Syndicate

Since launching the Ford Escape Hybrid in 2004, Ford has confined sales of its hybrid-electric vehicles to North America. But that's about to change. In European markets, where up to 50 percent of new cars are fitted with high-efficiency diesel engines, Ford has focused its efforts over the last...

Remember the June rantings of British motoring journalist Mike Rutherford, who warned in his column for the Telegraph that cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf would retain just 10% of its original value three years after purchase? While Rutherford ‘s original article was based on figured provided...

Last summer, Karl Stracke, the vice president of global vehicle engineering of General Motors, said the company planned to test three battery-electric vehicles in different global regions. This morning, the company's Opel unit announced that it would test a fleet of Opel Meriva small minivans...

The 2010 Toyota Prius had an exceptionally long model year, introduced in early spring 2009 and delivered to dealers by May or June that year. But now the 2011 Prius hybrids are arriving at dealerships, and Toyota has levied a modest price increase of $250 across each of the four trim packages it...

The biggest challenge for battery electric vehicles is clearly the cost and the weight of today's lithium-ion battery packs. Now Volvo is experimenting with a new composite material that can store and release energy more quickly than a convention lithium-ion cell and, it says, might one day replace...

What happens when the humble charging station gets a makeover courtesy of a top San Francisco design firm, a choice of colors and an TV advert full of young, happy, carefree friends making an EV road trip? The GE WattStation. Developed by General Electric as its answer to the demand for electric...

Coda Automotive, the electric car company that many have overlooked until recently has just launched its new site detailing vehicle price, vehicle information and range information. We’ve been guessing at the Sedan’s base price now for some time, but Coda have confirmed that the retail...

The term "hatchback" has long been considered poison in Detroit, an indicator of a slow, cheap, tinny, undesirable econobox. (And when's the last time you heard "econobox," for that matter?) No one wants 'em, says the conventional wisdom. But conventional wisdom may be getting knocked upside the...

For U.S. car buyers, GM is convinced that a range-extended electric vehicle--its 2011 Chevrolet Volt, to be specific--is the best solution to meeting the needs of drivers who may need to go further than the 40 miles a Volt will do on battery power. But elsewhere in the world, GM is quietly pursuing...

It doesn't get mentioned as much in the press as the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt, but there's a third compact electric car coming to market within the next six months. It's the 2011 Coda Sedan, and now Green Car Reports is happy to bring you the first published photos of the production...

After many months of testing, qualifying, and mechanical challenges--not to mention reams of press releases--today the Progressive Automotive X-Prize announced the winners of its three categories, who will split $10 million in prize money. Both winners in the "alternative" classes for two-passenger...

We've written before about just how worried automakers are at proposals by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to increase the ethanol content of pump gasoline from 10 to 12 or even 15 percent. They fear it will damage older cars whose engines and fuel systems were never designed to handle...

Whilst the U.S. might not be warming to the 'Smart car' quite the way owners Daimler might have hoped, the same can't be said for the car's reception in Europe. 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the Smart in the United Kingdom, and to celebrate, the marque hosted 'Smartfest' at Mercedes-Benz...

When your lead-in to a first-time-ever hybrid sedan is a North American Car of the Year trophy winner, things are probably okay in your world. That's Lincoln's world right now, where the brand is embarking on a complete renovation that will include 7 new or refreshed vehicles in the next four...

In the green-car world, the leaf is the king of all icons. The 2010 Honda Insight fertilized the idea when it bowed in 2008; it still promotes greener driving with electronically rendered displays of plants that add leaves as the car's computers sense a light, planet-conscious foot on the gas...

Range anxiety—that's the worry that people feel as they approach an electric car's driving range—has long been a bit unbecoming to discuss among fierce electric-vehicle advocates; but looking out at the general market, it's one of the most significant barriers against widespread...

While the dust is now settling on a year's worth of recalls by a beleagured Toyota, the company is still working to modify millions of vehicles that are potentially involved in recalls over sudden acceleration or other safety issues. Toyota Prius models built from 2004 to 2009 are part of a recall...

Want to know the fuel economy ratings of a new car you're considering? You probably already know to look at the gas-mileage window sticker. Now, for the first time in 30 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are planning a...

The eagerly awaited 2011 Ford Fiesta subcompact has had more than its share of challenges, but Ford wants you to know it has resumed shipping the little sedan and hatchback models. New ones should be showing up at your dealer within days. The latest issue was a problem in an unidentified part that...

As regular readers know, we've never been big fans of the Smart ForTwo minicar. It's not that we dislike small two-seaters; in fact, we think they're cool (unlike most U.S. car buyers, we should add). No, our problems with the Smart stem from its unpleasant driving quality--the slamming shifts from...