John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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With almost 250,000 plug-in electric cars on U.S. roads--and double that number globally--electric vehicles are starting to establish a small foothold in the market.
More than 10,000 a month were...
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The Challenge For Electric-Car Sales Is Car Dealers, AgainCar dealers maximize their profits by selling the highest number of cars at the highest possible prices in the least possible time. Plug-in electric cars are unfamiliar to most buyers, and require more explanation--sometimes a great deal more--along with specific types of support during and after...
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Auto Industry Doing Fine In Meeting Gas-Mileage Goals, It Turns OutThe auto industry came very near to the precipice in 2009, and it agreed to significant new regulations to enable it to step back from the brink. Now, it turns out that it's not only meeting, but actually beating, the required reductions in emissions. That means that, according to the U.S...
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FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In July: Leaf, Volt Both Do WellSales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. continued their rise in July, as Nissan delivered more than 3,000 Leaf battery electric cars and Chevy more than 2,000 Volt range-extended electrics. It's was only the second time that the two cars together have sold more than 5,000 units in a single...
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Competitive Electric Cars, Crossovers With Great Gas Mileage, Tesla Offices: Today's Car NewsIt's mostly crossovers and electric cars today: We drove the new Subaru Outback, look at when electric cars will be fully competitive with old-fashioned gasoline ones, and of course there's a Tesla story to complete the day. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We added more data to our July...
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2015 Subaru Outback: Gas Mileage Review Of Crossover Wagon Utility VehicleThe new 2015 Subaru Outback is now arriving at dealerships, and it's likely to continue the small Japanese maker's striking growth over the past five years. Like every other maker, though, Subaru has to make all of its vehicles more efficient--and to do so on a considerably smaller development...
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It wasn't so long ago--not quite four years, actually--that Tesla's new headquarters and office complex in the foothills of Palo Alto, California, seemed a big and audacious gamble.
My, how times...
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Volt & Leaf Crashed, Tesla Gigafactory, Three Drive Reports: The Week In Reverse (VIDEO)Why were reporters sneaking around a Nevada industrial park? And which plug-in electric car didn't do so well on a recent IIHS crash test? This is the Week In Reverse for Friday, August 1, 2014, right here at Green Car Reports. We've now driven the upcoming 2015 Audi A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid, and...
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Fisker Karma Finnish Production To Resume Following Fixes, New Model LaterThe new owners of the Fisker luxury car brand will resume production of the Karma range-extended electric sedan initially at a contractor's factory in Finland--but not until the company has fixed "about 250 bugs" in the vehicle. The news came as executives of Wanxiang, China's largest auto parts...
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Tesla: 8,763 Cars Built, 7,579 Sold, 'Potential' Nevada Gigafactory Ground Broken: Q2 Earnings ReportTesla Motors built 8,763 Model S electric cars and delivered 7,579 of them to customers during the second quarter, according to just-released second-quarter results. It expects to build about 9,000 cars this quarter, and deliver 7,800, largely due to a two-week production shutdown for retooling at...
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Volt And Leaf Crash Tests, Cruze Diesel Sales, Tesla Gigafactory Pact: Today's Car NewsSmall cars and the new IIHS small-overlap crash test: How'd they do? We look at lousy sales of GM's first diesel passenger car in 28 years, a higher-efficiency model of the 2015 Ford F-150 pickup truck, and of course there's a Tesla story to lead off the day. All this and more on Green Car Reports...
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Riding The Harley-Davidson LiveWire Electric Motorcycle: News VideoHarley-Davidson may be the most traditional of motorcycle makers. But it's now taken a huge leap into a greener future with its LiveWire electric motorcycle concept. Recently, our writer Ben Rich rode it--and reported on what it's like. This is Green Car Reports' video news for the week of July 28...
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The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel went on sale almost a year ago, the first diesel passenger car sold by General Motors in 28 years.
Hopes were high for the Cruze with the European turbodiesel engine,...
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2015 Ford F-150 SFE: Highest Gas Mileage Model For Aluminum PickupVarious details have already been released about the radical new 2015 Ford F-150 pickup truck, the first-ever to use an all-aluminum body to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency. Now another piece of information has leaked out: Ford will offer an F-150 SFE model, a special option package that...
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Tesla, Panasonic Sign Gigafactory Pact; Nevada Site Work Already Underway?Now it's official: Panasonic and Tesla Motors will build the "gigafactory," a huge lithium-ion cell fabrication and battery-pack production facility in the western United States. Today Tesla will report its second-quarter earnings after the market closes, and CEO Elon Musk was bound to face...
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2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250: Gas Mileage Review Of Compact Luxury SedanWe've finally had a chance to test out the fuel economy of the new and very popular smallest Mercedes-Benz, the 2014 CLA 250 sedan. The company has been struggling to meet global demand for the car, which is both the smallest Mercedes in many years and one of the least expensive. We wanted to see...
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Infiniti LE Electric Luxury Sedan To Be Built After All, With Higher RangeSome vehicles have complex, protracted development histories--and it looks like the Infiniti LE electric luxury sedan may be one of them. Following a period in which its development was suspended by Infiniti's then-CEO Johan de Nysschen (who most recently heads Cadillac), the LE is now back on...
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1.2 Billion Vehicles On World's Roads Now, 2 Billion By 2035: ReportCalculating the total number of motor vehicles on the planet is an inexact science, but the number is growing rapidly. The automotive trade journal Ward's Auto had estimated that the total crossed 1 billion vehicles sometime during 2010. DON'T MISS: It's Official: We Now Have One Billion Vehicles...
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With the new and more fuel-efficient Honda Fit hatchback now on sale, the Japanese carmaker is slimming down its lineup a bit.
For 2015, it has eliminated three low-selling green cars: the Honda...
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Plug-In Electric Cars: How To Buy A Second Charging CableIf you own a plug-in electric car, what's the best (and cheapest) way to get a second charging cable to supplement the one that came with your vehicle? Turns out there are several options--as electric-car owners and advocates suggested when we asked the question. MUST SEE: Decoding Toyota's...
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Electric Harley Ride, VW Golf Diesel Vs Electric, Ford F-150 Intrigues Buyers: The Week In Reverse (VIDEO)What's the new Harley electric motorcycle concept like to ride? And why did Tesla stop building its Model S electric sedan? This is the Week In Reverse for Friday, July 25, 2014, right here at Green Car Reports. Our writer Ben Rich was able to take a test ride on the Harley-Davidson Livewire...
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2015 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid Will Be Third Plug-In For German BrandOver the past few years, it's become clear that the German prestige makers are determined to offer plug-in electric vehicles across their various ranges. Some makers are more aggressive (BMW), some less so (Mercedes-Benz)--but by the end of next year, there will be a dozen or more vehicles with...
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Quiet-Car Rules Must Be Delayed, Automakers Say: NHTSA Not ReadyThe concern that very quiet hybrid and electric cars may pose a danger to unaware pedestrians has been around for a decade or more now. Back in 2010, Congress required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop rules for adding alert noises to cars running on silent electric...
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Nissan Leaf $5,500 Battery Replacement Loses Money, Company Admits
Last month, electric-car owners finally learned the price of a replacement battery pack for the Nissan Leaf: a surprisingly low $5,500 after the old pack is traded in. Many advocates and Leaf owners promptly seized on the price to "prove" that Nissan could now build batteries for less than $250 per...
John Voelcker