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  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt outside Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant

    One year ago today, the very first 2011 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car was delivered to a retail buyer, in Denville, New Jersey. The Volt was intended not only to be the first production plug-in electric car from General Motors--erasing memories of the ill-fated EV1--but to serve as a technology halo car for the just-bailed-out company. What a difference a year makes. Against a steady drumbeat of anti-Volt diatribes from the occasionally fact-free Fox News, the Volt has racked up some interesting numbers. Garage fires: 2 (in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, and Mooresville, South...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric launch, New York City, January 2011
    Ford Shares More About Delayed 2012 Focus Electric Car

    Ford’s first all-electric mass-produced car, the 2012 Ford Focus, isn’t yet available to buy in the U.S., but Ford thinks the delay in bringing it to market will be well worth the wait. With what Ford claims will be a best-in-class fuel efficiency of 100 MPGe, and plenty of patented...

  • 2012 Fisker Karma EcoSport
    2012 Fisker Karma: Price Goes Up Again, To $106,000 Or Higher

    With the 2012 Fisker Karma now, finally, arriving in volume at dealerships, Fisker Automotive should finally begin to record some retail sales this month. Still, we're not sure that raising your prices right as your first customers return to their dealers to take delivery is particularly gracious...

  • First Production 2012 Mitsubishi 'i' Delivered In San Francisco

    December seems to be the month when new electric-car makers manage to squeak their first deliveries in under the wire. Last year at this time, Nissan delivered its first Leaf electric car in San Francisco on December 12, with the first Chevrolet Volt following on December 18. This year, it's the...

  • Aptera Body Shell Crushed As Company Folds
    Aptera Staff Smash Prototype Electric Cars As Company Folds

    At the end of last week we broke the news that Aptera, the company responsible for the futuristic three-wheeled electric car known as the Aptera 2e was closing down. Now a series of YouTube videos have surfaced showing people we assume to be Aptera employees wilfully destroying Aptera body shells...

  • 2012 Buick Lacrosse with eAssist, Catskill Mountains, October 2011
    2012 Buick Lacrosse With eAssist: Mild Hybrid Weekend Drive

    We drove the prototype, and liked it. Now we've driven the real thing. We still like it. In this case, "it" is the 2012 Buick Lacrosse with eAssist, the only four-cylinder model that Buick offers in its Lacrosse large luxury sedan. While large Buicks aren't known for their gas mileage, this one is...

  • Aptera 2e

    Aptera has just released a statement, saying it will shut down operations today. As recently as two years ago, the southern California-based Aptera had plans to introduce an electric car and to sell up to 10,000 copies a year. It had even hoped to received approval for some of the same federal loans that have helped along other electric-car projects such as the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus Electric, Tesla Model S and Fisker Project Nina. It spoke of plans to build a new plant near San Diego. But the Aptera story, and all its mildly fascinating and majorly improbable visions, really...

  • Ryan Reynolds Nissan Leaf Spokesperson
    November Plug-In Car Sales: Volt Sparks, Leafs Fall

    It's the first of the month again, and that means: It's sales report time! Last month, Chevrolet sold 1,139 Volts and Nissan sold 672 Leafs. The November numbers bring totals for 2011, with only December left, to 8,720 Leafs delivered (plus 18 last December) and 6,142 Volts (plus 326 last...

  • 2012 Mitsubishi 'i' electric car, special surf woody edition, LA Auto Show, Nov 2011
    2012 Mitsubishi 'i' Electric Car: Woody Trim And Surfboards Too! (Video)

    We look at a lot of concept and production cars during auto shows, but rarely does one make us laugh right out loud. The special version of the 2012 Mitsubishi 'i' electric car on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show a couple of weeks ago, however, did just that. Perhaps in honor of southern...

  • 2011 Honda EV-STER Concept
    Honda Unveils EV-STER Electric Sports Convertible Concept: 2011 Tokyo Motor Show

    It’s been nearly three weeks since Honda told us it would be premiering a small sports electric concept car at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. True to its promise, Honda has just unveiled what it calls the EV-STER electric sports concept on the show’s first press day. With an unmistakably...

  • Xtronic CVT, 6th generation  -  for 2013 Nissan Altima
    Nissan Boosts Fuel Economy By Redesigning CVT In 2013 Altima

    One of the best ways to improve fuel economy is to keep a car's engine operating at its most efficient speed, regardless of how fast the vehicle is traveling. That's the principle behind continuously variable transmissions, or CVTs, which use belts and variable pulleys to match road speed to an...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and pre-production 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    GM Exec Confirms 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Plug-In Hybrid Model

    The Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan is an important car for General Motors. It's hugely outselling its lackluster predecessor, the Chevy Cobalt, and the EPA rates the special Cruze Eco model at 42 mpg in the highway cycle, giving it gas-mileage bragging rights. Plug-in hybrid to join diesel model But...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Malibu ECO

    Chevy's Malibu Eco mild hybrid will deliver near-hybrid highway fuel economy from a starting price of $26,000.

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt
    Chevy Volt Electric Car Buyers Unfazed By Fire Reports

    While a handful of Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric cars have been destroyed in fires, potential Volt buyers are not deterred by sensationalist media reports around the blazes, says trade journal Automotive News.

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt
    Will Electric Cars Lose Value Quickly? Some Say Yes, We Disagree

    For over 80 years, the Kelley Blue Book has been valuing new and used cars for the benefit of the auto industry. Used by automakers, car dealers and consumers alike, it has become the ultimate go-to guide for realistic valuations on virtually any age or condition of car. But although the Kelley...

  • 2013 Mazda CX-5 compact crossover on test drive, Southern California, Nov 2011
    2013 Mazda CX-5 Kicks Compact Crossover Gas Mileage Higher

    Let's face it: If you want the best gas mileage in a compact or mid-size all-wheel drive crossover, you have to go hybrid. But hybrids are still more expensive than gasoline models by a few thousand dollars, and the majority of buyers prioritize price over those last few miles per gallon. So the...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Spark shown at Los Angeles Auto Show, Nov 2011
    2013 Chevrolet Spark: Details, Live Photos From L.A. Auto Show

    It's the smallest car ever sold as a Chevrolet. It's already a huge hit in India (where it's fitted with a tiny 0.9-liter three-cylinder turbodiesel). And now it's coming to the U.S. At this week's Los Angeles Auto Show media days, the 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar shared the stage with a Chevrolet...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt
    Chevy Volt To Qualify For California HOV-Lane Access In 2012

    Chevrolet announced today at the Los Angeles Auto Show that its Volt extended-range electric car will qualify for solo access to California's HOV lanes, a feature deeply desired by many of the state's car buyers. A 'Low Emissions Package' will be fitted as standard equipment to all Volts sold in...

  • Production Toyota Prius C

    Toyota is doubling down on its best-known model for gas mileage, the Prius hybrid. It's already added two models to sit beside the 2012 Prius five-door hatchback, and now, the last new addition to the Prius lineup has been revealed. The 2012 Toyota Prius C, the first compact Prius since the original 2000-2003 model, was unveiled today at the Tokyo Motor Show. It will make its formal U.S. debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January. Toyota variously calls the Prius C a compact and a subcompact, though with continuous "bracket creep" as smaller cars get larger, its dimensions appear to split...

  • car on fire
    Fire Marshal Says NC Garage Fire Started Away From Chevy Volt: Exclusive

    The fire marshal investigating a Mooresville, NC, fire that engulfed a 2011 Chevrolet Volt electric car has concluded preliminarily that the car was not the source of the fire.

  • 2012 McLaren MP4-12C
    Fuel-Efficient Supercar: McLaren MP4-12C Beats Gas-Guzzler Tax

    If you're not in the market for clean, green supercar like Tesla's Roadster but you've still got a few hundred thousand lying around and you need a speed fix, then the McLaren MP4-12C supercar might be on your shopping list. However, you could be forgiven for wondering what actually powers the...

  • 2011 Lexus RX 450h
    Beat Winter With The Top Five 2011 High-MPG All-Wheel-Drives

    Toyota's Prius is something of a figurehead for the green car movement, but despite its many talents, we'll admit it may not be suitable for all drivers. What if you want economy but don't want to sacrifice the utility and security of something a little bigger? Maybe you're still concerned about...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt
    GM Relents, Lets Dealers Sell Their Volt Demonstrators, Today

    Year-end sales figures are looming ever closer, and the critics of the GM bailout and all thing electric-drive are already drafting wrapup stories about how the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car has been a sales disaster. So Chevy has taken off the gloves. The company said it would allow...

  • AAA's Mobile Electric Vehicle Charging truck
    Your Electric Car Out Of Juice? AAA Tests Roadside Recharging

    Everyone makes mistakes once in a while, and we’re sure most drivers have run out of gasoline at least once in their life. But as the saying goes, it's hard to carry a gallon of electricity back to your plug-in car if the battery is completely out of charge. Which is why AAA is now testing...

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