Green Car News

  • 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe

    Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are being sued in U.S. courts over inflating gas mileage ratings on 2011-2013 vehicles. It was revealed on Friday that both automakers had reported higher numbers on EPA window stickers than the cars were actually capable of in EPA economy testing. Both companies admitted guilt and apologized to owners for the errors, promising to reimburse the 900,000 customers who had bought affected vehicles. However, Automotive News reports that a lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court which seeks damages for U.S. customers who purchased or leased any of the 13...

  • 2013 Suzuki Kizashi
    Suzuki Stops Selling Cars In U.S.--What Does It Mean For You?

    After nearly a three-decade run in the United States market, Suzuki has decided to cease selling automobiles here to focus on its core markets in India and Southeast Asia. Those of us in the industry weren’t surprised by the announcement that American Suzuki Motor Corporation was filing for...

  • Facelifted 2013 Renault Fluence electric sedan
    Will France Lead Europe In Electric-Car Industry?

    Which international carmaker currently has the largest range of electric vehicles? The answer is Renault. The French automaker has a significant EV portfolio--and as the French government puts greater emphasis on EVs, it may soon be joined by other carmakers too. Indeed, between electric cars...

  • 2012 Lexus RX 450h
    Lexus NX 300h To Be New Small Hybrid Crossover?

    Lexus can claim credit for kicking off the luxury crossover market in the U.S, with the original RX. Since then, the RX models have always sold strongly--and account for 40 percent of the marque's sales. Now, it appears that a smaller model could be on the way, as Kaizen Factor reveals (via...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric, New York City, April 2012
    Ford Focus Electric A Compliance Car? Ford Swears It's Not

    There are two kinds of electric cars on sale in the U.S. these days. The first kind--the ones you should pay attention to--are the volume electric cars. Their makers want to sell as many as they can. The second kind are the "compliance cars," built solely to meet California regulations that require...

  • 2013 BMW 3-Series
    BMW To Launch Six Diesel Models In Next Two Years

    BMW has been building diesel cars since the 1980s, but only a handful have ever made it as far as the U.S. Those that have, such as the BMW 335d sold a few years back, have been well received--so the news that BMW is bringing six more diesel models to the U.S. over the next few years will be music...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma during road test, Los Angeles, Feb 2012

    It's becoming an awkward, unfortunate routine. Somewhere, somehow, a Fisker Karma catches fire, and the company rushes in its inspectors and engineers to analyze the incident. A few days later, Fisker Automotive issues a statement explaining that the battery of the range-extended electric car isn't at fault, and that some other cause led to the fire. In the latest case, Fisker analyzed the October 30 fire that destroyed 16 Karmas when Hurricane Sandy flood waters receded from New Jersey's Port Newark shipping docks. [UPDATE: Dow Jones VentureWire reported that in fact Fisker lost more than...

  • 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct 2012
    2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid: First Drive

    The 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid gives VW something it hasn’t had before: a way to appeal to hybrid buyers who won’t consider its TDI diesels—no matter how fuel-efficient they may be. The result is a relatively sporty, conventional looking compact sedan that’s fun to drive...

  • 2013 Scion iQ EV hits the U.S.
    Are 50-Mile Electric Cars The Most Suitable For Cities?

    The words 'range anxiety' probably send a shudder down the spine of most electric car owners, even if they don't suffer from the condition themselves. Describing the sense of dread associated with running low on charge, it's often brought up without considering just how many EVs are currently used...

  • Average sales-weighted fuel economy of purchased new vehicles, Oct 2007 - Oct 2012 (via UMTRI)
    Fuel Economy Reaches A Record High, But Why?

    The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has tracked fuel economy and new car sales since October 2007, and during those five years, we've seen gradual gains in efficiency. Today, UMTRI says that new vehicles sold in October reached a record-high 24.1 mpg. The question is: why?...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric, New York City, April 2012
    Electric Car Buyers Like, Feel Better Driving Them: UK Survey

    Electric car drivers have long had a little secret: The cars are generally much nicer to drive than gasoline cars. Now a new survey done at London Metropolitan University in England shows that despite initial skepticism, drivers of the plug-in vehicles came to like them better than gasoline cars in...

  • BMW ActiveE electric car at closed NJ gas station after Hurricane Sandy [photo: Tom Moloughney]
    Assessing Sandy: Are Electric Cars A Better Bet In Emergencies?

    For many of us, lines at gas stations and homes without power are no more than news, but millions on the U.S. East Coast are still coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Many areas are still without power, and gasoline is a worryingly rare commodity for a transport system utterly dependent...

  • 2012 Toyota NS4 plug-in hybrid concept

    Love it or loathe it, everyone can recognize the Toyota Prius. Since the second generation model arrived in the 2004 model year, the aerodynamically-honed one-box shape has always shouted "Prius". So much so that many consider Honda's Insight hybrid to deliberately feature similar styling. Only when a new Prius arrives, likely in 2014 as a 2015 model-year car, it may look very different. According to Bloomberg, Toyota is currently considering whether to give the Prius an all-new look, to widen its appeal. Various generations of Prius may have helped Toyota's hybrid sales fly past 4 million...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S, brief test drive, New York City, July 2012
    Tesla Model S Production Ramps Up, Company Says In Earnings Call

    The biggest question facing tiny Tesla Motors right now is whether it can ramp up production of its Model S all-electric sport sedan and deliver enough of them to paying customers that it can generate the income it needs to keep going. On the quarterly Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] earnings call this...

  • Biodiesel pump. Image by Flickr user Horatio_Nailknot
    Renewable Diesel Fuel Shines, Production Surges

    Alternative fuels have recently suffered at the hands of the current Renewable Fuel Standard, a set of guidelines that dictate various aspects of alt fuels. Combined with droughts and political factors, the industry has had it tough recently--but renewable diesel is on track to change the...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-In Adds To C-Max Hybrid Sales

    The 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid has now reached dealerships throughout the country, selling 3,182 units in October. But Ford had an "October surprise" in store: The company sold 144 of the plug-in hybrid C-Max Energi version as well. That car hasn't been driven by any members of the automotive media...

  • 2013 Kia Soul
    Hyundai, Kia Rapped By EPA Over Misstated MPG Stickers

    The EPA has ordered Kia and Hyundai to amend window stickers on 13 models from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 model years after the two companies were found to be misstating the cars' true efficiency. The companies will also have to pay damages to 900,000 owners across the U.S. According to Associated...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid
    Hybrid And Plug-In Car Sales Slow In Michigan, Report Says

    Hybrid cars have well and truly hit the mainstream. After years of slow sales around a decade ago, Toyota has now sold over 4 million hybrids. And Honda recently passed its first million. But in the home of the U.S. auto industry, buyers have been slower to catch on to the concept. According to the...

  • Renault Twizy first drive, Ibiza

    We've written about the Renault Twizy electric minicar on several occasions in the past. After driving it in Ibiza we later tested it in the UK, and while flawed, it really does have appeal for those living in tight, crowded cities. By European standards, most cities in Florida aren't too crowded. Yet that's where you'll find one of the only Twizys in the U.S, for sale on eBay. It's so unusual to see--and begs so many questions--that we had to get in contact with the seller to find out more. One of only a handful in the U.S. Musician David Guetta apparently kicks around Los Angeles in a...

  • 2012 Mercedes-Benz A-Class
    2013 Mercedes-Benz A Class: U.S-Bound Premium Compact Driven

    Big German automakers used to thrive on producing large, luxurious sedans. Built seemingly to last forever, they were vehicles of aspiration, a cut above volume vehicles from other carmakers. How things change. Aspiration may still be a part of owning a Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi, but now gas...

  • Ford Escape Hybrid New York Taxi. Image by Flickr user Jason Tabarias
    NYC's Hybrid Taxis Stay On The Road As Sandy Gas Shortages Hit

    As the U.S. East coast copes with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and New York City breathes life back into its flooded 105-year old subway system, public transit is currently in short supply. News images of huge queues for gas, people queuing around the block for buses and tens of thousands...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt plugged into Coulomb Technologies 240V wall charging unit
    October Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Volt, Leaf Stay Strong

    The good news for plug-in electric car sales just keeps on keeping on. In October, Chevy sold 2,961 Volts--the highest-ever single-month total--and Nissan continued a recent resurgence, selling 1,579 Leafs. Those numbers compare with 2,851 Volts sold in September and 984 Leafs the same month. That...

  • gas pump
    EPA Lifts Gasoline Restrictions In Wake Of Hurricane Sandy

    In 1990, the Clean Air Act amendments set out special rules regarding the manufacture and sale of gasoline in the U.S. This week, some of those rules have been suspended in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The amendments require that reformulated gasoline, or RFG, be used in cities with high levels of...

  • Honda's N-One retro minicar - image: Honda Motor Co
    Honda Starts Sales Of N-ONE Retro Minicar

    If you subscribe to the theory that Honda keeps all its really cool products in its home market of Japan, the announcement that the N-ONE retro-styled minicar has hit the market probably won’t do much to convince you otherwise. The N-ONE joins the N BOX and N BOX + models in Honda’s...

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