Green Car News
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In a little over a week, Volvo will be unveiling its latest plug-in electric vehicle to the world at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show. But just like last week when we were given an exclusive pre-Geneva peek at the Nissan ESFlow electric sportscar concept in Frankfurt, Volvo invited us a few weeks ago to its headquarters in a wintry Gothenburg, Sweden to get a U.S. exclusive peek at its answer to a practical plug-in hybrid. The Basics The 2012 Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid is a through-the-road plug-in electric hybrid station-wagon offering a conventional front-wheel drive system driven by a 2.4 liter...
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2013 Chevrolet Cruze To Offer 2.0-Liter Clean-Diesel OptionLast fall, GM executive Tom Stephens said the company would offer a passenger car with a clean-diesel engine in the U.S. market, its first since 1985. Now we know what that vehicle will be: a model of the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan. Workers at the Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant where the...
John Voelcker -
The Curious Story Of Electric Cars And TexasWhen people think of Texas, there’s always certain stereotypes associated with it: cowboys, twangs, conservative politics, boots, guns and big, gas-guzzling trucks. While some stereotypes are rooted in truth, Texas can surprise you. Like when people actually visit a major city and realize...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
Nissan Jukes the Competition With Their New Sport CrossThe 2011 Nissan Juke is a unique car. It isn’t just its styling or the clever advertising; no, it is the entire package. The Juke is what Nissan is calling a sport cross, but what does that really mean? For Nissan, it means a car that has a lifted ride height, standard turbocharged engine and...
Jonathan McGrew -
Nissan ESFlow Electric Sportscar Concept: 10 Facts You Didn't KnowYou heard the announcement, saw the artists’ sketches, speculated on its specifications and followed our live tweets from its pre-2011 Geneva Auto Show sneak-peek press day - but after a day in its presence here are 10 things we’d like to share with you about Nissan’s ultra-sexy...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Green Can Be Cool: Customized 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Show CarSlowly, ever so slowly, the image of green cars is expanding beyond tiny tin-box hatchbacks and nerdy Toyota Prius hybrids to encompass a broader spectrum of the car scene. Take, for instance, this 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid show car, customized by Jonathan Garcia of M&J Enterprises in Phillips...
John Voelcker -
If you're one of the dwindling number of car buyers considering the Smart ForTwo minicar, now may be a good time to close the deal. Smart sent out an e-mail yesterday offering $1,500 of "customer cash" off the purchase price of remaining 2010 ForTwo coupe models, which apparently are still in stock at some Smart dealers. Those dealers are going through something of an upheaval themselves, with Monday's announcement that Mercedes-Benz would take over Smart distribution in the U.S. from Penske Motors, which had brought the car into the States and overseen a network of 79 dealers. Of those...
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Federal Incentives: Subsidizing 'Volt-Gouging' By Chevy Dealers?It's the sign of a successful car launch: Dealers add blatant markups to the sticker price, charging thousands of dollars extra because buyer demand exceeds supply, and dealers have the only supply. Now it's happening to the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the range-extended electric car that went on sale in...
John Voelcker -
Ruf To Start Trials Of Electric Porsche 911 Prototypes This YearElectricity and high-performance cars may or may not mix, depending on your frame of reference, but whether you're a Tesla fan or Formula 1 devotee, it's easy to agree that a hybrid or all-electric Porsche would be a welcome creation for sports car and EV fans alike. Porsche blew us away last year...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 Mazda3 SkyActiv-G Engine: How Much More Fuel Efficient?Next year's Mazda3 models will deliver fuel efficiency gains over their 2011 counterparts, the company said today, as it unveiled refreshed versions of its popular compact hatchback and sedan, to go on sale later this fall. The 2012 Mazda3 will offer as an option what Mazda now calls the SkyActiv-G...
John Voelcker -
Is One Million Electric Cars By 2015 Too Ambitious?In a renewed push for clean energy, President Obama called for one million electric cars to be on American roads by 2015 last month. But is that goal realistic? The government released a report this week saying that by its “conservative” estimates for 2015, the electric car supply in...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
Electric Cars And Roaming: Following The Cell Phone's Lead?If you use a cell phone, you'll be more than familiar with the concept of roaming. It allows you to continue using your cell phone when your home network isn't available, thanks to collaborations between networks in different countries. Now, it appears a similar concept may be heading towards the...
Antony Ingram -
It may not be the most practical of designs, but a German duo recently succeeded in crossing much of Australia in a wind-powered car. They set records for longest distance traveled in such a vehicle, as well as a 36-hour distance record and others. Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer both developed and piloted the Wind Explorer, which traveled from Albany to Sydney in 18 days. The car, which weighs only 200 kilograms, has small lithium-ion batteries that are charged overnight by a turbine erected on a bamboo tower. It also can be pulled along by a kite, when the wind blows in the right direction...
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2011 Geneva Motor Show: Nissan ESFLOW Concept Live PhotosWhile its official world debut isn’t pegged until the 2011 Geneva Motor Show in just a few weeks, the Nissan ESFLOW electric sports car concept has been revealed in the flesh--or should we say aluminum and carbon fiber?--at a special media event in Frankfurt, Germany today. The High Gear...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Can an EV Be Too Small? Toyota Says No With iQ EV for GenevaWe have said it before and we will say it again: Electric vehicles will be all the rage in 2011. We have seen some great strides in the market, so much so that auto manufactures that were saying just last year that the technology wasn’t ready for the electric vehicle (EV) are now putting new...
Jonathan McGrew -
Researchers: 100 Percent Green Energy Possible By 2050We approach energy policy with care here, since GreenCarReports is largely about ... well, cars. But a recent article claims it could take just 40 years to convert the bulk of the world's global energy usage from fossil fuels to renewable energy, primarily wind and solar power. That's not only...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Motors Earnings: Losses Rise, So Does Share PriceSilicon Valley startup electric-car maker Tesla Motors released its 2010 earnings report yesterday, and--as you might expect from a startup that has sold only cars for three years--it lost money. Investors apparently weren't fazed by the rising tide of red ink. Tesla shares closed yesterday at...
John Voelcker -
EXCLUSIVE: What Killed The Electric Car? For G-Wiz, Other Electric CarsIt’s been a mainstay of British eco-chic for nearly a decade, but the little Indian four-wheel ‘car’ which can be found buzzing around the streets of London will no longer be sold in the U.K. In an email earlier on today addressed to all G-Wiz owners Rudi Schogger, MD of...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Announced last week just three weeks ahead of its debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the Nissan ESFLOW Concept two-seat all-electric sports car has already created quite a stir. With a lightweight Aluminium chassis, composite body and the same laminated lithium-ion battery pack found in the 2011 Nissan Leaf, it promises a range of at least 150 miles per charge and exhilarating performance. We know from a few choice comments by Nissan’s François Bancon and Andy Palmer in live web chats live from Japan on Monday morning that the ESFLOW is aimed as an experimental sports car base...
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2011 Geneva Auto Show: Land Rover Range_e Plug-in HybridLove them or hate them the veritable Land Rover isn’t exactly the most fuel efficient vehicle on the planet. But at the upcoming 2011 Geneva Motor Show LandRover will be unveiling a concept development vehicle that it hopes will make the brand a little more environmentally conscious. Dubbed...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid Revealed Ahead Of Geneva DebutIt's no secret that Porsche has a new found love affair with vehicle electrification, having unveiled its first hybrid model ever last year, the 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, as well as teasing fans with high-performance hybrids such as the 911 GT3 R Hybrid and 918 Spyder. Porsche even unveiled an...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 Fiat 500: ecoDrive Plugs In And Coaches Drivers Right From Their Laptop (VIDEOS)Ever wonder how your drive to the office might be effecting your fuel economy? The engineers over at Fiat have and to help educate drivers have introduced the BLUE&ME USB port in conjunction with Microsoft and the eco:Drive program. The program reads the car’s systems and stores the...
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Geneva Auto Show: Toyota IQ EV PreviewUntil last spring, Toyota had never seemed that keen on producing an all-electric car, claiming battery technology just wasn’t ready for an all-electric car - despite having produced an all electric crossover SUV back in the late 1990s. Since then however, things have changed a lot. Not only...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Europe's Toyota Prius V Wagon: Better Battery, Two More SeatsAt last month’s 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the wraps came off the new 2012 Toyota Prius V, a bigger and more practical version of the Prius hatchback that treads the line between wagon and minivan. Despite the extra height, weight, and girth, however, the vehicle is still limited to five...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran