Green Car News
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Aside from the electric Volt, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze has been touring the auto show circuit long enough to make it a familiar face well before it hits dealerships. But now Chevy has priced its new compact sedan, starting at $16,995. And that means it really will soon show up at dealers, toward the end of the summer. The 2011 Cruze four-door sedan replaces the outmoded 2010 Cobalt, itself a holdover from the grim old days of the Chevy Cavalier. The 2011 Cruze is a world car, meaning U.S. buyers get a better-equipped, safer, and more powerful version of a car sold globally. Midsize...
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2011 Mercedes-Benz S350 Bluetec Adds Clean Diesel to S-ClassContinuing to diversify the green powertrain options it offers to buyers, Mercedes-Benz will add a clean-diesel model to its largest sedan line, the S-Class. The new 2011 Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTEC sedan joins this year's S400 Hybrid, which adds a mild hybrid system with a 15-kilowatt electric...
John Voelcker -
Facing a Wrecked Electric Vehicle, What Must EMS Staff Know?
By the end of this year, several fully modern, highway-capable electric vehicles will go on sale. Sooner or later, one of them will get into an accident. What should emergency responders do when faced with a high-voltage battery pack that could kill them if mishandled? To prepare first responders...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Audi Continues Development Of Fuel-Saving Travolution Traffic System
Most automakers are focusing their efforts solely on reducing tailpipe emissions of their vehicle lineups through conventional methods such as more efficient engines, advanced catalysts and lighter cars. Attacking vehicle emissions from a different angle, Audi is developing a new traffic management...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Want a 2012 Lexus LFA? Better Watch the Auction Block
Toyota Says All 500 Copies To Be Build Are Pre-sold
Jonathan McGrew -
Dead Before Arrival: Mercury Killed, Compact Tracer Vanishes
To the long list of dead U.S. car brands, you can now add one more: Mercury. The Ford Motor Company announced today that Mercury production would cease by the end of this year. That means that the widely anticipated compact Mercury version of the 2012 Ford Focus--named "Tracer" after the...
John Voelcker -
We know that Prius owners love their cars. Sometimes they talk endlessly about them, their great fuel efficiency, how cool the all-electric mode is, and so forth. But could you get so enthusiastic about Prius that you'd let your own child starve to death? Good. We didn't think so. And, no, it's not what you're thinking. This has nothing to do with the iconic hybrid-electric Toyota Prius. Instead, in a bizarre quirk of language, a South Korean 3-D fantasy game is called Prius Online. According to CNN, Kim Yun-jeong, 25, and her partner, Kim Jae-beom, 41, left their 3-month-old daughter Kim...
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2011 Volkswagen Polo Sedan Unveiled, Likely Headed For U.S.
It's been more than a year since Volkswagen confirmed it would sell its Polo subcompact in the U.S. But the company also said it would modify the Polo to make it more suitable for the U.S. market, which prefers sedans to hatchbacks. Now, the other shoe has dropped: VW has just unveiled the Polo...
John Voelcker -
Who Buys a 2011 Nissan Leaf? Toyota Prius Owners, Of Course
So who are these strange people who might want something as unusual, as perplexing, as downright radical as an electric car? More specifically, an all-electric 2011 Nissan Leaf compact hatchback? Turns out they're the same people who wanted the last most radical type of family car: a...
John Voelcker -
Aptera ‘Fixes’ Door-Opens-When-Cornering Issue, Puts 2e on Diet
It's the start of the month, which means it's time for another newsletter from Aptera, the company struggling against the odds to launch its ultra-aerodynamic, ultra-futuristic three-wheeled electric vehicle by the end of 2011. According to Aptera the vehicle is going through some more redesigns...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Does Tesla's Toyota Deal Change Everything For Electric Cars?
The surprise partnership between Tesla Motors and Toyota announced two weeks ago generated a lot of head-scratching. The big question is, What does Toyota get out of the deal? It's easy to see what Tesla gets: more capital (Toyota will invest $50 million in Tesla just before its planned public...
John Voelcker -
2010 Coda Sedan: Exclusive Video Gives Electric-Car Details
Launching a brand-new car make is a tough task; just ask General Motors (RIP Saturn). But if you're electric-car startup Coda Automotive, you have at least one plus (it's a pure electric car, which is sexy) to offset several potential minuses (who's Coda? it's made in China? I can't buy one outside...
John Voelcker -
For decades, the world's been wondering what comes next--after the era of gasoline, that is. And since 1998, a global convocation of scientists, politicians, transportation companies and journalists have gathered somewhere in the world for the Challenge Bibendum, a sort of green-car congress that poses the question, "what does sustainable mobility mean?" It's a fair question. By some estimates, there could be an additional 700 million vehicles on the world's roads in the next decade, which organizers imply is clearly not sustainable. That's triggered the search for new ways to move people...
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The Next Big Range Extender for Electric Cars? New Tires
Automakers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to squeeze the last erg of electric energy from a whole range of forthcoming electric cars. Expensive software controllers and astronomically costly bits of composite body pieces are part of the game plan for vehicles like the 2011 Nissan Leaf...
Martin Padgett -
If Musk Ever Leaves Tesla, Daimler Will Help Choose New CEO
What would happen if the charismatic CEO responsible for the 2009 Tesla Roadster -- the most sexy electric sports car to hit the roads of the U.S. this century -- were to leave the Silicon Valley startup company he co-founded? Now we know: The possibly less-sexy, less-charismatic, less-electrified...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2010 Michelin Challenge Bibendum: Facts and Figures
The 2010 Michelin Challenge Bibendum brings sustainable mobility to the discussion table, but what are the facts? By the numbers, the organizers show how a growing global economy and driving population demand some response from vehicle manufacturers. These are a few of the most compelling...
Martin Padgett -
Gordon Murray Design Releases Specs For New T.27 EV
Gordon Murray is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant minds in automotive design today, having been the driving force behind both the McLaren F1 supercar and more recently the Caparo T1. His latest T.25 minicar project is bustling along, having made strides recently with the announcement...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
We Begin To See the Shift For Saturn Dealers From New to Used
From Major Dealer to Major Used Car Lot
Jonathan McGrew -
Making the Decision Can Be As Frustrating As the Repair Bills
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2010 Scion xD: The Unique Wedge Like Compact in the Family
Some Say It Is a Sharper Version Of the Original xA
Jonathan McGrew -
New Jaguar F-Type Sports Car Is Imminent
Small, Fast and Sleeker Should Be Jaguar’s Motto For the Future F-Type
Jonathan McGrew -
2010 Mercedes-Benz SLK Class: Refined Summer Fun
This Smaller Cousin Of the SL Defines Small Convertible Luxury
Jonathan McGrew -
2010 Nissan Sentra: Small On the Outside, Big On the Inside
The Sentra Remains a Good Value, But Leaves Some To Be Desired
Jonathan McGrew -
MINI Beachcomber Could Make It As a Production Model
Overwhelming Interest In Concept Causes MINI To Review Business Case
Jonathan McGrew
