Plug-In Hybrids

After two fuel-economy cuts, Ford can no longer claim superior fuel economy for its C-Max Hybrid.

With the imminent unveiling of the Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicle, and the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell already on sale, you can expect to hear a lot more about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in the coming months. Initially they will be offered only in very low numbers, and restricted to Southern California...

While the 2015 Hyundai Sonata is a completely redesigned vehicle for the new model year, the Sonata Hybrid for 2015 continues to use the previous-generation body. This has led to a certain amount of speculation about what direction Hyundai plans to take with its hybrid program. Now, it appears that...

See which celebrities drive the Toyota Prius hybrid.

California's rules requiring six automakers to sell specified numbers of zero-emission vehicles starting in 2012 have had a substantial impact. But a meeting to be held one week from today may determine whether required volumes of emission-free cars--likely battery-electric vehicles--are cut for a...

Toyota not only invented the modern hybrid-electric vehicle, but it has sold more hybrid cars than any other automaker. Now the Japanese company has crossed a new milestone: It has delivered more than 7 million hybrid cars since its first Prius was bought by a Japanese driver in 1997. The news came...

In addition to an all-electric version, Audi is reportedly planning a plug-in hybrid R8 supercar.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has never been a fan of plug-in electric cars. So when he revealed at the Paris Motor Show that a plug-in hybrid version of the next Chrysler Town & Country minivan would arrive late next year, he added a few derogatory comments about the...

Cadillac continues on its decade-long quest to build and sell cars that will be viewed as equivalent to the best of the German prestige brands. To that end, it will introduce a new and larger rear-wheel-drive sedan next year, to be called the CT6. Now the company has confirmed that the CT6 range...

You can choose from two or more engine and transmission options in most gasoline cars, so why not offer a choice of battery-pack sizes in hybrids and plug-in electric cars? That was the question posed by the launch of the Tesla Model S, which was originally offered with three different battery...

One of the best ways to make a very fast car is to start with a small vehicle that's extremely light and strong, and add a more powerful engine. That's the genesis of the Volkswagen XL Sport unveiled yesterday at the Paris Motor Show. If the small, lightweight vehicle happens to be the...

A new study looks at the views of hybrid owners, and everyone else, on hybrid cars.

Now that German carmakers have started to work in earnest on plug-in hybrids, expect to see a whole lot more of them in the coming years--though not always in North America. Following the Volkswagen Golf GTE plug-in hybrid it unveiled last year, which is now on sale in Europe, the second VW to...

The 2015 BMW i8 online configurator is live.

Pity poor Mitsubishi, whose Outlander Plug-In Hybrid has been on sale in Europe and Asia for almost two years. But the plug-in hybrid SUV's U.S. debut has been delayed several times, and now is set for the fall of 2015, likely as a 2016 model. Now we can get a glimpse of what the revised plug-in...

French carmaker Renault hasn't sold cars in North America in almost 30 years, But as half of the global Renault-Nissan Alliance--and Europe's earliest volume electric-car maker--its cars and concepts are important to watch for clues to future Nissan offerings. So the Renault Eolab Concept that will...

A refreshed Ford C-Max tall wagon will debut at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

The 2016 Mercedes-Benz S550 Plug-In Hybrid luxury sedan will arrive in the U.S. next spring. We've now driven a prototype of the U.S.-spec car, which is quiet, luxurious, and likely to carry a six-figure price tag. And it will be followed within a year by two more plug-in hybrids using the same...

The Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid isn't a "forbidden fruit", but it sure feels like one to American customers right now. A series of delays has pushed its on-sale date to fall 2015, almost two years after it debuted in Japan and a full year after it went on sale in Europe. Luckily, that...

Chinese electric-car production increased by 328 percent through August 2014.