Green Car News

Mitsubishi has recalled 4,313 of its Outlander Plug-In Hybrids in Japan to fix a potential defect that it identified last month. The company resumed production of the plug-in hybrid Outlander after discovering the cause of a fire in one lithium-ion battery pack at a dealership in Japan. The first...

Toyota said today it would recall some 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid cars in the U.S. due to a potentially faulty brake-pressure accumulator. The component, said the company, may develop an internal crack due to metal fatigue caused by vibrations over the course of the vehicle...

It just keeps rising: Average gas mileage for new cars has once again hit a new high in the U.S. Statistics kept by the University of Michigan's Transport Research Institute (UMTRI) show sales-weighted MPG of 24.8 mpg in May. That contrasts with 24.6 mpg in March, and a rise from 24.5 mpg in...

Last year, we brought you the story of one Nissan Leaf owner really putting his car to the test, as his 130-mile daily commute had racked up 36,000 miles in just 11 months of ownership. The car, owned and driven by Steve Marsh of Washington state, was one of the highest-mileage Leafs we'd heard of...

It was small, unassuming, almost a shrinking violet, really. The first-generation Toyota Prius hybrid -- launched in the U.S. in 2001 -- was the first five-seat family car to offer hybrid-electric drive and unimaginably high gas mileage. Twelve years after its initial launch, the Prius family has...

Plug-in car sales continued at a steady pace in May, with early estimates of perhaps 6,500 to 7,000 sold overall. As always, precise figures are impossible because Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] does not report monthly sales as every other carmaker does. We'll refine our totals as more reports come in...

We all know producing electricity is an energy-intensive process, but the complications don't stop at how utilities generate that power. Demand for electricity ebbs and flows, and often doesn't correlate with generating capacity. One way of dealing with these fluctuations in supply and demand is to...

Slowly, the economic recession is winding down and consumer moods are improving. Plus, today's new cars get better gas mileage than they did just a few years ago. Is this year the best time to buy a new car? According to several industry analysts quoted in The Detroit News, the answer is...

Among the 100,000 or so U.S. drivers with plug-in electric cars, it's widely noted that a lot of them charge their cars using photovoltaic solar arrays. But which comes first, using solar power or buying an electric car? Remember that environmental concerns are just one of several reasons to buy an...

Organizing road trips can be hard. Organizing carpools -- sometimes with complete strangers -- can be even harder. First, there are masses of phone calls, text messages, and emails to sort through. Then, every rider's schedule and personal information has to be entered into a database. Once upon a...

Every now and then, EPA gas-mileage ratings--and cars that notably fail to achieve them in real-world use--burst into public awareness. Hyundai and Kia had to agree to reduced ratings and send refunds to buyers after admitting to testing-procedure errors following an EPA investigation. But do...

Top speeds are more relevant than many people think. That even applies to cars like the Tesla Model S, though perhaps more for bragging rights than any practical purpose. And as bragging rights go, 133 mph isn't too bad for an electric car. While there aren't many places you can legally explore a...

If you live in California right now, it's a great time to buy a plug-in electric car. Elsewhere in the country, your choices will be more limited. Three small battery-electric cars are competing on lease pricing in the Golden State, with the default monthly price seemingly $199 or close to it...

Traditionally, concept cars are superficial beasts, showing off an automaker's latest style, eventually watered down and rationalized before they hits the road. More recently, they've also previewed new drivetrain technologies and materials, as products are now expected to minimize their impact on...

The next-generation Toyota Prius hybrid may retain the same shape as its predecessors, but it's likely to be different in several important ways. With spy shots of 2016 Prius prototypes now emerging, it's time to follow up on a piece we did six months ago. So, let's look at all the confirmed facts...

Smog-choked Chinese capital Beijing will be the first city in the country to introduce a new pollution tax. Following months of pollution far above safe levels, major Chinese cities have scrabbled to find a solution for improving air quality. Gasgoo reports Beijing will introduce a new tax this...

Battery-swapping Israeli-based electric car network Better Place might have found a buyer, following its bankruptcy filings last week. Solar entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz hinted on his Facebook profile that his company had offered to assume Better Place's assets from the liquidator. He wrote on...

Forgive the cynicism, but color us not all that surprised at the news that startup automaker Detroit Electric is postponing production of its SP:01 electric sports car by "at least a month." Launched in a flurry of media attention in early April, the plug-in electric SP:01 sports coupe is...

Chevrolet has released details of its latest 2014 Malibu, set to go on sale this fall. Among the changes, the biggest news is that all Malibu models will get stop-start technology on the standard model--shutting down the engine when stopped to conserve fuel. Fitted to a new 2.5-liter gasoline...

If you ever feel cars are getting too expensive, consider yourself lucky you don't live in Singapore. The country, an island located on the tip of mainland Malaysia, is smaller than most cities, and one of the most prosperous nations in the world. Due to its (lack of) size, traffic is a big...