Green Car News

  • The Pope's Renault Kangoo Z.E. (Photo: Renault Italie)

    The current head of the Catholic church, Pope Benedict XVI, is rather fond of electric cars. We know this because back in 2010, the Vatican revealed that he was eager to count an electric vehicle among his throng of armored cars--presumably to go with the solar panels he's had installed on the roof of some Vatican buildings. Now, French carmaker Renault has donated the Pope two new electric cars, both based on the Kangoo Maxi Z.E, an electric, glazed version of the Kangoo delivery van used throughout Europe. The first of the Pope's new vehicles is painted in a saintly shade of white, with the...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
    Chevy's Gone Green: Spark, Sonic, Cruze, Volt Get Highest Sales Yet

    Chevrolet is definitely going green--or at least, its customers are, as GM announces best-ever monthly sales of its four most gas-sipping models. Helping to reach sales 10 percent greater than those in August last year, the Spark, Sonic, Cruze and Volt all set their highest monthly sales figures...

  • 2013 Ford Mondeo
    Europe's Ford Fusion Gets 1.0 EcoBoost: How Small Is Too Small?

    We've driven it in the Focus. We're going to get it in the Fiesta. We've even seen it attacking one of the world's meanest race tracks. It is of course Ford's 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, a tiny turbocharged unit aiming to match the performance of a naturally-aspirated 1.6-liter, with...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    Buying A 2012 Tesla Model S: Pros & Cons Of 'Tesla Way' To Order

    At last, my number's been called. As the holder of reservation number P 717 for a 2012 Tesla Model S, I've waited more than three years after putting down a $5,000 deposit on the sleek, all-electric sport sedan. Since then, Tesla has kept my interest percolating with e-mail updates and promotional...

  • Chevrolet Cruze 2.0 VCDi turbodiesel (Europe)
    2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel Preview

    Diesel passenger cars have long been the domain of German carmakers, but that will change early next year with the launch of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze diesel four-door compact sedan. The eagerly awaited model, the first GM (NYSE:GM) passenger-car diesel since the early 1980s, was confirmed more than...

  • Fast Charging 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Quick-Charging Your Electric Car? It Could Be Less Full Than You Think

    Chademo-specification DC quick chargers make it possible for owners of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i to travel well beyond the range of a single charge in a day without waiting for hours every time their car needs charging. But while quick DC charging stations can charge the...

  • 2013 Ford Escape

    It has only been on sale a few months, but the popular 2013 Ford (NYSE:F) Escape has just received its second recall relating to potential engine-bay fires. According to official recall documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, the recall involves replacing a faulty cylinder head cup plug, otherwise known as a freeze plug. In some circumstances, Ford warns, the plug may become dislodged, resulting in a “significant loss of engine coolant.” As the coolant drains and hits the warm engine, the water content of the coolant will evaporate...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee
    New Site For SF Bay Area Makes Buying Electric, Plug-In Cars Easy

    Researching a new car can be hard work, especially with niche market vehicles like electric cars and plug-in hybrids. With test-drives, news reports and general information, we provide buyers with a nationwide view of plug-in and green cars, but now a new website is offering car buyers in the San...

  • Electric bus in Zermatt, Switzerland
    Imagine A World Without Gasoline Cars, Then Fly There To See It

    Gasoline and diesel fuel today power almost every one of the 1 billion vehicles on the planet. But what would it be like to live in a town with no gas-powered cars at all? The little Swiss skiing village of Zermatt may be one of the few places in the world where it's possible to experience such a...

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta
    2014 Ford Fiesta Gets Facelift, Debuts At Paris Auto Show

    Ford's Fiesta is proof that moving down to a smaller car doesn't involve sacrificing all the features you'd normally get in a larger car. It's fun to drive, refined, has good gas mileage and feels more substantial than it looks--and it's getting a facelift for the 2014 model year, unveiled at this...

  • 2014 Nissan NV200 Taxi, New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow
    New York's City Council Wants Electric Taxis: Why?

    If you want to change things in New York City, it pays to take the long view. Some real-estate deals take decades to assemble, with families hanging onto key development sites for generations. So a recent bill introduced by two New York City Councilmembers can be viewed as the latest step in a long...

  • 2014 Volkswagen Golf (European spec)
    2014 Volkswagen Golf Revealed In Full Before Paris Show

    Volkswagen has sold over 29 million Golfs since its original European launch in 1974. That gives you some idea of how important a new model is to the company--and the buying public. The all-new 2014 Volkswagen Golf will be launched at this month's Paris Auto Show, and though it looks little...

  • 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid

    Honda was the second carmaker in the world to launch a line of hybrid vehicles, though its compact and subcompact mild hybrids have long been overshadowed by Toyota's dominant Prius models. That may be about to change. Early next year, a new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid--and equally significant, a 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid--will put Honda squarely into the crucial and competitive segment of mid-size hybrid sedans. The new pair of Accord Hybrids, one without a plug and one with, will face off against the Prius Liftback (which has its own plug-in model) and the upcoming 2013 Ford Fusion...

  • 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
    Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, More Details And Photos

    Mitsubishi was one of the first to market with a production electric vehicle with its 'i' city car, and a new plug-in hybrid is set to join it at the Paris Motor Show this month. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is based on the all-new Outlander that debuted at the Moscow Auto Show in July. The...

  • Drag race between Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf electric cars (The Fast Lane)
    Electric Cars Now Owners' Primary Vehicles In California

    We often read statistics to show that the average American drives only a short distance each day, suggesting that even an electric car with a relatively short range would be suitable for most journeys. A new survey seems to indicate that owners think so too--as households with electric cars are...

  • Nitters European Leaf Trip
    What I Did This Summer: Electric Cars & Owners Go On Vacation

    Now we’ve entered the start of September, it’s officially no-longer summer. For many Americans that means no more road-trips, balmy summer evenings or family camping trips. So while you prepare for falling leaves, finding your winter sweaters and working through until Thanksgiving, we...

  • Formula Ford 1.0 EcoBoost tackles the Nürburgring (Photo: Ford of Europe)
    Fast, Frugal, Fun: Ford 1.0 EcoBoost Laps Nurburgring In Race Car

    If a race car powered by a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine sounds like a cure for insomnia to you, then think again. When the tiny engine in question is Ford's high-tech 1.0-liter EcoBoost, and when the race car is a road-prepared Formula Ford single-seater--weighing under 1,100 lbs including the...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt plugged into Coulomb Technologies 240V wall charging unit
    August Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Volt Surges, Leaf Static

    While car sales often lag during August, when family vacations take priority, the Chevrolet Volt proved an exception to the rule last month. During August, 2,831 of Chevy's range-extended electric car found buyers--along with 685 Nissan Leaf battery electric cars. The third high-volume plug-in car...

  • Gas pump

    Did you make a road-trip this weekend? Did you have to buy gas? If the answer is yes, then the chances are you found yourself paying the highest price for gas since May, and the highest you’ve ever had to pay for a Labor Day travel. Highest ever According to the AAA (via FoxNews), the average price payed in the U.S. per gallon of regular gasoline hit $3.80 over the weekend, with drivers in LA being forced to pay out around $4.14 per gallon. It isn’t as high as the $4.40 some Californians had to pay earlier this year to fill up, but it is the highest gas prices ever recorded for a...

  • The REVA NXR
    India: 6 Million Electric Vehicles By 2020, Why It May Work

    With most electric cars currently selling in no more than four-figure sums each month, a time when they're selling by the million looks an awfully long way away. In India, that time might arrive a whole lot quicker. The country's National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) has approved a $4.1...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plus Battery
    Eaton Working On Smaller, Long-Lasting Hybrid Battery

    Hybrid and electric cars live and die by the performance of their battery packs, so battery development is an ongoing process to improve these vehicles. Eaton Corporation has announced it is currently working on a cost-effective power control system for hybrid vehicle batteries, designed to reduce...

  • Rafael de Mestre's Crashed Tesla Roadster (via Facebook)
    Globe Trotting Tesla Tragically Crashes 600 Miles Short Of Finish

    Back in July, we told you about Frenchman Rafael de Mestre, and his Verne-inspired attempt to travel around the world in just 80 days in his all-electric Tesla Roadster. Using some clever social media, and a few video cameras to boot, de Mestre has live blogged his trip in detail, giving us the...

  • 2013 Nissan Sentra
    2013 Nissan Sentra Compact Sedan Unveiled: 34 MPG Combined

    On Friday, just before the Labor Day weekend started, Nissan quietly released details of the much-needed update to its Sentra compact sedan. Last redesigned some six years ago, the new, leaner 2013 Sentra has undergone a complete redesign in the name of improving its gas mileage, and is essentially...

  • Saab logo
    NEVS Completes Saab Deal, Electric Cars On The Way

    Swedish carmaker Saab endeared itself to many throughout its history, with a reputation for unique design and technological innovation across several decades. That made watching its slow death last year excruciating for fans of the marque, and as the company closed its doors, the future for Saab...

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