John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
-
The five finalists for the 2010 Green Car of the Year Award include three hybrid models--two Japanese hatchbacks and one U.S. sedan--and a pair of German clean-diesel cars.
The nominations were...
-
Bentley Backs Away From Biofuel Bomber, At Least For AwhileWe've always been more than a little skeptical about Bentley's biofuel claims for its 2010 Continental Supersports hot rod. We think it's very, very unlikely that owners of a $267,000 near-supercar will seek out one of the few hundred E85 ethanol pumps in the country to cut their carbon emissions...
John Voelcker -
Hybrid Sales Plummet After Cash-For-Clunkers Credits QuitWe knew all along that the Cash-For-Clunkers program induced July and August car buyers to go for vehicles they might not otherwise have chosen, specifically smaller cars with higher gas mileage. Especially hybrid-electric vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and others. But now comes the hybrid...
John Voelcker -
MPG Follies, Or, Why Electric Cars Can't Get 367 MPG. Sheesh.One of our most popular posts in August was a piece that broke down how General Motors projected a fuel efficiency of 230 miles per gallon in the city for its 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car. Soon after GM's elaborate press event, Nissan announced with a straight face that their...
John Voelcker -
More Tesla Turmoil? Executive Turnover ContinuesExecutive turnover continues at Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors, with three executives leaving in nine months and two more hired. The turnover comes both in Vehicle Engineering--the group that must executive and deliver the 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sports sedan--and in...
John Voelcker -
PREVIEW: 2011 Honda CR-Z Hybrid Two-Seat Sports CoupeWhile the 2010 Honda Insight is the company's big hybrid news for this year, it's far from the only new hybrid headed to us from Honda. As we've noted before, Honda will launch two more hybrids in 2010 as 2011 models. Now, Honda has released photos of its "CR-Z Concept 2009" show car, to be...
John Voelcker -
Two weeks ago, Toyota confirmed that it would offer more than one body style for its Prius hybrid-electric vehicle.
Now, in Japan, the company has introduced a Toyota version of the car we know here...
-
Will 20,000 U.S. Buyers Order 2012 Nissan Leafs Within A Year?The 2012 Nissan Leaf hatchback, the first all-electric car from a major manufacturer to be offered in the U.S. since GM's late lamented EV1 two-seater a decade ago, won't go on sale nationally for more than two years. Nonetheless, Nissan is hoping to accumulate 20,000 U.S. advance orders for the...
John Voelcker -
Preview: 2010 Nissan AltimaWhat is it?: Sporty Nissan midsize coupe and sedan, with hybrid available in sedan only The basics: Always slightly sportier and more stylish than the competition, the low-volume hybrid lets you have it all. Price: $19,900-$29,600 On sale: October 5th Nissan has made some changes to its...
John Voelcker -
World's First Plug-In Hybrid Sales? So Far, Not So GoodLate last year, a small Chinese company achieved a milestone: It offered the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid vehicle for sale. BYD Automotive, of Shenzhen, started selling its 2009 BYD F3DM (for "dual mode") compact sedan in December. So how's it been doing? Not too well. BYD said it...
John Voelcker -
Most Popular Posts for September: Prius Drag Races, Who Knew?We're back on schedule with our favorite end-of-month activity, logging the most popular posts of the last month-or-so on AllAboutPrius.com. Autumn is here (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), and we've got a fresh crop of favorites. We only held over two of August's most popular posts...
John Voelcker -
Most Popular Green Car Posts for September: Condoms, Of CourseThis is our favorite end-of-month activity, looking back over the most popular posts of the last 30-or-so days on GreenCarReports.com. To celebrate the onset of autumn (for us Northern Hemisphere types, anyhow), we're back on schedule too. We repeated three of August's most popular posts, and...
John Voelcker -
As reported earlier this afternoon on our sister site TheCarConnection.com, Toyota may will recall up to 3.8 million cars and pickup trucks to ensure that the floor mats on the driver's side are not...
-
ALERT: Toyota Recalls 2004-2009 Prius, DoT Urges Removing Floor Mat
Toyota may will recall all models of the 2004-2009 Toyota Prius to ensure that the driver' side floor mat cannot interfere with the accelerator and brake pedals, possibly causing the accelerator to stick. This afternoon, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an "urgent" warning...
John Voelcker -
HUMMER Drivers Say: I'm More Moral Than Effete Prius WimpsWe often say that many Toyota Prius hybrid owners and HUMMER drivers choose their cars for the same reason: They want to make a statement to other people about who they are. Now our pals at Wired have uncovered a fascinating (if small) sociological study that parses how HUMMER owners view their...
John Voelcker -
Adding Ethanol Alarms Automakers; Should You Worry?Your car already runs on (some) ethanol, although you may not know it. Much of the gas sold in the U.S. is now actually a blend: 90 percent gasoline, 10 percent ethanol. It's known as E10, for the percentage of the total derived from the corn-based biofuel. Since 1978, new cars have been able to...
John Voelcker -
August U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Hit Highest MPG Since $4 GasolineThanks to the strong financial incentives offered by the Cash-For-Clunkers program, the average gas mileage of new vehicles sold in the U.S. during August reached a record high: 23 miles per gallon, up 8 percent from the 21.2 mpg in August 2008. The calculations were done by the trade journal...
John Voelcker -
Driving Electric To Cost No More Than Using Gas, Says Better PlaceDriving a mile on electricity always costs less than using gasoline for the same mile. Now Better Place, the consortium wiring Israel with electric-car recharging stations and battery quick-swap facilities, has upped the ante: They claim their electric cars will cost $4,500 to $7,500 less than...
John Voelcker -
To green-car fans, the idea of an ultra-aerodynamic electric two-seater sounds pretty familiar, right? Think the late, lamented EV1 from General Motors, subject of the controversial documentary, Who...
-
Electric Supercharger Boosts Gasoline Engines To Diesel EfficiencyIn the accelerating quest for greater fuel efficiency, boosting engines--with turbos or superchargers--is one way to pull more power out of a given displacement. Traditionally, superchargers have been driven by chain or belt powered from an engine's crankshaft. Now, a British engineering firm has...
John Voelcker -
Fisker Joins Tesla In Getting Government Cash For Hybrid Luxury SedanThe U.S. Department of Energy yesterday approved a $529 million low-interest loan to Fisker Automotive, which will start building its 2010 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan later this year. Customer deliveries will start next May. In June, Tesla Motors received a $465 million loan for...
John Voelcker -
Your Tax $$$ At Work: Argonne Lab's Better Batteries, Greener FuelsIf you watch TV or read the papers, you'll see lots of coverage of people who are pretty unhappy with one facet or another of the U.S. government. This post is about something government seems to do relatively well: pre-commercial research and development. Here at GreenCarReports.com, we usually...
John Voelcker -
Well, Why NOT a (750-Horsepower) Chevrolet Corvette Hybrid?The 2010 Chevrolet Corvette goes like stink. Its 430-horsepower, 6.2-liter V8 is the epitome of all-American performance. And that's just the base car. The supercar contender ZR1 model heads straight into the stratosphere. The Vette is an icon, and GM messes with it at its peril. So a throwaway...
John Voelcker -
2010 Hyundai Elantra Blue: Higher MPG, Just $25 MoreThe 2010 Hyundai Elantra is the latest iteration of a compact car known for frugality and low price. This year, Hyundai has boosted the mileage, raising the standard five-speed manual model to 26 mpg city / 35 mpg highway from last year's 24 mpg city / 33 mpg highway. The 2.0-liter, four-cylinder...
John Voelcker