Green Car News

  • 2013 Acura ILX Hybrid, New York City, July 2012

    Honda has been building hybrid cars since 1999, but it's taken until now for the company to offer a hybrid model in the company's upmarket Acura brand. We spent three days with, and covered 300 miles in, a new 2013 Acura ILX Hybrid four-door sedan. And we have to say, while we like the ILX as a car--and it delivers good gas mileage, averaging 41.4 mpg over our test--the 2013 ILX Hybrid suffers from the same challenges as the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid. The ILX is Acura's smallest model in several years, but underneath, it's very similar to the Civic. The three separate ILX powertrain options...

  • 2013 Ram 2500 HD CNG pickup truck
    Chrysler To Feds: Support Natural-Gas Cars As Well As Plug-In

    Government incentives are a popular (if controversial) way of getting more buyers behind the wheel of electric cars. Bring down the price, and buyers will follow. Whatever you think of the politics behind the incentives, others are simply concerned that they aren't getting the same treatment. One...

  • 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3
    France Offers $6,900 Hybrid Car Subsidies: Should The U.S.?

    Look back a few years, and the Federal government under President George Bush offered buyers of hybrid cars up to $3,400 in tax credits for buying an electric car. As of December 31, 2010, those tax credits expired, to make way for similar tax credits for those who buy fully electric or plug-in...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S, brief test drive, New York City, July 2012
    Tesla Buoyant After 2012 Model S Launch, Despite Losses

    After nothing to sell for nearly six months, an age of anticipation, media hype and short, chaperoned rides, Tesla began official deliveries of its all-electric 2012 Model S sedan just over a month ago. So its hardly surprising that the fledgling car company has just posted net losses of $105.6...

  • BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Series
    BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Priced At $84K, Gas Mileage Yet Unknown

    What’s the price of luxury green driving? If you’re BMW, and that luxury is the all-new 2013 ActiveHybrid 7 full hybrid, the answer is $84,895. With pricing just announced, the luxury hybrid is powered by 3.0-liter, twin-scroll turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine and a 40-kilowatt...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid
    2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: Quick Drive Report

    In the spectrum of alternative fuel vehicles, there's something on sale to suit almost every taste. Whether you're buying an all-electric vehicle or simply want a mild hybrid to save a little on gas, there's a lot of choice in between. The 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In sits virtually in the center of...

  • 2014 Volkswagen Golf blue-e-motion prototype – Copyright High Gear Media

    Driving pre-production prototypes of new electric cars is part of life here at GreenCarReports, as it enables us to give you the best possible evaluation of an up-coming new car before it hits the dealer lots. Recently however, we got a chance to sit behind the wheel again of the Volkswagen Golf Blue-e-motion, a car we’ve been keeping our eyes on for the past few years, but one which will never make it into production. At least, not in its current state. Like the BMW ActiveE and its MiniE predecessor, the Volkswagen Golf Blue-e-motion is a limited-run test vehicle that Volkswagen is...

  • 2012 Mitsubishi i
    2012 Mitsubishi i Gets 'Making Of' Program On Discovery Channel

    There's something fascinating about "how it's made"-style programs. Even the most mundane items can seem interesting as they whirr down a production line gaining attributes as they go. When the object is already interesting, like an electric car, that's even more reason to watch. To that end, keep...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Spark
    2013 Chevrolet Spark Automatic: 37 MPG Highway, 32 MPG Combined

    Earlier this month, we told you that the diminutive 2013 Chevrolet Spark with manual 5-speed transmission had received official EPA ratings of 32 mpg city, 38 mpg highway and 34 mpg combined. Now Chevrolet has received the ratings for the 2013 Spark with automatic 4-speed gearbox: 28 mpg city, 37...

  • BMW ActiveE electric car at a charge point
    BMW Invests In ChargePoint To Improve Global Charging Network

    BMW has announced a strategic investment in Coulomb Technologies, the company behind the ChargePoint charging network. ChargePoint is the largest online global charging network, operating in 14 countries. The online network allows users to coordinate their charging via the cloud, with online...

  • 2013 Ford Escape, launched at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Nov 2011
    Ford’s Urgent 2013 Escape Recall Is Quick, Painless

    Regardless of the reason behind them, official safety recalls can be frustrating for both automakers and car owners. But according to Gregory Skwira, copy editor for Automotive News (subscription required), his own personal experience of Ford’s urgent recall of the 2013 Escape crossover SUV...

  • Nissan Leaf: Lost Battery Capacity
    Nissan Responds To Wilting Arizonan Leafs, Studies Lost Battery Capacity

    When a potential engineering or safety problem with a new or nearly-new car arises, the task of reassuring concerned owners normally falls to the relevant press departments and middle-management. But growing public concern about the rapid battery capacity loss exhibited by some Nissan Leafs in...

  • TuneIn streaming radio integration  -  2012 Tesla Model S

    Deliveries for the 2012 Tesla Model S have started, and in case you missed editor John Voelcker's first drive of the Model S this past week, one point of note was how calm and quiet the cabin remains even when accelerating. That said, while we've spent more time sitting in the Model S than driving it, we haven't yet spent much time using its sound system. In addition to the Slacker Personal Radio features that already come in the Model S, there's now another way to be informed or entertained. With TuneIn services, song and track information for streaming radio stations are fully integrated...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt
    2013 Chevrolet Volt: Already At Dealers (If You’re Lucky)

    Sometimes, automakers mark the switch between one model year and the next with some pomp and ceremony, especially if the new model year is significantly better than the outgoing one. Despite the 2013 Chevrolet Volt getting an improved all-electric range, better EPA rating and the addition of a...

  • 2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 SL, New York City, July 2012
    2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 SL Sedan: Weekend Drive Report

    When auto writers drive test cars, they're usually loaned out from carmakers' regional fleets. So when we asked for an 2012 Nissan Versa sedan to test over a four-day weekend, following our brief test drive of the all-new Versa in May, the car we got seemed rather familiar. It was, in fact, the...

  • 2013 Honda Fit EV drive event, Pasadena, CA, June 2012
    2013 Honda Fit EV: Video From First Drive Of All-Electric Car

    Yesterday, Honda delivered its first Fit EV electric car to private buyers--or, more accurately, private lease customers, since the car isn't available for outright sale. Only 1,100 lucky lessors in a small handful of states will ever get behind the wheel of a 2013 Honda Fit EV, because for Honda...

  • 2013 Lincoln MKZ
    2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Pricing And Details Announced

    Lincoln has announed pricing levels and more details for its sleek 2013 MKZ sedan, and for the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. Continuing a trend started by Lincoln with the last MKZ, the hybrid sedan will cost no more than the regular gasoline version, with both starting at $35,925, excluding the $875...

  • GE WattStation Electric Car Charging Station
    Does Your Utility Offer Electric Car Rates? Only 6 Percent Do

    Compared with gasoline cars, electric cars are cheap to refuel, especially when charged at night using specialist electric car rates. Designed to encourage the charging of electric vehicles at night time when grid demand is naturally lower, electric car rates are substantially cheaper per...

  • 2011 Mazda Takeri Concept

    Drivers in Europe have been reaping the benefits of a wide selection of diesel cars for years, but with the fuel set to become more popular in the U.S. too, many carmakers are expanding their range of diesel vehicles. Mazda is one of those carmakers, with the next generation Mazda6 and the 2013 Mazda CX-5 crossover both expected to gain diesel engines. That diesel is Mazda's new-generation SKYACTIV-D unit. In Europe, this 2.2-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged diesel produces around 150 horsepower. When even the gasoline SKYACTIV CX-5 gets 35 mpg highway, the figures for the diesel could look...

  • A3 e-tron charging station installation
    Audi Shows Getting Ready For An Electric Car Is Pretty Simple (Usually)

    Although Audi has no production plans as yet for its A3 e-tron electric car, the automaker is still working hard to promote electric cars through its small A3 e-tron test fleet. Last month, Audi released a video in which we met some of its e-Pilots: the lucky few Audi employees chosen to put the A3...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid
    2013 Ford C-Max Energi Priced at $33,745, Cheaper Than Prius Plug-In

    It’s official: not only does the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-in hybrid travel further in all-electric mode than the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid, but it will cost less too. As Ford detailed last night, its first plug-in hybrid will retail for $33,750, has a combined gasoline + electric...

  • Eaton CHAdeMO DC quick charging station, Mitsubishi headquarters, Cypress, CA
    How To Quick-Charge Your Electric Car: Helpful Video

    If there's one thing to be said for the relatively steady uptake on electric cars, it's that there's a friendly, tight-knit community of electric car owners ever-ready to hand out advice. Whatever you want to know about owning or driving an EV, it's never difficult to find someone who can help out...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf 4-door HB SL Headlight
    2013 Nissan Leaf: What Would You Change?

    The Nissan Leaf may have gone on sale in December 2010, but later this year, production of Nissan’s all-electric hatchback will start for the first time in Smyrna, Tennessee. We’ve been looking forward to the 2013 Nissan Leaf for some time, with hints from Nissan that...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
    2012 Chevrolet Sonic: Orange Paint Almost As Popular As Black

    Last year, worldwide car buyers were pretty refrained in the color choices they made for their cars, with white accounting for 23 percent of global car sales. But when it comes to cars like the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic five-door hatchback, vibrant colors like orange are becoming almost as popular as...

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