Martin Padgett, Editorial Director

Martin Padgett avatar
Martin Padgett is Internet Brands Automotive Group’s Editorial Director. He ensures the quality of content across the Group’s portfolio of automotive destinations, which include The Car Connection, Motor Authority, and Green Car Reports. Padgett oversees the editorial development of each site, as well as vehicle reviews and evaluations that are unique to The Car Connection, including its numeric TCC Rating scoring system. He also guides deeply sourced industry reporting at each site, from first drive reviews of the latest supercars and electric vehicles, to in-depth analysis of topics that range from EV charging to the future of gas-powered trucks and SUVs. With a career that spans more than 30 years, Padgett has reported on the automotive industry since he joined Car and Driver magazine in 1991. Prior to joining the startup site that would become The Car Connection, he wrote for other prominent automotive outlets including AutoTrader, Edmunds, Automobile Magazine, Stuff, Outside, and BusinessWeek. As a juror for the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, his insights and evaluations play a vital role in recognizing excellence within the automotive industry. Padgett is a native of Washington, D.C. He graduated with a BA in history with honors from Duke University. He earned an MFA in narrative nonfiction writing from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications in 2018. In 2023, he completed his PhD in U.S. Constitutional history at Georgia State University.

Articles

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf Misses June 30 Deadline

    We've been keeping you in the loop as High Gear Media--well, me in particular--angles to be among the first to drive and own the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car.

    Since Nissan opened up the ordering...

  • 2011 Elantra, 2012 Focus: 40 MPG Without Hybrid Fuss

    Hybrid technology's responsible for those airy fuel economy numbers from the likes of the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius, but the 40-mpg barrier's about to be broken by a pair of compact cars--without any batteries or hybrid add-ons whatsoever. Earlier this year, we showed you the 2012...

  • 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: Cheaper Than A Prius?

    If you're shopping for a hybrid vehicle, time is drawing to a close to take advantage of the Federal government's hybrid tax credits. But before those credits expire at the end of 2010, there's one new hybrid you'll want to add to your shopping list: the upcoming 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. It's...

  • 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Could Hit 40 MPG

    The 2011 Hyundai Sonata has been a huge sales hit for the Korean car company, outpacing the Chevrolet Malibu and Nissan Altima in recent months. The news could get better for Hyundai later this year, as the new sedan gets a greener version that could hit a class-best fuel economy target. Hyundai's...

  • 2011 Honda CR-Z: First Drive

    What do you get when you take some of the inspiration of Honda’s much-loved CRX two-seater from the 1980s and cross it with the also-much-loved Insight coupe from the past decade, then give it the latest version of Honda’s hybrid system? Honda says you get the 2011 Honda CR-Z...

  • Tesla Opens Up About Its New Old Factory

    The ink's barely dry on the Tesla - Toyota deal that gives the startup electric-car maker a new manufacturing home. But today, Tesla's going public with some details on how it plans to use the former NUMMI facility in Fremont, California, to build its mainstream 2012 Tesla Model S sedan. The former...

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    Green Car News: Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Hits 41 MPG

    With the impending death of the Mercury Milan Hybrid, there's just one luxury sedan that gets the EPA's top fuel economy ranking for the 2011 model year--and that would be the Milan's surviving...

  • 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Earns 41-MPG Rating

    We've told you about the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid awaiting an on-sale date later this year. Now, Ford's confirming that its ritzy cousin to the Ford Fusion Hybrid will hit the same 41-mpg city fuel economy rating. The MKZ Hybrid's EPA fuel economy will be 41/36 mpg when it goes on sale later this year...

  • The Future of Electric Cars Could Lie in...Afghanistan?

    Electric cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf require lots of lithium and other precious heavy metals to make them go. Today's sources of lithium are far and few: Bolivia has something like 40 percent of the world's deposits, while Russia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina have some. This weekend, the...

  • WSJ: No Tesla-Toyota Joint Venture, Yet

    They may have struck a deal to transfer control of the old NUMMI manufacturing facility, but as of yet, Toyota and electric-car manufacturer Tesla have no firm deal to produce vehicles together. The Wall Street Journal says a recent stock filing reveals the companies haven't yet inked a deal that...

  • Recycling Your Car? Try Recycling a Whole Airport

    The 2010 Michelin Challenge Bibendum is finished, but plans are already in place for the 2011 event headed to Berlin. And just to one-up the organizers in Brazil--where almost 100 percent of vehicles on the road can run on ethanol--the German hosts are taking things one step further in the theme of...

  • Challenge Bibendum: 7 Cars from The Sustainable Future

    The Challenge Bibendum brings the sustainable-mobility world together every year or so--though sometimes, the 2010 edition of the Bibendum didn't come together as quickly as planned. It's a long way from North America to South America, after all. On day one, our travel group was cleaved in half by...

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    The Next Big Range Extender for Electric Cars? New Tires

    Automakers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to squeeze the last erg of electric energy from a whole range of forthcoming electric cars. Expensive software controllers and astronomically...

  • 2010 Michelin Challenge Bibendum: The Greener Side of Rio

    For decades, the world's been wondering what comes next--after the era of gasoline, that is. And since 1998, a global convocation of scientists, politicians, transportation companies and journalists have gathered somewhere in the world for the Challenge Bibendum, a sort of green-car congress that...

  • 2010 Michelin Challenge Bibendum: Facts and Figures

      The 2010 Michelin Challenge Bibendum brings sustainable mobility to the discussion table, but what are the facts? By the numbers, the organizers show how a growing global economy and driving population demand some response from vehicle manufacturers. These are a few of the most compelling...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf Logs 6000 Orders--Including Mine

      While it's not quite the thundering herd that lined up for the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro--or even the Apple iPad--Nissan says it has a healthy crowd of people interested in owning the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car. The 2011 Leaf will be the first mass-market electric car sold in America in the...

  • 2010 Tesla Roadster's Price is Right--But Not For One Player

    You've seen it all--Alpine hikers plummeting to their deaths, women losing tube tops and falling down spinning the big wheel, people losing their "stuff" when they bid exactly right on a Showcase Showdown. But have you ever seen one winner walk away with more than $112,000 on The Price is Right?...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf: We Order Ours, And Show You How

    When the 2011 Nissan Leaf goes on sale later this year, a lucky handful of buyers in eight areas around the country will be among the first to own and drive the first mass-market electric car sold by an automaker in the modern era. I'm hoping I'll be one of them. As of a few moments ago, I'm in the...

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    Honey, I Think I Just Signed Up to Buy a Nissan Leaf

    Automotive journalists aren't known for putting their money where their mouth is. Lots of us talk about loving the planet, owning the environmental mantle, and yet somehow we all drive MINI Coopers...

  • Ditch Your (Electric) Car in the Best Bike Towns In America

    Sometimes, a car--even an electric car like the 2011 Nissan Leaf--isn't the best way to transport yourself on errands or to work. Bicycling's one of the greenest alternatives to gas-powered travel, and when it comes to biking-friendly commutes, a handful of cities have a huge advantage over others...

  • Green Car Megadeal: Renault-Nissan-Daimler Could Save Smart

    This morning's deal bringing Daimler AG into the Renault-Nissan alliance has lots of interesting details--but first and foremost, it could be what Smart needs to survive in the long term. Today in Brussels, the CEOs of the companies involved--Renault-Nissan's Carlos Ghosn and Daimler AG's Dieter...

  • EDTA Speeds Up Electric Car Timeline

    In 2009, the plug-in vehicle market gained unprecedented federal support. In addition to President Obama's proclamation of 1,000,000 plug-in cars by 2015, several newcomer companies, including Tesla, Fisker, A123, and Johnson Controls-Saft, received multimillion dollar grants and/or loans to...

  • 2012 Infiniti EV: Is It the Fluence?

    While Infiniti plans for its first electric vehicle, some recent evidence points to the shape and size of the future four-door EV.

  • Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept Seats 4, 70 MPG: 2009 L.A. Auto Show

    Volkswagen has just taken the wraps off its Up! Lite concept, which will, the automaker says, prefaces a production car that's just two years away. The four-seat concept car has a promised fuel-economy figure of 70 mpg (and carbon emissions of 65 g/km) from a hybrid diesel 0.8-liter two-cylinder...

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