Final Label (Japanese spec)
    Honda: hybrids, plug-ins, fuel cells to be two-thirds of Europe sales by 2025

    Honda's green-car strategy for the next decade or so appears to be coming into greater focus. In place of its previous mild hybrids, the Japanese automaker is planning to produce much higher volumes of its two-motor hybrid powertrain, as seen first in the Accord Hybrid mid-size sedan. It also...

  • Renault Zoe e-Sport Concept being revealed at 2017 Geneva auto show  [photo: Olivier Martin-Gambier]
    Renault Zoe e-Sport Concept at Geneva highlights electric-car performance (live photos)

    The Renault Zoe, a subcompact hatchback, has little in common with the Tesla Model S besides a battery-electric powertrain and five doors. But the maker of Europe's best-selling electric car seeks to underscore the idea that "electric cars can be fun and fast," perhaps hoping that some of Tesla's...

  • 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI

    In September 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed Volkswagen's use of illegal "defeat device" software in its diesel cars. The software routines allowed cars to pass emissions tests while still producing up to 35 times the legal limits of nitrogen oxides in real-world driving, setting off a scandal that is still being dealt with. Volkswagen is proceeding with buybacks and modifications of affected cars, both in North America and Europe, but the excess pollution may have already had a significant public-health effect. DON'T MISS: Volkswagen diesel buyback: some buyers still...

  • Tesla Motors - Model S lithium-ion battery pack
    Northvolt: $4 billion electric-car battery plant planned for Sweden by former Tesla execs

    Tesla is currently ramping up lithium-ion battery cell production at its U.S. "Gigafactory" near Reno, Nevada. But the automaker has discussed plans for at least one additional Gigafactory, presumably to meet demand for battery cells related to large-scale electric-car production outside the U.S...

  • Trumpchi GE3, 2017 Detroit auto show
    Tesla Supercharger perspective, California emissions rules, Chinese electric cars: Today's Car News

    Today, a look at how much it would cost to make Tesla Supercharger stations as common as gas stations, California emissions rules and the states that follow them, and a report that China may cut back its ambitious electric-car goals. All this and more on Green Car Reports. How much would it cost to...

  • Smog obscures George Washington Bridge, 1973 [From EPA Documerica series]
    Trump budget to slash EPA funds, ax staff, kill climate-change plans: reports

    Imagine appointing a lifelong pacifist, who believes it is never justifiable to take up arms against any man, to run the U.S. armed forces. The appointment of Scott Pruitt as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could perhaps be viewed in a similar light. In his former...

  • BYD e6 electric taxi in service in Shenzhen, China
    China to replace 70,000 gasoline cabs with electric cars

    China's latest effort to promote electric cars focuses on taxis in its capital city of Beijing. The country that is now the world's largest new-car market already offers generous purchase incentives for electric cars bought by individuals. Now the city also plans to replace its entire fleet of...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Volt
    Which states follow California's emission and zero-emission vehicle rules?

    California leads the nation in policies that promote reductions of carbon emissions from road vehicles. It is unique in having a federal waiver that allows it to set its own, stricter emissions standards, along with a zero-emission vehicle mandate that requires automakers reaching certain sales...

  • BYD Yuan. Photo by Indian Autos Blog.

    Eight weeks ago, China seemed to be preparing to loosen its famously strict car-manufacturing rules for foreign makers. The government leaders who direct economic policy had seemingly concluded that Chinese makers could not succeed in selling cars in Europe and North America. So the country proposed to relax joint-venture rules for so-called New Energy Vehicles, to get Chinese manufacturers more competitive in electric cars. DON'T MISS: China to loosen electric-car rules for foreign makers, because they didn't work (Jan 2017) Now, however, the indications have turned murkier. According to...

  • Gas pump
    Automakers say fuel-economy rules hurt buyers; Consumers Union rebuts the claim

    Automaker lobbyists continue to push back against the stricter fuel-economy and emissions standards scheduled to take effect in the U.S. over the next decade. Many of their arguments center on costs—not only to the carmakers themselves, but also to car buyers. Regulators and automakers...

  • Quick Check convenience store with Tesla Superchargers under construction, Kingston, New York
    $8 billion cost to make Tesla Superchargers as common as gas stations: analyst

    Tesla is the world's only automaker to build and operate its own large-scale network of public charging stations. This year, the Silicon Valley automaker hopes to double the number of Supercharger DC fast-charging sites, to make it more convenient for U.S. Tesla owners to undertake longer road...

  • Opel Ampera-e
    2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid video, GM sells Opel, Tesla exec turnover: Today's Car News

    Today, we review the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid, look at how General Motors' sale of Opel to PSA Peugeot Citroën may affect the automaker's electric-car plans, and examine a report of executive turnover at Tesla. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The Lexus RX 450h hybrid crossover was...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf
    New York state electric-car rebate program to launch this month

    New York state has finally issued details on its effort to step up its efforts to promote electric cars. The Empire State is one of eight so-called "ZEV states" that have adopted California emissions standards. But New York does not mandate automakers to sell zero-emission vehicles within its...

  • Chrome exhaust pipe
    EPA to reopen 2022-2025 auto-emission rule decision: report

    It looks like lobbying pays off, at least in the case of EPA emission rules. According to numerous recent reports, the EPA is expected to reopen the commenting period for vehicle-emission rules it finalized in January, more than a year ahead of schedule. Automaker CEOs and the Alliance of...

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