John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
-
The Chevrolet Bolt EV, initially intended to be adapted from the next-generation Chevy Sonic subcompact, ended up with unique underpinnings designed solely for use as a battery-electric vehicle.
...
-
2017 Tesla Model 3 prices, features, details, specifications from Handover PartyThirty of the earliest Tesla Model 3 buyers took delivery of their electric cars last night in a gala event for owners, investors, and friends the company had dubbed the Handover Party. The highly anticipated Model 3, the vehicle Tesla hopes will boost its production to hundreds of thousands of...
John Voelcker -
One electric car owner's experiences in adding solar panels: why, what, and how (updated)The purchase of an electric car that plugs into the power grid to recharge its battery often gets drivers thinking about the source of their energy. We haven't seen data from recent years looking at the overlap between electric-car drivers and home solar panels. But early analyses in California...
John Voelcker -
Battery progress, diesel approvals, Toyota solid-state cells, CAFE rules, Bollinger B1: The Week in ReverseWhich new electric vehicle wowed a crowd that didn't expect it to be as cool as it turned out? What environmental regulation is the NHTSA seemingly getting ready to roll back under Trump? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on...
John Voelcker -
Electric car vs horse, Bollinger B1 utility truck, science sidelined, EPA diesel approvals: Today's Car NewsToday, a pair of diesel approvals from the EPA, all the details on the startling and very cool Bollinger B1 all-electric utility truck, grim news about climate scientists, and a question to mull: are gasoline cars doomed to suffer the fate of the horse? All this and more on Green Car Reports...
John Voelcker -
Will electric cars take over as quickly as cars displaced horses from 1900 to 1925?So here's a question for you: when was the last time you traveled by horse to ... well, to anywhere other than the stable you started from? In 1900, horses were the de facto way for Americans to travel, whether riding them or in horse-drawn carts. By 1925, that had changed: 15 years of the Ford...
John Voelcker -
VW Group of North America now owns hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen and Audi TDI diesel vehicles it has bought back from owners under the terms of various diesel emission scandal settlements.
...
-
Bollinger B1 all-electric utility truck revealedIt's square-edged, with flat body panels, large knobbly tires, and a simple interior that can easily be hosed out when dirty. The Bollinger B1 electric utility truck revealed tonight at the Classic Car Club on New York City's Hudson River was designed out in the country, where trucks have to be...
John Voelcker -
Propaganda video debunked, diesel worries from Europe, electric-car battery evolution, BYD expansion: Today's Car NewsToday, discussion of diesel bans in Europe, updates on Toyota solid-state cells, context of the pace of electric-car battery advances, and some BYD news to boot. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We added some additional details to yesterday's story on Toyota plans for solid-state batteries...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car battery progress: incremental improvements, not revolutionary leapsThe report that Toyota is planning an electric car with a solid-state battery for 2022 has led some fans and advocates to suggest huge new leaps in electric cars are imminent. The 2011 Nissan Leaf had an EPA-rated range of 75 miles combined; the comparable figure for a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is 238...
John Voelcker -
Propaganda video claiming 'dirty electric cars' debunkedFor years, electric-car skeptics raised concerns about what was cleverly dubbed "The Coal Tailpipe": the idea that plug-in vehicles produced just as many harmful emissions as gasoline cars, but in a different place. That's not remotely true for carbon dioxide, as multiple studies over the years...
John Voelcker -
European commissioner warns against cities' diesel bans, fears market collapseThe warning came even before last week's plans for updates to 9 million European diesel cars by German luxury makers Audi and Mercedes-Benz were announced. In a letter sent to the transport ministers of European Union countries, EU industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska warned that proposed bans...
John Voelcker -
Toyota has long claimed battery-electric cars are suitable only for limited uses, and promoted hydrogen fuel cells as the best zero-emission vehicle technology.
Pushed by China's increasingly tough...
-
Electric Mini, CAFE freeze, Model S back on top, electric cars and solar panels: Today's Car NewsToday, an electric-car driver explains his decision to add solar panels to his house and runs through the math, we've got two stories on the future electric Mini Cooper, and the Trump administration plans another anti-environmental move. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As it turns out...
John Voelcker -
Next Mercedes-Benz small cars to get even tinier enginesNot so many years ago, a 1.2-liter engine would only have been found in the U.S. in the smallest and least impressive of subcompact cars. It might have been a 3-cylinder, and certainly wouldn't have had even 100 horsepower. But times change, and engines of that size will soon be found even in the...
John Voelcker -
Toyota electric car in 2022, diesel updates, fast plug-in sales, EV owner attitudes: Today's Car News
Today, we have two separate articles on solid-state batteries for electric cars, updates to lower diesel emissions, and a rare house editorial piece. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Breaking news this morning indicates that Toyota will launch an electric car with a solid-state battery...
John Voelcker -
Note to (a few) electric-car advocates: get off your high horsesAny movement produces passionate advocates and angry detractors, even as the vast mass of people pay it little or no attention. When that movement involves most people's second most-expensive purchase, and plays a role in reducing manmade carbon emissions to alleviate the worst effects of climate...
John Voelcker -
When will sales of of electric and gas cars be equal, globally? Poll results
It's now clear that much greater numbers of plug-in electric cars will be sold in coming years and decades than have found buyers to date. With battery costs falling faster than expected, and toughening regulations in China requiring higher volumes of electric cars, the onus is on the world's...
John Voelcker -
VW electric cars, oldest Prius hybrid, California charging-station plans, diesel Jeep: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, we've updated our glossary of green-car terms, profiled the oldest Toyota Prius hybrid in the world, read through a 24-page report on VW's Electrify America plans for electric-car charging,...
-
Jeep Wrangler Diesel already testing, before 2019 launchThe iconic Jeep Wrangler is a tough vehicle to make fuel-efficient. Its separate frame and body add weight, and it has all the wind-cheating grace of a small municipal hospital. The Wrangler SUV only gets redesigned every 10 years or so, so each new generation is a big deal to Jeep fans. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
California should approve VW 'Electrify America' plan for electric-car charging: CARB analysisThis Thursday, the California Air Resources Board will meet to consider what action it will take on an important plan that could bring many more electric-car charging sites to the state. That document is the first 30-month investment plan submitted by Volkswagen for its "Electrify America" program...
John Voelcker -
Bolt EV shutdown, 2018 Leaf, dire diesel news, why electric-car racing matters: The Week in ReverseWhat grim breaking news could make the expanding diesel emission scandal more painful for all German makers? And why did GM really extend the shutdown of the assembly plant where the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car is made? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car...
John Voelcker -
More diesel drama, Bolt EV plant info, whiskey for fuel, Volt crossover coming? Today's Car NewsToday, our missing plug-in Mini review, some rumors on future Chevrolet Volts, a new Volvo crossover, and much more diesel drama. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We updated our article on the Bolt EV production shutdown to reflect information added by a worker at the Orion Assembly Plant...
John Voelcker -
2018 Mini Cooper S E Countryman All4 review of plug-in hybridThe makers of the 2018 Mini Coooper S E Countryman All4, the unwieldy name for its first plug-in hybrid small crossover utility vehicle, aren't going to make any friends among electric-car fans. That's because the company has included in its marketing the notion that the car's hybrid powertrain...
John Voelcker