John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Fiat Chrysler will abandon the use of diesel engines in all its passenger vehicles by 2022, according to a report Sunday.
Demand for diesel versions of passenger cars in Europe is waning and car...
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Lexus lowers hybrid prices to reduce premium over gasoline substantially
Gas is cheap in the U.S. and has been for years. Hybrids are no longer a cutting-edge or cool technology; they're just another powertrain. The result is that hybrids have been quietly ebbing as a proportion of total vehicle sales. DON'T MISS: 2018 Lexus RX 450hL hybrid three-row SUV priced from...
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Tesla expects 200,000th U.S. sale this year, electric-car tax credits to start phaseout
It's been a topic of discussion for years: What will happen when a carmaker reaches the cap on U.S. sales of electric cars that qualify for the full federal tax credit of $7,500? That number is 200,000; after the rest of that calendar quarter and the one following, the credit is halved for a...
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Toyota Prius recall in 2014 failed to fix problem, lawsuit says, may have cut mileage
Early in 2014, Toyota filed a voluntary recall notice with the NHTSA to fix a defect in roughly 800,000 third-generation Prius Liftback hybrids sold in the U.S. from 2010 through 2014. The company said it would make unspecified changes to software that controlled the vehicle's inverter, which...
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Tesla and Nissan EV totals, start-stop surges, RIP Opel Ampera-e, diesel decline: The Week in Reverse
Which German luxury make has killed off its diesel vehicles far ahead of schedule? What two electric-car makers have each now built and sold more than 300,000 vehicles? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, February...
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Tesla charging, grim climate studies, Mercedes diesels, Outlander PHEV updates: Today's Car News
Today, Tesla expands its destination charging to workplaces, some grim climate studies appear, the Outlander PHEV gets a more sophisticated powertrain next year, and Mercedes may have cheated on its diesels too. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Some Tesla drivers will be able to charge at...
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Investigators probing U.S. models of Mercedes-Benz sold with diesel engines have found software, possibly illegal under EPA rules, that helped them pass emission tests.
Such software may be similar...
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2019 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV updates for Europe to debut in Geneva
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has been a huge success in Europe, selling more than 100,000 copies there over several years. As the first and least expensive plug-in hybrid SUV, it received many incentives in different European countries and provided the first taste of plug-in electric driving for...
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Planet at "very high risk" for extreme warming, per leaked UN report; every 5-year delay matters
The processes of climate change don't care about politics. Or economics. Or public sentiment about science. Last December, an analysis showed the most accurate climate-science models to date predicted the worst effects in future years. Now, two more grim assessments have arrived. DON'T MISS...
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Tesla offers some employers at-work charging stations, for its cars only
Today, most people charge their electric cars at home, overnight. That's much harder for residents of multiple dwellings or those without dedicated off-street parking, increasing numbers of whom instead recharge during the day while parked at their workplace. Now Tesla plans to make it easier for...
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Hyundai Nexo SUV, Rivian electric pickup in 2020, Nissan eyes end of EV tax credits: Today's Car News
Today, a bit of clarity on a mysterious auto startup, some verdicts on the Hyundai Nexo fuel-cell SUV, and a look at how Nissan and others may handle the end of electric-car tax credits. All this and more on Green Car Reports. What will happen when electric-car tax credits expire, and how will each...
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Electric pickup truck in 2020 to launch mysterious Rivian's "future mobility"
When a mysterious company called Rivian issued a mysterious video in January 2017, it promised to "reshape mobility." As is often the case, that has turned out to involve electric cars. A year later, the company has released a few more details about its plans and its team. DON'T MISS: Chinese...
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The Hyundai Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell SUV that debuted last month at the Consumer Electronics Show won't be seen on California roads for many months yet.
It is expected to go on sale in the U.S. in the...
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Electric-car sales champ, more Zoe power, Lexus UX launch, hydrogen station density: Today's Car News
Today, we've got a more powerful Renault Zoe, a new hybrid crossover for Geneva, the same old electric-car global sales champ, and some analysis on hydrogen fueling station numbers. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We asked our Twitter followers where we'll see the most electric-car...
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China's BYD tops global electric-car production for third year in a row
Try asking any electric-car owner or advocate, or for that matter any member of the public, which automaker sold the most electric cars last year. In North America, the answer will likely be Tesla, or possibly Nissan or Chevrolet. But we'd bet you hear Tesla most often. The correct answer for...
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2018 Renault Zoe electric car: more powerful motor to go with last year's bigger battery
The subcompact Renault Zoe hatchback has been Europe's best-selling electric car for several years now. Last year, sales soared after it received a major upgrade to its battery pack, which grew to 41 kilowatt-hours, up from 22 kwh in earlier versions, almost doubling its range to 300 to 400...
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Germany's hydrogen stations exceed US; California beats Japan on density
As of today, there are 39 hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S., all but four of them in the state of California. They serve roughly 39 million Californians, whereas 284 million Americans outside the state have no access to hydrogen fuel-cell cars nor stations at which to refill them. Germany, on...
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Where will we see the most electric-car innovation? Twitter poll results
Innovation can be a hard concept to define as it relates to electric cars. Sure, there are the powertrains and structural designs of the vehicles themselves—including new proportions for the cabin enabled by the compact running gear and battery packs under the floor. But there are also many...
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VW Vizzion concept; start-stop surge; Tesla, Nissan at 300K; Porsche diesels dead: Today's Car News John Voelcker
Today, we've got another electric concept car coming to Geneva in a couple of weeks, a surge in start-stop sales, a look at Nissan and Tesla sales landmark, and Porsche killing off its last diesel...
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Porsche kills off its diesels, because customers no longer want them
Of the three brands caught up in the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal in the U.S., Porsche was by far the least affected. It had sold only one diesel model, a version of its Cayenne performance SUV fitted with a 3.0-liter turbodiesel developed by its VW Group sibling Audi. Regulators approved...
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Nissan, Tesla surpass 300,000 electric cars; one started later, one did it with a single model
Only two automakers have built and sold more than 300,000 battery-electric cars to date. One is from Japan, the other from Silicon Valley. And each can claim a specific distinction within those totals. DON'T MISS: 300,000th Nissan Leaf sold as new electric car deliveries start We know that the...
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Start-stop systems on U.S. light trucks doubled to one in five in a single year
Electric cars may be all the rage, but for now, all but a tiny fraction of the 250 million vehicles on U.S. roads burn gasoline or diesel fuel. One of the ways that new vehicles are boosting fuel efficiency is the use of what are called "start-stop" systems, which switch off the engine while the...
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Volkswagen ID Vizzion large all-electric sedan teased before Geneva debut
Volkswagen's first dedicated battery-electric vehicle will roll off the production lines in 21 months, but we won't see the compact hatchback ID model in North America. Instead, the first dedicated VW plug-in electric vehicle will be the production version of the ID Cross compact crossover that's...
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How much does it matter that top Trump officials deny climate science? Take our Twitter poll
Throughout the world, the accepted science of climate change is no longer in dispute. Every nation on earth has now signed the Paris Climate Treaty to develop plans to reduce the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Only one plans to withdraw from that treaty: the United States of...
John Voelcker