Green Car News

  • 2012 Hyundai Elantra

    In four years’ time, every automaker in the U.S. will have to ensure that their fleet-wide fuel economy is 36 mpg or better under tough new 2016 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. But according to a University of Michigan study, the average fuel economy of new cars and light-duty trucks sold in the U.S. has only risen by 3 MPG in the past four years to an average economy of 21.5 mpg. Comparing the fuel economy of cars and light-duty vehicles on sale in 2008 to those on sale in 2012, the study concluded that some vehicle segments exhibited a better average gas mileage...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma
    Fisker Loan Woes: Bump In The Road, Or A Big Pothole?

    On Monday, we told you that California-based Fisker Automotive had announced it was laying off employees and contractors after it missed deadlines associated with its $529 million low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy. But while Fisker’s cull of employees has totaled at least...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius C, drive event, La Jolla, CA, Feb 2012
    2012 Toyota Prius C: First Drive Report And Full Details

    The 2012 Toyota Prius C may be the most surprising entry in the expanding Prius range. It's smaller, less unusually styled, and about $5,000 less expensive than the standard Prius liftback. And it's more fun to drive (relatively) than its larger siblings. It also gets real-world gas mileage of 50...

  • 2012 Buick Regal GS
    More Mild Hybrids: 2013 Buick Regal To Fit eAssist As Standard

    It takes a lot of money and time to develop and produce hybrid cars and electric vehicles, but that's not to say regular gasoline cars can't benefit from some of their technology. Mild hybrid technology is a cost-effective way of improving the gas mileage of a car using a fairly simple electric...

  • Driving hybrids and electrics in Gran Turismo 5
    Want To Race A Tesla, Prius, Leaf? You Can In Gran Turismo 5

    While we can all appreciate the low running costs and environmental credentials of hybrids and electric cars, they also have plenty of other benefits. Strong torque, for example, and good balance from the low-mounted batteries. It can make some hybrids and electric cars quite good fun to drive...

  • 2012 Chevrolt Volt Gas Station Advert
    What's Wrong With Chevy Volt Ads & How To Fix Them

    People are rarely lukewarm about the Chevrolet Volt. Like health-care reform or pajama jeans, the Volt inspires love, loathing, and little in-between. That hasn't exactly helped Volt sales, which aren't yet living up to expectations, but fans insist that the car itself isn't the problem. They blame...

  • Tesla Repairs Roadster Just Before Warranty Expires

    When you buy any new car, it comes with a warranty which guarantees the automaker will replace or fix any defects in the car for a set period of time. Generally, warranty repairs are carried out when the car’s buyer notices something wrong with their car, but for one Tesla Roadster owner, his all-electric sports car was stripped apart and rebuilt just weeks before its warranty ran out thanks to the keen eye of a Tesla mechanic. With just a few hundred miles before the 36,000 mile warranty ran out on his bright red Roadster, Seattle-based software engineer Bill Bolosky had Tesla book his...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Sonic features in OK Go music video
    For Its Next Stunt, 2012 Chevy Sonic Joins OK Go, Makes Music Video

    Chevrolet's Sonic subcompact is many things. Small. Fun to drive. Economical too, with its 40 mpg highway rating. It's also a rather good musical instrument, as it turns out. Or at least, the accompaniment to over 1,000 genuine musical instruments, in the music video for indie rock band OK Go's new...

  • 2012 Nissan Invitation Concept
    Nissan Invitation Concept Is Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta Competitor

    Although Nissan already has a subcompact, fuel efficient hatchback in the U.S. market in the form of the 2012 Versa hatchback, the Japanese automaker has just released details on an inviting new subcompact concept car it plans to unveil at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Called the Nissan Invitation...

  • 2012 Coda Sedan
    2012 Coda Sedan: See It At Stores, Buy It...At Dealers, Says CEO

    When California-based electric automaker Coda Automotive announced it would be opening showrooms in shopping malls, you might have assumed each showroom would have some way of helping customers order its all-electric 2012 Sedan. You’d be wrong. They won’t, according to Coda CEO Phil...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma EcoChic, New York City, Jan 2012
    Fisker Lays Off Workers, Seeks New Government-Loan Terms

    The bad news just keeps on coming from electric-car startup Fisker Automotive. The company said today that it has laid off employees and contractors at both its new Anaheim, California, headquarters and its assembly facility in Wilmington, Delaware. Layoffs by car companies are hardly new, but...

  • Audi R18 TDI Le Mans car
    Audi To Rival Toyota In Fielding Hybrid Racer At Le Mans

    Many automakers claim that their exploits in the world of motorsport go towards improving their road cars. It's a tenuous connection sometimes, but Audi could lay fair claim to motorsport -derived technology in its road cars, from its Le Mans program. With maiden wins for its TFSI technology in...

  • 2012 Toyota Yaris LE three-door hatchback, road test, Hudson Valley, NY, Feb 2012

    It was quite small and very, very red. This weekend's test car, a 2012 Toyota Yaris LE three-door liftback, attracted far more attention than we expected. Pedestrians and other drivers turned their heads. Even our New York City garage attendant mumbled, unprompted, "Muy bonita, muy, muy bonita!" as he took the keys. So, OK, a bright red 2012 Yaris can attract attention. But is Toyota's all-new subcompact likely to attract buyers? The simple answer is, probably, but it's up against more and better competition than ever. Compared to the grim and slab-sided earlier generation, the new Yaris LE...

  • Honda CR-Z GT300 rendering
    Honda Confirms CR-Z GT300 Hybrid Race Car, To Rival Prius

    Hybrids are set to go head-to-head on Japan's race tracks this year, as Honda has finally confirmed it's set to enter a CR-Z in the GT300 class of Japan's SuperGT series. Toyota announced its Prius GT300 challenger several months ago, before it was revealed at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon last month...

  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
    Indiana Think Electric-Car Plant Stilled, Owners Quiet On Future

    A year ago, we visited the Think electric-car plant in Elkhart, Indiana. At the time, several dozen workers were turning out a trickle of Think City electric vehicles assembled from kits shipped in from Finland--with big plans for ramping up production. That never happened. Instead, last June...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Arizona Considers Charging Electric Cars Tax At 1.43¢ Per Mile

    For many years, Arizona was considered an electric-car friendly state, thanks to California-style tailpipe emissions and mandates which required automakers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions cars in order to sell in the state. But less than a month after the Arizona Governor’s...

  • Gas pump
    Gas Prices To Soar Above $4 Per Gallon This Spring, Analysts Say

    Gas prices always soar in the springtime. Northerners venture out of their houses more as milder weather arrives, and the market anticipates higher consumption for summer vacation trips. This year, analysts say, prices could cross the psychologically significant $4-per-gallon mark, adding as much...

  • 2013 Tesla Model X crossover teaser
    2014 Tesla Model X: Mysterious “Falcon Doors” May Lift Up, Fold

    Over the past few months, we’ve started to hear more and more about Tesla’s 2014 Model X -- the all-electric crossover SUV that will follow the 2012 Model S into production in year’s time. So far, everything has been positively enigmatic, but now clean tech specialist Theo...

  • 2011 Hyundai Elantra

    In December last year, a consumer watchdog petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency EPA to re-test the gas mileage of the 2011 Hyundai Elantra amidst complaints from owners that it did not achieve anywhere near its advertised 40 mpg in real life. But can cars listed as getting 40 mpg or better really achieve that in real-life, or have they simply been engineered to get good gas mileage in the EPA’s gas mileage test cycle? Enter Popular Mechanics, test routes totaling nearly 200 miles, two cars, and some accurate scales. Using the city of Detroit as a base, the magazine took two...

  • Teaser for 2012 Kia Track-ster Concept
    Kia Trackster Concept: 2012 Chicago Auto Show Preview

    Like much of the auto press, we'll be at next week's Chicago Auto Show to see the covers come off the concepts and production cars. While Chicago has traditionally been a truck show, at least one maker is unveiling a concept for a small and economical--but still sporty and cool--compact car. The...

  • 2011 Ford B-Max Concept. Photo by Vitesse Photography.
    Ford: Fiesta-Based B-Max Minivan Isn't Coming To U.S.

    Remember the Ford B-Max? Of course you do. Ford's small Fiesta-based minivan, previewed in concept form at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, is most recognizable for its innovative doors, and lack of a B-pillar. Unfortunately, motorists in the U.S. won't get to enjoy the space and innovations, as...

  • A Day In The Life Of A Nissan Leaf
    Video Proves 2012 Nissan Leaf Can Tackle Even Tough Commutes

    According to recent research, 95 percent of all trips could be made by electric cars -- but that doesn’t stop the majority of consumers from suffering electric car range anxiety. So when automotive journalists Roman Mica and Nathan Adlen from TFLcar.com decided to put a 2012 Nissan Leaf...

  • 2013 Dodge Dart launch at Detroit Auto Show, Jan 2012
    How Does The 2013 Dodge Dart Get 40 MPG? It's The Transmission

    When the covers came off the 2013 Dodge Dart at last month's Detroit Auto Show, the new compact sedan got high marks for style, interior design, and putting Chrysler back in the car game. The Dart lineup will also include a model that gets 40 mpg on the EPA highway cycle, but so far Dodge has been...

  • Acura NSX Concept
    Acura Super Bowl Ad: What'd You Swap For NSX Hybrid Supercar?

    The stakes are high for Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday. Not just for the New York Giants and New England Patriots, though, but for the sponsors who spend millions on the precious seconds of advertising time during ad breaks. We don't know how much Acura's two minutes are costing to promote its 2015...

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