Green Car News
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Both BMW and Nissan are set to roll out electric-car charging programs for their customers.
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In Effort To Sell RAV4 Electric SUVs, Toyota Puts 'Cash On Hood'The all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, even with its Tesla-designed powertrain, isn't exactly flying out of dealerships. While it's a low-volume compliance car sold to meet California regulations, Toyota still has to move 2,600 of them over a three-year period that began in September 2012. So Toyota is...
John Voelcker -
EPA Resets Ethanol Rules To Reflect Reality: Cellulosic Sources Don't ExistFor many months now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has faced a dilemma: What to do about its rules that millions of gallons of cellulosic ethanol be blended into the U.S. gasoline supply. Now, The Detroit News reports that the agency has decided to accept reality: Supplies of that fuel...
John Voelcker -
2014 Mercedes-Benz E 250 BlueTec Diesel: Fuel-Economy ReviewIn recent years—especially in the time since EPA fuel economy ratings have become more realistic—40 miles per gallon on the highway has become like a sort of high-water mark for non-hybrid cars. Even in 2014, there remain relatively few subcompact or compact sedans that top the 40-mpg...
Bengt Halvorson -
2014 BMW i3 Electric-Car Production Rises To Meet Strong DemandBMW is on track to build twice as many i3 electric cars in 2014 as it originally planned.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla's 100th Supercharger, 2016 Chevrolet Cruze, Luxury Electric Cars: Today's Car NewsCadillac, Chevrolet, and Tesla make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
So what IS a "tree hugger," anyway? According to a Cadillac executive quoted in The Detroit News a week ago, it's someone who never buys luxury cars. That phrase leaped out at us from an otherwise pro forma article in which General Motors executives said the company's sales hadn't been affected by the ongoing ignition-key safety recall. Uwe Ellinghaus, Cadllac's marketing chief, was discussing sales of the Cadillac luxury brand, and its plans for future plug-in cars. He argued that those vehicles would have to provide "added value for the price" while maintaining the performance and luxury...
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2016 Chevrolet Cruze Sedan Unveiled At Beijing Auto ShowChina's 2015 Chevrolet Cruze sedan will arrive in the U.S. as a 2016 model next year.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla's 100th Supercharger Electric-Car Charging Site Now OpenThe audacious plan by electric-car maker Tesla Motors to install its own network of free, high-speed charging stations for owners of Tesla cars is starting to pay off. This morning, it announced that its 100th Supercharger site is now open, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey--east of the state...
John Voelcker -
Honda Previews Hybrid 'Concept B' Hatch At Beijing Auto ShowIt's a sign of how important the Chinese car market is becoming, that major automakers seem to show as many new concept vehicles in Beijing as they do at more traditional auto show venues. The latest to emerge from the Chinese show's halls is Honda's Concept B, previewing a hatchback due on the...
Antony Ingram -
Three Years Later, Most Consumers Don't Understand The Chevy VoltChevrolet's range-extended electric vehicle, the Volt, has been on sale for more than three years now. Its sales of 58,000 units so far are still small compared to more conventional vehicles, but many people will have seen one on the road by now--and seen TV ads or information on the internet. Even...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla's China Plans, NYC Electric Carriage, Audi TT Offroad Plug-In: Today's Car NewsAudi, Tesla, and New York City horses make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
Every electric-car owner wants more range; it's practically an immutable law. Now Nissan executive Andy Palmer has come close to confirming that a longer-range Nissan Leaf is in the cards, though likely not until 2016 or even 2017. In an interview at last week's New York Auto Show with Palmer, who is Nissan's product chief, he said offering multiple battery-pack options with different ranges in the Leaf was being debated internally. MORE: How Many Miles Are Enough To Kill Electric-Car Range Anxiety? In general, auto executives rarely discuss future powertrain offerings unless the technology...
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2015 Chevrolet Trax: AWD Subcompact Hatchback To Launch Next YearSmall cars with all-wheel drive are an increasingly popular offering from automakers eager to boost their overall fuel efficiency while providing a feature that more and more buyers demand. Now Chevy has jumped into the game, with the 2015 Chevrolet Trax it launched last week at the New York Auto...
John Voelcker -
Electric 'Vintage Car' Proposed To Replace NYC Horse Carriages: New York Auto ShowAnimal rights and electric cars don't usually intersect much, but a long-running New York City battle has produced one of the more unusual electric-car designs shown in public. At the New York Auto Show last week, a very large electric vehicle--effectively a larger-than-life electric scale model of...
John Voelcker -
Surprise NY Auto Show Appearance: New 2015 Lexus NX CrossoverThe 2015 Lexus NX compact crossover has had a long gestation, with two concept vehicles shown over the last 18 months. It was finally, officially unveiled yesterday at the Beijing Auto Show, as Lexus had announced it would be. Then, unexpectedly, it popped up halfway around the world--at the New...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Will Build Electric Cars In China; Model S On Sale There This WeekWe've expected it for some time, but now it's been confirmed: Tesla will build electric cars in China in the next three to four years. While Chinese production won't replace the company's facilities in the U.S, it will give Tesla a foothold in an ever-growing market--and help it avoid China's hefty...
Antony Ingram -
Ford C-Max Hybrid Sales Hurt By Cut From 47 MPG To 43 MPG, Exec SaysThey say that honesty is the best policy. It's also said that the truth can hurt. Ford is experiencing both of these with its C-Max Hybrid--with lower sales since the company dropped its official EPA-rated mileage figures. The C-Max Hybrid was launched to great fanfare in 2012, touting EPA combined...
Antony Ingram -
Audi's TT may not be as distinctive as it once was, but still appeals to style-conscious consumers. Its popularity has led the company to suggest further TT-based models could be on the way--and the TT Offroad Concept shown at the Beijing Auto Show hints as a possible direction for the brand. It also hints at Audi's continued focus on plug-in hybrid drivetrains, with a powerful all-wheel drive setup seen recently in other Audi concepts. Recently, Audi's Ulrich Hackenberg told reporters that the company is looking for ways to capitalize on the TT's strong brand and iconic status. That means...
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Tesla Gigafactory Seeks North American Raw Materials To Cut PollutionThere is no such thing as a truly green car. All cars require raw materials and energy to produce, use energy during their time as transport, and require energy to recycle--the components that can be recycled, at least. To mitigate such pollution issues and increase supply chain transparency, Tesla...
Antony Ingram -
New World Record In Canada: 431 Plug-In Electric Vehicles In One PlaceIt appears that a Québec electric-car group has set a new world record for plug-in electric cars gathered in one place. Yesterday, 431 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars gathered in a long parking lot on the Île Sainte-Hélène, just south of the Jacques Cartier...
John Voelcker -
New Honda HR-V, VW Denies Diesel, Fiat 500e To Oregon: Today's Car NewsToday on Green Car Reports: We've updated our full guide to the Chevrolet Volt, Honda reveals its new HR-V compact crossover, and Volkswagen is thinking twice about giving us the GTD. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We've updated our guide to Chevrolet's range-extended electric vehicle, the...
Antony Ingram -
Fiat 500e Electric Car Sales To Expand Into Oregon This SummerThe Fiat 500e will soon be sold in a second U.S. state.
Stephen Edelstein -
Bad News: VW's Sporty Golf GTD Diesel May Not Be Coming To U.S.Fans of diesel vehicles have long looked at the European market and wondered why the U.S. doesn't get all the best diesel models sold overseas. There are plenty of good reasons of course, but every so often one slips through the net--such as Volkswagen's sporty Golf GTD. Only now, it looks like...
Antony Ingram