Green Car News
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The Question Is Will It Change the Automotive Landscape
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Remember the 2011 Chevrolet Volt's 230-MPG Claim? Forget It.Almost a year ago, General Motors launched a little marketing campaign connecting its 2011 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car to the figure "230 mpg." As we pointed out at the time, they were basing that projection on a proposed formula for fuel usage patterns that made a lot of assumptions...
John Voelcker -
Honda Doubles Down on Hybrids, Dumps Clean Diesel To Go GreenAlthough Honda designed and sold the world's second hybrid-electric car, the 1999-2006 Insight, the company hasn't done nearly as well in hybrids as its larger rival Toyota. Now the company has reinforced its earlier suggestion that it would significantly beef up its hybrid efforts by providing...
John Voelcker -
Great Smart Car Road Trip: How Many MPGs Did You Say?The First Gas Tank Fill Up Tells All
Jonathan McGrew -
Fisker Dealer: Karma Plug-In Sedan Deliveries Start March or AprilWe've written before about the schedule for the 2011 Fisker Karma, which (like many other electric cars) has slipped a bit since the car was first unveiled. Now Fisker's newest dealer, located in none other than LA's epicenter of green consciousness--namely Santa Monica, California--says that the...
John Voelcker -
BREAKING: The RAV4 EV Is Returning, Tesla, Toyota ConfirmsRemember yesterday's article where we spoke about rumbles from the rumor mill at Toyota and Tesla? Industry insiders had told two auto sites that the two companies were working together on a supercar and a re-development of the classic RAV4 EV. We said yesterday that the possibility of the RAV4...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Ending weeks of speculation, Tesla and Toyota announced today that they plan to develop an all-electric version of Toyota's RAV4 small crossover, using Tesla's battery and electric drive technology in Toyota's vehicle. Last week, chairman Akio Toyoda announced that Toyota was already working to fit Tesla battery packs into test vehicles. Then, news reports had identified the two vehicles Tesla was developing for Toyota as the RAV4 and the Corolla sedan. Now the joint announcement, issued in Tokyo and Palo Alto, California, has confirmed the accuracy of the RAV4 reports, following just a few...
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Are Tesla And Toyota Re-Electrifying RAV4EV, Going Supercar?We've known for some time that Toyota and Tesla are planning on working together on an EV, despite protests to the contrary. But with two separate rumors breaking today this partnership looks ever more likely to produce not one, but potentially two very interesting cars. That's if the rumor mill...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Rabobank, SolarCity Switch On Chargers Along Highway 101, CACalifornia's Highway 1, otherwise known as the Pacific Coast Highway is one of the world's most famous roads and one we should all drive at some point in our lives. Some 400 miles of driving, a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles might be a fun journey in a gas car, but isn't a trip many would...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
President Obama Backs EV Charge With Volt Battery Factory VisitHaving recently visited Smith Electric Vehiclesin Kansas City, Missouri, president Barack Obama is now on his way to the Compact Power battery plant located in Holland, Michigan. The specialized plant will be supplying the upcoming Chevrolet Volt range-extended vehicle with its lithium-ion battery...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Infiniti To Debut New G Sedan At Pebble BeachNew Additions Give Customers More Options
Jonathan McGrew -
Chevrolet Sets Bar High With Volt Battery WarrantyEight-Year, 100,000-Mile Battery Warranty To Help Put Customers At Ease
Jonathan McGrew -
General Electric stepped up its game in the smart grid industry today, launching both a charging device for electric vehicles and a $200 million contest calling for projects working to make electrical grids cleaner and more efficient. Both developments were rolled out under the banner of Ecomagination, GE’s green initiative. The company is partnering with venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital and RockPort Capital to host the smart grid competition. All of these firms have been eying the smart grid as a rich category for...
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Spy Shots: Top Secret Rolls-Royce Phantom Hybrid Revealed!Sometimes, we get the most amazing stuff in our e-mail. Most spy shots show up on our sister site, MotorAuthority.com, but once in a while, sometimes they come directly to us here in green-car-land. Which is how we ended up with these spy shots, taken by a reader on his mobile phone while walking...
John Voelcker -
GM Backs Up 2011 Chevy Volt With 8-Year, 100K-Mile WarrantyToday the silence ended. We've driven the 2011 Chevy Volt Test Mule, We've cringed through the Volt Dance and we watched the Freedom Drive unfold over the July 4 weekend. While we've known about the car's 40 mile all electric range, 9 gallon fuel tank and planned 10,000 car production schedule for...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Chevrolet Volt Battery Pack Warranty: 8 Years, 100K MilesGeneral Motors announced today that it would offer an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty on the battery pack, the charger, and the Voltec electric drive components of its upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Volt electric car. The announcement sets to rest potential worries that Volt owners might be stuck having to...
John Voelcker -
Fiat 500 To Offer Hybrid Version Of Tiny Two-Cylinder EngineThis must be Fiat 500 News Week. How else to explain the drumbeat of announcements, from its innovative TwinAir engine to a special U.S. model offered only to current Fiat owners? Today's item: The company will develop a mild hybrid version of its 500 minicar, fitted to the 0.9-liter TwinAir...
John Voelcker -
Citroen Survolt Electric Sports Car Concept Takes To Le MansPerhaps it’s a sign of the times but almost every major automaker has unveiled some kind of electrified vehicle, with everything from battery-powered supercars to hybrid urban runabouts making their debut in either production or concept form. Until the recent past, pure electric vehicles and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan recently announced a range of new fuel-saving technologies that it plans to launch over the coming year as part of its new ‘Nissan Green Program 2010’ (NGP 2010) mid-term environmental strategy. The new technologies, in addition to its all-electric Leaf, focus around improving engine and transmission efficiencies and include things like hybrid drive and engine stop-start systems as well as brake-energy and heat-energy recovery devices. One of the most innovative technologies is a dual injector engine, which Nissan is launching in its new Juke crossover in Japan this week. The new...
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Great Smart Car Road Trip: Is It Safe On the HighwayThe 200-Mile Trek From L.A. To SLO
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Ford Fiesta Subcompact: You Gotta Wait Two More Weeks!The 2011 Ford Fiesta subcompact is one of the more eagerly awaited cars arriving in the U.S. market. Winning points for styling, equipment, and performance, it's Ford's first high-volume European car to be sold here. But eager buyers and test drivers will have to take a breath and wait for just a...
John Voelcker -
Reward For Old Fiat Owners, Finally: New 2011 Fiat 500 Special EditionIt hasn't been easy being a Fiat fan in the U.S. these last, oh, 20 or 30 years. Sneers of "Fix It Again, Tony!" due to rusty and unreliable cars were followed by Fiat fleeing the U.S. market in 1983 with its tail tucked between its legs. But now, with the imminent debut of the 2011 Fiat 500 late...
John Voelcker -
Ultimate Green SUV: For $225K, Range Rover Electric ConversionAsk most consumers to describe an electric car and the chances are they will talk about the Tesla, the 2011 Nissan Leaf, maybe the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. They almost surely won't think of the large, luxurious, and expensive Range Rover. They may talk about how expensive EVs are. And unless they're...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Bill Gates Backs EcoMotors’ New OPOC Engine With $23.5 Million InvestmentThroughout the history of the internal combustion engine there have been a multitude of scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs shouting claims about revolutionary new engine designs promising greater efficiency, more power, fewer emissions and lower production and running costs. However, to this...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran