John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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The battle between Tesla Motors, which sells its electric cars directly to buyers over the Internet, and the nation's auto dealers--who want to make that practice illegal--is now in its fifth year.
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2015 Audi A3 TDI Diesel Luxury Sedan Priced From $32,600While gasoline versions of the all-new 2015 Audi A3 compact luxury sedan went on sale in April, the model line also includes a TDI diesel version as well as an S3 performance sedan and an A3 Cabrio convertible. Those models will go on sale late this summer, and now pricing has been released for the...
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2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid: Video ReviewIt's no secret that Subaru has surged from strength to strength over the last several years. Its sturdy, all-wheel-drive lineup of sedans, hatchbacks, and crossover utilities can be seen on the roads anywhere there's bad weather, mountainous terrain, or active-sports participants. We tested the...
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2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell To Earn CA Credits, Not ProfitsLast week, the very first 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell hydrogen-powered vehicle was delivered to lessee Timothy Bush in Southern California. The event was widely covered, as the fuel-cell Tucson crossover may well be the highest-volume hydrogen vehicle on U.S. roads until Toyota and Honda start...
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Will Hollywood Abandon Tesla Model S For BMW i3 Electric Car?Electric cars can be confusing enough to neophytes--a car that you plug in at night just like a phone ?!?!?--but when you add in social status signifiers, it can all get quite complicated indeed. Which is how we end up with a Hollywood Reporter piece that asking whether celebrities may abandon...
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12-Cent Rise In Federal Tax On Gas, Diesel Proposed By Pair Of SenatorsTwo facts sit in opposition to each other in Washington, D.C., and have for many years. First, raising taxes--in any way, for any purpose, under any circumstances--is virtually impossible. Second, the U.S. Highway Trust Fund is broke, because the Federal gasoline tax hasn't been raised in two...
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It appears that celebrity musician and promoter Jay Z has added an electric car to his stable of luxury rides.
At least, that's the so-far-unconfirmed inference from a photo posted in late April to...
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Acura Kills ILX Hybrid For 2015; Only Two Mild Hybrids LeftAnother one bites the dust. Following the cancellation of the Honda Insight after the 2014 model year, Honda's upmarket Acura brand has eliminated the hybrid model from its entry-luxury ILX compact sedan lineup for 2015. The 2015 Acura ILX will be offered with two of the previous three powertrains...
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Tesla Model S Battery Swapping: Will It Ever Actually Arrive?Exactly a year ago, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk presided over a flashy demonstration in which the battery pack of a Tesla Model S electric car was apparently swapped from underneath within 90 seconds and replaced with a fresh pack. The event generated a huge amount of press, and subsequent coverage...
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Nissan e-NV200 Electric-Van Battery Adds Thermal ConditioningThe Nissan Leaf is by far the world's best-selling electric car, but one of the ways Nissan has kept its cost down is by eliminating an active-cooling system for its lithium-ion battery pack. Now, however, its second mass-produced electric vehicle--the Nissan e-NV200 small commercial van--turns out...
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Plug-In SUVs, Audi Electric Turbos, Hybrid Sales Stagnant: Today's Car NewsFord, Nissan, and Tesla make headlines today.
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Nissan Wants In On Tesla, BMW Electric-Car Charging Talks: ReportWith modern, mass-market electric cars on sale for three and a half years now, you might think that the path for growth has been pretty much laid out by now. But the great disruptor, Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors, may be changing the playbook once again. According to a report in...
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Have patience, all you SUV and crossover fans who desperately want one that plugs in and runs electrically.
They're coming, but you've got a year to wait--or perhaps a bit less, with luck.
Only two...
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Tesla Supercharger Sharing, Ford MPG Cuts, New BMW i3 Buyers: The Week In ReverseOur feature, The Week In Reverse, looks back at the most significant story we published each day of the previous week. We figure that if we collate them all in a single article, you can review, ogle, and ponder them--or simply catch up on any you missed during the work week. From gas-mileage cuts...
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Struggling Scion To Get Mazda2-Based Sedan, Auris-Based Hatchback, In Future?Scion, the supposedly hip, youth-oriented brand established 10 years ago by Toyota, hasn't had a new volume model in seven years. Its overall sales fell last year even as the new-car market surged. Now, apparently, it's slated to get two new models--a subcompact hatchback based on the...
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Ford Cuts Gas Mileage On 6 Models: What You Need To Know, And Open QuestionsThe news yesterday was simple: Ford has lowered the gas-mileage and efficiency ratings for six of its 2013 and 2014 models. Three are hybrids from Ford and Lincoln, two are Ford plug-in hybrids, and the last is the 2014 Ford Fiesta, newly updated, which has revised ratings for four different engine...
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Stock Commentator Jim Cramer Caught Off Guard By Tesla-Fan FerocityFans of Tesla Motors, its CEO Elon Musk, and the Tesla Model S electric car are some of the most ... errrrmmmm ... dedicated advocates for the company and its products that you'll find. And loud, well-known stock commentator Jim Cramer learned that, apparently to his dismay, when he recently ran...
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How Long Do Hybrid Cars Last: Which Will Make 150,000 Miles?Which hybrid cars accumulate the most mileage over time? According to a new data analysis, there's one hybrid that stands head and shoulders above the rest--and it's not the Toyota Prius. Used-car listing aggregator iSeeCars analyzed more than 20 million used-car listings posted during April and...
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The Tesla rumor mill is never quiet for long, and the latest one suggests that the company is developing a long-wheelbase version of its Model S sedan, specifically for the Chinese market.
Tesla...
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2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost: Gas Mileage Test Returns 40 MPGAs a general rule, we like small cars, and small cars with small engines. Eighteen months ago, when we first drove prototype versions of the 2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost, we knew we'd be eager to get our hands on the little subcompact with the turbocharged three-cylinder engine for a longer drive...
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Californians: Buy Honda Civic Natural Gas, Get $1,000 Off--But, HurryDo you live in California? Have you been mulling over the purchase of a natural-gas vehicle? If so, Honda wants you to know that its 2014 Honda Civic Natural Gas model is eligible for an immediate $1,000 purchase credit--but you'll need to act swiftly. DON'T MISS: 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas...
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First 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Delivered In CaliforniaThe very first 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell crossover vehicle was delivered yesterday to its lessee, Timothy Bush, in a ceremony that attracted both Hyundai executives and California government dignitaries. The keys to the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, leased for three years at $499 a month with...
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Would You Ride This Tiny Folding Electric Scooter To Work?The sexiest electric vehicle in the world right now is arguably the Tesla Model S luxury sedan, but now there seems to be a race on to design the smallest electric vehicle in the world. First came the Commute-Case from Green Energy Motors, and now we have the less expensive (and rather less...
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Tesla To Offer Supercharger As Fast-Charging Standard? Free To Drivers, YesElectric-car maker Tesla Motors, and more specifically its CEO Elon Musk, has been dropping hints for a while now that it proposes to open up the specifications of its Supercharger DC fast-charging standard for use by other manufacturers. An article yesterday in Engadget claimed Tesla was planning...
John Voelcker