Green Car News
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The 2011 Toyota Corolla is one of the best-selling compact sedans in the U.S. market. But its gas mileage isn't necessarily anything to write home about. The most fuel-efficient model is the one fitted with the 132-horsepower, 1.8-liter engine and a five-speed manual gearbox, a transmission many U.S. buyers will shun for an automatic. That five-speed manual Corolla is rated at 28 mpg city, 35 mpg highway, for a combined gas mileage rating of 31 mpg. Switching to the ancient four-speed automatic transmission with that same 1.8-liter engine, as most buyers do, brings the numbers down to 26 mpg...
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Can You Charge a 2011 Nissan Leaf by Towing it? Apparently So (VIDEO)Imagine the scene: You’re out in your 2011 Nissan Leaf only to discover you have 6 miles of available range left but need to travel 26 miles to reach your youngest daughter’s birthday party. Oh, and there’s no-where to charge. At least, that’s the crazy premise which lead...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Flywheel KERS Boosts Gas Mileage By 20 Percent, Volvo SaysIt's interesting to see the variations among green technologies as automakers, both in production cars and motorsports, strive for greater fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. The most common means for automakers to boost gas mileage thus far have been hybrid-electric technology and turbodiesel...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Electric Cars? Even NASCAR Drivers Want themThink of motor racing in the U.S. and you’re likely to think of NASCAR. But while the race track may still be the ultimate celebration of high-power, high-octane internal combustion engined glory , it turns out that NASCAR isn’t the antithesis of electric cars that you might expect. At...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
40 MPG And Safe: IIHS Names Ten Top PicksGood occupant safety can come in small packages—even those that get 40 mpg or more. That's one of the themes of the latest round of crash-test results and safety ratings released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Overall, there are now ten small-car and minicar models in...
Bengt Halvorson -
GM Adds New Styling Cues To Concepts For Transformers “Dark of the Moon”Who doesn’t love a good action flick? We especially love them when they have some good chase scenes with some pretty cool modern automobiles. Then if you ad superhero transforming cars from outer space into the mix, well you have the Transformers franchise. As you might remember, the first...
Jonathan McGrew -
Oh, the horror, the horror. Once again, the world is coming to an end. No, not tsunamis, or earthquakes, or tornadoes, or plagues. Not even locusts. Nope, it's the evil specter of hybrid technology that will conclusively decimate all of mankind, depriving it forever of driving fun, pleasure, and anything else close to godliness. Or, at least, that seems to be the tone of certain auto writers who are treating the rumor that Mazda might use hybrid-electric drive, paired to its Wankel twin-rotor engine, in the replacement for the slow-selling but pleasantly oddball RX-8 four-door sports coupe...
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Elon Musk Says Tesla Won't Be Sold, But Elon Musk Is WrongIn a sign of its continuing need for capital--and the good performance thus far of its stock--Tesla Motors said today it would sell 5.3 million more shares of common stock. At the same time, according to the announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to buy an additional 1.5 million shares of the...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius: Estella Warren's Weapon Of ChoiceHere is what we know about Estella Warren from her Wikipedia page: • She is a fashion model, with a portfolio that includes work for Victoria's Secret, Chanel, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. • She is a swimsuit model, which is like being a fashion model, except the fashion is less important...
Richard Read -
Elon Musk: Tesla Motors Not For Sale, Will Remain IndependentIt may have major shareholders in the form of automotive giants Toyota and Daimler, but the Californian electric car automaker known for its super sexy Roadster is going to stay independent for the foreseeable future. At least, that’s what Tesla Motors' larger-than-life CEO Elon Musk told...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
A Formula 1 Nissan Leaf Electric Car? Well, Not Quite: RumorA little over two months ago Nissan made the announcement that its upmarket Infiniti division would become the title automotive sponsor of the championship-leading Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing. To even the least knowledgeable motorsport fan here at GreenCarReports, the benefits of the deal for...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Obama Administration Buys Electric Cars, Charging StationsThe President may be currently abroad experiencing the horror of European ramps, but his government has been busy at home ordering the very cars its stimulus program has helped to fund. The General Services Administration responsible for the upkeep of the federal government’s 600,000 strong...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
We thrive on comments, pro and con, agree and disagree, especially those that add information and richness to the discussion. And now, we proudly introduce (blare of trumpets, please): Comments 2.0! Our goal was to make it easier for both regular users and sporadic visitors to add your points of view to our posts, and share them with others as widely as you like. We want to make GreenCarReports a better place for you to participate in discussions about gas mileage, new cars, hybrids, clean diesels, plug-ins, and the plain old American value of doing more with the same or less. (Well, used to...
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Adding Urea To Clean Diesel Cars: Can I Just Pee In The Tank?We get punchy around High Gear Media occasionally, and sometimes we BS back and forth about topics less salubrious than, say, fuel efficiency and lowering our oil dependency. Which is how the following question came up: If the urea runs low in my new clean-diesel car, can I just pee in the tank to...
John Voelcker -
Fast Charging Electric Cars: How Much is it Worth?Ask any electric car owner to name the benefits of owning an electric car and the ability to leave your house every morning with a ‘full tank’ is likely to be at the top of their list, followed closely by the fact that most electric cars can provide enough range to last more than a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Porsche Boxster E Electric Sports Car A Hit At 2011 Michelin Challenge BibendumThe Michelin Challenge Bibendum is an annual event run by the French tire company aimed at promoting the development of sustainable mobility. At this year’s event in the German capital of Berlin Porsche rolled out its Boxster E electric car prototype, revealing a few more saucy details about...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Less Than Half Of U.S. Shoppers Want EVs To Take Over: DiscussIf you plan to shop for a new car this year, there will be a range of plug-in hybrids and EVs competing for your attention. But according to a new survey, only about 30% of you feel comfortable considering them -- and some of you are downright offended by their presence. The news comes from...
Richard Read -
Hyundai Shifts First Plug-in Hybrid to 2013South Korean automaker Hyundai has been chasing Toyota’s hybrid halo for a while now with its Sonata Hybrid and now it wants a piece of the plug-in hybrid action too, a company official has confirmed. Talking anonymously to Reuters, the official said “We plan to launch a plug-in hybrid...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The MINI is a car that has captured audiences for decades from the original MINI Cooper to today’s modern edition. In a country where people didn’t believe that a small car would do well, err except for the Miata, the MINI proved that this small car had style, speed (in the S) and a lasting presence. MINI, the company, isn’t just about producing cars for profit, the company has also been know to do a fair amount of charitable work. Some of that charitable work in question includes this years one-of-a-king “Red Mudder” made to help raise money for the Life Ball...
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Behind The Wheel: 2012 Toyota Prius V Station Wagon (Video)Sometimes we get nicely produced video, and sometimes we get our codriver to shoot it on the fly. For the 2012 Toyota Prius V station wagon we drove last week, it was very much a case of the latter--complete with a mutli-tone "bong" interruption from the Toyota Entune system. Our one-minute video...
John Voelcker -
Protoscar Lampo3: Best Electric Sports Car You Can't Buy Yet?Protoscar isn’t new to designing and building electric car prototypes. The Swiss firm, who specializes in design and engineering, has previously revealed the Lampo and the Lampo2, both prototypes for electric sports cars. For 2011, the firm has taken a new direction with the Lampo3...
Kurt Ernst -
2012 Toyota Prius V Station Wagon: First Drive ReviewToyota executives will go to extraordinary, absurd lengths to avoid defining the body style of the new 2012 Toyota Prius V. Bob Carter, brand sales chief for Toyota Motors in the U.S., first responded with confusion over the question. Presented with a list of alternatives--sedan, hatchback...
John Voelcker -
Porsche Wants High-Performance Electric Cars, Testing Plug-In PanameraPorsche recently took the wraps off its second hybrid model, the new 2012 Panamera S Hybrid, as well as confirming development of an electric sports car and the announcement that a number of zero-emission ‘Boxster E’ prototypes are already running around Germany. Add to that the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
No, Justin Bieber Didn't Run Out of Charge in an Electric CarOh no, not again. It’s only a few weeks since the Top Gear boys were spotted in Lincolnshire trying to find somewhere to charge two electric cars after forgetting failing to plug them in the night before. And now electric cars are in the firing line again. This time we’re hearing...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield