John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Over the next 14 months, you can expect leaks, rumors, suppositions, spy shots, and outright guesses about the 2016 Toyota Prius to proliferate.
The fourth generation of Toyota's quintessential...
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Nissan CEO Admits 2012 Leaf Sales Goal Won't Be ReachedFor many months, Nissan has said it would sell 20,000 Leaf electric cars in the U.S. by next March. Sales rates didn't seem to support that, and now Nissan has conceded that it won't happen. CEO Carlos Ghosn said that number "would not be reached," in an interview on Bloomberg TV in Mexico City...
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New Onstar App Lets Chevy Volt Drivers Compete On Electric MilesIt happens already: Chevy Volt owners compare their lifetime electric miles, how long they've driven without using gasoline, and their lifetime gas mileage. Now Chevrolet is formalizing the competition, with plans to release a mobile phone app that lets owners register and compete with each other...
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2014 Chevy Spark EV Prototype Electric Car: First DriveAs GM's first battery electric car since the EV1 of the 1990s, there's more riding on the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV electric minicar than its size would indicate. The company maintains the electric Spark is not just a compliance car, but a fully developed product to be sold not only in California...
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GM To Concentrate On Plug-In Electric Cars, Downplay HybridsGeneral Motors has narrowed its portfolio of future technologies, and will focus on plug-in and electric vehicles over the coming years. The company will build on the success of its Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, an area where it leads its competitors, while downplaying more...
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2014 Chevrolet Spark EV Electric Car To Debut At LA Auto ShowIt was announced more than a year ago, then test vehicles were shown in March, and now finally the car itself will be unveiled this month. The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV, the electric conversion of Chevy's smallest vehicle sold in the U.S., will debut two weeks from today at the Los Angeles Auto Show...
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One week ago today, Americans elected a president.
During the hard-fought campaign that preceded the election, Republican candidate Mitt Romney called Tesla a "loser" company, along with Fisker...
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2012 Toyota Prius C: Real-World Gas Mileage TestWith the 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid family now comprising four members, the subcompact Prius C hatchback is the one least like its siblings. It's smaller, with a smaller engine and battery, and less cross-section to cause aerodynamic drag. So does it consume less fuel? The EPA rates it at 50 mpg...
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Chevrolet Springo Electric Car: Coming Soon (To China Only)No, Springo isn't a new scratch-off game. It's apparently the name of a new Chevrolet battery electric vehicle, though we'll never see it in North America. The Chevy Springo electric car will go on sale in China (and possibly other countries) at roughly the same time that the U.S. gets limited...
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2013 Ford C-Max Energi: New EV+ Feature 'Learns' Regular RoutesEvery driver of a plug-in hybrid electric car eventually wants to drive more on electricity and less on gasoline. So it's frustrating when the battery charge indicator shows a reasonable level of charge, you're only a few hundred feet from home, and yet the engine kicks on because of that one steep...
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Reva NXR Indian Electric Car Closer To Launch: Spy ShotsMost of the attention paid to plug-in electric cars goes to Nissan, Chevy, and Tesla. But in other countries, the hope of running small cars on grid power--no matter how unreliable that grid may be--lives as well. In India, the large truck maker Mahindra & Mahindra is preparing to launch the...
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Skyfall Sequel: Five James Bond Cars For A New Green AgeJames Bond, Agent 007, has now been driving his Aston Martin DB5 sports cars since 1964. With the new film, Skyfall, opening tomorrow, we thought we'd propose some new motor cars for Commander Bond. He's ventured into many other vehicles, including airplanes, submarines, and newer Aston Martins...
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New York City and Long Island today instituted temporary fuel rationing, with drivers only allowed to buy gasoline on alternate days.
Starting at 6 am tomorrow, vehicles with odd numbers on their...
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Electric Cars: Are They Really A Dire Emissions Threat?This seems to be our time for debunking dumb stories about plug-in electric cars. First, we had to educate a Forbes columnist (and oil-industry consultant) about how the auto industry works. Now, it's time to offer some gentle guidance to all those journalists who covered last month's release of a...
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Tesla Model S: More New Versions Coming, Says CEO Elon MuskTesla being what it is--a venture-funded startup battery-electric automaker in Silicon Valley--every utterance from its CEO Elon Musk becomes newsworthy. So a generalized hint at future development of its main product, the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan, becomes fodder for news stories. In...
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Should I Buy A New Suzuki (Now That It's Leaving The U.S.)?There's nothing like a bargain price on a brand-new car. And since Suzuki has announced that it'll stop selling cars in the U.S., there are bargains galore on new Suzuki models. But is buying a brand-new car from a departing manufacturer a good deal? That depends on how the carmaker exits; unlike...
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Hyundai-Kia Gas Mileage Fiasco: What Does It Mean For You?Now the recriminations--and lawsuits--will start. And we expect the focus on real-world gas mileage to increase, following news that Hyundai and Kia will revise gas-mileage figures downward on 13 different models from the 2011, 2012, and 2013 model years--and reimburse buyers for the extra money...
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Does A123 Bankruptcy Threaten Coup De Grace For Fisker?Fisker Automotive has had more than its share of trials and tribulations of late. Now, a new threat has emerged that holds the potential to harm the company severely, by cutting off its supply of lithium-ion battery packs. A123 Systems, its bankrupt battery supplier, wants to end the contract under...
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Volkswagen's line of TDI diesel cars has passionate fans.
Now that the company is launching the 2013 VW Jetta Hybrid, it will likely gain some hybrid advocates too.
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Ford Focus Electric A Compliance Car? Ford Swears It's NotThere are two kinds of electric cars on sale in the U.S. these days. The first kind--the ones you should pay attention to--are the volume electric cars. Their makers want to sell as many as they can. The second kind are the "compliance cars," built solely to meet California regulations that require...
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Sandy Flood Fire Followup: Fisker Karma Battery Not At FaultIt's becoming an awkward, unfortunate routine. Somewhere, somehow, a Fisker Karma catches fire, and the company rushes in its inspectors and engineers to analyze the incident. A few days later, Fisker Automotive issues a statement explaining that the battery of the range-extended electric car isn't...
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2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid: First DriveThe 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid gives VW something it hasn’t had before: a way to appeal to hybrid buyers who won’t consider its TDI diesels—no matter how fuel-efficient they may be. The result is a relatively sporty, conventional looking compact sedan that’s fun to drive...
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Electric Car Buyers Like, Feel Better Driving Them: UK SurveyElectric car drivers have long had a little secret: The cars are generally much nicer to drive than gasoline cars. Now a new survey done at London Metropolitan University in England shows that despite initial skepticism, drivers of the plug-in vehicles came to like them better than gasoline cars in...
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Tesla Model S Production Ramps Up, Company Says In Earnings CallThe biggest question facing tiny Tesla Motors right now is whether it can ramp up production of its Model S all-electric sport sedan and deliver enough of them to paying customers that it can generate the income it needs to keep going. On the quarterly Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] earnings call this...
John Voelcker