John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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We already knew that the quintessential hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, costs a little more to repair than non-hybrid cars.
Now, the news gets worse: Insurance rates for hybrids are going to rise,...
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Solar Array, Lithium Cells To Power Part of Ford Focus PlantMany houses, stores, and factories across the U.S. now have arrays of photovoltaic solar cells mounted on their roofs. These days, that's hardly news. But Ford's announcement that it will install half a megawatt of power-generating solar panels at its Wayne, Michigan, assembly plant has a new...
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Bigger Cars, Fatter Passengers: The Fuel Cost of ObesityAmerica loves to complain about gas mileage and the cost of gasoline. As it turns out, part of the problem is us. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 1.1 percent increase in self-reported obesity, which translates into extra weight that your vehicle has to haul...
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A123 Spins Out Energy Storage Startup, Loses Chrysler DealAdvanced battery maker A123 announced more than its quarterly earnings yesterday. In addition to posting a lackluster $22.6 million in revenue, the company spun off a new energy storage startup called 24M Technologies to work on more unorthodox lithium-ion architectures. The company also tempered...
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SF Bay Area Soon To Be Home To 5,050 More EV Charging StationsInfrastructure for electric transportation is heating up. Companies like Coulomb Technologies and Ecotality are already deploying electric vehicle charging stations region by region. And just today, general Motors said it was gearing up to announce a charging partner for its forthcoming Chevrolet...
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Who's Buying Green Cars? Not Only Consumers, But Big Fleets TooMost of the focus on new green cars--like the 2011 Nissan Leaf, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and a slew of new and existing hybrids--has been on how consumers will adapt to them. But in fact, a portion of early years' production of any of those cars is likely to go into car fleets maintained by state...
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With the 2011 Honda CR-Z headed for dealerships this summer, and the 2010 Honda Insight struggling to make a sales impression, the third of Honda's three new hybrid models is being cued up in Japan.
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Only One Hybrid Car Pays Back Its Owners; Know Which One?One of the criticisms of hybrid cars has historically been that there's no payback, especially given the cheap gasoline prices in the U.S. The extra money you spend on a hybrid isn't returned in gas savings, say critics. Well, that may be true, especially when regular gasoline is averaging $2.77 a...
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2011 Scion iQ Minicar Coming to U.S. Next MarchSales of the Smart ForTwo minicar plummeted after gasoline came back down from $4 a gallon, but Toyota's Scion brand is readying its own minicar for sale in the U.S. The latest word is that the 2011 Scion iQ will land at dealers in March. The Scion iQ was first unveiled as a concept car at the 2009...
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Tesla's Elon Musk Sneers at 'Primitive' 2011 Nissan Leaf BatteryAutomakers often do comparison ads showing how their features or specs are better than their competitors', but they don't generally trash other makers' designs in public. Like so many conventions, this one doesn't seem to apply to Elon Musk, CEO of venture-funded startup Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]...
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Five Questions: Michael Deitz, 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Product ManagerHyundai is on a roll in general, and last week we published the first 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid drive report, by our colleague Marty Padgett. This very important model is the carmaker's first-ever hybrid to be sold in the U.S., but far from the last. In 2012, Hyundai plans an upcoming dedicated...
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Reader Poll: Was This Done By a Hybrid Hater, or An Angry Ex?It's Friday, the day when we round up the random items we've received all week and decide what to do with them. This one, we decided, deserves a reader poll. What do you think, was this innocent grey second-generation Toyota Prius keyed by someone who hates the fuel efficiency and green image of...
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For the Friday files, some cool new technology: How about a car that plugs in, but doesn't use that electricity to power the car?
Nope, we're not talking about battery electric cars like the 2011...
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2012 Ford Kuga Hybrid, or Will It Be 2012 Ford Escape Hybrid?The 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid will likely be the last year for Ford's original hybrid vehicle, launched way back in October 2004. At the end of July, Ford had sold 98,500 Escape Hybrids, more than half its total sales of 139,700 hybrids of all types. But all good things must come to an end. For 2012...
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Tesla Motors Reports Wider $38.5M Loss, But Says It’s On TrackAs predicted, Tesla Motors posted higher losses for the second quarter during its earnings announcement today — its first as a public company. The electric vehicle maker says it brought in $28.4 million revenue, but lost $38.5 million ($5.04 a share), up from the $29.5 million lost last quarter...
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So What Exactly Is An American-Made Car? You May Be SurprisedWe wrote about the 2011 Coda Sedan and Coda's EV cost calculator not too long ago, and described the cars as a "Chinese-built sedan" with a battery pack "containing Chinese-made lithium-ion cells." The Coda, we said would be "the first Chinese-manufactured passenger car sold in the U.S. when it...
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Electric Car Buying GuideWe've been watching it roll closer for years, and now it's all but here: A new era of electric cars. Just three or four months from now, the first highway-capable electric vehicles sold in volume by global automakers will appear in showrooms in California and other regions. By the end of 2011...
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GM Invests In Plug-In Hybrid Truckmaker Bright AutomotiveGeneral Motors announced today that it will invest in startup Bright Automotive, which hopes to start final production engineering of its Idea plug-in hybrid delivery van design later this year. GM Ventures, the automaker's venture investing arm, already provided funds to Bright this week; formal...
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Come November, California voters could have a major impact on the state’s environment. The ballot will include Proposition 23, a measure that would suspend the Global Warming Solutions Act that...
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Low Theft Losses: Another Reason to Love Toyota Prius HybridsNot a lot of buyers end up choosing between a Toyota Prius hybrid and a Cadillac Escalade full-size sport-utility vehicle for their new car. Now, in addition to its top-of-the-charts gas mileage--50 mpg on the EPA combined cycle--there's another reason to opt for the Prius: Its earlier models have...
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We Hit the Big Time: NPR's 'All Things Considered' Calls!We are mostly humble peasants here at Green Car Reports. We just try to report on green cars fairly, with an occasional bit of acerbity tossed in for flavor. Once in a while, we post a story that hits a chord, including our discussion of why the 2011 Chevrolet Volt may not get either an EV purchase...
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BMW's Striking Diesel Hybrid Coupe: Now It Has a Name, MaybeThe flurry of activity in hybrid and electric supercars has led to several concepts being approved for production, but BMW still hasn't publicly committed to a date for its high-tech green performance car. Mercedes-Benz has its SLS AMG E-Cell; Audi has the E-Tron; even Porsche gave the green light...
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Toyota Seeks Country's 'Most Passionate Prius Fan' on FacebookThe Toyota Prius is the quintessential hybrid vehicle, with an instantly recognizable shape and a place in history confirmed by the South Park "Smug" episode. It seems like it's been with us forever, but in fact, Toyota only sold its very first 2000 Prius in the U.S. just 10 years ago. To celebrate...
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Why Not Run Your Electric Car Via Your iPad? We'll Tell You WhySometimes it's hard to keep track of small electric-vehicle companies, most of whom are likely to vanish without a trace within a few years. But T3 Motion, an EV startup in Costa Mesa, California, has a gimmick: It uses an Apple iPad to provide driver and passengers with audio, video, games, and...
John Voelcker