Green Car News
-
Honda will move away from traditional, fastener-based construction techniques on its small vehicles to embrace more welding, which will reduce both cost and overall vehicle weight.
-
Last Tesla Roadster Built By Lotus, All Eyes Toward Model SAll good things must come to an end, and it's the same with the first modern electric car, the already legendary Tesla Roadster. It's long been known that Lotus Cars would build only 2,600 Roadster "gliders" for California-based Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. The company then installs the lithium-ion...
John Voelcker -
2012 Toyota Prius C Compact Hybrid On Sale In Japan, Detroit Launch ComingLess than three weeks hence, the 2012 Toyota Prius C--the first compact hybrid hatchback from Toyota's expanding Prius line--will be officially introduced for the U.S. market at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. It was first unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show early this month, under the model name Aqua...
John Voelcker -
Congress Actually Ends Taxpayer Funding Of Ethanol SubsidiesWhen the U.S. Congress adjourned for the holidays on Friday, December 23, its departure sealed the fate of subsidized ethanol production. During its session, the Congress did not renew a tax break for U.S. production of corn-based ethanol that had become increasingly unpopular across a wide area of...
John Voelcker -
Prius Cup Takes To Formula 1 Track For High-MPG RacingTake a quick look at photograph of the line up of brightly colored race cars, complete with sponsor decals, crash-helmet-wearing drivers, and it looks like just another car race. But take your time, and you see something strange about the line of patiently-waiting race cars at the Fuji Speedway...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tsunami-Damaged Nissan Leafs Show Strength Of Battery PacksWhen we wrote last year about the 2011 Nissan Leaf being waterboarded for your safety, little did we know an even sterner test was about to challenge the safety of Nissan's electric car. The devastating and tragic results of the March tsunami shook Japan to the core, and resulted in the country's...
Antony Ingram -
Ding, dong, the Caliber's dead. That news will probably come neither as a surprise nor much of a shame to many of you, as Dodge's baby hatchback hasn't exactly set the market on fire and has been representative of a time before American carmakers cared about making competitive compacts. Detroit News has revealed that production of the Caliber ended last week, and is set to be replaced by the much more promising 40-mpg 2013 Dodge Dart, due to be revealed in full at January's 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Intended to replace the Dodge Neon, the Caliber attempted to cash in on the crossover boom, but...
-
Volt-Style Battery Nightmare Before Christmas Haunts FiskerWhat holiday gift do you give Fisker Automotive, the company responsible for the world’s first plug-in hybrid sports coupe? A Matchbox 2012 Fisker Karma perhaps? But a public suggestion that the battery packs inside the $106,000+ Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid are at risk of a coolant...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Santa Swaps Low MPG Reindeer For Ecoboost, Thanks To FordSt. Nicholas has a bit of a job on his hands around this time of year. His elves may get the whole year to make toys, but the Christmas Eve flight Santa makes is a logistical nightmare. Just think about it - delivering millions of presents in the space of just 24 hours? And you thought your local...
Antony Ingram -
If You Want To Attack The Volt, Try To Get Your Math RightFew things seem to set off a certain part of the political spectrum like the Chevrolet Volt, the extended-range electric car from General Motors. It's been on sale exactly one year, so we think it's rather too early to deem the Volt a success or a failure, though that hasn't stopped its critics...
John Voelcker -
Via Motors 100 MPG Electric Pickup Launching At DetroitSo far, the range of electric vehicles offered for general sale has been fairly limited - most carmakers have been selling their technology in standard family cars, or city cars. In terms of efficiency, those vehicles are actually relatively good. Why not try and make improvements in the generally...
Antony Ingram -
Plan To Buy An Electric-Car Charging Station? Home Depot Has FiveNo, this isn't a paid ad. With roughly 17,000 plug-in electric cars sold in the U.S. this year, and likely a multiple of that number next year, many owners will be installing charging stations in their garages. Not all plug-in cars will need a 240-Volt Level 2 charging station, mind you. It all...
John Voelcker -
Kia might be a car company growing in quality and reputation in North America, but it seems we aren't in line for every vehicle the company produces. While the U.S. is one of the strongest markets for electric cars, Kia's new Ray EV won't be hitting American shores, according to USA Today. Instead, it's only due on sale in Kia's homeland. That might not be such a bad thing in some respects, as the Ray's boxy styling certainly wouldn't be to all tastes. It's tall, narrow and maximizes interior space at the expense of sleek lines, though there are a few neat details, as we've come to expect...
-
What’s The Range Of A 2012 Nissan Leaf In Winter? We Find OutJust before Nissan officially launched the all-electric Leaf hatchback, it came out with a dizzying list of simulated range predictions based on all kinds of road and weather conditions. According to Nissan’s own computer-simulated calculations, the car’s 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Top Five Green-Car Stories Of 2011: MPGs, Electric Cars, And MoreYep, it's almost the end of the year, which means reams of roundup stories from all your favorite auto websites. Nope, we're not that different: We've got one too. Here's our take on the five most important stories--or perhaps themes--of 2011 in the growing world of green cars. New fuel economy...
John Voelcker -
Honda Extends Warranties On 2006-11 Civic Hybrids Due To Gas LeakHonda has just announced that it will be giving some 80,000 owners of its 2006-2011 Honda Civic Hybrid an extended warranty after concerns that small cracks may form in the car’s gas tank. “The potential fuel leakage is very small from the top area of the tank where the fuel filler...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
AMP To Bring All-Electric Jeep Grand Cherokee To DetroitThe venerable Jeep Grand Cherokee, one of the longest-running SUV brands on the market, will be coming to the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as an all-electric car. But it isn’t heading to Detroit as an official release on the Chrysler stand. Instead, it will be there...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
New Mobile Version For GreenCarReports! Try It Out TodayGreen-car enthusiasts are often early adopters, even technology enthusiasts. In the digital media world, that means they're likely to access content not only on computers and tablets, but also on a growing variety of mobile phones and other devices. Until now, this site wasn't particularly helpful...
John Voelcker -
Think of the 500-mile iconic race that is the Indy 500, and you probably think of highly-tuned, high horsepower single-seat race cars battling it out for first place what some call The Greatest Spectacle In Racing. But back in October, five-times Indy 500 competitor Roger Yasakawa took to the internationally-known track in a 2012 Mitsubishi i to prove that the $29,125 electric car could cover the 500 mile course with help from a portable direct current rapid charging station. Yesterday, the first video of the event was uploaded to Video sharing site YouTube. Designed as a publicity stunt...
-
Matt Drudge's Idiotic, Uninformed War Against The Chevy VoltRecently named by Gizmodo as the second most viral person on the Internet (ahead of Ashton Kutcher!), Matt Drudge is the go-to guy for headlines guaranteed to feed red meat to the right-hand side of the U.S. political spectrum. And he hates electric cars. Boy, does that man hate anything with a...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Decides Europeans Design Better Small Cars Than AsiansFor decades, Asian small cars have been considered the best of the bunch in the U.S. market. Toyota Corollas, Honda Civics, and various models from Nissan--and more recently, Hyundai--sell hundreds of thousands each year against what was until quite recently anemic competition from U.S. makers...
John Voelcker -
Polar CEO: Electric Car Owners Are Rich, Can Pay To ChargeRemember Polar Network, the U.K.-based charging network that costs electric car owners upwards of $30 a month to gain access to charging points? Previously, Polar’s sales director Neil Sharpe said that its level 2 charging stations were not designed to help electric car owners travel long...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
How Much Did The Average American Household Spend On Gas This Year?Filling your tank in the average car these days often runs north of $50, and for full-size pickup trucks, it can be a multiple of that number. But how much do you spend on gasoline a year? Do you actually know? Sure, you can back-figure: Divide the mileage covered for the year by each of your...
John Voelcker -
Next-Generation 2012 Smart ForTwo Electric Car DelayedEarlier this year Daimler unveiled the third generation Smart Fortwo Electric Drive at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. Offering much improved acceleration, range and charging capabilities on the previous generation Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, it has the potential to be the first truly...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield