Green Car News
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Less than three weeks ago, Fisker Automotive announced it has successfully closed its latest round of funding, netting a total of $100 million more in funds to develop its next plug-in hybrid car, the mid-size Atlantic Sedan. Hopes of driving one any time soon were dashed yesterday, however, when Fisker announced that it didn’t expect to be producing the car until late 2014, or even 2015. Originally, the firm had aimed to start production by the end of 2012 at a closed former GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware, but over the past few years the project has been pushed gradually back...
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Judge 'Charged' With 'Theft' For Plugging In Chevy Volt Electric CarFor centuries, the role of Judge has carried with it a solemn duty to uphold justice, the law, and to ascertain which facts are true, and which are not. So when a journalist in Carmi, Illinois spotted a Second Circuit Judge charging his electric car at Wayne County Courthouse, they ran a story...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Noise-Cancelling Tech: A Key To Quieter, Higher-MPG Hybrids?One thing common to many hybrid cars is the twin-pronged benefit of refinement and silence. Just a brief drive in a hybrid is usually enough to confirm that, at low engine speeds at least, they don't produce a lot of noise. Even less when running in electric mode. Still, there are always...
Antony Ingram -
Do Electric Motorcycles Have A U.S. Future? One View Says NoMotorcycles, as any biker will tell you, are as much a device for recreation as they are a method of transport. More so even than many cars, they're bought for the thrill of the open road, the interaction between man and machine, and the freedom to go anywhere. And that, says The New York Times, is...
Antony Ingram -
Six High-Mileage Hybrids That Will Keep You InvisibleHybrid cars may not be universally popular, but most can appreciate the thinking behind them. After all, who actually likes paying high prices for gas? Even so, some may prefer the benefits of hybrid technology without the image that occasionally comes with it. We've picked six hybrid cars that...
Antony Ingram -
If You're Going To Attack Electric Cars, Do Your HomeworkThey pop up like weeds, these "Electric cars are failures" articles--and you just have to keep killing them. The latest is an opinion piece titled, "Why the Electric Car Failed," published last week in U.S. News & World Report. Author Michael Lynch identifies himself as a researcher for the...
John Voelcker -
Quick, name a Japanese carmaker that's sold 1 million hybrid cars. Yes, OK, Toyota is a right answer. But there's another one, too, as of the end of September Automaker Honda announced yesterday that its total sales of hybrid cars had crossed the 1 million mark--just a month shy of 13 years from the day its first-generation Insight went on sale. Starting in late 1999 with that first Insight, a tiny two-seat hatchback, the company has steadily boosted production of a dozen different vehicles that have used eight generations of its Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system. The company's...
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Coda, Better Place Team Up To Make SF Electric Taxi FleetBack in 2010, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency was awarded a $7 million regional grant to oversee a fleet of 61 electric taxi cabs, complete with four battery sapping stations. Two years later, neither the taxi cabs, nor the battery swap stations have been launched. According to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Chevrolet Spark So Popular, GM Boosts ImportsThere was a time, not so long ago, when most Americans would laugh at the idea of buying a car just a bit longer than 12 feet. But now one minicar--the 2013 Chevrolet Spark--has sold so well in its first two months on the U.S. market that Chevrolet has had to increase imports. Currently made at a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Toyota Dealers Not Interested In Selling Electric Cars, Prefer HybridsThanks to its ever-expanding range of hybrids, including the well-known Prius liftback, Toyota Toyota dealers have a wide range of green cars to sell. You may think that would make them more receptive to selling all-electric cars, but a recent survey from AutoRetailNet (via plugincars) suggests...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Will EPA Waive Ethanol Requirement Due To Drought?This summer's drought across the midwestern U.S. may have an impact in an unexpected place: your gasoline tank. Almost 200 members of Congress, and the governors of eight states, have called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to suspend portions of the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard that...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf Gets Remote Charger Timer With Leaf Link iPhone AppEver since Nissan launched its Leaf electric car in late 2010, it has offered owners the ability to remotely start charging, using its Carwings telematics system and smartphone apps. The Nissan Leaf also has a feature letting owners pre-program a start time for charging and pre-heating, but only...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
There's probably relief in Palo Alto this morning, as Tesla Motors executives quietly give thanks that their company was not named in last night's vice-presidential debate. The startup electric-car company in Silicon Valley was explicitly cited in last week's presidential debate by candidate Mitt Romney, who deemed Tesla a 'loser'. Romney's criticism of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] last week--along with Fisker Automotive, cell maker Ener1, and solar panel maker Solyndra--came as he attacked the Obama Administration's investments in green energy. Last night, vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan...
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Electric Car Battery Research: Graphene Foam For Faster Recharging?Graphene is described as a "wonder material" within the scientific community, winning the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. It's incredibly light, incredibly strong and very simple. Made up from sheets of carbon only a single atom thick, it's the material's potential use in batteries that has us...
Antony Ingram -
The Coolest Hybrid You'll Never Get To DrivePoor old Toyota. Over the past decade, the Japanese company has produced millions of Prius, making a contribution to saving gas as great as any other vehicle, but the one thing that the Prius can't seem to shake off is people calling it ugly. French carmaker Citroen has taken a different approach...
Antony Ingram -
High Gas Prices, High Incentives Boost Electric Car Sales In CAIf you drive a regular gasoline car in California, you’ll know that the past week has been far from easy, with gas prices peaking at over $5 a gallon in places. But while many car drivers were suffering unbelievably high gas prices, plug-in and electric car dealers across the state have...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
So What's An 'MPGe' Anyway? Ford Explains It All For YouIf you've been looking at buying a new electric car, you'll have noticed a slightly different measurement of economy on the official labels: MPGe. But what does MPGe actually mean? Luckily, Ford is here to help you, so check out the video above to learn more. Effectively, MPGe is a measure that...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Chevrolet Volt: Gas Mileage, Electric Range TestIt had been almost two years since we'd driven a Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, and the new 2013 model has been slightly modified to boost its electric range. We took a new 2013 Chevy Volt on our usual weekend test route, which covered 360 miles that included about two-thirds freeway...
John Voelcker -
Chevrolet is fielding a three-pronged gas mileage attack on the market with the 2013 Malibu, ditching V-6 options and concentrating on fuel-efficient fours instead. New to the range is a 2.0-liter turbo. While it develops a punchy 259-horsepower, highway mileage is a respectable 30 mpg. One rung further up the efficiency ladder is a new 197-horsepower, 2.5-liter, four cylinder Ecotec unit. There's no turbocharger to be found on this engine, but highway mileage creeps up to 34 mpg, while the car gets 26 mpg combined. Both use a six-speed automatic transmission. Most efficient of all is the...
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That Smart Electric-Car Fire? Never Mind; It's Not Electric At AllOur hearts sink a little every time we discover news of an electric car fire. Will others also go up in flames? Will the media turn it into an anti-EV frenzy, like they did with the Chevy Volt? Reports of an electric Smart ForTwo going up in flames at a home in Florida brought all those thoughts...
Antony Ingram -
How CA Drivers Handle High Gas Prices: Hybrids, Walking, Out-Of-State GasWhile gas prices in the state of California are finally dropping following last week’s Southern California peak of more than $5 per gallon, the financial and social implications of such high gas prices are still being felt by its residents. As The LA Times reported earlier this week...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tesla Gets $10 Million Of California Cash To Build Model X CrossoverYesterday, the California Energy Commission approved a $10 million grant to Tesla Motors which it said would help the electric automaker prepare for the launch of its second mass-produced car, the Tesla Model X Crossover SUV. Under the terms of the agreement, Tesla will have to match the $10...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Small Car Sales Soar As Gas Prices RiseIt happens every time gas prices spike, and it's happening again: Small-car sales are soaring. In fact, the total of 2.1 million compact and subcompact cars sold over the nine-month period ending in September is up by fully 50 percent compared to the same period a year ago. That's the highest...
John Voelcker -
2013 Ford C-Max Energi: 100 MPGe, Beats Volt, Plug-in PriusIt’s official: the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi is the most efficient plug-in hybrid to date, achieving a cool 100 miles per gallon equivalent combined in official EPA fuel economy tests. Announced last night by Ford, the $33,745 2013 Ford C-Max Energi has beaten both the 95 MPGe rating of the 2012...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield