John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Mercedes e-Sprinter, Geneva green-car preview, Fiat 500e to Honda Clarity Fuel Cell: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, we've got a preview of new production plug-in electric models at next month's Geneva Motor Show, a reader who went from a battery-electric to a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, a new and...
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Geneva auto show green car preview: concepts, electric cars, new modelsMedia days at the huge and influential Geneva show are March 6 and March 7, and this year it looks like the show will offer a lot of news for plug-in electric car fans. Several significant new production cars powered entirely by batteries are expected to make their debuts. They'll be supplemented...
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Why a Fiat 500e driver got a Honda Clarity Fuel Cell as his next green car: low costWhen marketing executive Chris Baccus leased a 2015 Fiat 500e three years ago, he intended to keep his 2007 BMW 335i as a "fun car," and use the electric Fiat just for commuting. Within six months, he'd sold the BMW altogether. Part of his interest in the Fiat, he admitted, came from an article...
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What will get more people to consider electric cars? Take our Twitter pollA recent study from the University of California, Davis suggested that awareness of available plug-in electric cars among potential buyers was no higher in 2017 than it had been in 2014. Worse, only California car owners were surveyed—and that's the state in which roughly half of all the...
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Californians vs EVs, self-driving fuel-cell SUV, Ioniq Hybrid in winter, Mercedes A-Class: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got some worrying news from a California car-buyer survey, a self-driving hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid fuel economy tested in cold winter weather, and a new Mercedes with a stunning interior. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we do every...
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Plug-in electric car sales fall in Jan after year-end surge (further update)While 2017 saw higher U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars than any previous year, expectations for 2018 sales are running even higher. The Chevrolet Bolt EV will be available in all 50 states for a full year, the new 2018 Nissan Leaf with a 151-mile range is now on sale, and of course the Tesla...
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As it does in every other aspect of the auto industry, Korean carmaker Hyundai-Kia has set itself an aggressive goal and a fast pace for rollout of self-driving vehicles.
The Korean carmaker has...
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What if car buyers aren't ready for electric cars, even in California?It's accepted wisdom among electric-car fans and advocates that within a few years, mass-market car buyers will start snapping up battery-electric cars. First, battery prices have to come down to the point that electric vehicles aren't much pricier than comparable models with gasoline engines. But...
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New Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatchback to spawn CLA sedan, EQA electric carThe Mercedes-Benz CLA compact sedan made a big splash when it first arrived as a 2014 model, complete with a much-discussed Super Bowl ad spot the previous year. The small, coupe-like sedan was built on the underpinnings of the smallest Mercedes on the market, the A-Class sold in Europe since the...
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Blink charging-station network hits up users to buy shares (updated)It's not unheard of for the fans of well-loved brands—e.g. Tesla—to decide to buy shares in the company. It's somewhat less common for companies to reach out to their customers en masse and pitch all of them on buying shares in the company. That's apparently what the Blink charging...
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Bolt EV in winter, 2018 Kia Niro, electric-car tax credits, 2018 Nissan Leaf news: The Week in ReverseWhich two automakers may start to run out of electric-car tax credits this year? What happens if you buy a used Fiat 500e electric car outside California and it needs service? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday...
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Dealers vs electric cars, cities vs vehicles, Tesla racing series, January sales update: Today's Car NewsToday, we got January sales updates, Tesla Model S racing, some thoughts on taking back cities from cars, and dealers getting worried over electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We updated our plug-in electric car sales report for January, which was a down month compared to the...
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The average vehicle on U.S. roads these days is more than 10 years old, despite three successive years of record new-vehicle sales.
That's a result not only of the 2008-2010 recession but also vastly...
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Why some cities should kick out cars, but others can't and won'tU.S. visitors to European cities, especially capitals like Paris and Rome and Madrid and London, often remark how different they are from those in the U.S. Many of their historic cores, dating back far before automobiles existed, remain intact—and for much of the 20th century, they coexisted...
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Tesla Model S racing is now a real thing, approved by FIA sanctioning bodyIt's formally called the Electric Production Car Series, but for the moment it may come to be known as "the Tesla Model S series" by electric-car fans and racing followers alike. After being unveiled almost two years ago, it's now officially a legitimate racing series: On Wednesday that the FIA...
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Income-tax credits, Harley Davidson electrics, killing clean energy, Jan plug-in car sales: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got bad news from our capitol (again), an electric Harley Davidson on the way, an explanation of which carmakers may lose income-tax credits for electric-car sales, and a January plug-in car sales report. All this and more on Green Car Reports. For the first time since modern electric...
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Trump to slash clean-energy funding 72 percent, lauds "beautiful clean coal"If a marketer talked enthusiastically about "healthy delicious cyanide," what would you think? You may wish to apply those judgments to mentions of "beautiful clean coal" by President Donald Trump, who used the phrase in Tuesday's State of the Union address. Trump claimed his administration had...
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When do electric-car tax credits expire? (updated for 2018)
In less than three months, personal income-tax returns or 2017 will be due for most U.S. adults. Some of those taxpayers will have bought a plug-in electric car last year, knowing that the Federal government offers an income-tax credit to help reduce the effective cost. But as more and more...
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Jaguar I-Pace intro, used Fiat 500e service, 2018 Kia Niro preview, electric cars crucial: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, we've got a rundown of the 2018 Kia Niro lineup, a date for the Jaguar I-Pace unveiling, some advice on servicing a used Fiat 500e bought outside California, and why electric cars are more...
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2019 Jaguar I-Pace to debut before Geneva; cold-weather testing video releasedJaguar Land Rover was a relatively late arrival to the luxury electric-car game, revealing its plans in the form of a concept car only at the 2016 Los Angeles auto show. But it's now planning the launch of what will likely be the 2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover just four weeks hence. What is...
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Nissan and partners have now sold 540,000 plug-in electric vehiclesOf the 90 million or so new vehicles sold globally last year, plug-in electric cars made up only a tiny proportion, roughly 1 percent. But the auto industry works on long product cycles and buyers tend to be conservative, only changing the types of cars they buy if life circumstances change or...
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Used Fiat 500e electric cars outside California: is service an issue for buyers?So you've always wanted to drive a battery-electric car, but you're a frugal and sensible shopper who's noticed that prices of used electric cars are remarkably low. And you always through the Fiat 500 was kind of interesting; the idea of a tiny three-door all-electric hatchback appealed to you...
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2018 Kia Niro previewMost highly fuel-efficient dedicated hybrids are compact five-door hatchbacks, the most popular vehicle segment globally. When Korean maker Kia was drawing up plans for its first dedicated hybrid vehicle, it took a different path. The wagon it came up with—it calls the Kia Niro a crossover...
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Charging at peak times, California's plug-in takeup, Bolt EV in winter, Trump and coal: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a hot electric car in some very cold, snowy weather, a plea for charging-infrastructure cash, a look at the waning coal industry, and a report card on California's electric-car adoption rate. All this and more on Green Car Reports. To meet its carbon-emission reduction goals...
John Voelcker