John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Our mission here at GreenCarReports.com is to cover the greener end of automobiles, for both new-car buyers and enthusiasts. But unlike other sites, we rarely cover conversions to add plug-in...
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Mercedes-Benz To Launch Pricey Plug-In Hybrid S-Class In 2012After lagging in development of hybrid and plug-in cars for years, Mercedes-Benz is now attacking the new technology with a vengeance. The latest proof: reports that it will offer a pricey plug-in hybrid version of its next S-Class large luxury sedan in 2012. The British magazine Autocar writes...
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Most Popular Posts of 2009: Prius Perks, VW Golf TDI, Ethanol & Urine!Maybe you're already overloaded with end-of-year lists. But indulge us; this is the weirdest collection of most-popular articles we could ever have imagined. We've got urine. We've got Muslims and ethanol. We've got hybrid Ferraris. We've even got our ever-popular rant on why Miles-Per-Gallon is a...
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Faceoff: 2011 Chevrolet Volt Vs 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In HybridToyota and GM are the auto industry's heavyweights. Each has stumbled this year; General Motors collapsed into bankruptcy and Toyota is beset with embarrassing recalls that may dent its reputation for reliability. Each also has a plug-in car coming. The 2011 Chevy Volt will hit dealers in less than...
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Detroit Auto Show Preview: Electric Fiat 500 Mini-CarAn electric Fiat 500 has been rumored for several months now, including before the lengthy October press conference where Chrysler laid out its survival plan. But now, it appears that Chrysler will show an electric Fiat 500 mini-car as one of two concepts it will have on display at next month's...
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2010 Toyota Prius Prices Rise $400 On All ModelsThe prices of all five trim levels of the new 2010 Toyota Prius will rise next month by $400, or roughly 1.5 to 2 percent, reflecting increased costs and an unfavorable yen-dollar exchange rate. Toyota announced the changes on December 21, buried at the bottom of a lengthy press release on the...
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The dirty little secrets of Top 10 lists are in the methodology, as Forbes found out with its weirdly inaccurate "10 Dirtiest Cars" list. (It's the end of the year, so it's time for a lot of Top...
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Preview: 2011 Audi A1 Subcompact Sports HatchbackAs luxury automakers focus more on how to extend their brand into smaller packages that maintain the prestige and performance of their larger models, Audi has a few advantages. Its new 2011 Audi A1 subcompact hatchback can draw on the full experience of its parent, Volkswagen Group, while selling...
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World's First Hybrid Motorcycle To Launch In IndiaWe don't cover electric two-wheelers much here at GreenCarReports.com. They're not cars, and while millions are sold each year in China, we don't see many of them in the United States. But we thought it was worthwhile to note the launch of the world's first hybrid two-wheeler. We're not entirely...
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Detroit Auto Show Preview: Electric Volvo C30 HatchbackAdvance news on the green concept cars to be shown at next month's Detroit Auto Show continues to trickle out. The latest: a further evolution of the all-electric Volvo C30 three-door hatchback concept. It's the second European electric concept car. It joins the BMW Concept ActiveE electric car...
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Detroit Auto Show Preview: BMW Concept ActiveE Electric CarA little more than a year ago, the all-electric Mini E stole the limelight at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. Now, BMW has released details of its next all-electric concept car, which will formally debut at next month's Detroit Auto Show. The BMW Concept ActiveE electric car is based on the BMW...
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The Volt Song: What Happened, and What It Could Have BeenAnd we thought our piece on the LA Auto Show's Volt dance was pointed. Hah! Look here. Or here, followed by here. Or here. Ouch. Like a good journalist, we wanted to know more. So we asked for an interview with Maria Rohrer, Director of Global Volt Marketing Operations at Chevrolet, to understand...
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If you're one of the 120,000 people who own a Honda Civic Hybrid made between 2003 and 2008, you may already know about the proposed settlement to a lawsuit against Honda contending its advertising...
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Royalty Drives Fisker Karma Plug-In Hybrid, Journalists Not So MuchNot surprisingly, automotive journalists compete to be the first to drive the latest new cars. Some crave Chevies, others follow Ferrari. Here at GreenCarReports.com, we want to be among the first to drive electric cars and other plug-ins, new hybrids, clean diesels, and so forth. We've driven a...
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2011 Chevy Volt Dance: Hey GM, We Want Our Bailout Back, NowWe don't use a lot of profanity here at the global GreenCarReports.com headquarters. But there were a whole bunch of horrified OMFGs floating around once we finally got to see the notorious Volt Dance that was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show. We write about the 2011 Chevrolet Volt...
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Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid On Sale in 2011, Less Than $10K MoreHigh Gear Media has partnered with Tesla Motors on a new writing contest where YOU can win a tour and road test of the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport. You can submit as many articles as you like and enter multiple times. Enter now! == As a plug-in battle starts to take shape among the 2011 Chevrolet...
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Video: 2011 Scion iQ Thrashed, Slalomed, and Drifted While ShoppingWe're eagerly waiting for the 2011 Scion iQ to be launched in production form. That may be at next month's Detroit Auto Show or April's New York Auto Show, where the concept version landed from the sky last year. Sold in the rest of the world as the Toyota iQ, the 2011 iQ will go on sale in the...
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All-Electric Roadtrip From LA to Detroit? No Problem, Says TeslaAs we've noted elsewhere, we write a lot about Tesla. We certainly give them more ink...errr, electrons?...than their share of the sports car market, since they're just delivered their 900th Roadster. Not that they're not wildly fun to drive, mind you. But despite early engineering difficulties...
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Sadly, they're not actually orange. Nor do they smell like citrus when they get hot. But by infusing orange oil into natural rubber, a new line of tires from Yokohama cuts four-fifths of the...
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Holiday Gift Guide: The Best Accessories For Your Toyota PriusThe huge SEMA show, mecca of car modifications from awful to awesome, now attracts even manufacturers, who commission custom versions of production cars in hopes that hotness will rub off on them. Even Toyota showed the Prius Aerius and Aemulus this year. But the real action is in the aftermarket...
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Want To Drive a 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport? Enter Our Writing Contest!We tested a 2009 Tesla Roadster last spring. Without a doubt, it's one of the most fun and breathtaking performance cars around. And the new-for-2010 Roadster Sport model is even quicker. Zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, anyone? Now you too can have your very own chance to drive a 2010 Tesla Roadster...
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Why Can't We Buy Small European Diesels in the U.S.?It may be the one question we hear most often here at GreenCarReports.com: Why can't I buy one of those great little fuel-efficient diesels, like they have in Europe? Take, for example, the ultra-high-mileage Econetic version of the Ford Fiesta, sold in Europe with a 1.6-liter turbodiesel that...
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But Would You WANT Your Prius To Sound Like a Spaceship?With early data now showing that hybrid cars seem to hit pedestrians more often, carmakers are ramping up efforts to find ways of alerting people when a nearby car is operating in electric mode. Now the UK's Group Lotus Engineering has come up with a noise-generating system, one of several...
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2013 Chevrolet Spark: Just Too Small For U.S. Buyers, Or Not?We've covered the 2013 Chevrolet Spark a couple of times before, but now there's a drive report of the European version, courtesy of Motor Trend. We're not entirely sure we agree with their conclusion, though. Granted, the Spark is the smallest Chevy ever. But Motor Trend winds up its road test...
John Voelcker