Green Car News

It takes driving an emerging-market car like the Honda Brio—as we did briefly this past week—to understand just how much the small cars we get here in the U.S. (and Europe) have improved over the past decade or so. The five-seat Brio is about a foot shorter than the Honda Fit but about...

This is starting to look not so good. It appears that two new hybrid cars from Ford--the 2013 C-Max Hybrid hatchback and the 2013 Fusion Hybrid sedan--may not deliver real-world gas mileage that's anywhere near their 47-mpg EPA ratings. Automotive journalists have been quietly discussing this for a...

While the Honda Civic is just about to enjoy a mid-cycle refresh, Toyota's Corolla is reaching the end of its current life, and new model is expected next year. Until then, the 2013 Toyota Corolla remains much the same as the 2012 car--so don't expect much excitement. For the 2013 model year, the...

It isn't easy to impress Consumer Reports. Fisker Automotive knows this better than most, after its Karma range-extended sedan was savaged by the magazine earlier this year. In contrast, the 2012 Tesla Model S looks to have gone down rather well, CR describing it as "a revelation". High praise...

Audi has been promising more diesel models in its U.S. lineup for a while now, and it fulfils that promise at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. Joining the existing Q7 TDI, which gets an update, Audi will introduce diesel versions of the A8, A7, A6 and Q5. The company claims each model will deliver...

Being an antique auto historian and appraiser is the greatest job I've ever had. I get to drive all sorts of cars that I've admired from afar, but never actually had a chance to drive before. I've always gotten a kick out of the little, economical Crosley cars built between 1939 and 1952...

The retro-styled Honda N One, which goes on sale in Japan this month, is super-cute—nodding to the original 1967 Honda N360—and looks perfect for space-confined urban duty. It's possible at first glance, from a distance, to liken the N One to the Mini Cooper or Fiat 500 and see it...

With the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show just around the corner, the world's carmakers are gearing up to show off the latest and greatest green vehicles. And in common with several recent motor shows, L.A. will have some significant launches and unveilings, whether you're interested in regular efficient...

It's been on sale in Europe for months, and now it's coming to the U.S.: the smallest engine sold by a U.S. automaker in decades. The 2014 Ford Fiesta that goes on sale next year will offer the turbocharged 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine as an option in the subcompact hatchback and sedan...

Much publicity, high hopes, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been devoted to the Better Place electric-car service. Now, with an apparent dearth of Israeli customers to sign on the dotted line, the company is turning over its management. Deputy CEO departs The latest defection is deputy CEO...

Wicker might not be your first choice of construction material when designing a vehicle, but the world was a very different place in 1915. If you lived in San Diego at the time, the sight of an Electriquette silently whirring past may have been quite familar. The wicker-bodied electric vehicles...

Poor Honda. It creates the CR-Z, theoretically the perfect mix of fun and fuel efficiency, but ends up alienating both gearheads and green buyers by building something that struggles to satisfy either party. The 2013 Honda CR-Z should fix some of the car's issues, by improving both performance and...

The 2013 Ford C-Max Energi is the first plug-in hybrid from Ford to hit the road, and the company sold 144 of them in October even before letting journalists drive the car. It’s the pricier and more capable of the two C-Max models, and Ford compares it directly to the Toyota Prius Plug-In...

Since its launch in 1996, the Toyota RAV4 has always been a greener option for those wanting all-wheel drive. Pre-dating the modern trend for downsizing, its compact body and 2.0-liter engine gave it significantly better gas mileage than many SUVs--and an electric version in 1997 took that even...

Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine has lapped the Nürburgring, been discussed as a potential race-car engine, and we've driven it ourselves in both a Focus Wagon and a Focus hatchback in Europe. What's left? How about coming to America, and more specifically the 2012 Los Angeles...

Over the next 14 months, you can expect leaks, rumors, suppositions, spy shots, and outright guesses about the 2016 Toyota Prius to proliferate. The fourth generation of Toyota's quintessential hybrid car is a crucial model for the company. If Toyota sticks to its model cadence, we expect that...

Fiat has released the first few images of its 500e, the electric version of the 500 city car. The vivid orange machine is set to debut at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, which starts later this month. The car will ditch the regular 500's 1.4-liter gasoline engine for a battery-electric drivetrain...

If you shop strictly by the EPA numbers today, the 2013 Honda Fit probably won't be among the top subcompacts you cross-shop. The current Fit's federal ratings, of 28 mpg city, 35 highway with the five-speed automatic, or just 27/33 mpg with the five-speed manual, aren't exactly at the top of the...

For many months, Nissan has said it would sell 20,000 Leaf electric cars in the U.S. by next March. Sales rates didn't seem to support that, and now Nissan has conceded that it won't happen. CEO Carlos Ghosn said that number "would not be reached," in an interview on Bloomberg TV in Mexico City...

It happens already: Chevy Volt owners compare their lifetime electric miles, how long they've driven without using gasoline, and their lifetime gas mileage. Now Chevrolet is formalizing the competition, with plans to release a mobile phone app that lets owners register and compete with each other...