Green Car News
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If you need a plug-in car that is capable of traveling long distances between charges but can’t afford the 300-miles per charge option offered by the 2012 Tesla Model S, the chances are you’re looking at buying a plug-in hybrid. But which of the two main plug-in hybrids on offer today -- the 2012 Chevrolet Volt and 2012 Toyota Prius -- offer you the cheapest running costs, and why? As we’ve said before, that depends on how often you make longer trips, but now Pike Research has stepped in with the definitive answer. The 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is more cost effective...
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Reader Asks: Does Apple’s iPhone 4S Work With My Nissan Leaf? We ReplyWhen Apple unveiled its latest smartphone -- the iPhone 4s -- at the start of this month, eagle-eyed electric car fans will have noticed that a 2011 Nissan Leaf was used in the first ever commercial for Apple’s voice-activated Siri personal assistant. Standard on every new iPhone 4s, Siri...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Fisker Karma: 20 MPG On Gasoline, 32-Mi Electric RangeIt's been a long and painful year for Fisker Automotive, with deliveries of its 2012 Karma extended-range electric sport sedan repeatedly delayed from the original target of May. Now, with certification earlier this week from the Environmental Protection Agency that the car complies with emissions...
John Voelcker -
How Google's Self-Driving Car WorksOnce a secret project, Google's autonomous vehicles are now out in the open, quite literally, with the company test-driving them on public roads and, on one occasion, even inviting people to ride inside one of the robot cars as it raced around a closed course. Google's fleet of robotic Toyota...
IEEE Spectrum -
Will Military Necessity Push Hybrid Vehicle Development?The challenges of delivering fuel to a battlefield make hybrids and extended range electric vehicles a natural choice for the Army, but current technology limits their practicality.
Kurt Ernst -
2012 Mercedes-Benz S 350 Bluetec Clean Diesel: Quick DriveWhat can you say about driving a Mercedes-Benz S-Class? It's luxurious, smooth, powerful, packed with features, impressive on the road, and very, very large. Now you can add another adjective: green. While the S 400 Hybrid has been in the mix for two years, Mercedes-Benz is launching a clean-diesel...
John Voelcker -
A couple of weeks ago, BMW invited me to come to Munich and take part in the first drive of production versions of the BMW ActiveE, their second battery electric test vehicle. A bit of background: I've been something of a high-profile MINI E pioneers, maintaining an active blog about my experiences, displaying the car at every green transportation expo I can make and frequently speaking to various press outlets about my time with MINI E #250. The folks at BMW noticed the attention I've received, and they have frequently checked in on my blog to get feedback about my opinions on 28 months I've...
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2012 Honda Insight: New Front Styling, Better Gas MileageAlthough the Honda Insight was eagerly awaited before it launched as a 2010 model, the little hybrid hatchback has never come remotely close to its sales goals. But the company isn't giving up, and the new 2012 Honda Insight features revised front styling, a nicer interior, and improved gas mileage...
John Voelcker -
Want A Good Deal On A Used, High MPG Car? Wait Till The HolidaysIf you’re in the market for a used car -- especially a small car or hybrid that gets good gas-mileage -- you might know that used car prices have been dropping since early this summer. But according to Kelley Blue Book, if you want a really good deal on a used high-mpg car, you’re best...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Should Range-Extended Cars Have a "Battery Saver" Mode?At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show back in March we learned an interesting bit of information about the 2011 Chevrolet Volt's European cousin, the Opel Ampera. Unlike the Volt, the Ampera is to be equipped with a "battery saving" mode, whereby the driver can hold back the electric mode for when they...
Antony Ingram -
Whoops: 2012 Toyota Prius C Compact Hybrid Shown In Brochure LeakIn the automotive industry, leaks about an upcoming product normally fall into two categories: genuine mess-ups, or a purposeful, pr-driven leak designed to give a new car extra attention. But we the latest leak from Japan -- an entire Toyota Aqua Hybrid sales brochure -- falls squarely in the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Audi e-Tron Spyder Frolics In Malibu: VideoUntil Audi unveiled its concept e-Tron Spyder plug-in hybrid car at the 2010 Paris Auto show, the words diesel and sexy didn’t go well together. Now the company has proven otherwise with the release of a short video showing the Audi e-Tron Spyder concept driving around sunny Malibu...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The magazine Consumer Reports is deeply trusted by many car buyers for its analysis of auto reliability, so when it pans a car, automakers sit up and listen carefully to its criticisms. We suspect Hyundai Motors America is sitting bolt upright about now, because in its November issue, the publication slams the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. 69 points, lower than big brother While the Sonata Hybrid it tested returned 33 mpg, it criticizes the car for lumpy hybrid behavior and other dynamic failings, including its throttle response, braking, and handling. Most telling, it rates the car a full 20...
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Want To Know What Life Is Like With An Electric Car? Watch ThisHere at Green Car Reports, we bring you the latest news in the world of green cars, covering everything from cars that get great gas mileage through to hybrids, alternative fuels and of course, plug-in cars. While we can tell you the latest news in the world of plug-in cars as well as share our own...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Mercedes-Benz Recall Clean-Diesel Cars For Fuel Leak (Again)The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just published details of a recall affecting 6,872 Mercedes-Benz clean-diesel cars. According to documents published on the NHTSA website, the recall is to addressfaulty fuel-filter seals which can cause diesel fuel to leak onto the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Hertz Says 'We Need More Electric Cars' After Year Of RentalsHertz has now been renting electric and plug-in cars for almost a year, and the company has learned some lessons along the way. Among them: "We need more electric cars!" Specifically, "We've got about 50 electric cars in our fleets now, and we could use another 2,000 to 3,000 if we could just get...
John Voelcker -
2012 Subaru Impreza: AWD, 36 MPG Highway, First Drive ReportSubaru is known for its no-nonsense, durable, all-wheel drive Forester and Outback crossover utility vehicles. What U.S. buyers don't seem to know is that the company also makes compact sedans and hatchbacks. For 2012, Subaru has restyled its Impreza compact, increasing interior space while keeping...
John Voelcker -
2012 Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid Confirmed For Europe, U.S. Will Have To WaitVolvo has just confirmed that its first ever plug-in hybrid electric car -- and the world’s first plug-in hybrid station wagon -- will go on sale in early 2012. But the Swedish automaker has reiterated that while Europeans will get the Diesel-electric through-the-road plug-in hybrid, there...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BMW today announced the sixth generation of its quintessential 3-Series, the compact sport sedan that is its highest volume seller and the face of BMW globally. Along with the return of four-cylinder engines in 3-Series cars for the U.S., this latest and greenest generation adds a new model: the 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3, a six-cylinder hybrid-electric vehicle that promises to offer some of the highest-ever gas mileage in a 3-Series. The ActiveHybrid 3 comes hot on the heels of its larger sibling, the 2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5, which was announced for the U.S. just two weeks ago and will arrive...
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Toyota Making Le Mans Return With Hybrid Prototype RacerRacing is getting greener: F1 has plans for downsized engines, Porsche has the 911 GT3 RSR with kinetic energy recovery and Le Mans has rumbled to the sound of turbo diesel engines for several years now. Indeed, the diesel-engined Audis and Peugeots have been dominating the sport since 2006 with...
Antony Ingram -
Don't Forget: Sunday Is National Plug-In Day!If you've not already got something planned this Sunday 16th October, why not make it to one of the 20 cities coast to coast that are hosting events for National Plug-In Day? In what is being described as the largest simultaneous grassroots electric car event in history, thousands of electric...
Antony Ingram -
Loss Of California HOV-Lane 'Prius Perk' Slows All Traffic, Study SaysMany California drivers silently cheered on July 1, when the yellow stickers on 85,000 hybrid cars expired--meaning their drivers were no longer allowed to travel solo in the carpool lane. According to a new study released Monday at the University of California-Berkeley, though the loss of the...
John Voelcker -
Metropolitan Police (London) Go Electric With 2011 Zero DS MotorcycleThink of police and motorcycles, and you probably think of highway patrol officers riding large, heavy Harley Davidsons like the 2012 Electra Glide. In Europe, most police departments make use of specially-made police motorcycles from companies like BMW or Honda, but yesterday officers in London...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Ford Focus Electric Won’t Have a Pedestrian Alert NoisemakerFor some time now there’s been a battle raging between politicians, advocacy groups and the electric car industry over compulsory noise-makers in electric cars. Now the latest twist comes courtesy of Ford, which has announced that its 2012 Ford Focus Electric will initially ship without any...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield