John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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What percent of US full-size pickup trucks will plug in by 2025? Take our Twitter poll John VoelckerThe big announcements at this year's Detroit auto show, now open to the public, were pickup trucks, one from each of the three U.S. automakers.
The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and 2019 Ram 1500...
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More charging for CA, electric-car competition, Blink sells shares, Byton first-ride video: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a startling proposal from Blink, more concerns over China trouncing the U.S. in electric cars, info from India on its future ban on new cars with engines, and a video showing what a 49-inch display in a car looks like. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we...
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Byton electric SUV promised for 2019 at $45,000 after CES debut: first-ride videoIt's rare that automakers let journalists or potential buyers drive or even ride in development prototypes. It's not unknown: Chevrolet did it with development versions of both its 2011 Volt range-extended electric car and the more recent 2017 Bolt EV battery-electric model. But it's a good way for...
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Will US auto industry simply succumb to China over electric cars?For a century, the U.S. auto industry was the world's largest. That ended in 2009, when China's sales of 13.5 million new vehicles surpassed a recession-slammed U.S. total of 10.4 million. Last year, U.S. drivers bought 17.5 million new vehicles—against more than 30 million sales in China...
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Detroit auto show, 2019 pickups, Fisker EMotion, Honda Insight, Tesla history: The Week in ReverseWhat tricks and technologies did Chevy engineers use to boost the fuel economy of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup truck? Which state will likely counter any proposed weakening of corporate average fuel-economy standards by the Trump administration? This is our look back at the Week In...
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Gas-tax hike, Kia Sorento Diesel, Bolt EV after a year, 37-mpg F-150, electric cars in CA: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got an interesting mix of stories, from a debate over how many electric cars California needs to the source of funds for an engine promised to deliver 37 mpg in a full-size Ford F-150 pickup. Also, your Tesla primer (it's not what you may think) and the Chevy Bolt EV after a year. All...
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One year ago at the Detroit auto show, a company called Achates Power unveiled models of a new kind of internal-combustion engine.
With opposed pistons in the middle and crankshafts at either end, it...
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2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car: owners' impressions after a yearCalifornians got the chance to buy Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars before everyone else, and the compact hatchback has sold well in the state, aided by its 238-mile rated range. Last February, readers John and Mimi Porter of San Diego shared their first impressions of the new silver Bolt EV they...
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Gas tax should rise 25 cents to fund road repair: US Chamber of CommerceIt's an unusual thing, to say the least, when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce publicly suggests a major tax increase. In general, the pro-business lobbying group advocates for tax cuts, reducing or eliminating regulations, and free-market policies that allow companies to operate however they choose...
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Pickup truck tech, revised CAFE rules, China EV sales, 'historic' opportunity for carmakers: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got data from China on plug-in vehicle sales, an intriguing hint on pickup powertrains, a date for revised CAFE rules, and an affirmation of electric cars by an unexpected executive. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The 2019 Ram 1500 full-size pickup truck will offer a 48-volt...
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CAFE proposal coming March 30: automakers hope national rules survive
It's been hanging out there in limbo for more than six months: the answer to the question of what happens to gas-mileage rules under Trump. Given the daily political turmoil emanating from Washington, D.C., the fate of corporate average fuel economy rules may have gotten lost in the noise. But for...
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New 2019 Chevy Silverado pickup: planned for all powertrain typesVehicle launches at auto shows include a dance between automakers, which only want certain information revealed, and journalists, who want to put specific news items into a bigger and broader context. For the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pickup unveiling Saturday night, Chevy's executives and engineers...
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Experienced survey companies know that what people say they will do and what they actually end up doing are sometimes two different things.
They also know that picking the correct survey group to...
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2019 Honda Insight video preview from Detroit auto showPickup trucks took the limelight this year, but a significant green car made a quiet debut. It's an interesting and handsome model that revives a familiar name for Honda. The 2019 Honda Insight is a compact premium sedan projected to get an EPA combined rating of 50 mpg or better. The new Insight...
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Fisker EMotion, electric-car tax credit, plug-in cars for Costa Rica: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got some wrapup articles from both last week's Consumer Electronics Show and this week's Detroit auto show, thoughts on the electric-car tax credit, and greener wheels in Costa Rica. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We were able to interview Henrik Fisker, the Danish designer...
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Could improving electric-car tax credit be possible even with today's politics?Rather to the surprise of electric-car advocates, the massive tax bill passed by the U.S. Congress in December did not eliminate the federal tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. That credit lets buyers take a credit of $2,500 to $7,500 on their income-tax filing in the year of...
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What green tech best suits pickup trucks in 2030? Take our Twitter poll
The three most significant debuts at the 2018 Detroit auto show were pickup trucks, one from each of the Detroit Three automakers. The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup led on Saturday night, followed on Sunday by the 2019 Ford Ranger, a mid-size pickup that rivals the Chevy Colorado on...
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Detroit auto show, Ford Mach 1, profitable Chevy EVs, cheaper renewables: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got news from the Detroit auto show, promised profits on electric cars, yet another teaser from Ford, and some great news on renewable energy. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we do every seven days, we ran down last week's most important green-car stories...
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Radically new powertrains are widely assumed to lose money for the companies that launch them.
Toyota's hybrid-electric system, launched in Japan in 1997, likely didn't break even until sometime...
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2019 Honda Insight prototype debuts in Detroit; 50 mpg or better projectedAt the 2018 Detroit auto show, the Honda Insight Prototype was unveiled Monday to preview a production sedan due later this year. Any new hybrid car from one of the pioneers of hybrid-electric vehicles is notable, and that's what Honda has delivered. Honda called the car at the auto show an...
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2019 Chevy Silverado: how a big, thirsty pickup gets more fuel-efficientThe highest-volume vehicle GM sells in North America is a full-size pickup truck—one that likely also contributes outsize profits from each of its hundreds of thousands of units. So the launch of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado Saturday night before the Detroit auto show was a big deal for the...
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Ford 300-mile all-electric SUV may be named Mach 1; due 2020The big new debuts at the 2018 Detroit auto show are largely pickup trucks, one of them being the new mid-size 2019 Ford Ranger. Ford also introduced a new Bullitt Mustang, honoring the 51st anniversary of the legendary 1968 movie, and a high-performance ST version of the Edge crossover. (Is it the...
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Niro EV, Nexo at CES; driverless Bolt EV; Tesla Model 3 teardown; gas mileage stays flat: The Week in ReverseWhy do a majority of auto executives believe that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles will dominate plug-in electric cars in the future? What do individual Tesla Model 3 parts tell us about that crucial but currently challenged electric car? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at...
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Electric-car vs gas costs, self-driving Bolt, more 2018 diesels, Workhorse orders open: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a Chevy Bolt EV without a steering wheel, an update on available 2018 diesel vehicles, an analysis of the per-mile costs of electricity versus gasoline, and predictions by auto-industry execs. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The next wave of long-distance electric luxury...
John Voelcker