John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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If you watched 60 Minutes on Sunday night--perhaps wondering whether the show would target the Tesla Model S electric car--you may have been relieved.
The segment, "Fast Cars and Rocket Ships," was...
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Tesla Fire Inquiry, Ford Hybrid Guide, Leaf Local Content: Today's Car NewsToday on Green CarReports: Texas turns friendly to electric cars, we update our Ford hybrid guide, and Massachusetts plans to push plug-in cars too. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The NHTSA closed its probe into Tesla Model S fires, saying a "defect was not identified." Good news for...
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Volkswagen Shows Off Its 40-Year History Of Electric CarsWhile its new 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf will be the first-ever plug-in electric VW sold in the U.S., the German carmaker has a surprisingly long history of prototype electric cars. Two weeks ago, during a drive event for its VW e-Golf and e-Up production models, along with prototype Golf GTE plug-in...
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2014 Nissan Leaf Domestic Content: Now Closer To Volt, Focus ElectricLast fall, we learned that the first year of U.S. production of the Nissan Leaf electric cars, built in Smyrna, Tennessee, had only 15 percent North American content. This year, the numbers are somewhat better--and they bring the Leaf closer to the domestic-content percentage of other plug-in...
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Tesla Battery Shield, 36-MPG Chrysler, VW e-Up, Ford Slaps Cadillac In Video Ad: Today's Car NewsToday on Green Car Reports: Tesla Motors announces a new three-part battery shield system for its Model S electric car, Ford quietly issues a video response to the polarizing 'Poolside' ad that neatly one-ups Cadillac, and we drive the smallest--and most fun--electric Volkswagen. All this and more...
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Volkswagen e-Up: Driving VW's Smallest Electric Car (Forbidden Fruit)Of the three plug-in VW cars we drove in Berlin this month, the one we liked best is the one we won't get in North America. The Volkswagen e-Up battery-electric minicar is a blast. It's small, rollerskate-agile, and performs well enough that it would be our preferred vehicle in any crowded city...
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Tesla Motors announced this morning that it will fit three new underbody components to all Model S electric cars to add further protection against impacts from road debris, which caused a pair of...
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Tesla Pedal Update, BMW Diesel Drive, China Coal Use: Today's Car NewsToday on Green CarReports: Tesla's doing well on reservations for its next model, Audi offers renewable energy to recharge its first plug-in hybrid (in Germany, anyway), and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are (still) coming soon. All this and more on Green Car Reports. There may be as many as 13,000...
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2014 BMW 535d xDrive Diesel Sedan: Fuel Economy Drive ReviewFor 2014, BMW offers diesel engines in its three sedan lines, and now we've spent a long weekend with the mid-size 5-Series sedan fitted with the fuel-efficient engine. Given the depth-of-winter test schedule, its xDrive all-wheel-drive system was very welcome--and almost a necessity for our...
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Audi A3 e-tron Option: Carbon-Free Recharging (In Germany)One advantage to plug-in electric cars is that they can operate with no carbon footprint if the electricity used to recharge them is generated from renewable sources. Burning liquid fuels, on the other hand, will always generate carbon emissions. Now Audi is offering a way for German buyers of its...
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Even In China, Coal Consumption May Be PeakingWhile use of coal for generating electricity has started to decline in the U.S., China continues to build coal power plants. With public anger at filthy air bubbling below the surface, and the costs of associated health effects more apparent, the country's government is well aware of the long-term...
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Nissan Leaf Recall, Tesla Tuner, Honda's Smart Home: Today's Car NewsToday on Green CarReports: A new company wants to be the pre-eminent Tesla tuner, Nissan recalls 29,000 Leaf electric cars to fix an airbag issue, and Honda is in the news not just once, but twice. All this and more on Green Car Reports. France's Renault Zoe electric car won a zero-emission version...
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California is different from the rest of the United States.
And its vehicle mix turns out to be very different too.
A simple glance at the state's rainbow of cultures and languages, its record of...
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Supercapacitor Sports Car, Electric-Car Roundup, Mazda's Clean Engine: Today's Car NewsToday on Green Car Reports: Lots about electric cars, from a list of all 16 on sale today to a look at how compliance cars are doing. Also, supercapacitors in sports cars, and a Mazda engine that could be as clean as an electric car. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Got a question about...
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Could Future Mazda Engines Emit Less CO2 Than Electric Cars?Is it possible to make a gasoline engine so efficient that it would emit less carbon dioxide per mile than is created by generating electricity to run an electric car over that same mile? Small Japanese carmaker Mazda says yes. In an interview published last week with the British magazine Autocar...
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VW Golf GTE Plug-In Hybrid, Tesla Pedals And Safety, Honda Hybrid Rundown: Today's Car NewsToday on Green CarReports: We drive VW's first plug-in hybrid, ask whether the Tesla Model S has a potentially hazardous safety issue, and offer up a sexy video (if you're into that sort of thing). All this and more on Green Car Reports. Next month, Canada's National Advanced Transportation...
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All-Wheel-Drive Hybrids: Hybrid SUVs, Crossovers With AWD Ultimate GuideSo you want a hybrid car, with its high gas mileage and maybe some all-electric running--but you also need all-wheel drive. What are your options? The question came to mind after testing the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, the small Japanese brand's first-ever hybrid, which comes standard with...
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Hybrid Subaru, Electric-Car Charging, Tesla 'TV Ad' Tickles Musk: Today's Car NewsToday on Green CarReports: We drive the first-ever hybrid Subaru, electric cars crop up even in small towns, and we have the Tesla "TV ad" that even Elon Musk enjoyed. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Batteries are the subject of much research these days; now scientists have new insight into...
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If ever any car brand should have offered a hybrid before now, it would be Subaru.
Now we've driven the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, its very first hybrid offering.
It's a much better car than...
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VW e-Golf Drive Report, Tesla In Arizona, Used Honda Insight Guide: Today's Car NewsToday on Green CarReports: We drive VW's first electric car to be sold in the U.S., run down what you need to know if you want to buy an early Honda Insight, and dig deeper into GM's new and more fuel-efficient engines. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Last week, we drove the Volkswagen...
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2015 Volkswagen e-Golf: Drive Report, First U.S. Sale DetailsThe 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf is the German maker's first production electric car to be offered for sale in the U.S. On sale late this year, it adds a plug-in electric powertrain option to the all-new seventh generation of the classic Golf five-door hatchback, now celebrating its 40th birthday. While...
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GM's New 3- And 4-Cylinder Engines Face Off Against Ford, VWYesterday's announcement by General Motors that it would launch a new line of three- and four-cylinder Ecotec engines for better fuel economy was short on some details. Notably, the carmaker only gave two examples of future cars they would power--and even declined to identify the three existing...
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Good News For Tesla: AZ Bill Would Legalize Direct Sales As State Angles For GigafactoryWhen the possibility of new jobs clashes with the desires of powerful campaign contributors, sometimes jobs can take priority. That may be what's happening in Arizona, where a new bill in the state legislature would legalize the direct-sales model of electric-car maker Tesla Motors--to the intense...
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GM Releases First Details On Next-Gen Ecotec Engine FamilyGeneral Motors is stepping up its engine game. Today it released first details of a new range of three- and four-cylinder Ecotec engines from 1.0 to 1.5 liters that replace no fewer than three separate engine families globally. GM had already shown one variant, a new turbocharged 1.0-liter...
John Voelcker