Green Car News
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Gas or Hybrid, When They Are the Same Price How Do You Choose?
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Five Things Consumers Want To Know About Electric CarsAccording to a recent report by Nissan, most consumers signed up to buy the 2011 Nissan Leaf are already electric vehicle owners or hybrid drivers. In short, early adopters are mainly enthusiasts who already know the ins and outs of driving electric. But what about the general public? We've sat...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
GM Hybrid Technology: Good Enough To Steal For Chinese Makers?GM sells only about 10,000 Two-Mode Hybrids a year, but if nothing else, its system is technically sophisticated. Sophisticated enough, in fact, that a former General Motors employee and her husband have been indicted on charges of copying thousands of pages of GM documents on the system in January...
John Voelcker -
One Man Fights Toyota And WinsIt’s not every day that a small guy gets embroiled in a lawsuit with an automotive giant like Toyota and actually wins but that’s exactly what happened in the case of Alex Severinsky and his claims of patent-infringement. The dispute actually dates back several years and surrounds...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Priced From $35,180--Same As Gas Only ModelWith a fuel economy of 36 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway, the new 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid already lays claim to the title of being the world’s most fuel efficient luxury sedan, and now it’s making the headlines once again. Lincoln will sell its new hybrid at the same base price as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid Goes For TwinchargingThe 2011 Volkswagen Jetta arrives this fall in showrooms, but the German automaker's already planning on two green versions of the new compact four-door for U.S. customers. When it goes on sale, the Jetta will assume its usual place in the VW lineup, beneath the Passat and atop a likely addition to...
Martin Padgett -
The electric vehicle revolution took a major step towards becoming a reality with the Senate Energy Committee approving today a new $3.6 billion bill to support the development of plug-in electric vehicles through a series of deployment communities to be set up around the country. These ‘communities’ are to include targeted incentive programs for EVs as well as charging infrastructure, possibly at fuel stations, designed to make EVs more appealing to new car buyers. This would be on top of the billions already spent on green funding, including $2.4 billion in grants for EV and battery...
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Testing World's Fastest Hybrid Racer: Long 'Still Charged Up'What's it like driving the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, the world's fastest hybrid vehicle? Ask driver Patrick Long, and he'll tell you he's "still pretty charged up (forgive the pun)" after returning to the States following two weeks of testing the car on the Lausitzring circuit outside Berlin. We...
John Voelcker -
Most 2011 Nissan Leaf Drivers Plan to Lease Rather Than BuyAre you buying a 2011 Nissan Leaf? If you're one of the 16,064 lucky people who has already placed a $99 deposit down on one of the most eagerly anticipated cars of the year, Nissan thinks it knows how you'll finance the $32,780 cost of purchase. Nissan expects most people to lease. And it turns...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Will EV Range Extenders Give Rise to a Rotary Renaissance?Four months from now, the world's first extended-range electric vehicle will start showing up at dealers. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt will introduce car buyers to the idea of a range-extending combustion engine that turns a generator to power the car electrically. But the generator in an E-REV can be...
John Voelcker -
BMW Megacity On Show At 2012 London Olympic GamesThough it’s not scheduled to go on sale until 2013, BMW’s upcoming Megacity Vehicle will appear in near-production form one year earlier, at the 2012 Olympics Games taking place in London. BMW is the official automotive partner for the 2012 games so you can bet that a small fleet of the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Leno Wants It Known: He Likes the 2011 Chevy Volt, Really Likes ItOK, file this one in the Tempests & Teapots folder: A "visibly annoyed" Jay Leno has now defended Chevrolet's 2011 Volt electric car. He wants it known that he likes the car. Really, he does. The comic claims he was quoted out of context by Detroit News reporter Robert Snell, who wrote that...
John Voelcker -
Is There Such a Thing As Too Small
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Detroit Dinosaur Thinks Kilowatts Are a Buzzkill, World LaughsAs any parent will tell you, progress takes time. Evolution often takes a much longer time yet. So rather than pounding our head on the wall when we read idiotic editorials, perhaps we should take a deep breath and calmly reflect that those who can't adapt to change will eventually die out. What...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen Forms Research Alliance To Help Spur EV DevelopmentWhen it comes to electric vehicle (EV) development, even auto giants like Toyota and Daimler are partnering up with smaller specialist firms--in this case Tesla--to benefit from technology sharing and other synergies in their quest to become leaders in the field. So it should come as no surprise...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Report: Entry-Level MINI Minor And Canyon Off-Roader In The WorksMINI’s ambitious plans to launch a slew of new models shows no signs of slowing. Not only are there new coupe and roadster models planned for the Cooper platform, but a new-generation ‘Moke’ off-roader previewed by the recent Beachcomber concept is also reportedly in the works. Now there are...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BREAKING: Honda Plans Electric Car, Plug-in Hybrid For 2012Just like last week's Toyota-Tesla announcement, the rumor mill went into overdrive yesterday with talk of plans from Honda to build both electric cars and plug in Hybrids in the near future. Knowing full well how the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines felt about battery...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Fisker Takes Possession Of Ex-GM Factory, Production To Start In 2012Fisker has finalized its purchase of the GM factory where it will build its new plug-in hybrids.
Nelson Ireson -
It's been a time of turmoil for Honda lately, with the company doubling down on hybrids and pulling back on its clean-diesel efforts. Now, according to a Reuters report, the company will introduce both a plug-in hybrid and a fully electric car for the 2013 model year. The electric car will be offered in the U.S. market first, to compete against such upcoming entries as the 2011 Nissan Leaf. By 2013, the company plans to have no fewer than five hybrids for sale. It now offers the 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid sedan and the Insight dedicated hybrid hatchback. Its 2011 CR-Z hybrid two-seat sports car...
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Why Your First Electric Vehicle Could Have Two WheelsWe're living in exciting times. In the next year we'll see electric cars hit the market in the form of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Mitsubishi i-Miev to name just three. While we wax lyrical about the multitude of vehicles set to reach the market there are very few available...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Obama Meets The Volt: Sparks Barely FlyPresident Barack Obama’s electric vehicle tour climaxed last Thursday with a visit to the Compact Power battery plant in Holland, Michigan, where he was treated to his first extensive experience with the upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Volt. The Holland plant just happens to be the place where LG Chem...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Chevy Volt Doesn't Impress Leno; World Yawns, Ignores HimTalk-show host and comedian Jay Leno has long been known as a car fan and collector. And car companies often play nice with him to get their products onto his show. While GM worked with Leno on his EcoJet green sports car in 2006, the company is hardly a patsy. Leno told the Detroit News that the...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Unveils Supercharged And Direct-Injected Three-Cylinder EngineHot on the heels of its new dual injector engine comes another relatively unique engine design from Japanese automaker Nissan. The latest innovative design consists of a compact 1.2-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine with direct fuel injection and supercharger technology, boosting output to what...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW Plans a Mini MINI? Fact or Fiction?Is a New Smaller MINI Prototype In The Works?
Jonathan McGrew