Green Car News

The Volkswagen Audi Group is a master at filling niches, and another one is heading our way from early 2014. For the customer who wants the VW Jetta's sedan bodystyle and 2.0-liter diesel engine--but prefers the Audi A3's more upmarket image--Audi presents the 2015 A3 TDI Sedan. Unveiled at the...

It's confirmed: Audi will offer its A3 Sportback e-Tron plug-in hybrid in the U.S. The German automaker has confirmed the news (via Motor Authority) at the New York Auto Show, just a month after the production model was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. Externally similar to the regular A3...

How do you get better gas mileage from engines that create the same power as what you've built your brand on? If you're BMW, the answer is that you launch an entirely new family of small engines derived from the world-famous inline six-cylinders you're famous for. But if you're fitting them with...

Carlos Ghosn is a busy man. In charge of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, his remit includes the diverse product lines of each company and most recently, each carmaker's electric vehicle range, too. Speaking to Leaf owners at a jamboree at Kansai University, Japan, Ghosn is still positive about each...

We currently have two main issues in our transport future. The first is cutting down on fossil fuel use, ensuring our finite supplies can be used for longer than our current consumption levels would account for. The second is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, helping prevent runaway climate...

Here's the situation: You've bought, or are planning to buy an electric car. You've done the math, figured out the vehicle you want, and know that 80 percent of your charging will be done at home. But what about the other 20 percent? Luckily, finding those electric car charging stations isn't as...

The New York Auto Show is almost upon us, and rather than the usual raft of green concept cars, it's the production vehicles we're most looking forward to this year. Several green models are set for unveiling, with everything from budget subcompacts, through diesel sedans, to more economical trucks...

Mention snow and ice in relation to electric vehicles, and many people will first think of the impact of cold weather on driving range. It's true that driving range will decrease in cold weather in most electric vehicles, but the way the car drives is important too. For the Tesla Model S driver in...

If at first you don't succeed, try again. It's a positive, optimistic attitude that can go a long way when presented with challenges--such as your first electric car company disappearing after several years of optimism and hype. That's what happened to Aptera, builders of a tadpole-like, two-seat...

One of the features associated with the 2013 Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sport sedan is the dedicated Supercharger network of DC quick-charge locations. Since the first stations went live last September, there have been only eight locations in California and the Northeast Corridor. Now Tesla...

The 2013 Formula One racing season is already underway--and already causing controversy--but from an engineering standpoint much of the focus is already on 2014. That's because from the start of next season, new engine regulations are set to significantly improve the cars' fuel efficiency, and...

It's the sweetest dream of every electric-car fan: a battery that could store enough energy to offer up to 1,000 miles of real-world range. While it's not going to arrive in showrooms any time soon, Israeli startup Phinergy thinks its aluminum-air energy storage device might just be that battery...

Consider this: The average semi truck is actually quite economical. No, really. A typical long-haul truck averages between 5.5 and 6.5 mpg. But it's also really, really heavy--up to 80,000 pounds, for a fully-loaded trailer. That's around 36 tons, which puts some perspective on how hard each of...

With a backlog of more than 10,000 depositors for the Tesla Model S, its maker is making and delivering electric luxury sedans as fast as it can. Among other benefits, that may allow Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] to achieve CEO Elon Musk's suggestion that the company could be profitable for the first...

The rate at which technology develops makes predicting the future incredibly difficult, but people get it right sometimes. They get it wrong sometimes too, and you'd have found a mixture of both in the April 3, 1988 issue of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, which peered 25 years into the future--to...

It appears that the U.S. Department of Energy has had a change of heart. Four years ago, then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu was widely known as a skeptic about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Last summer, he appeared to relent--and now the DoE has said it will launch a campaign to promote hydrogen...

We might live in a global economy, but in periods of economic downturn people like to know they're supporting their own country's economy. That's why some are a little displeased by Long Beach Transit's decision to buy ten elecric buses--made by a Chinese company. According to The Press-Telegram...

A Toyota Prius is many things, but a convenient lawn mower isn't one of them. Useless, right? Luckily, it is now possible to buy a hybrid lawn mower, known as the Raven MPV-710. In many ways, a hybrid mower makes sense. After all, if you're making an effort to be green, you might as well try and...

Most people give them little thought, but tires are one of the most important components on a car. They are, of course, your only point of contact with the road. So ultimately, tires are responsible for everything from performance, through cornering, to efficiency and noise. Tires of the future...

China's ongoing and recent air pollution issues are leading to swift rethinking of the country's transport policy. After several months of choking smog engulfing its major cities, the country has finally imposed strict fuel economy standards in a bid to cut fuel use--and pollution. Reuters reports...