John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Model 3 MPGe, Prime vs Bolt EV vs Volt, electric SUV, Mirai for Hawaii: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, a Tesla Model 3 EPA rating, a future electric SUV from Nissan, who loves tiny crossovers and who doesn't, and hydrogen fuel for Maui. All this and more on Green Car Reports.
Over the weekend,...
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Hawaii to get hydrogen fueling station; Toyota Mirai leases to followTropical islands are some of the best places on earth to pioneer carbon-free energy and zero-emission vehicles. Within the United States, the eight islands of Hawaii are blessed with a temperate climate, abundant sunshine, few high-speed highways, and a statewide speed limit of 60 mph, achievable...
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Tesla Model 3 rated at 126 MPGe, third-best after Ioniq Electric and Prius PrimeTen days ago, when the first 30 Tesla Model 3 electric cars were delivered to their owners at a much-publicized Handover Party, we didn't get full information on the latest Tesla model. The company didn't discuss battery capacity in kilowatt-hours, for instance, giving range in miles instead, nor...
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Tesla Model 3 launch, 2018 Leaf, CAFE debate, Porsche faster charging, 'dead' coal: The Week in ReverseWhat did we learn about the Tesla Model 3 electric car this week? Why is the EPA planning to remove an exhibit on climate change? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, August 4, 2017. Friday, we noted that while the...
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Model Y sanity, 2018 Leaf teaser, VW guilty plea, Tesla service, Toyota-Mazda pact: Today's Car NewsToday, again we have two Tesla stories, this time on Model Y "insanity" averted plus extended service plans; a VW executive pleads guilty; Toyota and Mazda hook up; and we get another 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car teaser image. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Toyota and Mazda announced they...
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Tesla Model Y to be based on Model 3 after all; Musk 'reeled back' from 'insanity'It's fair to say that Tesla CEO Elon Musk probably raises more eyebrows more often than all other automaker CEOs combined. One case in point came in early May, when he mentioned during a financial-results call that the upcoming Tesla Model Y compact crossover utility would be based on a new...
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The global debut of the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car is just a month away, and now another teaser image has been released.
This one's a design sketch showing a drawing of the car's side profile,...
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Toyota, Mazda plan joint plant in U.S., electric-car cooperation: updatedToyota is one of the largest global automakers, while Mazda is one of the smallest. This morning, the two Japanese makers announced a capital-investment deal under which Toyota would take a small shareholding in Mazda, the smaller maker would invest in Toyota as well, and the two would set up a...
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Fiat 500e autocrossing, Model 3 update, Canada EV news, charging at gas stations: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got two Tesla stories covering its entire model lineup, an electric car that went racing, a news roundup from Canada, and a distracted-pedestrian idea. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A piece we published on the net number of Tesla Model 3 reservations may have contributed to...
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Autocrossing a Fiat 500e electric car for first, maybe last, timeWhen we published an article on one owner's experience using his Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car to compete in a local autocross, it contained a comment that riled up our reader Doug Kerr. That comment—"Outside of one high-performance electric vehicle, casual electric cars are hardly the...
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Tesla Model 3 net reservations clarified after 16 months: 455,000Sometimes, if you ask a question often enough for long enough, an answer will eventually be forthcoming. In the case of the net number of $1,000 reservations for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, it took 16 months for the company to cough up the latest data. It came, not surprisingly, from CEO Elon...
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Plug-in electric car sales for July: Bolt EV, Prime, Volt, Teslas, Leaf lead (updated)In a U.S. car market that's coming off record numbers over the last couple of years, plug-in electric car sales continued strong last month. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, GM's 238-mile battery electric hatchback, set a new monthly sales record of 1,937 deliveries in its eighth month on sale—the...
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The Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car deserves a place in history.
It was arguably the first mass-produced modern electric car put on sale, well before the Nissan Leaf arrived in December 2010.
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Electric-car sales, Mazda loves engines, self-driving Dutch cars, oil demand decline? Today's Car NewsToday, we put two criticisms of electric cars into context, look at plug-in vehicle sales for the U.S. last month, fill you in on self-driving cars in The Netherlands, and consider when peak demand for oil could arrive. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We published the first cut at our...
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Mazda exec: engines can get cleaner, EVs will die without subsidiesSmall Japanese automaker Mazda is in a tough spot. It's been on its own for most of a decade now, after Ford sold its shares in the company, and now Mazda must fund numerous new models all by itself. With global sales of just 1.5 million vehicles, it's one-seventh the size of Toyota or Volkswagen...
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2018 Leaf electric car undisguised; EPA to tout coal; Tesla Model 3 Easter eggs, deposits: Today's Car NewsToday, more Tesla Model 3 news, coal may supplant climate change at the EPA, the fate of diesels could be dire, and big rigs won't be in the self-driving fast lane—and least not yet. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A Norwegian crew caught the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car without...
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Tesla won't discuss net Model 3 reservations number; why?One year ago today, a communications staffer (since departed) wrote that Tesla had received 373,000 reservations for its future Model 3—a number first issued in April 2016. In a splashy event for owners, fans, and media, a few dozen early-production Model 3 electric cars were delivered last...
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What will happen to diesels for U.S. cars, light trucks by 2025? Poll resultsWith electric-car battery prices falling faster than predicted even five years ago, carmakers face tough and costly choices in choosing powertrains for the lineups in 2020 and after. Pressed by stiff carbon-emission reduction laws in Europe and heavy regulations to encourage electric cars in China...
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Its maker has begun the countdown to the early-September unveiling of the 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car with a series of staged teaser photos and factoids.
But with the prevalence of smartphone...
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Model 3 mania, Porsche fast charging, electric Buick SUV, gas-mileage rollback? Today's Car NewsToday, it's mostly about the Tesla Model 3, but we also have a future electric SUV closely related to the Bolt EV, some startling and dire news for fuel-economy rules, and a change of heart from Fiat Chrysler. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The big news over the weekend and again today was...
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Fiat Chrysler to electrify more vehicles as diesels fall out of favorAmong the Detroit Three automakers, General Motors has a quarter of a century of electric-car experience, from the legendary EV1 to the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV. Ford launched hybrids in 2004, before any other maker, but its battery-electric efforts thus far have been strictly compliance cars...
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'Fossil fuels are dead,' says CSX railroad chief: no more new trains for coal, everThe industrial revolution that began around 1750 was powered in large part by coal, and the carbon-rich fuel had 200 good years after that. By the middle of the last century, however, serious studies had begun of its deleterious effects on human health—and that was before the climate-change...
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NHTSA to review gas-mileage rules: could freeze 2021 limits, even roll back (updated)The U.S. Department of Transportation said yesterday the NHTSA is preparing to revise corporate average fuel economy requirements for model years 2022 through 2025. The proposed version of those regulations, which was issued by the Obama Administration in 2012, included steady increases for each of...
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Tesla Model 3 drive reports, reviews: raves for sporty electric car
The first, earliest production versions of the Tesla Model 3 electric car were delivered to their owners in a splashy "Handover Party" late last week. A few journalists got short drives at the event, but only one outlet was granted a Model 3 before the party to enable a more comprehensive review...
John Voelcker