John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Coulomb Technologies unveiled ambitious plans today to install 4,600 new charging stations for plug-in vehicles in homes and commercial spaces across the U.S. — a project nearly half-funded by...
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Tesla backs up: New S-1 language tackles Musk finances, divorceLast week, VentureBeat reported that Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk was personally running low on cash, a fact he disclosed in court papers as part of his divorce proceedings. We asked if the company, which is seeking to go public, should have included those facts in its filings with the Securities...
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2011 Chevrolet Cruze Starts at $16,995, Has 'Midsize Presence'Aside from the electric Volt, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze has been touring the auto show circuit long enough to make it a familiar face well before it hits dealerships. But now Chevy has priced its new compact sedan, starting at $16,995. And that means it really will soon show up at dealers, toward...
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2011 Mercedes-Benz S350 Bluetec Adds Clean Diesel to S-ClassContinuing to diversify the green powertrain options it offers to buyers, Mercedes-Benz will add a clean-diesel model to its largest sedan line, the S-Class. The new 2011 Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTEC sedan joins this year's S400 Hybrid, which adds a mild hybrid system with a 15-kilowatt electric...
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Dead Before Arrival: Mercury Killed, Compact Tracer VanishesTo the long list of dead U.S. car brands, you can now add one more: Mercury. The Ford Motor Company announced today that Mercury production would cease by the end of this year. That means that the widely anticipated compact Mercury version of the 2012 Ford Focus--named "Tracer" after the...
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Baby Dies While Parents Play Obsessively With Prius OnlineWe know that Prius owners love their cars. Sometimes they talk endlessly about them, their great fuel efficiency, how cool the all-electric mode is, and so forth. But could you get so enthusiastic about Prius that you'd let your own child starve to death? Good. We didn't think so. And, no, it's not...
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It's been more than a year since Volkswagen confirmed it would sell its Polo subcompact in the U.S. But the company also said it would modify the Polo to make it more suitable for the U.S. market,...
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Who Buys a 2011 Nissan Leaf? Toyota Prius Owners, Of CourseSo who are these strange people who might want something as unusual, as perplexing, as downright radical as an electric car? More specifically, an all-electric 2011 Nissan Leaf compact hatchback? Turns out they're the same people who wanted the last most radical type of family car: a...
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Does Tesla's Toyota Deal Change Everything For Electric Cars?The surprise partnership between Tesla Motors and Toyota announced two weeks ago generated a lot of head-scratching. The big question is, What does Toyota get out of the deal? It's easy to see what Tesla gets: more capital (Toyota will invest $50 million in Tesla just before its planned public...
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2010 Coda Sedan: Exclusive Video Gives Electric-Car DetailsLaunching a brand-new car make is a tough task; just ask General Motors (RIP Saturn). But if you're electric-car startup Coda Automotive, you have at least one plus (it's a pure electric car, which is sexy) to offset several potential minuses (who's Coda? it's made in China? I can't buy one outside...
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2011 Chevrolet Volt To Be Sold In China, But As A BuickGeneral Motors may be trying to spread Chevrolet through Europe and Asia, but it won't put the Chevy bowtie on its Volt extended-range electric vehicle when that car goes on sale in China next year. Instead, the car that hits U.S. dealerships this November as the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will be sold in...
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Daimler looks beyond Tesla with BYD electric-car partnershipUntil Toyota stepped in last week, Daimler was the only major auto manufacturer to take a stake in electric-car startup Tesla Motors — a company that has now become synonymous with next-generation transportation. Now Daimler wants to work the same magic with BYD, the Chinese battery and electric...
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Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk seems to have it all. The electric-car entrepreneur is the toast of Silicon Valley, Sacramento, and Tokyo after unveiling a plan to revive Toyota’s shuttered NUMMI plant...
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2010 Toyota Matrix: Reports of Its Death Are Much ExaggeratedWhile Mark Twain apparently didn't say, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," the statement has passed into legend. Twain's quote applies neatly to the 2010 Toyota Matrix hatchback, which has not--despite our erroneous reporting, here and here--been killed off. It remains in production...
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Expanding the Prius Lineup: Minivan, Compact Hatch, or Coupe?While the all-electric cars being launched as 2011 models--the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, and Coda Sedan--get lots of attention, their total U.S. sales won't break 100,000 in their first year. Toyota, on the other hand, sells more than twice that number of hybrids here each year, making it by far...
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March Debut Expected For New 2012 Toyota Prius Alpha MinivanSpeculation about what models will join an expanded Toyota Prius lineup has run rampant since Toyota confirmed at January's Detroit Auto Show that it would add more body styles to the current five-door hatchback. One candidate: the Auris Hybrid, effectively a hybrid version of the Corolla hatchback...
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So, IS This the Next Toyota Prius Model? Should It Be?Toyota's plans to expand its Prius hybrid into an entire line of vehicles still aren't completely clear. Rumored new models have included a coupe version and a tall station wagon or "people mover" small minivan. Now a road test of the Europe-only 2011 Toyota Auris Hybrid raises the question: Will...
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Coda To Build Batteries in the U.S. With Energy Dept. LoanCODA Automotive, builder of electric cars and batteries, is diversifying its manufacturing operations, which had previously been based mostly in China. The company says it will be opening a lithium-ion battery factory in Ohio that could add more than 1,000 jobs to the local area.The creation of so...
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Our reader Celeste wrote to ask us about available hybrid SUVs and crossovers, and we thought our answer might be useful for the site.
At the moment, there are three main hybrid SUVs sold in the U.S....
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Questions answered: Live-blogging the Tesla-Toyota press conferenceWe’re here at Tesla’s new headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. live-blogging the announcement of a strategic partnership between Tesla Motors and Toyota. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are on stage. Elon Musk: This is...
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Confirmed: Tesla to Build Electric Vehicles with Toyota at NUMMI PlantGovernor Arnold Scharzenegger leaked earlier today that Tesla Motors will be partnering with Toyota to build a new electric vehicle. Now, a reliable source close to the deal confirms that this is true — but that Tesla will also be acquiring the recently-closed NUMMI automotive manufacturing plant...
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Are Goals For 40-MPG 2011 Ford Fiesta Subcompact Too Ambitious?We're eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, the first truly modern subcompact from Ford in many years. The greenest Fiesta is rated at 40 miles per gallon on the highway, and the car has been widely praised for its dynamic styling, the high-quality interior, and an array...
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BMW To Add Diesel 5-Series & Another Model, Maybe Diesel Four?The list of cars offered to U.S. buyers in gasoline, diesel, and hybrid models is going to get longer. On the heels of its confirmation that the 2012 BMW 5-Series will be offered with a full hybrid system, the company has also confirmed it'll sell a clean diesel version of the new 5-Series in the...
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2011 Lexus CT 200h Hybrid Hatch 'Darker Side' Video LaunchesYou may recall that last month, we raised our eyebrows and scratched our head over the latest Lexus ad campaign, "The Darker Side of Green." The tagline, first unveiled at the 2010 New York Auto Show, turned out to be a teaser for the upcoming and unusual latest Lexus model, the 2011 CT 200h hybrid...
John Voelcker