Green Car News
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A startup with an improved design hopes to broaden the appeal of these gas-mileage aids.
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Nissan BladeGlider Concept: Electric Delta Wing Racer For The RoadThe claim that race car development helps road car development is getting harder to uphold these days, but there are still some engineers willing to have a go. Look at the Nissan BladeGlider electric car concept for example, and it's hard to argue that the design and engineering hasn't been...
Antony Ingram -
Diesel Drivers, Toyota Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car Preview, Start-Stop Tech: Today's Car NewsToyota and Volkswagen make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Mazda 3Even conventional gasoline cars--no plugs, no hybrids, no turbos--can be green. And we've long been looking forward to the debut of the 2014 Mazda 3, an all-new generation of the compact hatchback and sedan that have always been among the more rewarding cars to drive in the segment. With Mazda's...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen Twin-Up: XL1-Powered Plug-In Minicar RevealedVW has hinted for some time that the diesel-electric drivetrain from its XL1 eco-supercar would appear in something a little more humble and affordable. Now, writes Autocar, it's revealed the result of such a concoction, in the shape of the Twin-Up. As the name suggests, it's based on the...
Antony Ingram -
Beijing Slashes Car Sales Quota By 40 Percent To Tackle Air PollutionBeijing will attempt to fight pollution by restricting new car sales.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota is serious about hydrogen fuel cell cars, and to prove it the company will unveil a new fuel cell concept at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. Called the FCV, Toyota's new concept is the clearest hint at what its fuel cell production car--due in 2015--might look like. It's certainly less science-fiction than the FCV-R concept rolled out at numerous auto shows over the past few years. The midsize FCV-R was Toyota's first hint that it was working on a production hydrogen vehicle, and recent tweaks to the concept clarified Toyota's direction for the eventual road-going vehicle. The FCV...
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Will Small 48-Volt Lithium-Ion Battery Boost Start-Stop In U.S. Cars?Johnson Controls hopes its new compact lithium-ion battery pack will jump start the mass-adoption of start-stop systems.
Stephen Edelstein -
Will Quebec Join California, Oregon As Electric-Car Pioneers?Today, California buys the largest number of plug-in electric cars by far of any North American state or province. But the many civic benefits of electric cars--from zero emissions to greater energy efficiency--are inspiring other locales to step up to the plate. Last Friday, the government of...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Have You Driven A Diesel Lately? If So, You're In The MinorityIf you've been considering diesel power for your next car, you can count yourself among a small proportion of Americans who have. Unlike Europe, where half of all vehicles sold are diesels and at least one diesel is on most consumers' shopping lists, the U.S. market still reels from repuations of...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Mazda 3: First DriveThe 2014 Mazda 3 is the one of the more eagerly-awaited compact cars hereabouts, and now we've had a chance to spend 90 minutes behind the wheel. During a recent test drive that brought together Best Car To Buy 2014 finalists, every High Gear Media editor got a chance to drive a variety of vehicles...
John Voelcker -
Tesla 'Giga-Plant', BMW-Toyota Hybrid Supercar, Electric-Car Grid Impact: Today's Car NewsTesla Motors, BMW, and Toyota make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
What do you call an all-electric minicar that has elements of the Chevy Volt, can spin its drive wheels if you have a heavy foot--and still ranks as the most efficient plug-in car sold in the U.S. this year? We'd call it the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. And it's one of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014 award. MORE: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014: The Nominees We had some hesitation over including the Spark EV. At the moment, it meets some of the criteria for deeming it a compliance car--which is to say, a car built grudgingly by a major automaker solely to...
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PG+E Data: Electric Cars Have Almost No Grid Impact So FarElectric-car charging hasn't overloaded power grids yet.
Stephen Edelstein -
BMW, Toyota Decide On Hybrid Supercar ProjectWe've known for some time that BMW and Toyota were planning to develop a hybrid sports car together, but until now it hasn't been clear what market that sports car would be aimed at. Now we know, and the news isn't great for anyone expecting the companies to develop something affordable. Instead...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Earnings Call: Lithium-Ion Cell 'Giga-Plant' Needed For Future ProductionTesla held its third-quarter earnings call yesterday evening, and CEO Elon Musk stayed pretty much on message. He reiterated that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] continues to produce its Model S electric luxury sedan, at a current rate of 550 cars per week, and that it is working steadily to reduce the...
John Voelcker -
132-MPH Tesla Model S, Methane Fuel, October Plug-In Hybrid Sales: Today's Car NewsThe Tesla Model S, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and Chevrolet Cruze Diesel make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevy Cruze DieselThe 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is a somewhat daring car, and one that diesel fans have been urging a U.S. maker to sell for years, if not decades. It's the first diesel-engined passenger vehicle sold by General Motors since 1986, and it's a fully modern car with the latest in emissions control...
John Voelcker -
Six degrees of separation: The theory that every person on the planet is connected to every other person in six steps or fewer--Elon Musk perhaps, or his polar opposite, Jeremy Clarkson. The automotive world is similar. A new technology partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation could connect more cars than ever before--and is likely to beget the next Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car, using Renault and Nissan expertise. The companies today announced their intention to "explore several new projects", with existing links between Nissan and Mitsubishi now to...
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Ford Outsells Toyota In Plug-In Hybrids For First Time (Volt Too)Ford plug-in hybrids may be shifting the sales balance away from battery-electric cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
Will Europe Too Write Rules To Make Quiet Electric Cars Noisier?This one just isn't going to go away, is it? A member of the UK parliament is set to raise concerns that electric cars are "a new threat" to pedestrians due to their low levels of noise. Mary Glindon, Labour Party constituent in North Tyneside, cites statistics from the Guide Dogs charity that from...
Antony Ingram -
Yet Another Green Fuel: Landfill Methane On Sale In CaliforniaMethane may not come from the most glamorous places, but ti does offer many green benefits.
Stephen Edelstein -
Yes, A Tesla Model S Can Hit 132 MPH On The Autobahn (Video)A few weeks back at the opening of a Tesla Motors service center in Munich, Elon Musk told a room full of fans and journalists that Tesla would offer a special tuning package for high-speed Model S driving. It makes a lot of sense--sections of Germany's Autobahn network are among the few roads on...
Antony Ingram -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales For Oct: Volt, Leaf Hold SteadyIn October sales of plug-in electric cars, both Chevy and Nissan improved on their September results, but didn't come close to beating their record August sales numbers. The month as a whole rebounded toward August's record-breaking level, improving on September's slump--but the Tesla sales may...
John Voelcker