Plug-In Hybrids

Earlier this year, when the EPA confirmed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy gas mileage standards of 54.5 mpg by 2025, we told you that it would equate to greener, cleaner cars which cost less to fuel and pollute less. But according to veteran automotive executive Bob Lutz, the new gas mileage...

Ask most people about Chrysler's plug-in hybrid prototype program, and you'll get something like, "Huh? Chrysler has plug-in hybrids?" In fact, the company does: 23 minivans and 109 pickup trucks on the roads for almost a year now, all prototypes to test the technology. Today, the company announced...

With the Chevrolet Volt racking up the highest sales last month since it launched--though the numbers were helped by incentives for both buyers and dealers--some of the "Volt is a flop" coverage has abated. Now, a post on the fan site GM-Volt.com points out that this so-called "sales failure" has...

Remember the Audi A1 e-tron? Audi canned it earlier this year, citing its lack of viability as a production model. Well, it's back, only this time shorn of its unusual Wankel rotary engine sitting under the trunk floor. Instead, the latest version of the concept uses a more conventional--though...

Hybrids have been popular gas-sipping choices for several years, but it's taken until this year for momentum to really gather behind plug-in hybrids. Using mostly familiar hybrid technology, but with larger batteries that can be charged separately as well as during driving, many consider plug-in...

It’s a well-known fact that President Obama is a fan of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. In fact, Obama has pledged to buy his own Chevrolet Volt when he leaves office, whenever that takes place. As Commander in Chief however, Obama will be pleased to see that the U.S. military isn’t...

The 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In hybrid has got off to a good start in its first six months on sale, with over 6,000 units sold so far. That, says Toyota, is more than the first six months of Chevrolet Volt sales, at 2,745 units, and Nissan Leaf sales, which managed 3,875 cars in its first month...

Last week, Honda released the specs and photos for its 2014 Accord Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid. Now, we can talk about what it's like on the road. The short answer? Like the Ford C-Max Hybrid, it offers new and strong competition for a model of the well-established Toyota Prius--in this case, the...

Researching a new car can be hard work, especially with niche market vehicles like electric cars and plug-in hybrids. With test-drives, news reports and general information, we provide buyers with a nationwide view of plug-in and green cars, but now a new website is offering car buyers in the San...

Honda was the second carmaker in the world to launch a line of hybrid vehicles, though its compact and subcompact mild hybrids have long been overshadowed by Toyota's dominant Prius models. That may be about to change. Early next year, a new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid--and equally significant, a 2014...

While the Wankel rotary engine, Mazda’s power plant of choice for many years, has a fantastic power to weight ratio, it isn’t exactly what you’d call a green engine. As a consequence, since the Mazda RX-8 ended its production in June this year, you won’t find a rotary engine...

Last year at the 2011 Qatar Motor Show, Volkswagen wooed the audience with its XL1 plug-in hybrid concept car, a vehicle it said would get an amazing 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, or 260 mpg. Now, a road-going prototype version of the gas-sipping two-seater has been spotted undergoing extensive...

The greenest Jaguar we've driven here on GreenCarReports is the European-market XF 2.2D, but the smooth, economical diesel certainly isn't the limit of what Jaguar can achieve. Despite cutting a significantly larger figure on the road, the Jaguar XJ_e plug-in hybrid makes the fuel-sipping XF look...

The current Audi A4, the German luxury brand's best-selling car in the U.S., has been with us since the 2009 model year. When it's replaced for the 2014 model year, the model line will include not only a sedan and a wagon but also a pair of hybrids--one that plugs in--and a brand-new Quattro...

Since the Chevrolet Volt first launched in the U.S., we’ve seen a variety of quirky, funny, and downright weird ads designed to get people driving General Motors’ first plug-in hybrid. But over in Europe, where the Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera -- its European sibling -- are...

Earlier this year, the State of California launched a new, green HOV-lane sticker, letting qualifying plug-in hybrids drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, even if there is only a single occupant in the car. According to California's North County Times however, fewer than 4,000 stickers...

Talk to any independent auto-repair mechanic, and you'll learn that the single most important item that keeps a shop in business is brakes. But hybrids and electric cars use their friction brakes far less aggressively than regular cars. That's because when the driver presses the pedal, some or all...

Despite a cautious rollout of its plug-in car program and low sales of its 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Ford has reiterated details of its investment in plug-in cars. According to Ford’s official release, it has now earmarked $135 million to double its battery testing facilities, triple plug-in...

As far as we know, not a single auto journalist has yet driven the upcoming plug-in hybrid Energi models of the 2013 Ford C-Max and 2013 Ford Fusion. But an interesting and illuminating post on HybridCars.com offers more details about those cars' electric capabilities than we'd seen to date. It led...

Hybrid car drivers like to do everything possible to ensure their cars spend as much time as possible in all-electric mode. Ford said yesterday that its 2013 C Max Energi can travel on electricity alone at speeds up to 85 mph. We’re sure plug-in hybrid fans around the world are rejoicing Most...