Green Car News
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Kandi Technologies Group plans to expand beyond carsharing to actual electric-car sales.
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Tesla Had A Deal To Sell Itself To Google Til Musk Walked AwayLike any startup company, Tesla Motors has had crises where the electric-car maker came very close to financial collapse. One was in 2008, when its Roadster model was late in delivery and its two-speed transmission proved unable to handle the car's power. But a second crisis developed in late 2012...
John Voelcker -
Cadillac CT6 Plug-In Hybrid: Big Battery, More Electric RangeAs predicted, the plug-in hybrid version of the 2016 Cadillac CT6 large luxury sedan was released today at the Shanghai Motor Show, using an adaptation of GM's second-generation Voltec hybrid system. What wasn't predicted was the startling size of its battery pack: 18.4 kilowatt-hours, identical to...
John Voelcker -
Next BMW 7-Series To Use 'Carbon Core' Based on i3 Electric Car BodyThe BMW i3 electric car and i8 plug-in hybrid sport coupe are audacious examples of advanced technology in many ways. Not the least of it are body shells made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) mounted atop an aluminum rolling platform carrying the powertrains and crash structures. BMW has...
John Voelcker -
2016 Chevrolet Volt Order Guide: Options, Trim Levels...But No Prices YetGeneral Motors releases the 2016 Chevrolet Volt order guide, but no prices.
Stephen Edelstein -
Rare E85 Ethanol Fuel Good For Racers, As 750-HP Hellcat Shows (Video)A 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat converted to run on E85 produces 753 hp at the wheels.
Stephen Edelstein -
Why did General Motors pick a name for its upcoming electric car that could perplex Spanish speakers? And what do a lot of people fail to realize about BMW's next-generation Power eDrive plug-in hybrid system? This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday, April 17, 2015. Friday, we covered last weekend's Shell Eco Marathon, in which high-school and college teams compete to get the most distance out of 1 gallon of gasoline. Several other fuels are eligible as well--including batteries for electric cars. But while the...
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Electric Cop Cars, Tesla Body Kit, Renewable Diesel: Today's Car NewsWe look at what an edgy body kit might do to your Tesla Model S, cops who drive electric cars, and why "renewable diesel" isn't what you probably think of as "biodiesel." All this and more today on Green Car Reports. Body kits are a common way to jazz up your car, but would such a kit for the Tesla...
John Voelcker -
Electric Car Pioneers Celebrate 10 Years Of Driving On Grid PowerSee the people who have been driving electric cars longer than the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt have been on sale.
Stephen Edelstein -
Shell Eco Marathon: Why Odd Cars Built By Students MatterMany of the cars are more like enclosed bicycles, and virtually none of them could operate on public roads or highways. But the Shell Eco-Marathon offers some useful lessons for the more than 100 high-school and college teams that compete in it--many of them having little to do with the cars...
John Voelcker -
Electric Police Cars? Seattle Uses Nissan Leafs For Traffic EnforcementSeattle will use 28 Nissan Leaf electric cars for traffic enforcement.
Stephen Edelstein -
New Drivers Start To Take Lessons In Electric Cars In GermanyDaimler will start a pilot electric-car program with a German driving school.
Stephen Edelstein -
Fuels produced using plant-based materials can offer a promising way to reduce the carbon emitted by road vehicles. That's because their plant feedstocks absorb carbon dioxide from the air, bringing them far closer to a carbon-neutral footprint than any fuel refined from crude oil. But for diesel-powered vehicles, the term "biodiesel" is used loosely and imprecisely--and often covers anything from plant-derived fuels to burning used deep-frier grease in your converted old Mercedes. DON'T MISS: Classic Green Biodiesel Benz With Racing Pedigree For Sale (Feb 2013) So last month's announcement...
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Tesla Model S Body Kit: Definitely Different, Range-Robbing Too?Body kits--add-on components and replacements for a car's front and rear fascias and door sills--are often a good way for owners to make their vehicle stand out from the crowd. Often used on luxury brands and tuner cars, the updated looks are usually edgier and more aggressive than the factory...
John Voelcker -
Bolt EV Name Confirmed, Tesla Triumph, Camaro Coral Reef: Today's Car NewsWe look at California's ambitious plans for zero-emission vehicles, name the small state with big electric-car news, and learn about how aluminum bodies keep pickup passengers safe. All this and more today on Green Car Reports. Aerodynamic drag is bad for fuel economy. So are roof boxes and ski...
John Voelcker -
Scenarios For 2030 Zero-Emissions Cars In CA: Hydrogen Or Not?With epic smog in the Los Angeles Basin, the state of California has led the nation's charge to reduce emissions from road vehicles for more than half a century. And it is now state policy to reduce emissions of climate-change gases, primarily carbon dioxide, from its 30 million-plus road vehicles...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Sales Now Legal As Little Maryland Goes Big On Electric CarsWell, add one more to the list of states where Tesla Motors can legally sell its electric cars--and do so without having to use franchised dealers. The Maryland General Assembly has reversed a ban on direct sales by Tesla, which displays its cars in Tesla Store and "gallery" facilities it operates...
John Voelcker -
Aluminum-Body 2015 Ford F-150 Gets 5-Star NHTSA Rating For Crash SafetyCutting weight can be one of the most effective tactics to increase fuel economy, but it doesn't necessarily come cheap. The 2015 Ford F-150 pickup, with its aluminum body and bed mounted on a conventional steel frame, represents a huge gamble by Ford on its highest-volume vehicle line. The company...
John Voelcker -
Well, they did it. General Motors confirmed yesterday that its upcoming 200-mile battery-electric car will be named the Chevrolet Bolt EV. That's Bolt-with-a-B, not Volt-with-a-V. The Volt-with-a-V is Chevy's now-established plug-in hybrid compact hatchback. DON'T MISS: Why 'Bolt' Is A Really Terrible Name For Chevy's Electric Car An all-new second-generation Volt will go into production later this year as a 2016 model, while the Bolt-with-a-B will enter production roughly a year later and go on sale as a 2017 model. The name Bolt had been widely criticized as too similar to Volt, especially...
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Yes, Roof Boxes And Ski Racks Really Do Cut MPG—More Than You Might ThinkIf you follow our coverage on fuel efficiency, you know that real-world mileage numbers don't always measure up to the official EPA ratings. But if you think failing to meet those EPA numbers by five or ten percent is already a letdown, be very careful about your cargo-carrying expectations in your...
Bengt Halvorson -
A123 Says Start-Stop Batteries A Better Business Than Electric CarsTen years ago, startup lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems was the darling of business media, poised to enter the big leagues of electric cars after successfully selling its cells to power-tool makers. Then came the Fisker Karma, U.S. government grants, a factory in Michigan, the economic...
John Voelcker -
New Tesla 70D Driven, Plug-In Price Cuts, Unpopular Insight: Today's Car NewsWe've now driven the newest Tesla, and reported on a pair of price cuts on plug-in cars from General Motors. And then we tell you about the least popular car on sale in the U.S. All this and more today on Green Car Reports. Our biggest story is a drive report by our Tesla-owning reporter David...
John Voelcker -
Honda Insight Hybrid: The Least-Wanted Car In America?Automakers and their dealers know that when a vehicle is updated, redesigned, or discontinued, the last lagging examples of the old model may sit on lots for months, perhaps even years. So it appears to be with the Honda Insight, the subcompact mild hybrid hatchback that the company discontinued...
John Voelcker -
2016 Cadillac ELR: More Performance, More Range, Lower PriceThe specifications of the updated 2016 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric car were released this morning, and one big question has been answered. The luxury coupe will not use the revised Voltec powertrain that propels the new second-generation 2016 Chevrolet Volt on sale later this year. But it...
John Voelcker