Sedans
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Volkswagen's first dedicated battery-electric vehicle will roll off the production lines in 21 months, but we won't see the compact hatchback ID model in North America. Instead, the first dedicated VW plug-in electric vehicle will be the production version of the ID Cross compact crossover that's appeared as a concept at several auto shows. Next month, however, another concept for a further battery-electric model will be unveiled at the Geneva auto show. DON'T MISS: Volkswagen ID electric car production date now set: November 2019 It's the long-expected large sedan, which will debut as the...
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2019 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid video preview
As they say: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The first Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, launched for 2011, wasn't one of the better examples of the class for drivability. But Hyundai has updated its mid-size hybrid three times since then, with each generation getting markedly better. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
2018 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid released at Chicago auto show
What the auto industry calls a "mid-cycle refresh" can range from indistinguishable to very evident. The 2018 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid falls into the latter category, with new front and rear styling, changes to the interior and dashboard, and numerous added safety and connectivity features. The hybrid...
John Voelcker -
Why a Fiat 500e driver got a Honda Clarity Fuel Cell as his next green car: low cost
When marketing executive Chris Baccus leased a 2015 Fiat 500e three years ago, he intended to keep his 2007 BMW 335i as a "fun car," and use the electric Fiat just for commuting. Within six months, he'd sold the BMW altogether. Part of his interest in the Fiat, he admitted, came from an article...
John Voelcker -
2020 Jaguar XJ luxury sedan to be reborn as all-electric Tesla Model S competitor
Almost since the two legendary British brands were brought together in 1998, Jaguar has played second fiddle to its sibling Land Rover. The maker of traditional, sporty British sedans was left in search of a mission as increasingly upscale Land Rovers and even pricier Range Rovers proliferated...
Mark Stevenson -
Fisker EMotion: here's why we're skeptical about Fisker's latest electric car
After the rise and fall of Henrik Fisker's former automotive venture, a number of analysts and enthusiasts are skeptical about his newest company—Fisker, Inc.—and its first creation, the EMotion electric sedan. It's not hard to see why. The second company bearing the Fisker name has...
Mark Stevenson -
Pickup trucks took the limelight this year, but a significant green car made a quiet debut. It's an interesting and handsome model that revives a familiar name for Honda. The 2019 Honda Insight is a compact premium sedan projected to get an EPA combined rating of 50 mpg or better. The new Insight is Honda's third try at a dedicated hybrid, each of them a different type of car. DON'T MISS: 2019 Honda Insight prototype debuts in Detroit; 50 mpg or better projected The latest version is a compact sedan, versus the smaller five-door hatchback sold under the same name from 2010 through...
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Fisker EMotion: what we learned about 400-mile electric car at CES
Fisker Inc., the second namesake automaker from the Danish auto designer, rolled out its first model at the Consumer Electronics Show last week and gave us some details on what to expect from the luxury electric car. The supercar-esque sedan, which Fisker hopes will steal customers away from rival...
Mark Stevenson -
2019 Honda Insight prototype debuts in Detroit; 50 mpg or better projected
At the 2018 Detroit auto show, the Honda Insight Prototype was unveiled Monday to preview a production sedan due later this year. Any new hybrid car from one of the pioneers of hybrid-electric vehicles is notable, and that's what Honda has delivered. Honda called the car at the auto show an...
John Voelcker -
2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid debuts with more evocative style, promise of improved efficiency
The 2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid that debuted Monday at the 2018 Detroit auto show goes where no full-size sedan has gone before. Well, except for last year's Avalon Hybrid, anyway. For 2019, the Avalon rides on a new platform, has updated interior and exterior styling, and comes loaded with an...
Andrew Ganz -
Diesel redux: 2018 BMW 540d sedan certified for US sale (but will it matter?)
BMW has announced it will resurrect the diesel 5 Series sport sedan, in the form of a 540d model, one year after the introduction of a thoroughly updated 5 Series. The company says the diesel edition will list for $62,995, including destination, once it arrives at dealerships in February. According...
Mark Stevenson -
2018 Mercedes-Benz C350e: plug-in hybrid luxury sedan driven
It's been two and a half years since we drove the plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan at its San Francisco launch event. It took a while for the car to go on sale in the U.S., which it did in January 2017. Now we've had a chance to spend a weekend with the Mercedes-Benz C350e...
John Voelcker -
We only published our first-drive report on the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid last week, and the car is just now showing up at Honda dealers across the country. But that means the first examples are already been bought and driven. A couple of readers indicated that they were among the buyers, so we asked for their first impressions. DON'T MISS: 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive Lo and behold, a reader known only as "Viking79" pointed us to a page on his personal blog, Cars With Plugs. It contains a long and thoughtful set of first impressions of his 2017 Honda Clarity Plug-In...
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2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive
There's a new plug-in hybrid in town, and it could expand the audience for cars that provide useful electric range for daily driving while retaining an efficient gasoline engine for longer trips. The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is the third and most important model in the Clarity lineup...
John Voelcker -
2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid video road test
The 2018 Toyota Camry is the latest generation of the car that launched a category—the mid-size hybrid sedan—way back in 2007. While competitors in that segment now include the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima, the Camry Hybrid remains one of the most...
John Voelcker -
2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid starts at $34,290 with 47-mile range
The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid will start at a recommended price of $34,290 including delivery, making it the least expensive plug-in hybrid sedan on the market this year. Honda says it will go on sale December 1, and it will be offered at all Honda dealers in the U.S. That means that for...
John Voelcker -
2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid gas-mileage review: going the distance
Toyota can’t be blamed for a lack of effort: The 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid is dripping with it. From the creased hood and cascading brow to the Modernist center console enclosed by flickers of chrome, the mid-size stalwart is anything but lazy. Our first, limited exposure to the hybrid sedan...
Aaron Cole -
2018 Honda Accord Hybrid first drive review: lighter shade of green
It’s easy for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid to get lost. Short of small “Hybrid” badges on the front fenders, not much on the car’s exterior says it's powered by electrons. There’s no plug-in variant for now (a role reserved to the Clarity Plug-In sedan), and the latest...
Aaron Cole -
Hyundai decided to skip the major auto-show circuit and debut its redesigned Accent subcompact sedan at a relatively minor auto show. The Korean automaker revealed the 2018 Hyundai Accent at the Orange County Auto Show in California, which boasts a new design, more interior space, and an updated powertrain. Most importantly, the 2018 Accent no longer looks like the odd man out in Hyundai's lineup, as it now takes its design cues from the larger Hyundai Sonata. DON'T MISS: Hyundai Kona small SUV revealed, with electric version to come Hyundai's signature "cascading grille" leads off the front...
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Volkswagen to show flagship all-electric ID sedan in Geneva: Phaeton successor?
The long, strange, sad saga of the now-defunct Volkswagen Phaeton will likely go down as an asterisk in VW's long history. The pet project of now-departed VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech, a member of the Porsche family that controls the carmaker, it was a $70,000-and-up luxury sedan from the...
John Voelcker -
2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid rated at 47 miles of range
While there will be three distinct powertrains offered in the Honda Clarity mid-size sedan, most U.S. shoppers will only ever see one of them on sale. That's the plug-in hybrid, which will go on sale "later this year" as the sole Clarity to be offered at all Honda dealers. Now the 2018 Honda...
John Voelcker -
2018 Karma Revero: first drive of reborn luxury plug-in hybrid sedan
The 2018 Karma Revero remains as much of a head-turner today as the low, sleek four-door sedan was when it debuted a decade ago under another name. It also happens to be a range-extended electric luxury sedan, though we tend to think that the Karma would sell just as well if it ran on coal dust and...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel: fuel economy review for automatic, manual versions
Times are tough for sedans in general, as buyers swarm into crossover utility vehicles and ignore the passenger cars sitting next to them on the showroom floor. Also, gasoline remains cheap. All of which may add up to tough times for the current Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, the compact sedan to be...
John Voelcker -
2018 Honda Accord Hybrid: more trunk space, higher fuel economy promised
Over three sporadic model years, the hybrid version of the Honda Accord mid-size sedan has led a peripatetic life. The 2014 and 2015 Accord Hybrid was built in Marysville, Ohio, along with almost all the rest of the Accords sold in North America, its largest market. It skipped 2016 altogether, and...
John Voelcker