Green Car News
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Toyota made a vow to build every one of its vehicle lines in hybrid form, and it's adding another model to the growing hybrid list at this year's 2012 New York Auto Show with the introduction of the 2013 Lexus ES 300h. The first Lexus ES hybrid seems to share much with the latest Toyota Camry Hybrid, although Lexus hasn't revealed all the details behind its gas-electric powertrain hybrid. It's confirmed that the ES 300h uses a 2.5-liter four running on the Atkinson cycle to generate EPA-estimated combined fuel economy of about 40 miles per gallon. For reference, the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid's...
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Fisker Atlantic: Video, Photos From New York Auto Show LaunchDespite the travails of Fisker Automotive, it's safe to say this: Henrik Fisker knows how to design striking cars. The Fisker Atlantic unveiled last night is a stunning mid-size sport sedan. Or, perhaps, sport sedan concept, since it wasn't shown in motion. The Atlantic range-extended electric...
John Voelcker -
Nissan CEO On Leaf Sales: Take The Long View, It Will HappenIt's the kind of question that makes every CEO roll his eyes. In effect, it translated to: Your sales of one model last month were lousy, so is that car a failure in the market? But if the model is the Nissan Leaf, the first battery electric vehicle sold in volume in the U.S. (and around the...
John Voelcker -
Renault Twizy Electric Minicar: What Would You Like To Know?Electric cars have some clear benefits over combustion-engined equivalents--zero local emissions, inexpensive "refuelling", luxury-car levels of refinement from silent powertrains--there's a lot to like. But what about pushing the boundaries of engineering? Freed from the constraints of the...
Antony Ingram -
Plug-In Car Sales Soar In March, Led By Chevrolet VoltCar sales overall continued their upward trend last month, but sales of plug-in cars soared in March to more than 3,800 units. The bulk of those sales came from a resurging Chevy Volt, which logged its highest-ever single-month sales figure, along with the debut of the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid...
John Voelcker -
65 MPG Split-Cycle The Next Direction For Gasoline Engines?Like it or not, the humble gasoline engine still has a lot to give to the automobile world. Yes, they use fossil fuels that could be better used elsewhere, but while pure electric vehicles and even hybrids remain relatively expensive, improving the efficiency of regular internal combustion engines...
Antony Ingram -
Electric cars get a lot of press, and they'll increase in number--slowly--over the next decade. But more efficient gasoline engines are what will drive the increase in fuel efficiency for U.S. vehicles over the next decade. We've written many times about smaller, more efficient engines, and in a nutshell, that's how cars will get better gas mileage while still providing the performance, features, and safety that buyers expect and demand. A perfect example of this is an announcement last week by Ford that it was converting its 285,000-square-foot Advanced Engineering Center building in...
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2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel: 2012 New York Auto ShowEuropean buyers have had several years to get used to the idea of a diesel Porsche, but the concept will come as a bit of a shock to U.S. Porsche enthusiasts. Nevertheless, Porsche has announced its first diesel in the U.S. market will be the 2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel. It joins the 2012 Porsche...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Ford Fusion Start-Stop System Priced At Just $295Ford has announced pricing for the stop-start system on the 2013 Ford Fusion. Usually a system fitted to hybrid vehicles, the Fusion is the first non-hybrid midsize sedan available with stop-start technology, which cuts the engine at a standstill to save gas. Ford claims the system improves...
Antony Ingram -
Right Wing Volt Flip-Flop? Now It's An Energy Security Hero! (Video)You may have heard and read more than you want to on the media distortions and lousy reporting about the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car. Former GM product czar and climate-change skeptic Bob Lutz has been a lonely voice in his series of Forbes pieces slamming the distortions (the most...
John Voelcker -
BMW's Electric Range Grows With 2015 BMW i8 Concept SpyderPossibly the most exciting electric cars to appear over the next few years are from BMW. The German maker's electric i3 subcompact and i8 plug-in hybrid supercar have whetted our appetites and now BMW has announced a further addition to the range, in the shape of the i8 Spyder. Autocar reveals that...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Ford Focus Electric To Do Cross-Country Road TripMen's Health magazine will drive a 2012 Ford Focus Electric from New York to Los Angeles, recharging 40 to 55 times along the way.
John Voelcker -
The Mazda Takeri Concept sedan will make its North American debut this week at the 2012 New York Auto Show. But this is a slightly different Takeri than we saw at the Geneva Motor Show. For the first time, Mazda will show its new SKYACTIV-D clean diesel powertrain in a concept car. The Takeri Concept features Mazda's new "KODO - Soul Of Motion" design, and previews the next-generation 2013 Mazda6 mid-size sedan. With a five-point grille and flared front fenders, the Takeri stresses aerodynamics while still looking aggressive. Its 20-inch alloy wheels fill the wheel wells and feature satin...
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Fisker Atlantic: Mid-Size Project Nina Sedan Leaked Before NY Show DebutWith Fisker's Karma already on the market and in the hands of customers, all eyes have turned to Fisker's 'Project Nina', a car to slot below the Karma in Fisker's range. And it was bound to happen: Pictures of the next Fisker range-extended electric car have leaked onto the internet, ahead of its...
Antony Ingram -
Fiat 500L-Based Crossover Coming In 2013: ReportFiat, like MINI, realizes that small isn’t for everyone, which is why the Italian automaker recently announced the four-door Fiat 500L for the U.S. market. It turns out that the 500L won’t be the only model built on a widened version of Fiat’s Punto platform, as Fiat is reportedly...
Kurt Ernst -
Electric Cars ARE Coming, But It Will Be Slow: Why Is This So Hard To Grasp?Major evolutionary change takes a long time. That's as true for electric cars as for opposable thumbs--though it will be measured in decades, not millennia. We frequently have to say that declaring plug-in cars a sales failure after 14 months (as certain commentators have done) is wildly premature...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Raises 2012 Hybrid Prices From $90 To $175If you're currently in the market for a Toyota hybrid, you might like to close the deal soon if you don't want to spend a few hundred dollars more. Toyota has announced it will raise the manufacturer's suggested retail price on selected Toyota and Scion models, effective with May 2012 production...
Antony Ingram -
Discontinued 2011 Think City Electric Cars For Sale: $22,300UPDATES, April 11, 2012: Since this article was published on March 30, we've received the following updates: This morning, Mission Valley Ford received a truckload of 10 Think City vehicles from the Indiana factory, though most are already spoken for; Sales and service are only available in the San...
John Voelcker -
In terms of renewable energy, you have to give credit to the first person who thought of using excrement as a source of fuel. At the risk of dragging things down to gutter-level, one place you'll find one heck of a lot of excrement is at a zoo. You don't need us to tell you that big animals produce large amounts of waste. Denver Zoo realised the potential, and now runs a three-wheeled motorized rickshaw--also known as a "tuk-tuk"--on gasified pellets, made from animal droppings and trash generated by the zoo's visitors. According to the Denver Post (via GM-Volt), the tuk-tuk was brought in...
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Blind Man Drives Prius, With A Little Help From Google (Video)Steve Mahan got into a Toyota Prius hybrid, drove to the dry cleaner's, picked up some clothes he'd left to be cleaned, and drove home. The trip was about a mile and a half. Steve Mahan is legally blind. He's lost 95 percent of his vision. He did it, though, with a little help from Google. The car...
John Voelcker -
Want A Used Small Car? Consumer Reports Rates Best DealsShopping for a used car can be one of life’s more frustrating experiences. If you know what you’re looking for in terms of year, make and model, the trouble is often in finding the specific car you’re seeking. If you're just shopping for a used small car, and you're flexible...
Kurt Ernst -
80 Million Vehicles Built Globally Last Year--A New RecordWell, the numbers are in. Despite the lingering effects of economic recession, the world's auto industry built more vehicles in 2011 than ever in history: 80 million, in fact. That's a new record, and the number is 3 percent higher than the 2010 total. The data comes from the International...
John Voelcker -
Coda Abandons Plan To Build Its Battery Cells In U.S.We breathed a sigh of relief when Coda announced it had started production of its electric Sedan earlier this month. Then, we positively jumped for joy when little over a week later, the first customers started taking delivery of their new 2012 Coda Sedans. It had certainly been a long time coming...
Antony Ingram -
Hybrid Payback: How Long For Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata?People have many reasons for choosing hybrid vehicles. For some, the chance of cutting down on fuel bills may be a priority. For others, knowing that they're doing less damage to the environment is very appealing. We've noticed that you, our readers, prioritize many different factors when choosing...
Antony Ingram