John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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VW Vizzion concept; start-stop surge; Tesla, Nissan at 300K; Porsche diesels dead: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, 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 themOf 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 modelOnly 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 yearElectric 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 debutVolkswagen'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 pollThroughout 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...
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It's been six months since General Motors completed the sale of its Opel division in Europe to PSA Group, the French parent of the Citroën, DS, and Peugeot brands.
With the sale came licenses to...
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Will Tesla Model S be a "collector car"? Tuckers are, but Kaisers aren't: why?Startup carmaker Tesla is just coming up on the 10th anniversary of its first delivery, the first of the 2,500 Roadster two-seat electric sports cars that launched it into world awareness. The company recently delivered its 300,000th car, putting it well ahead of all but one other startup carmaker...
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Tesla Model 3 production, California vs EPA, plug-in Subaru plans, Ram diesel fines: The Week in ReverseWhat Tesla Model 3 question seems to preoccupy quite a lot of people right now? How might the Trump Administration plan to justify slashing corporate average fuel-economy rules for future new vehicles? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the...
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$10K off BMW i3 in NJ, Trump likes gas taxes, Renault EV showroom, Model 3 numbers: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a pricey plug-in BMW, some numbers on the Tesla Model 3, news on Trump and gas taxes, and Renault's new electric-car-only showroom. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The new Roadster soft-top version of the 2019 BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car is now the most expensive car...
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Renault opens its first electric-vehicle-only showroom, in SwedenHow to sell electric cars in these early years poses a quandry for all automakers. Tesla chose to avoid existing franchised dealerships and set up its own "stores," where shoppers can learn about plug-in electric vehicles, and their advantages, and have questions answered by Tesla representatives...
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Trump backs 25-cent gas-tax boost for road repairs and infrastructure (maybe)The federal gas tax, which was supposed to pay for repairs and expansion to roads maintained or funded by the national government, now does nothing of the kind. Congress last raised the U.S. federal gas tax a quarter of a century ago in 1993, to the 18.5-cents-per-gallon level it remains at today...
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It's clear that incentives to buy specific cars work best when they can be applied directly at the time of sale.
That's why purchase rebates are widely preferred by electric-car advocates to tax...
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Tesla now makes almost 1,000 Model 3s a week, Bloomberg tracker estimatesProduction numbers for Tesla electric cars have always been slightly murky. The company announces deliveries only quarterly and refuses to break them down by country, meaning there are no sales figures that directly compare with those routinely issued by other makers. The Tesla Model 3 has endured...
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Faraday gets new cash, California vs EPA could be "war," electric car charging soars: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got half a billion dollars reportedly backing Faraday Future, a possible 'war" between California and Trump's EPA over loosening emission rules, and much more electric-car charging last year. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Struggling electric-car startup Faraday Future...
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EVgo, Chargepoint annual reports show growth in electric-car chargingSeven years and almost 800,000 cars after the first modern electric cars went on sale, there's still a lot wrong with the national charging infrastructure in the U.S. There's little central planning, little standardized signage or public signposting, virtually no awareness among non-EV drivers, and...
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California, allies ready for emission-law war with Trump EPA, CARB head saysWith the release of proposed new and lower fuel-economy rules expected from the NHTSA by March 30, many eyes have turned to the powerful California Air Resources Board. The state's pioneering role in reducing emissions and cutting air pollution predates even the existence of the U.S. Environmental...
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Faraday Future promised $1.5 billion, says FF 91 will arrive by end of this yearStarting a car company is not only very, very hard—as Tesla, Fisker, and many others testify—but requires breathtaking sums of money. Now struggling Faraday Future, the electric-car startup firm whose entrepreneurial Chinese backer is facing legal action in his home country, appears to...
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Subaru plug-in hybrid, more electric-car sales, BMW i3 discount, CAFE cuts coming soon: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, $10K off a BMW i3, what it would take to get more electric-car buyers, details on the coming Subaru plug-in hybrid, and the unlikely reason the Trump administration may use to slash...
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NHTSA could cite safety of heavier cars in slashing CAFE rules: reportsIt's been clear that under the Trump administration, the NHTSA and EPA plan to roll back linked fuel-economy rules and emission limits on new vehicles. Now a possible justification that will be used has emerged—and it's not the one many advocates had expected. According to a Bloomberg report...
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Self-driving Tesla to make LA to NYC trip this year, Musk says, without lidarIn June 2013, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced he would drive a Tesla Model S electric car across the U.S. to show off the company's new Supercharger fast-charging network. Indeed, two Tesla Model S sedans successfully completed the run from Los Angeles to New York City in February 2014. Last year...
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Subaru plug-in hybrid to use Prius Prime parts, coming in 2019When Toyota and Mazda said last September they would form a joint venture to produce electric-car parts, that answered the question of where Mazda's future plug-in vehicles would get their electric running gear. But it sparked another question: Where did that leave Subaru, another small automaker...
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What will get more people to consider electric cars? Twitter poll resultsJust shy of 200,000 plug-in electric cars were sold in the U.S. last year, their seventh year on sale. That's the highest number yet, but still just a little more than 1 percent of the market. And it's far from clear that the general car-buying public at large is aware that electric vehicles exist...
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Hydrogen challenge chart, electric-car fee, Tesla road trip, 2018 Fiat 500e preview: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a new state fee proposed for hybrids and electric cars, a 2018 Fiat 500e preview, a Tesla cross-country road trip, and a chart explaining the challenge for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Take our latest Twitter poll, which asks where you think...
John Voelcker