John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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We all understand what miles-per-gallon means for a gasoline car.
And we can readily grasp the range in miles of an electric car.
But when a car has both a gasoline engine and an electric motor,...
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Ford Transit Van With EcoBoost V-6 To Replace Aged E-SeriesFord has been dropping hints since December about the Ford Transit van that will replace its ancient E-Series van, still referred to by many as the Econoline. Now the company has released a bit more information. The Ford Transit full-size van that will be introduced next year will use a 3.5-liter...
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China Slows On Electric Cars To Focus On Fuel EfficiencySeveral years ago, the U.S. auto industry worried that Chinese carmakers would use inexpensive cars to gain a foothold here, just as Japanese and Korean makers had done. That hasn't happened, for many reasons--one being that making cars good enough to sell here is remarkably hard. More recently...
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2014 Volkswagen Golf Electric Model Confirmed For Late 2013Volkswagen has confirmed that an all-electric version of its Golf compact hatchback will go on sale in the U.S. late next year as a 2014 model. The president of Volkswagen of America, Jonathan Browning, gave the news to industry trade journal Automotive News (subscription required) during last...
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2012 Coda Sedan Production Starts; 88-Mile Range, 73 MPGe EfficiencyWhile the company didn't make its self-imposed deadline for first customer deliveries in February, Coda Automotive has a different reason to celebrate today. At 10:25 am Pacific time, the first production 2012 Coda Sedan electric car is set to drive off the assembly line at its plant in Benicia...
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Toyota To Sell FT-Bh Hybrid Subcompact, At 60 MPG-Plus, After 2015We like the extreme aerodynamic shape and exaggerated styling of the Toyota FT-Bh Concept unveiled at last week's Geneva Motor Show, though that's far from a common view. Now, it appears the subcompact FT-Bh will become a future Toyota model--one targeted for extremely high fuel economy. FT-Bh...
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We missed it last week while we were covering all the new cars at the Geneva Motor Show, but Chrysler has officially stepped forward into the world of natural-gas vehicles.
Its Ram truck brand...
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On Bad Electric-Car News: A Note To Our Valued ReadersThe news cycle can be a funny thing. We happen to have three stories today about concerns with plug-in cars: Consumer Reports' dead Fisker Karma test car, questions on the real-world range of the 2012 Tesla Model S at speed, and the so-far all-but-invisible 2012 Ford Focus Electric. We often get...
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2012 Ford Focus Electric: 105 MPGe, 76-Mile Range...10 SalesIt's the first battery-electric car from a global automaker, a compact hatchback eagerly awaited for years and touted by some as a revolutionary vehicle that will change the way we drive forever. It's not the Nissan Leaf. It is, instead, the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, which earned a higher...
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2012 Tesla Model S: Would YOU Drive It At Just 55 MPH?We've had a ride in a prototype 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sport sedan, and it was impressive. The car was smooth, quiet, and relatively fast at speeds up to 95 mph on the test track surrounding Tesla's assembly plant in Fremont, Cailfornia. Intrepid test driver (and Lotus racer) Joe Nuxoll...
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Dead Fisker Karmas: One May Be A Fluke, But Is Two A Trend?First off, just to be clear, the photo above is NOT a dead Fisker. It shows the 2012 Fisker Karma we road-tested three weeks ago parked at a Tesla Motors dealer in Los Angeles. But while our Fisker was running fine that day, Consumer Reports was not so lucky this week. The magazine bought a Fisker...
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DoE Dings Loans For Startup Carbon Motors' Police CruisersLog one more startup car company the U.S. Department of Energy has declined to fund. The latest entry on the lengthening list that includes Virtual Vehicles Co. (renamed NextCar), Aptera Motors, and Bright Automotive is Carbon Motors of Connersville, Indiana. The five-year-old startup proposed to...
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Continuing his efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil, President Barack Obama yesterday proposed expanding tax credits now offered to buyers of plug-in cars to those who buy natural-gas...
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GM CEO Akerson: We're Staying The Course On The Chevy VoltIf the Chevy Volt is a sales failure, you'd never know it from the guy who runs General Motors. At a meeting of Volt owners in San Francisco yesterday, GM's CEO Dan Akerson said unequivocally that the company was standing behind its halo plug-in electric car. "We are not backing away from this...
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2013 Mitsubishi Outlander: Live Photos From Geneva Motor ShowAside from its 'i' electric car, Mitsubishi still attempts to cover the smaller sectors of the regular car market. Its new 2013 Outlander crossover, launched this week at the Geneva Motor Show, is one of its main volume models in global markets including the U.S. The all-new Outlander is the first...
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Hyundai i-Oniq Plug-In Hybrid Coupe Concept: Geneva Live PhotosThere are many types of plug-in cars; some makers go for battery electrics, others for plug-in hybrids or range-extended electric vehicles. At the Geneva Motor Show yesterday, Hyundai unveiled a concept coupe showing how it might package an electric car offering a 75-mile range with a...
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Ford F-750 Plug-In Hybrid Work Truck: Not Your Little Leaf, SonnyRetail car buyers have to juggle a lot of factors in choosing a car, including image, family approval, and maybe-one-day-I'll-drive-across-the-country dreams. That may preclude a battery electric vehicle like a Nissan Leaf, with its 73-mile range. Commercial fleet buyers, on the other hand, look at...
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2013 Cadillac XTS First To Use Greener R-1234yf RefrigerantIn addition to tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gases, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also regulates other materials in cars that may emit substances harmful to humans. And so it is that the 2013 Cadillac XTS large luxury sedan will become the first U.S. vehicle to use a new refrigerant...
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Not all the cars being unveiled at today's Geneva Motor Show are destined for the U.S.
But the 2013 Fiat 500L, the longer, taller, larger "Fiat 500" crossover that will offer all-wheel drive in a...
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Bentley EXP 9 F Concept For Plug-In Hybrid SUV: Geneva Motor ShowWe heard the rumors, but didn't really quite believe they were true. They are: Bentley took the wraps off a concept for a sport-utility vehicle at today's Geneva Motor Show, the first-ever such vehicle in the 94-year history of the marque. Assuming it goes into production in a few years, this is...
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Chevy Volt Production To Halt For 5 Weeks Due To OversupplyLate Friday afternoon, Chevrolet announced it would idle production of its Volt range-extended electric car for five weeks, from March 19 to April 23. The story was first reported by the Detroit Free Press; GM informed the 1,300 assembly-line workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant of the shutdown...
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2013 Chevy, GMC Natural Gas Bi-Fuel Pickup Trucks AnnouncedGeneral Motors announced today it will offer bi-fuel versions of its 2013 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks that run either on gasoline or natural gas. The two trucks are the 2500 HD (heavy duty) model, and can be ordered in rear-wheel or four-wheel drive and with a standard or long...
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Why I Bought A Prius Plug-In, Not A Volt Or Leaf: A Reader's ChoiceLast month, Toyota said that it had 2,100 pre-orders for the 2012 Prius Plug-In Hybrid. Now, with first sales of that car being logged this week and dozens of them delivered to dealers, we have a third viable, high-volume plug-in car available to U.S. buyers. Consumers can now buy a pure battery...
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2012 Tesla Model S Electric Sedan: Industry Analyst Weighs InAfter a flurry of press events last October that included rides in 2012 Tesla Model S prototypes, Tesla Motors went mostly silent until it unveiled its Model X crossover last month. But the electric crossover won't generate any cash for the Silicon Valley startup carmaker over the next year or two...
John Voelcker