John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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There it is, parked right in the space reserved for electric-car charging: a Hyundai Tucson.
Which runs solely on gasoline.
But wait! There's a badge on the back.
Right under the silver Hyundai...
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Sales Surprise: Battery-Electric Cars Are Outselling Plug-In HybridsPoring over monthly sales figures for plug-in electric cars--and our six-month summary--the data points out an unexpected fact. Did you know that pure battery-electric cars actually outsold plug-in cars that also have engines? From January through June of this year, the combination of 9,839 Nissan...
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Subaru Swamped By Demand For XV Crosstrek In U.S., Hybrids In JapanIf any carmaker should already have had a hybrid in its lineup, it's Subaru. We've said that before, and before the end of the year, we'll know much more about the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid that was unveiled at last spring's New York Auto Show. But it turns out that Subaru now has two...
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2014 BMW i3 Electric Car: Specifications And Details ReleasedWith the global unveiling of the 2014 BMW i3 less than three weeks away, BMW has revealed a few more details on its radical new electric car. The i3 battery-electric five-door hatchback's 125-kilowatt (170-horsepower) electric motor can generate peak torque of 184 lb-ft. The motor will accelerate...
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Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation Set Up To Preserve Electric-Car HistoryWith more than 100,000 electric cars on U.S. roads--and thousands more added each month--advocates and historians are turning their attention to the last time cars with plugs rolled out of U.S. factories, almost 100 years ago. But as far as we know, there's no single museum or entity in the U.S...
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2013 Fiat 500c Abarth Cabrio: Fun But Far From Fuel-EfficientAlthough we hate to say it here, for certain cars, sometimes gas mileage really just doesn't matter that much. That's our verdict on the 2013 Fiat 500c Abarth Cabrio, the new convertible version of the hot-hatch 500 Abarth minicar--the one whose television ad people are still talking about. Just in...
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With a little price war on electric cars taking place in California, there are waiting lists for the Honda Fit EV, and this year's production of Fiat 500e may be sold out.
That means that Fiat and...
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Do Tesla Model S And Porsche Panamera Plug-In Hybrid Compete?In less than a year, the Tesla Model S has created a new category of car: the electric luxury sport sedan. But with impending launches by two experienced, prestigious German luxury brands, will Tesla find the Model S facing new competition among wealthy buyers who like plugging in to drive? We just...
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June Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Year Won't Quite Double 2012With half the year now gone, are plug-in electric cars on track to double their sales last year? Not quite. As of the end of June, roughly 41,000 plug-in cars had been sold in the U.S. That number would need to be closer to last year's total of 53,000 to keep sales on pace to double the 2012 total...
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Cyclist Vs Self-Important, Entitled, Angry Supercar Driver (Video)Owners of supercars often seem to feel a sense of entitlement. So we had to chuckle at the outrage expressed by the videographer who posted a clip of a Lamborghini Aventador momentarily forced to slow down on a narrow London street as a cyclist pulls out. You'll note that the driver of the...
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Spy Shots: 2015 BMW ActiveHybrid X5 PrototypeIs BMW planning an ActiveHybrid X5 model for the next-generation X5 crossover, due to launch this fall as a 2014 model? That's what it appears from one reader's sighting of a camouflaged prototype in San Francisco. Yesterday, Alister Oliver wrote: I'm currently at Hawk Hill in San Francisco...
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2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Unveiled: 240 HP, Higher Fuel EconomyChrysler-Fiat took the wraps off its long-anticipated 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the first light-duty pickup truck to be offered with a diesel engine in many years. The new diesel pickup uses the same 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 already fitted to the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel utility vehicle...
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On June 5, a Tesla Motors fan mounted what seemed like another quixotic effort to support Tesla in selling its electric cars directly to buyers.
The petition at WhiteHouse.gov that he or she launched...
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LA Metro Chooses Electric Buses From Chinese Company BYDYou might think that the 25 electric buses to be purchased by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be roundly applauded. That's not necessarily the case. LA Metro announced yesterday afternoon that it would spend $30 million to buy up to 25 of the battery-electric buses made...
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2012 Chevrolet Volts--Just Four--Recalled For Brake Valve GlitchIt just may be the most minimal safety recall in history. General Motors said yesterday it would recall precisely four 2012 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric cars to fix a potential problem with a brake component that could have safety implications. As reported in The Detroit News, the company...
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'Add Natural Gas' Ad Campaign To Promote New Type Of CarsOn Tuesday, six prototype cars powered by natural gas for their first 60 or so miles and by gasoline thereafter were unveiled in Washington, D.C. Now, the natural-gas industry is taking them on the road to "drive a conversation about the benefits of natural gas as a transportation fuel for...
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2014 Mazda 3 Launches: Two SkyActiv Engines, High MPG ExpectedMazda launched its all-new 2014 Mazda 3 compact hatchback today at coordinated events in New York, Melbourne, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, and London. The new Mazda 3 lineup, which will include a four-door sedan version as well when it goes on sale this September, is the second model designed around...
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Prototype Natural-Gas Vehicles Use Gasoline As Range ExtenderTo date, natural-gas vehicles have come with significant compromises. The high-pressure tanks that hold enough compressed natural gas to run 200 miles or more take up many cubic feet of space in the trunk, load bay, or pickup bed. But what if you could design a vehicle that had just enough natural...
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We love data.
And we love simple but informative graphic presentations of complex data even more.
Which leads us to today's infographic, a presentation of the sources and activities that produce...
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Battery Leasing Lands In U.S., Electric Smart Drivers Love ItMaybe there's a future for battery leasing among U.S. electric-car buyers after all. Nissan had considered leasing battery packs separately before launching its 2011 Leaf, but ended up choosing to sell or lease the entire car. So the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive is the first car in the country...
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Is Buying A Fiat 500e Electric Car 'Environmentally Sexy'?We liked the 2013 Fiat 500e electric car, a lot. It may be the best of the low-volume compliance cars, in fact--though the 2014 Chevy Spark EV and 2013 Honda Fit EV are pretty great too. We're less sure how we feel about the ad campaign Fiat is using to pitch the car, under the tagline...
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2014 Pickup Truck Gas Mileage: Ford Vs Chevy Vs Ram, Who's Best?The U.S. will save a lot more gasoline by improving the fuel efficiency of gas-guzzling high-volume pickup trucks than it will swapping out Toyota Corollas for Prius hybrids. That's mathematical fact. Now, finally, the makers of the three most popular pickup truck lines sold in the U.S. are...
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Electric Car: Lease Or Buy?You're considering a plug-in electric car. Should you lease or buy? It's a question that all new-car shoppers face--but for electric cars, there are some special considerations. Each financing option has its pros and cons, so we've outlined the reasons you might opt for each alternative. LEASING...
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OK, NYC Taxis Can Be Hybrids After All, City SaysPolitics in New York City are a tough, bruising game. Pit a billionaire Mayor with a desire to make the city work better and cut carbon emissions against the entrenched interests of taxi owners, and you get an ongoing battle. The latest skirmish is a concession by the NYC Taxi and Limousine...
John Voelcker