Bengt Halvorson, Senior Editor
Articles
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If you drive a Tesla Model S or a Nissan Leaf, then a certain image follows: Plain and simple, you’re an electric-vehicle early adopter. Just as the Toyota Prius has always shouted out that...
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Chevy Bolt At CES, 2016 Toyota Prius Driven, EV Cord-Cutting: The Week In Reverse (Video)GM's all-electric car Bolts to Vegas, we drive the new Prius and a plug-in hybrid Audi SUV, and look at EV cord-cutting. This is The Week In Reverse, for Friday, November 20, 2015, right here at Green Car Reports. We’re counting down the weeks until we get more details about the production...
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Electric Cars Sans Cords: Nissan Readying Higher-Power Inductive ChargingElectric car owners get to enjoy a certain level of pride in saying that they never have to deal with gas stations and dirty fuel-filler nozzles. Most of those owners would likely agree that not having to deal with cords and charging ports would be another great step forward, however. Soon, if...
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Will Nissan Leaf Offer Autonomous Driving Just Like A Tesla?With the IDS Concept that Nissan showed at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, the automaker hinted that Nissan may be readying a suite of autonomous technologies—and a language through which the car will communicate with the driver and with its surroundings. And while it might be tempting to see...
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Quick Drive: 2017 Nissan Rogue Hybrid Previewed by X-Trail HybridThe compact crossover has in recent years become the go-to vehicle format for frugal families, and it’s largely replaced the mid-size sedan when it comes to workaday parental tasks like bringing the kids to school, practice, and play. Yet this class has been devoid of hybrid offerings. With...
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Nissan's 60-kWh, 200-Mile Battery Pack: What We Know So FarWill the next-generation 2018 Nissan Leaf offer an option that could provide 200 miles or more of real-world driving range? Based on the concept car and prototype battery pack that officially bowed this past week, coinciding with the Tokyo Motor Show, it’s increasingly likely. Nissan’s...
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The Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal is due to have some lasting consequences, not just for the German automaker itself but for the entire global auto industry.
It may lead to a serious...
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Nissan IDS Concept: Autonomous Electric Car At Tokyo Motor ShowAt the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan has revealed a concept car that gives a glimpse of what electric-car ownership could be like many years into the future—and, perhaps, provides a few more hints of what’s in store for the second-generation Nissan Leaf. Called the Nissan IDS Concept, it...
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Lamborghini Plug-In Supercar Nixed, But Plug-In Hybrid Urus SUV Is OnThe Italian supercar maker Lamborghini has abandoned any plans to use a plug-in hybrid powertrain in its sports cars in the near future. But instead it’s doubling down on the technology, and looking to use it where it might be best appreciated by the market: in its upcoming Urus sport-utility...
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Four Years In, Ford Releases First U.S. Focus Electric Ad (Video)On most American streets and highways, the Ford Focus Electric is as rare a sight as some exotic sports cars. And unfortunately, some continued rather dismal sales numbers support that. Focus Electric sales totaled 1,964 in calendar-year 2014, up only slightly from the previous year’s total...
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VW’s Diesel Mess, Production Tesla Model X, 2016 Chevy Volt Ads: The Week In Reverse (Video)We have a lot more information about VW's diesel scandal, but no official solution yet for owners; the production Tesla Model X has made its grand entrance; and there are some controversial new ads for the Chevy Volt. This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car...
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2016 Chevrolet Volt Ads: Attacking Prius, Leaf...And Bolt EV?The 2016 Chevrolet Volt, for which deliveries began just this week, is going into attack mode against the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius in a set of new ads. But in one of those ads, it almost feels as if GM is attacking its own (upcoming) product. They build on focus-group-themed ads that Chevy has...
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Beginning in late fall 2016, if you’re lucky enough to visit the Warren Technical Center campus of General Motors [NYSE:GM], in Michigan, you might find your shuttle quite intriguing: a 2017...
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Diesel Scandal Already Costing Volkswagen, Audi In ReputationOnly one out of four vehicle owners think favorably of Volkswagen this week, in the wake of the brand’s diesel emissions scandal. It’s yet another indicator that the brand, which saw three out of four opinions favorable before scandal, faces a long, tough road to earn back consumer...
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DOE Study: Focus Charging Around Homes, Workplaces, ‘Hot Spots’Public charging infrastructure isn’t actually needed everywhere to accomplish wider electric-vehicle adoption. That’s one potentially surprising conclusion resulting from a new analysis of charging habits, released by the Idaho National Laboratory this week. ALSO SEE: Volkswagen Diesel...
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Volkswagen Diesel Pollution: How Dangerous To The Public, Your Family?Volkswagen has underscored that its diesel cars affected by its TDI emissions scandal are safe to drive. It highlights that on a special consumer site dedicated to information about these models, which include the 2009-2015 Jetta TDI, 2009-2014 Jetta SportWagen TDI, 2010-2015 Golf TDI, 2015 Golf...
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Tesla Model X: The New Safest SUV?The Tesla Motors [NSDQ: TSLA] Model X SUV has been revealed in production form; and while the packaging and performance of this new electric SUV are mostly as expected, there were plenty of surprises. One of the surprises was how well the trick double-hinged falcon doors are designed—with a...
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Musk: Trickery “The Only Option” For Engineers In VW Scandal?Although internal combustion engines are for the most part getting a little more efficient with every new model year, there’s no avoiding a cold fact: that whether they’re gasoline or diesel—or even a groundbreaking design under the hood of the 2016 Prius—they’re...
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German supplier Bosch, the longtime manufacturer of fuel-system and emissions components to Volkswagen, warned the automaker that using software that would circumvent emissions rules in normal,...
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Tesla Model X: Will Falcon Doors Be A ‘Killer App’ Or A Handicap?Ahead of tonight’s big reveal of the production-spec Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] Model X crossover, a lot of details regarding this all-electric utility vehicle are already out. Yet as the buzz builds, plenty of potential buyers hang in the balance over one important detail: the so-called falcon...
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Concepts Preview Shared Platform For Porsche, Audi Premium EVs?To those who want a luxury vehicle with an all-electric powertrain, California’s Tesla Motors has had the market under wraps for many years. But that’s slated to change quite soon, as each of the German automakers prepare all-electric vehicles. And there are some strong hints in the...
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2016 Lexus RX Hybrid F Sport First DriveThe Lexus RX luxury crossover—and particularly the RX 450h hybrid version—has always been an image vehicle. But now, for 2016, the RX lineup finally gets an image that says something other than pragmatic, fiscally responsible luxury. It’s no surprise why this vehicle is the...
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Supplier ZF: Intriguing EV Ideas, But No Plans To Get In The Battery BusinessThe supplier ZF has designed and engineered a city-sized EV. Yet it has no plans to build such a model; the one-off prototype is just a means for the German supplier, touting its combined capabilities with TRW Automotive, which it finished acquiring earlier this spring, to flex its muscle on safety...
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Volkswagen e-Golf Climate Control: How Much Does A/C Impact Range?In Portland, Oregon, where we’re putting our long-term Volkswagen e-Golf to the test, it’s been one of the hottest summers on record. So far in the summer of 2015, Portland has had more than 25 days reaching 90 degrees or more, as well as multiple 100-degree days—in all, some...
Bengt Halvorson