John Voelcker, Contributing Editor

John Voelcker is an accomplished automotive journalist with a diverse background in the industry. As a cofounder of Tempting Fate Tours, he has delved into the world of adventurous car experiences, providing enthusiasts with unforgettable journeys for a year and a half. With a passion for automotive journalism, Voelcker's expertise extends to his tenure as a Contributing Editor at Internet Brands. During his stint, he has contributed valuable insights and engaging content to one of the most respected automotive publications in the industry. Previously, Voelcker served as the inaugural Editor of Green Car Reports under the Internet Brands Automotive Group. For over nine years, starting in 2009, he played a vital role in reporting, editing, and providing news coverage and new-car reviews. His contributions also extended to sister sites, including The Car Connection and Motor Authority, solidifying his reputation as a trusted source in the automotive community. In addition to his editorial work, Voelcker has actively covered advanced auto technologies and energy policy for a multitude of esteemed publications. Wired, Popular Science, Tech Review, IEEE Spectrum, and HybridCars.com are among the platforms that have featured his articles. Recognized for his expertise, he was appointed as one of the jurors for the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards in 2015. With a wealth of experience behind the wheel, Voelcker has driven electric and hybrid cars from dozens of automakers, along with countless other vehicles. His firsthand experiences provide a valuable perspective in his automotive reporting. Voelcker's editorial journey has taken him through various notable magazines, including This Old House, Metropolis, Psychology Today, Exposure, Mother Earth News, Budget Living, and IEEE Spectrum. His diverse background showcases his versatility and ability to cover a wide range of topics. Voelcker holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, which adds a unique analytical lens to his automotive reporting. Splitting his time between the picturesque Catskill Mountains and vibrant New York City, he finds inspiration in both the tranquility of nature and the dynamic urban environment.

Articles

EPA Rates 2012 Fiat 500 Fuel Economy: Not 40 MPG, But Close John Voelcker January 28, 2011

With the first few Fiat 500 minicars now landing in Chrysler dealerships this month and next, the small car's fuel efficiency is clearly one of the main questions buyers will ask about.

Now the EPA...
Will Toyota Cut Prius Prices To Keep Hybrid Sales High?
Hybrid sales in the U.S. have flattened over the last couple of years, but they're going great guns in Japan. Now, an analyst suggests that the great popularity of the Prius in its home market may lead Toyota to cut the price there to keep its sales high. The Toyota Prius has been the best-selling...
John Voelcker January 28, 2011

GM Says More Government Money Not Needed--Though Rivals Took It
Well, give them credit for resolve, anyway. General Motors said today it was withdrawing its applications to the U.S. Department of Energy for $14.4 billion of low-interest loans under the DoE's advanced technology vehicle manufacturing program. That's the program that so far has granted loans to...
John Voelcker January 27, 2011
Chelsea Sexton Slams Bias On Both Sides Over Electric-Car Range (Guest Post)
by Chelsea Sexton Slanted, anti-EV reporting is hardly a new thing, and I suspect we're in for a lot more of it in 2011 as plug-in vehicles hit showrooms. But the recent BBC "Mini Adventure," a 484-mile journey from London to Edinburgh in a Mini E, has caught fire like nothing I've seen in a while...
John Voelcker January 27, 2011
Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid Wagon Coming At Geneva Motor Show
While working energetically on its C30 DRIVe Electric battery-electric vehicle, Swedish carmaker Volvo has also been developing green powertrains for its larger vehicles for several years. Now, it's ready to unveil the first of these, a plug-in hybrid version of its V60 station wagon, a model not...
John Voelcker January 27, 2011
Smart Makes It Three: First Smart Electric Drive Delivered
And the entry of electric cars into the U.S. market continues apace. The first 2011 Nissan Leaf was delivered in San Francisco on December 12, and the first 2011 Chevy Volt came three days later in New Jersey. Now, Smart has delivered the first example of its own electric car, the 2011 Smart ForTwo...
John Voelcker January 26, 2011
2011 Nissan Leaf Laurels: Euro Car of the Year, U.S. Cell Plant Underway John Voelcker January 26, 2011

Initial deliveries of the 2011 Nissan Leaf battery electric car have been fitful, compared to hundreds of Chevy Volts sold each week.

But Nissan's first modern mass-produced battery electric car...

Obama Doubles Down on Plug-In Cars, More Policy Tweaks Coming
Last night, in his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama reiterated his support for expanding U.S. production and sales of plug-in cars that run on grid power. Today, according to the Detroit News, a slew of policy changes will be unveiled by Vice President Joe Biden to advance that...
John Voelcker January 26, 2011
Volkswagen Says It Will Build 2-Seat, 260-MPG Plug-In Hybrid
What's good gas mileage? 30 mpg? 40 mpg? The 50-mpg combined rating of the 2011 Toyota Prius, the most fuel-efficient car sold in the U.S. this year? Nah. How about 261 miles per gallon? Or, for the Europeans in the house, a mere 24 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. You heard right. The...
John Voelcker January 25, 2011
California, EPA, DoT Make Nice On Timing Of Higher MPG Rules
Three government agencies agree to "coordinate" their actions and announce "a single timeframe" for proposing new rules. This signals "continued collaboration" among the trio. Yawn. But actually, this is a bigger deal than you might think. In the 10 months since President Barack Obama announced a...
John Voelcker January 25, 2011
Rent A Tesla For $25/Hour, Just Plan Your Charging Carefully
The all-electric Tesla Roadster is probably the world's best advertisement for electric cars. While crude, cramped, and expensive, its 0-to-60-mph time of 3.9 seconds will make a convert out of any electric skeptic. But thus far, Tesla Motors has built only 1,500 Roadsters, and the car was always...
John Voelcker January 24, 2011
How Chrysler's Hydraulic Hybrid Works: Energy From Pressure
Chrysler has come out of hibernation with a bang, as far as green and more fuel-efficient vehicles are concerned. The company announced Wednesday that it would partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to build and test prototypes of a different kind of hybrid vehicle, one that...
John Voelcker January 24, 2011

Electric-Car Startup Coda Announces New CEO, Phil Murtaugh John Voelcker January 21, 2011

Coda Automotive, the electric-car startup that last fall delayed the launch of its all-electric Sedan, announced this afternoon that it had hired Phil Murtaugh as its new CEO.

It also revealed that...
2011 Scion iQ Minicar Sales Delayed Until This Summer
If you're eagerly waiting for the first 2011 Scion iQ minicar to show up at your dealer, sit down and have a nice cup of tea. You're going to have wait a bit longer. Scion's parent, Toyota, is delaying the U.S. launch of the iQ, originally scheduled to happen by March of this year, to sometime this...
John Voelcker January 21, 2011
Hybrid Race? Yep, Lexus CT 200h Laps Before Aussie Grand Prix
The littlest Lexus, the 2011 CT 200h five-door hybrid hatchback, will start showing up at U.S. dealers over the next couple of months. It's clearly a different kind of Lexus--the perplexing "Darker Side of Green" ad campaign and its associated video proved that--but Lexus is using the new car to...
John Voelcker January 21, 2011
Photo Gallery: 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport, Ohm-My-God Sports Car
Driving a Tesla Roadster is an unforgettable experience. To be fair, perhaps driving any car with acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds is unforgettable. But the fact that all the Tesla's torque comes from 6,831 lithium-ion laptop cells powering an electric motor--and the relative...
John Voelcker January 21, 2011
EPA To Approve E15 Gasoline Blend For 2001-2006 Vehicles Too
Following its October approval of E15 gasoline for 2007 or newer cars, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to announce today that it will expand the approval to cars from the 2001 through 2006 model year as well. E15 contains 15 percent ethanol, half again as high as the legal maximum today...
John Voelcker January 21, 2011
Weekend Wheels: 2011 Nissan Juke--What Do You Want To Know?
We like small cars, not only because they're fuel efficient but because they're usually more fun and engaging to drive than larger ones. But this being winter in the Northeast, we also need an all-wheel-drive vehicle on weekends, when we head up into the mountains. And that severely limits the...
John Voelcker January 20, 2011

Question: How Do Electric Cars (Volt, Leaf) Heat Passengers? John Voelcker January 20, 2011

Another in our irregular series of answering questions from readers, this one from John Q of Eugene, Oregon:

Question: I was wondering how an electric car provides heat and defrosting. Using...
Guest Post: Cool Factor Must Woo New Buyers To Electric Cars
Researching and writing for GreenCarReports, we've come to respect the insights of Oliver Hazimeh, Director and Head of the Global E-Mobility Practice at global management consulting firm PRTM. This invited post, written by Hazimeh and Principal Aaron Tweadey, offers thoughts on how carmakers can...
John Voelcker January 20, 2011
World's Fastest (Or 2nd-Fastest?) Hybrid: Porsche 918 RSR
Possibly the most rapturously received vehicle at last week's Detroit Auto Show was the Porsche 918 RSR coupe, a hybrid race car that isn't even street-legal. And it's about as far from the quintessential Toyota Prius hybrid as you could get. It doesn't use a battery pack at all, in fact, but the...
John Voelcker January 19, 2011
2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: Half of Sales To Be High-MPG Fours
Mercedes-Benz likes to launch technologies and lead trends, but sometimes they follow along with the crowd. In this case, Hyundai's doing it. Chevy's doing it. Chrysler's going to do it. Even Porsche will be doing it. And now Mercedes-Benz has joined the gang: The luxury carmaker too will fit a...
John Voelcker January 19, 2011
Tesla Releases Pretty Video of Model S Sedan Under Own Power
Hot on the heels of its appearance at last week's Detroit Auto Show as a body-in-white, the 2012 Tesla Model S sedan also clearly moves under its own power. Tesla Motors just posted a beautiful, scenic video on the company's blog showing about 90 seconds worth of a Model S "alpha" prototype...
John Voelcker January 18, 2011
Greening The Rouge: Ford's More Sustainable Pickup Plant
A green roof is not at its most photogenic in a Michigan winter. In fact, it's hardly green at all--more like gray and brown--though it still insulates the building below just as well. But while some of the green aspects of Ford's showcase Rouge assembly plant have succumbed to the January weather...
John Voelcker January 18, 2011