Plug-In Hybrids

The 2014 BMW i3 is proving to be very effective at luring new buyers to BMW--buyers who haven't before owned one of its cars. Such buyers, known as conquests, are highly valued by carmakers, who have a much better chance of retaining a customer if they're already driving one of its vehicles. The...

Well, chalk up another first for Nissan: It sold 3,117 Leaf electric cars in the U.S. last month. That's not only its best-ever one-month sales performance, but it's the first time any carmaker has sold more than 3,000 battery plug-in electric cars in a month in this country--ever. (August 2013...

Plug-in hybrids will clearly be all the rage among carmakers for the next couple of years. While the number of high-volume battery-electric vehicles today can be counted on one hand--BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S--virtually every global automaker now has plug-in hybrids planned for launch...

Hardcore Porsche enthusiasts are a picky bunch. The 1970s 914 sports car is not a real Porsche, according to them. Nor was the 924. Nor the Boxster, which saved the company in the 1990s. Or the Cayenne, and--God forbid--its diesel and hybrid variants, which have propped up Porsche's balance sheets...

The first wave of electric cars and plug-in hybrids has been largely centered on smaller vehicles, mostly from mass-market brands (Tesla excepted). Four years later, German luxury makers are entering the fray--and the plug-in cars and utility vehicles they sell will markedly expand the offerings on...

Aside from the all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, there's a distinct lack of plug-in crossovers and SUVs on the market right now. Mitsubishi was hoping to change that with its Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, but battery issues and legislative delays mean it could be early 2016 before the car hits American...

Those of you holding out for Mitsubishi's Outlander Plug-In Hybrid will have to hold out even longer--as the car's U.S. launch has been put back once again. The Outlander PHEV is already on sale in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and has been on the market in Japan for over a year, but a series...

Rolls-Royce is known for many attributes. Luxury. Expense. Cars with performance wryly described as "adequate". Light weight and frugality are two attributes you won't often find in cars assembled by the British luxury marque, though the next-generation Phantom flagship could offer both--by...

Five years ago, then-new Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and a new executive team held a marathon day-long presentation session on the company's future, laying out a product plan in conjunction with Fiat following its government-backed restructuring. Today, what is now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles...

Sales of plug-in electric cars last month stayed about level with last month's, based on the reports from all makers of plug-in electric cars sold in the U.S. (except for two that refuse to provide sales data). With all data now in, it was a steady month for plug-in sales, but not a spectacular...

How badly does the public misunderstand the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car? Pretty badly indeed, if the comments received by Volt owners are any indication. DON'T MISS: Three Years Later, Most Consumers Don't Understand The Chevy Volt Last week, we wrote that Chevrolet admits most...

With the anticipated launch of the revised 2016 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car now less than a year away, expectations are that it will be a compact hatchback similar to the current model. Whether it has four or five seats remains up in the air, though the addition of a fifth seat would...

Audi's TT may not be as distinctive as it once was, but still appeals to style-conscious consumers. Its popularity has led the company to suggest further TT-based models could be on the way--and the TT Offroad Concept shown at the Beijing Auto Show hints as a possible direction for the brand. It...

Ah, conspiracy theories and urban legends. They lure us in with the promise of dark plots and amazing events--even as our rational minds suggest they're likely not true. Now the ultra-efficient Volkswagen XL1 economy car, the highly aerodynamic two-seat diesel plug-in hybrid we drove last fall, has...

Just over a year ago we got a chance to drive Volvo's V60 Plug-In Hybrid. It's a powerful, attractive and fuel-efficient vehicle--but the major talking point is its use of a diesel, rather than gasoline engine as its main source of motive power. The car is selling well in Europe, but Volvo is...

The 2014 New York Auto Show is fast approaching, and as usual a small roster of green vehicles will be making their debuts. This year it's mainly about production vehicles, with very few green concepts in attendance. That's not such a bad thing though--while there's little truly fuel efficient...

If you're confused when someone says "Audi e-tron," and you're not sure which electric car it means, don't feel bad--we're confused too. Audi may have more branded electric car concepts, prototypes, test vehicles, limited-production cars, and planned volume-production plug-in electric models than...

The Audi A6 e-tron plug-in hybrid is based on the A6 L e-tron concept from the 2012 Beijing Motor Show.

As Bentley has been promising for more than two years now, it will introduce a plug-in hybrid powertrain in a future product. Now we know that the first plug-in Bentley ever will come in 2017, in a dedicated version of its upcoming sport-utilty vehicle. That confirmation came as the British marque...

The market for crossover vehicles grows with every passing year, so it's surprising that few automakers have offered the vehicles with hybrid or plug-in powertrains up until now. One that could is Audi's Q4 crossover, should a production version of the Beijing-bound concept appear in the next few...