Plug-In Hybrids

Volkswagen has hinted at the direction of its future SUVs--and their powertrains--by unveiling the CrossBlue Coupe Concept at the Shanghai Auto Show. As is increasingly common these days, the CrossBlue is Coupe in spirit more than it is in construction, the five-door liftback body distinctly more...

You couldn't accuse Porsche of being predictable. After years of making endless rear-engined sports cars, the last decade or so has seen SUVs, diesels and hybrids all join the Porsche lineup. With the 918 Spyder supercar, plug-in hybrid will also appear. But plug-in technology will reach further...

The big news in plug-in car sales for March was Tesla's statement that it delivered "more than 4,750" Model S electric cars from January through March. That news early Monday not only sent stock in Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] soaring, it also cued up an interesting three-way horse race. Those sales...

It's confirmed: Audi will offer its A3 Sportback e-Tron plug-in hybrid in the U.S. The German automaker has confirmed the news (via Motor Authority) at the New York Auto Show, just a month after the production model was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. Externally similar to the regular A3...

Diesel cars are at their most economical on long, steady journeys, and plug-in hybrids are at their best for shorter trips. So why haven't the two been combined yet? Actually, they have--and you're looking at the very first one. The Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid is the first diesel plug-in hybrid...

Live in the New York area? If you do, you're perfectly placed to get some hefty discounts on Toyota's Prius Plug-In right now. In fact, you're in the right place to get a discount on several green models at the moment, including the regular Prius, as well as Ford C-Max and Fusion hybrids. According...

Will this be the car that finally makes the ultra-aerodynamic and futuristic GM EV1 electric car look old-fashioned? Today, VW Group took the wraps off the production version of the Volkswagen XL1, a turbodiesel plug-in hybrid two-seater that will be its most fuel-efficient model ever offered. The...

It's really the defining feature of any plug-in electric car: How much electric range does it have? The ever-helpful EPA, which has rated the gas mileage of all new cars, publishes its estimates of electric range for every plug-in car on the market. So here's our list of all 2013 plug-in cars, with...

U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars continued at a reduced level, as seems to happen every winter. The best-selling electric car, the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, logged deliveries of 1,626 units, compared to 1,140 last month. That's a better number than the 1,023 Volts sold in...

No, seriously--it's a plug-in hybrid. It's not the most conventional of plug-in hybrids, of course. Unless we've missed something, Toyota's Prius Plug-In has no 903-horsepower version, nor does any Prius cost over a million dollars. But then, you can't expect something too conventional from...

The Volkswagen Up is one of our favorite 'forbidden fruit' cars. Sold in Europe, it's a rival to vehicles like the Chevrolet Spark in the 'A' segment. It's lightweight, simple, economical and inexpensive to buy--everything a small car should be. Some of those parameters could be about to change, as...

Two of the most exciting electric vehicles due over the next few years both originate from German automaker, BMW. The i3 city car and i8 sports car are both clean-sheet designs, developed from the ground up as plug-in vehicles. With carbon-fiber chassis, purpose-designed interiors and unique...

The Geneva Motor Show always provides us with some spectacular green vehicles, but this year looks like being the best yet. Audi has now revealed its most production-ready electric vehicle yet, in the form of the Audi A3 e-tron. We've driven a prototype of the all-electric e-tron before, but the...

Not all cars are born equal. Some, if they're lucky, will be born as McLarens--supercars infused with technology from the race track, with one of the most famous names in motor sport. There are--believe it or not--parallels between the disparate worlds of green vehicles and hypercars, and not just...

Like celebrity reality TV shows, concept cars are a tantalizing glimpse into a life we can approximate, but never fully enjoy ourselves. Take this Fiat Lussino concept, for example. "Lussino" is derived from the Italian word lusso, or "luxury". "Ino" makes it "small luxury". It's the work of...

We’re going to let you in on a little insider’s secret: when manufacturers are shilling their wares, they tend to favor statistics that illustrate their own version of the truth. As any politician (or car company) will tell you, you can always find a set of numbers to work in your...

How much electric range is the "right" amount in a plug-in hybrid or range-extended electric car? If you're a fan of battery electric vehicles, the answer is "all of it." But if you want to drive most of your miles on electricity, and still have the security of a combustion engine as a backup for...

The Chevrolet Volt is by far the best-selling plug-in car in the United States. Last year, it represented almost 45 percent of all plug-in electric cars sold during 2012. But how's it doing outside the U.S., compared to the Nissan Leaf--which is sold globally in North America, Asia, and Europe?...

Honda's two-motor Accord Plug-In Hybrid is now on sale at select New York and Californian Honda dealers. Choice in the plug-in hybrid market is growing all the time, and the Accord offers buyers an alternative to the Ford Fusion Energi--not to mention more established plug-ins like the Chevrolet...

The guessing is over, as Ford has revealed full EPA mileage figures for its 2013 Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid, after teasing its 108 MPGe highway rating a few weeks back. Joining the C-Max Energi in Ford's plug-in hybrid lineup, the Fusion Energi touts a combined 100 MPGe in blended electric mode...