John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Two-Bolt EV family, Ioniq Hybrid driven, VW vs Tesla, EPA firings: The Week in Reverse John VoelckerWhy did we test a $71,000 luxury sedan with an EPA rating of just 25 mpg?
What did a top Volkswagen executive say that riled up Tesla fans?
This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right...
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Electric-car cash in California, cheap Bolt EV ad, VW diesel deceit details, burning BMWs: Today's Car NewsToday, we're heartened by a cheesy ad, we've got details on the Volkswagen diesel deception, California hopes to improve its electric-car incentives, and some owners say their BMWs are spontaneously combusting. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Electric cars are slowly moving into the...
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2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage reviewThe 2017 Hyundai Ioniq comes in two versions: a nationally distributed hybrid-electric version, and an all-electric model that will be sold mostly in California and a handful of other states. There'll also be a plug-in hybrid version coming for 2018. We liked the Ioniq Hybrid when we first drove it...
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Low-budget Chevy Bolt EV dealer ad normalizes electric carsAh, local car-dealer ads on television. You've likely seen them, usually during the local ad minute on national shows, often late at night or in the cheaper slots. They're mostly formulaic, but each one mixes several elements for its own unique blend of attention-grabbing pitch. DON'T MISS: This...
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Electric cars go to D.C., green-car deals, Tesla vs dealers (again), EPA court ruling: Today's Car NewsToday, a rare Porsche plug-in hybrid surfaces, we've got the month's green-car deals, Tesla is battling car-dealer lobbyists (again!), and advocates take electric cars to Washington, D.C. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Ten years ago last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EPA not...
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Tesla faces battle over direct sales to buyers in ConnecticutAnother month, another Tesla battle with auto-dealer lobbyists in another state—or so it seems in the company's ongoing battle to sell electric cars online directly to buyers. This time, the action is in Connecticut, where on Monday the legislature's finance committee approved a bill letting...
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If you're a journalist, it's almost impossible to ignore political news these days.
So if readers can resolutely avoid national and local coverage of politics, consider yourselves lucky.
That said,...
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Two-Bolt EV family, RAV4 prices, diesel not dead, EPA shenanigans: Today's Car NewsToday, some updates to add detail to popular articles, lower prices on some Toyota RAV4 crossovers, why diesel is far from dead, and an Oregon family whose only vehicles are a pair of Chevy Bolt EV electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Our longest article today was by an Oregon...
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Mercedes denies CEO said it will turn away from hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (updated)Large global automakers customarily pursue research into multiple types of technologies and future powertrains at the same time. Sometimes they pan out, sometimes they don't. German automakers have only really come around to devoting their efforts to plug-in electric cars in the last five or six...
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EPA science advisers axed; execs from regulated industries to replace them (updated)While much of the nation's capital is preoccupied with the unpredictable Trump administration and its possible ties to Russia, the fate of the Environmental Protection Agency generates less news coverage. That's not to say there hasn't been news. Administrator Scott Pruitt is proceeding swiftly...
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This family has two Chevy Bolt EV electric cars, uses no gas at allThe 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car to offer a range of more than 200 miles, something previously offered only by pricey Tesla luxury cars. Initially put on sale last December in California, the 238-mile Bolt EV is slowly rolling out across the country and will be on...
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Electric-car charging fraud, Mercedes MPG, 2017 Rogue Sport, EPA axes science: Today's Car NewsToday, a transmission dies, a smaller crossover appears, Oregon wants to give car salespeople money, and the fossil-fuel industry may soon apparently run the EPA. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The case has faded into history, but the CEO of failed electric-car charging provider 350 Green...
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The Mercedes-Benz E-Class luxury sedan is hardly viewed as green, even if it'll soon have a plug-in hybrid version offered in small numbers.
But driving the most recent generation provides a nice...
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VW vs Tesla, electric cars in China, Karma configurator, are lighter cars safer? Today's Car NewsToday, a new configurator, a flawed study, compact crossover gas mileage, and a remarkable claim by a large carmaker. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Saturday, we published our usual Week in Reverse roundup of top stories from last week. Yesterday, we highlighted new laws in Fremont...
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Lighter, more fuel-efficient cars are safer, study says, ignoring safety rulesIt was one of several common tropes used 10 years ago against proposed regulations to boost average fuel economy. "More efficient cars will have to be lighter-weight, and they'll be unsafe because in accidents, they'll crumple up like Kleenex." Logical conclusion: if you require higher fuel economy...
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China has licensed 9 electric-car plants, more than U.S. has todayQuick trivia question: how many plants are there in the United States currently building electric cars? To be generous, we'll allow both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models. Any idea? The answer turns out to be four. DON'T MISS: Shanghai auto show: China plugs into electric cars in a big way...
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What's the lowest acceptable gas mileage for a compact SUV? Poll resultsWe've driven a lot of compact crossover utility vehicles in recent months. It's a hot category in the new-car market, with all light trucks getting better fuel economy than in past years—and gasoline prices continuing below $3 per gallon in most of the U.S. So we wondered what readers felt...
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VW to Tesla: 'Anything you can do, we can do better'With a new book imminent that gives new details on its diesel-emission cheating scandal, Volkswagen Group continues to struggle for positive corporate PR. Yet the company publicly appears to be confident that it has weathered the worst of that storm. Moreover, while its first high-volume electric...
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Model 3 risk, 2017 VW e-Golf driven, Shanghai roundup, hydrogen energy math: The Week in Reverse John VoelckerWhy is one noted manufacturing expert very worried about the Tesla Model 3?
Which article topic got more reader comments: hydrogen fuel-cell prospects or the impact of delayed CAFE rules?
This is our...
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2017 VW e-Golf first drive, Model S swap, Karma on TV, rolling coal banned: Today's Car NewsToday, one Tesla will be replaced with another, we've driven the longer-range 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, the Karma Revero is on TV, and we bust another alt-fuel myth. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Our writer David Noland has covered his ownership of a Tesla Model S (and many other topics...
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2017 Volkswagen e-Golf: first drive of updated 125-mile electric carThe 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, the only battery-electric car sold by VW in the U.S., got a large range boost for its third year on the market. While the current model year is winding to a close, 2017 e-Golfs are just now reaching dealers in the handful of states where the compact electric car is...
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Teslas scare Germans, electric pickup truck, fuel-cell energy use, plug-in sales update: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got some amusing news out of Germany, a range-extended electric pickup truck, a sales update, and a multi-linked analysis of how much energy hydrogen fuel-cell cars really require. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We explained why BMW is using Teslas to scare its staff about the...
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Plug-in electric car sales for Apr: Bolt EV back over 1,000 (updated)With four-figure sales for both its all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, GM probably led April's plug-in electric car sales. The "probably" comes because Tesla refuses to release its deliveries broken down either by month or by country, meaning there's no data to...
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Energy use for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles: higher than electrics, even hybrids (analysis)It's now clear that the zero-emission vehicles of the future will be powered by electric motors. The electricity to power those motors, however, will come from one of two competing technologies: high-capacity batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. The debate over which technology is superior, which has...
John Voelcker