Green Car News

  • 2010 Toyota Prius ad comparing its emissions to those of a sheep (cropped)

    Some of the first emissions regulations in the world came about because of the way the Los Angeles Basin is shaped. Reports of smog in southern California started with the Conquistadors, and by the Sixties, LA was notorious for its foul air. California began regulating auto emissions before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even existed, and motor vehicles have been a focus of emissions laws ever since. So-called criteria pollutants (carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrous oxides) have been reduced by more than 90 percent since 1970. Vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily...

  • BMW ActiveE
    BMW Launches ActiveE Electric Car Forum, Mobile App, Extends MINI E Leases

    BMW made a step towards its electric car future today by launching its ActiveE electric car forums. In its final Plugged-In newsletter to all its current MINI E Lease participants, BMW announced that the new website will form the backbone of BMW’s next electric car program. In addition, BMW...

  • John Duncan takes delivery of one of the first 2011 Nissan LEAF EVs, near Portland OR, 12/15/2010
    2011 Nissan LEAF: Deliveries Now More Than a Trickle

    Last month, Nissan became the first major automaker to deliver an all-electric car to a U.S. customer. In the month of December however, only 10 LEAFs were actually delivered to customers, whilst Chevrolet delivered somewhere between 250 and 350 2011 Volts to customers. Now it looks as if Nissan is...

  • 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
    Small Cadillac Takes Big Honors From AutoWeek

    Cadillac isn’t known for producing small cars, but that may be changing for the brand that was once called the “Standard of the World.” The Cadillac CTS coupe is a foray into a new market for Cadillac. That isn’t to say that the company hasn’t ever produced coupes...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt EPA sticker
    Video: 2011 Chevrolet Volt EPA Gas Mileage Explained

    If the idea of measuring the efficiency of an electric car, which burns no gasoline, in miles per gallon still irks you, spare a thought for our green car expert John Voelcker who goes to some length in this previous article to try and explain why the EPA deems it fit to do so. While that previous...

  • Tesla Model S Sedan
    Tesla Employee: Model S Alpha Prototype Up And Running

    Has Tesla completed their first Model S prototype? A Tesla manufacturing team employee, commenting on Engadget, appears to confirm this, though Tesla has not formally announced anything. “I just got to see the 1st Alpha proto run…. And, boy, did that thing run! The production vehicle...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric teaser image

    The automotive industry can be like a good telenovela—lots of teasers and to be continued endings. That is exactly what we have on our hands right now with the latest images released by Ford. What do they depict? The all-new 2012 Ford Focus Electric. What do we know for sure? Only tidbits with more information supposedly coming later in the week when Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally is scheduled to give the keynote address on Friday in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). To be continued… All right, so we won't leave you in that much suspense. The teaser image was...

  • U.S. Capitol
    House Republicans Ask Automakers Which Regulations To Kill

    The U.S. Congress began its 111th session this week, and the new Republican majority in the House clearly wants to change the regulatory tenor of the U.S. government. Automakers and their trade groups were among more than 150 entities who have already received a letter from Representative Darrell...

  • Tesla Motors - Model S lithium-ion battery pack
    Electric Cars Financially Viable by 2020, Study Reports

    Buying an electric car today is hardly cheap. With lithium-ion battery prices at around $450 per kilowatt-hour of storage, the 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack found in the 2011 Nissan LEAF weighs in at a jaw-dropping $10,800, and that's before complex battery management electronics are added. That...

  • THINK City on hire in the Alps
    Can Electric-Car Clubs And Shows Really Bring In Buyers?

    As an electric car enthusiast or recently-converted gearhead, you'll no doubt be aware of the huge variety of clubs out there for virtually any make and model or automotive scene you can think of. For many people, a thriving scene and great social network might be the difference between choosing...

  • Audi A1 e-tron Concept
    VW Vexed By 'Anarchic' Audi A1 E-Tron Electric? Nein, Says Audi

    We've loved the concept of the Audi A1 e-Tron concept since its launch at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show last March. It's a range-extended electric vehicle (like the 2011 Chevy Volt) that uses a tiny Wankel rotary engine to run a generator that produces electricity to power the car once its lithium-ion...

  • Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car at quick charging station
    Turning Japanese: U.S. Gov. Tests Electric Car Fast Chargers

    Ever since the early 1980s, Japan has led the world of technology and digital entertainment. In 2010, thanks to cars like the 2011 Mitsubishi i and 2011 Nissan LEAF it also adopted electric cars as a viable private transport solution. But the ultra-fast charging technology which made both cars...

  • Subaru Stella

    Back in July 2009, two Japanese automakers launched electric cars within weeks of each other. (And neither one was Nissan.) One was Mitsubishi, which put its i-MiEV five-door hatchback microcar on sale after several years of consumer tests. That car is now the best-selling electric car in the world, with 5,000 sold as of December, and will be coming to the States as the 2012 Mitsubishi 'i'. The other was Subaru, which offered an electric version of its Stella mini-car for retail sale the same summer, limited to the Japanese market. But unlike the Mitsubishi, the Stella electric car has...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric teaser image
    Ford Releases Focus Electric Teaser Ahead of CES Launch

    Does the future of electric cars lie in the gadget world? Ford thinks so. So much so, it will launch an electric car at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Friday. How did it announce this? By posting some teaser photos on social networking site Facebook, of course. From the photos...

  • Formulec EF01 Electric Racing Car
    New Electric Car Race Series Lines Up On The Grid [Video]

    If you happen to indulge in the twin passions of both electric cars and motorsport, you'll no doubt have heard of series such as the TTX-GP for electric racing motorcycles that holds events all over the world. A similar series has been slow to emerge for electric cars but at the recent United...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt test drive, Michigan, October 2010
    GM Leads Nissan In December Electric Car Sales As Supply Trickles In

    Chevy’s electric hybrid vehicle, the Volt, beat out the cheaper Nissan Leaf in electric car sales in the last month of 2010 as each manufacturer struggled to keep up with demand for their newest rides, the Associated Press reported today. The Volt went into production in mid-November and hit...

  • 2011 Hyundai Elantra
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for November and December 2010

    Here we are down to the last two months of our count down to the New Year! The last two months have been full of holidays—they have also been full of automotive news as we ramp up to the Detroit Auto Show in January. News for November and December included the Mitsubishi i-MiEV reaching 5000...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for September and October 2010

    As we get closer to our current articles we though we would combine the last couple of articles as we make our way to New Years—the east coast sooner than others in the U.S. September and October saw articles on the New IBE Concept in Paris, a report on the L.A. Harbor reducing tolls for...

  • MINI E at MTTS 2010 in Denver, Colo.

    As people on the other side of the globe ring in their New Year, we continue to roll towards our own celebrations here in the States. In just under seven hours the eastern seaboard will ring in the New Year, so we better get a move on for the second half of our count down to 2011—the best of 2010. For August 2010 the auto industry saw reports on the Lithium-Ion supplies delaying the VW Blue-E-Motion, our first drive of the new 2011 Scion tC, dealerships charging up to $20K over Volt MSRP and the 2011 Ford Fiesta winning an Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick. It truly was an...

  • 2009 Smart Passion Cabriolet: Great Smart Car Road Trip First Fill Up
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for July 2010

    July is a good time in the U.S. Generally it is warm as summer is in full swing and it bring the celebration of our Independence Day. In fact, on July 4th we ran an article on the 2011 Honda CR-Z, Honda’s first sports hybrid. Other headlines that posted during the month included the start of...

  • 2011 Smart Fortwo
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for June 2010

    Here we are at mid-2010 already! As we roll through the months counting down to the beginning of 2011 it is interesting to review what was happening during 2010. June was a month that saw AllSmallCars.com participating in the Rocky Mountain Driving Experience, which included driving the 2010...

  • 2010 Smart ForTwo Cdi
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for May 2010

    News is a big part of AllSmallCars.com because we like to keep you the consumer up to date on the latest small car news. However, it is also our goal to give you useful opinions and advice in the form of reviews, top car lists and first drives. In May there was a lot happening in the industry (some...

  • 2012 Ford Focus
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for April 2010

    To close out first quarter of 2010 we turn to April on the calendar. Now April is a busy month for the Rocky Mountain Region, where yours truly is based, because it is the time that the Colorado Auto Dealers Association puts on the Denver Auto Show. In fact, the first part of the month on...

  • 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5 Cold Weather Testing
    Counting Down To 2011: Top ASC Article for March 2010

    Making our way towards the end of the first quarter of 2010, March is one of those months that generally include a lot of Spring Break tips for those going on holiday, as well as, reports about the New York Auto Show. The article that really stuck with us this year from March 2010 wasn’t auto...

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