John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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And now, for today's great green concept, we present: Overhead highway lights powered by wind turbines, which are spun by the air turbulence generated as cars and trucks whiz past at speed.
Like many...
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2011 Mazda2 Interior Revealed, Only 3 Months After The CarWhen Mazda launched its 2011 Mazda2 subcompact hatchback at last year's Los Angeles Auto Show, many journalists noted that the doors were locked--and the windows were tinted so no one could see inside. Why? Because Mazda hadn't finished work on the interior. Well, now it's February, and they're...
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Relic For Sale: Rauch And Lang Electric Car, Needs WorkYesterday we drove the 2011 Ford Transit Connect Electric, and later today we'll have a drive report for you. But if you'd rather not wait until November or December for to buy Ford's first-ever electric vehicle, perhaps you'd consider a slightly used electric car on eBay? This 1918 Rauch and Lang...
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2010 Chicago Auto Show: Kia Ray Plug-In Hybrid ConceptThe Chicago Auto Show is traditionally all about trucks, and in this slow year it's pretty light on green cars. A welcome exception comes from Korean maker Kia, who just unveiled their Ray plug-in hybrid concept car. The Ray points the way toward a stylish compact four-door sedan that's both...
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Toyota Prius Recall Guide: Sudden Acceleration & Brake SafetyEverything you need to know about the recalls affecting the 2010 Toyota Prius, and the 2004-2009 Prius too
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RECALL: 2010 Toyota Prius, Lexus HS250h For ABS Software UpdateAs expected, Toyota has announced a recall for its 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Lexus HS 250h models to update the anti-lock braking system (ABS) software. The new software improves the response time of the anti-lock system and alters its sensitivity to tire slippage. The update is intended to reduce...
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It's long been known that Ford's first electric car would actually be a truck. Now, we have all the details of the 2011 Ford Transit Connect Electric, an all-electric conversion of the Transit...
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More Than 30 MPG Highway: The New Benchmark For Green Cars?So what exactly IS a "green car"? At both the Los Angeles Auto Show and Detroit Auto Show, you could find the word "green" all over the place. LA has been pitching itself for years as the greenest auto show, with fewer muscle cars and more hybrids, clean diesels, and so forth than any other U.S...
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Why The 2010 Toyota Prius Doesn't Have A Lithium-Ion BatteryMany reviewers lauded the new, third generation 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid when it launched last spring--but wondered why it didn't use a lithium-ion battery, rather than 15-year-old nickel-metal-hydride technology. Now we learn that the 2010 Prius was indeed supposed to have a new, more energy-dense...
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Want A Micro-Turbine Plug-In Hybrid Supercar? Call VelozziOne of our favorite cars from the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show was the CMT-380 supercar concept from Capstone Turbine. To show off potential automotive uses for its C30 micro-turbine, it built an extended-range electric car using the turbine to add up to 500 miles to the 80-mile range of its...
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Honda and Scion Struggle Seeking Small-Hybrid Sweet SpotBefore either car launched, the 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Honda Insight were viewed as natural rivals. Would the third generation of Toyota's definitive hybrid be threatened by Honda's "least expensive hybrid", which too offered five doors and good gas mileage? What a difference a year makes...
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Striking BMW EfficientDynamics Hybrid Concept Will Be BuiltThe striking BMW Vision EfficientDynamics hybrid concept was unquestionably the star concept of September's Frankfurt Motor Show. It proved, once again, that when German carmakers turn their minds toward a new goal--in this case, a sports car with breathtaking fuel efficiency--they can produce...
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The U.S. government isn't the only one that gives grants and loans to help automakers develop advanced-technology vehicles. The U.K. government's Technology Strategy Board does it as well, for...
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New Hybrid Braking Issue: First Prius, Now Ford Fusion HybridAnother day, another hybrid braking problem. Only this time, it's not Toyota. It's Ford. Late yesterday, Ford announced a "customer satisfaction program" that will ask that owners of 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid models built before October 17 to bring the cars to their...
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UPDATE: Braking Issue In 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid, Recall TBDUPDATE: The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal inquiry into the brakes of the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. It has now received 124 complaints of faulty brakes, out of roughly 37,000 of the cars sold to date in the U.S. Toyota said it would cooperate fully with the...
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UPDATE: Toyota Admits Braking Problems, On 2010 Prius OnlyThings are moving fast in the land of Toyota safety issues and recalls. Yesterday, we told you that the 2010 Toyota Prius was being investigated for braking problems in Japan. Today, Toyota has admitted that most 2010 Prius models (those built between the start of production last spring and late...
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Is Woz's Prius Acceleration Just Toyota's Wacky Adaptive Cruise?UPDATE, February 8, 2009: Speaking in a sort-of-webchat on Digg, Toyota president Jim Lentz said of the Woz complaint, "We are working with him on the operation of the cruise control." Please forgive us while we quietly smirk. ++++++++++ It's obviously pile-on-Toyota week. Transportation Secretary...
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Tesla Charge at Airport Plug Shows EV Drivers Are ResourcefulThe Tesla Roadster may be going out of production in 2012, but Tesla drivers--and electric vehicle drivers in general--are nothing if not resourceful. First, in December, the company managed a cross-country road trip, driving a Roadster from Los Angeles to Detroit. Now, we find that a Colorado...
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Citing allegations of braking loss or slippage, Japan's Ministry of Transportation ordered Toyota to launch an investigation into possible brake problems in the new 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid.
That...
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Audi's Green Onslaught: A3 Sedan, A8 Hybrid, e-Tron Tesla-FighterIt's going to take Audi a long time to live down its U.S. chief's infamous quote that anyone who buys a Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle is an "idiot." But after sticking to diesel for a long time as its sole green strategy, Audi is now storming ahead into smaller, hybrid, and...
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Higher MPGs From EcoBoost Engine For 2011 Ford Edge CrossoverContinuing the trend of raising gas mileage by using smaller, more powerful engines, Ford is set to launch its first four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in the 2011 Ford Edge, which will be unveiled at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show next week. We've written before about Ford's EcoBoost system, which uses...
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If Tesla Roadster Production Ends in 2012, Show Us The MoneyWhenever we're asked whether electric-car startup Tesla Motors will make it, we respond with our own question: What's the last carmaker started from scratch in the U.S. by entrepreneurs that's still with us, and when did it launch? The answer is Chrysler, and the year was 1924. In other words...
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2007 and 2008 Honda Fit Recalled For Potential Fire HazardWe've always been big fans of the Honda Fit subcompact hatchback, with fuel economy ratings of 28 mpg city, 35 mpg highway for the five-speed manual model. In its review of the newest 2010 Honda Fit, our sister site TheCarConnection lauded the Fit for: City-friendly steering and maneuverability...
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January's Most Popular Green Car Posts: 2012 Ford Focus, Electric AveWith the start of the new year, we're back to our end-of-month rundowns on the top five most popular green car posts of the last 30 days. For January, the top two came from our comprehensive coverage of the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. We have just one carryover this month from the year's Top Ten Most...
John Voelcker