Green Car News

What would make electric cars perfect for you? Maybe it'd take a 300-mile range, or a sub-$15,000 price tag, or the ability to charge from empty in five minutes. But you could argue that current electric cars are already perfect--for car sharing schemes. City life Car sharing is becoming...

Unless you're the type to very closely read the fine print on the face of fuel pumps, you might not know that the vast majority of U.S. gasoline is truly ten-percent home grown—that's ten-percent ethanol, and with that ethanol almost certainly from corn. The upsides of adding more ethanol to...

Ailing battery firm A123 Systems, which supplies batteries to Fisker, BMW and GM among others, could soon have a new owner after Delaware courts have imposed a deadline for bids. Two companies vying for A123 and its assets are auto-parts maker Johnson Controls, and Chinese auto-parts maker Wanxiang...

Every driver of a plug-in hybrid electric car eventually wants to drive more on electricity and less on gasoline. So it's frustrating when the battery charge indicator shows a reasonable level of charge, you're only a few hundred feet from home, and yet the engine kicks on because of that one steep...

Could the next Toyota Yaris be a Mazda2 under the skin? Mazda has announced that its factory in Mexico will begin producing a new Mazda2-based Toyota small car from 2015. Mazda's press release states that the car, which will be sold "mainly in North America", will be produced at a rate of 50,000...

GM has started production of its two new bi-fuel options in the pickup truck market. The 2013 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 HD bi-fuel models are able to run on either regular gasoline, or compressed natural gas (CNG). A 6.0-liter V-8 as found under the hood of each truck isn't...

Electric cars may be the future, but in the present they're still a risk. Nissan knows this more than most, and at a conference reporting its Q2 2012 financial results, chief operating officer Toshiyuki Shiga says that Nissan would still like to penetrate the market more. However, he also expressed...

James Bond, Agent 007, has now been driving his Aston Martin DB5 sports cars since 1964. With the new film, Skyfall, opening tomorrow, we thought we'd propose some new motor cars for Commander Bond. He's ventured into many other vehicles, including airplanes, submarines, and newer Aston Martins...

New York City and Long Island today instituted temporary fuel rationing, with drivers only allowed to buy gasoline on alternate days. Starting at 6 am tomorrow, vehicles with odd numbers on their license plates can buy fuel on odd-numbered days; even numbers can buy on even-numbered days. The two...

This seems to be our time for debunking dumb stories about plug-in electric cars. First, we had to educate a Forbes columnist (and oil-industry consultant) about how the auto industry works. Now, it's time to offer some gentle guidance to all those journalists who covered last month's release of a...

Toyota has announced a voluntary recall of Scion iQ vehicles from the 2012 and 2013 model years. In all, some 11,200 vehicles are affected. The recall centers around the weight sensor cables located beneath the iQ's front passenger seat. According to a press release from Toyota, those cables "can...

Tesla being what it is--a venture-funded startup battery-electric automaker in Silicon Valley--every utterance from its CEO Elon Musk becomes newsworthy. So a generalized hint at future development of its main product, the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan, becomes fodder for news stories. In...

There's nothing like a bargain price on a brand-new car. And since Suzuki has announced that it'll stop selling cars in the U.S., there are bargains galore on new Suzuki models. But is buying a brand-new car from a departing manufacturer a good deal? That depends on how the carmaker exits; unlike...

Toyota has hinted at the launch of an electric sports car in the past, and even has a couple of prototypes out testing, including one based on its legendary 2000GT. However, ask Toyota if it plans to launch an electric version of its GT 86 (sold here as the Scion FR-S), its budget rear-wheel drive...

Now the recriminations--and lawsuits--will start. And we expect the focus on real-world gas mileage to increase, following news that Hyundai and Kia will revise gas-mileage figures downward on 13 different models from the 2011, 2012, and 2013 model years--and reimburse buyers for the extra money...

Fisker Automotive has had more than its share of trials and tribulations of late. Now, a new threat has emerged that holds the potential to harm the company severely, by cutting off its supply of lithium-ion battery packs. A123 Systems, its bankrupt battery supplier, wants to end the contract under...

As more and more people enter China's middle classes, demand for automobiles is increasing all the time. So is the quality of China's cars. As the kudos of imported brands becomes more attractive, Chinese companies are working hard to compete. Some are even breaking out of China and into the...

Nissan might be investing heavily in its electric car program, but the automaker hasn't forgotten hybrid vehicles completely. In fact, the company is set to launch one hybrid or plug-in car per year for the next few years, allowing it to compete in a market where hybrid vehicles are gaining...

If you run an electric car, you may well have considered installing a dedicated charging station in your garage or on the side of your home. After all, who wants to wait a dozen hours or more for their EV to charge using a standard 110-Volt outlet? Last year we brought you news that Home Depot...

Volkswagen's line of TDI diesel cars has passionate fans. Now that the company is launching the 2013 VW Jetta Hybrid, it will likely gain some hybrid advocates too. But diesel and hybrid fans are very different groups, as the company's marketing surveys show. So why couldn't Volkswagen simply add a...