Richard Read, Reporter
Articles
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Although its arrival is still months away, we already know a lot about the all-electric BMW i3. We have a good idea of its range (with and without the optional range-extender), we've hypothesized...
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Got A Tesla Roadster And Want A Model S? Tesla Will Buy It Back
Pretend for a moment that you're one of the fortunate folks who purchased a new Tesla Roadster while it was still in production. You're satisfied with the car, but now all anyone wants to talk about is the swanky new Tesla Model S. What's an early adopter to do? You could, or course, trade in that...
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100 Tesla Model S Cars Join Las Vegas Project 100 Sharing Scheme
Let's assume for a moment that you're interested in electric cars. (Not a far-fetched idea, since you're reading a blog called "Green Car Reports".) You're intrigued by the growing number of options in extended-range vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt, but most of all, you're interested in fully...
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Can Electric Cars & Hybrids Interfere With Pacemakers?
The first internal pacemakers were developed in the 1950s. Heart patients were naturally skeptical: How does it run? Will the battery die? Can I be electrocuted? Just two decades later, the devices had become commonplace. The Six-Million Dollar Man went prime time, and humanity was making its first...
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Demand For Gas Falls, Gas Prices Rise: Blame Ethanol (And Congress)
For fans of fuel efficiency, the New York Times has good news and bad news. The good news is: drivers in the U.S. are using less gas these days. The bad news is: that's driving up the cost of gas. To anyone who's taken Econ 101, that probably seems counter-intuitive -- mostly because it is. To...
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Oh, By The Way? The Era Of The Private Car Is Over
As a reader of this blog -- a blog about cars -- chances are good that you own a car yourself. That's not unusual: today, many Americans depend on automobiles to get to work, to run errands, to see friends and loved ones. But as Emily Badger at The Atlantic points out, tomorrow will likely be a...
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To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast, but social media moves faster."
Think of the Harlem Shake phenomenon: one minute it was an obscure YouTube meme, the next, it was being...
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Would You Want To Buy This Subcompact Electric Car? (Video)
The Renault Zoe is quietly winding its way toward French electric car-enthusiasts, and Renault has launched a new video that shows off some the pint-sized ride's high-tech features.
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Toyota i-Road Electric Urban Minicar Swarms The Roads (Video)
There's a lot to like about auto shows. Seeing new production models can be truly exciting, and chatting with industry insiders offers new perspectives on the automotive world. But for many folks, the best part of any auto show is the abundance of concept cars. Like haute couture clothing, concept...
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Zipcar Says 72% Of Young Americans Don't Care Much About Owning A Car
Here's what we know about Millennials and their love/hate relationship with cars: In America, many folks born in the 1980s and 1990s grew up in wired homes and schools. When those folks were asked to choose between having a car or having access to the web, 64% chose the web. In fact, 32% said they...
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California Is Unlike Anywhere Else: Toyota Prius Most Popular New Car
Years ago, tourism officials in the Lone Star State adopted the saying, "Texas: It's Like A Whole Other Country". There's some truth to that, but the slogan might be most appropriate for California. Like Texas, California, is home to a diverse array of cultures and a wide range of environments...
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Elon Musk & SolarCity Offer Honda, Acura Owners Subsidized Solar Power
Do you own a Honda, or maybe an Acura? You might be eligible for a discount on solar power at your home. If you think that sounds strange, you're right. Why would a solar company partner with an automaker to provide solar arrays for owners of certain cars? The answer appears to be: market research...
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In case you haven't heard: car sharing is big business.
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of car-sharing companies. Zipcar -- America's pioneer in the sector -- represents one type, which is...
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GM Moves Electric, Fuel-Cell Work To Michigan From CA, NY
General Motors has announced more shuffling of its future-tech facilities. Back in October, the automaker shut down a fuel cell center in Honeoye Falls, New York and shifted operations (along with 220 jobs) to Pontiac, Michigan. Outposts in Torrance, California, Castleton, Indiana, and Warren...
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Yep, Car Buyers Rate Fuel Economy Number One, But...
There's good news and bad news for green car fans in the latest J.D. Power and Associates Avoider Study. For a decade, that study has interviewed recent car buyers, asking detailed questions about their purchase decisions. As you might guess from the title of the survey, Power focuses not only on...
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People Will Buy Electric Cars If They're Cheap, Privileged, And Convenient
Electric cars may be growing in popularity, but they still make up just a tiny percentage of the U.S. auto market. When will things take off? If sales in Norway are any indication, that will happen when electric vehicles become inexpensive, easy to own, and confer certain privileges. According to...
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Grim First: Air Pollution Makes Top 10 List Of Disease Risk Factors
According to the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study published this month in The Lancet, high blood pressure, tobacco smoke, and alcohol abuse are the world's most dangerous risk factors for disease. Among the other top-ten items on that grim list, we also find...
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Sales Of Hybrids & Electric Cars Surge 73% In 2012
Eco-minded shoppers have seen environmental issues take up more space in the news, and they've known that it was simply a matter of time before those concerns began affecting the sorts of vehicles we drive. Now, mainstream consumers are beginning to see the light. The change hasn't come overnight...
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Last year, Michael Thwaite wrote about the experience of teaching his daughter to drive in a MINI E. As he pointed out, the all-electric car made for a smooth ride, which helped cool his nerves and...
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Better Place Hires Marketing Guru Peter Economides To Buff Its Brand
Given soothsayers' record on end-of-the-world predictions, this probably won't be humanity's last year on Planet Earth. But for the folks at electric car start-up Better Place, 2012 has brought more than its share of doom and gloom. The biggest downer came in October, with the firing of Better...
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25% Of Today's New Cars Can Hit 2016 Emissions Goals
The past couple of years, auto industry headlines have focused on 2025 and its high benchmarks for corporate average fuel economy. But there's a nearer-term deadline that's fast approaching, and it comes with its own set of emissions and fuel-economy standards. The good news is that many cars on...
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E15 Is Coming & AAA Ain't Happy; New Fuel Could Void Warranties
There's a lot of talk nowadays about renewable energy and energy independence. One product of such chatter is a new blend of gasoline called E15, but not everyone is happy to see it coming down the pipeline. Ethanol is a common additive in gasoline, thanks in large part to the Energy Independence...
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U.S. Oil Future: Energy Independent By 2030, Bigger Than Saudis In 2020
In its 2012 edition of the World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency predicts that the U.S. will become the world's biggest oil producer within eight years. Yes, eight years -- as in, by 2020. And you know what else? The IEA predicts that we will become fully energy independent by 2030...
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2012-2013 Scion iQ Recalled For Safety System Flaw
Toyota has announced a voluntary recall of Scion iQ vehicles from the 2012 and 2013 model years. In all, some 11,200 vehicles are affected. The recall centers around the weight sensor cables located beneath the iQ's front passenger seat. According to a press release from Toyota, those cables "can...
Richard Read