John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Leaf vs Bolt EV, Tesla pickup, cheaper Prius, Honda's plug-in Clarity pair: The Week in Reverse John VoelckerWhich carmaker launched the first-ever pursuit-rated hybrid police car?
What do automakers really want the EPA to do about those 2022 through 2025 vehicle emission rules?
This is our look back at the...
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Tesla trucks, 217-mph Lucid electric, cheaper Prius hybrid, and puppies: Today's Car NewsToday, Elon Musk tweets, Toyota offers a cheaper Prius, a luxury electric sedan crosses 200 mph, and ... adorable doggies, too! All this and more on Green Car Reports. Elon Musk tweeted some news about future Tesla products: how about an electric semi and then a pickup truck too? Sales of the...
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Luxury electric Lucid Air sedan hits 217 mph in stability testOnly a handful of people have ridden in one outside the company, but development of the Lucid Air luxury electric sedan seems to be proceeding apace. The company said yesterday at the New York auto show that a development prototype had reached an electronically limited top speed of 350 km/h (217...
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Automakers seek deal to delay EPA's 2022-2025 emission rulesDespite some alarmist reporting, President Donald Trump hasn't abolished the EPA's vehicle emission limits. Nor has he wiped out corporate average fuel-economy rules, set by the NHTSA. So far, he's done two things: signed an executive order reopening the comment period for 2022-2025 EPA emission...
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Toyota Prius One: stripped-down hybrid added at lower priceIt hasn't been the greatest of years for the Toyota Prius hybrid, the Japanese carmaker's flagship product. The fourth generation hybrid hatchback debuted as a 2016 model into the teeth of continued low gasoline prices, and its radical design language apparently turned off at least some potential...
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Tesla trucks: semi to be shown in Sept, pickup in 18-24 monthsRelative few companies regularly make major announcements via their CEO's Twitter account, but electric-car maker Tesla is different. From software updates to dates for new product lines, tweets from Tesla's CEO Elon Musk routinely make news. And so it was this week, when Musk announced the months...
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Tesla vs GM, plug-in Jeep concept, fuel-cell Genesis SUV, Mercedes diesels DOA? Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, Shanghai proves much greener than New York (at least where auto shows are concerned), Trump may not be able to stop carbon-emission reductions, and why Tesla is now roughly equal in value to...
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Volkswagen teases electric crossover for Shanghai auto showVolkswagen appears to be quite clearly committed to an ambitious program of electric cars following its diesel emission scandal. But aside from two adapted models launched a few years ago—the VW e-Golf and e-Up hatchbacks—and a few low-range plug-in hybrids, it doesn't yet have much to...
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Genesis GV80 fuel-cell concept SUV at NY auto showThese days, it's all but de rigeur that concept cars from major global automakers be shown with some form of alternative propulsion. They may preview future production vehicles powered by plain old conventional gasoline engines, but a plug-in hybrid or other greener powertrain shows the automaker...
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Q: Why is Tesla worth more than GM? A: The sins of DetroitIt remains unclear whether Tesla will survive as an independent company, given that it's had exactly two profitable quarters in its 12-plus years of existence. And yet, last week, Tesla briefly passed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. automaker by market capitalization. It had passed...
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Leaf driver on Bolt EV, Demon vs Tesla, Honda Clarity gets plugs, hydrogen vs electric (again): Today's Car NewsToday, we've got our first stories from the New York auto-show preview days, a Leaf owner's take on the Chevy Bolt EV, info on the plug-in hybrid and electric Honda Clarity models, and a poll on which company follows Tesla in electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The driver of a...
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Honda Clarity Electric, Plug-In Hybrid sedans revealed at NY auto showAt the New York auto show this morning, Honda revealed the second and third powertrains for its Clarity mid-size sedan, now offered only in California with a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain. The 2017 Honda Clarity Electric and 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid are powered by a battery pack and a...
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Regardless of the number of cars they've sold—fewer than the Renault-Nissan alliance—Tesla is undoubtedly the best-known electric-car maker in the world.
It delivered 76,000 cars last...
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First impressions of Chevy Bolt EV by Nissan Leaf driverIf you're serious about driving a green car, but not happy with your local choices, you need to move to California. The Golden State has roughly two dozen battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale, not to mention three hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Electric-car advocate Kelly Olsen...
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Bolt EV lease deal, 2018 VW Golf, longterm Tesla test, Trump's carbon plans: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got a national lease on the Chevy Bolt EV electric car, details on two new small cars for 2018, technical details on that hybrid police pursuit car, and some startling news about Tesla. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We updated our story on Dyson giving up patent rights from...
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Tesla Model S at 36,000 miles: Car and Driver's long-term Midwest testWe're long past the days when car enthusiast publications sneered at electric cars as underpowered golf carts. Much of the credit for that goes to Tesla, the first all-electric carmaker, whose Model S won the hearts of 'buff-book' writers everywhere for its speed and shape. Now electric cars...
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What does it take to turn a Ford Fusion Hybrid into a Police Responder?The hybrid mid-size sedans sold today by Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota are all tuned to provide maximum fuel economy. So what did it take to fashion a standard Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan into the 2018 Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan that Ford introduced yesterday? The company's...
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2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: first national lease deal starts at $329 monthlyAs the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV rolls out across the U.S. over a nine-month period, electric-car advocates have focused intently on its sales numbers. It's fair to say that in its first four months on sale, they haven't yet broken any records. But now, for the first time, there's a national lease...
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Hybrid police pursuit car, Tesla Model 3 testing, Acura MDX hybrid, CA electric-car fees: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, we've driven a new luxury hybrid SUV, we've got video of a Tesla Model 3 testing on public roads, and Ford introduces a police pursuit-rated hybrid sedan. All this and more on Green Car...
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Ford Fusion becomes first police pursuit-rated hybrid car
Ford made a big splash last year when it announced it would launch 13 new electrified vehicles within five years. That was widely misreported as 13 new "electric" vehicles, which is to say either battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles—which isn't the case. It includes conventional...
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Is Chevy FNR-X concept the plug-in hybrid CrossVolt SUV?It's a single teaser shot, obviously of a Chevy front end, with unmistakable design nods to the Camaro muscle car. But the image of the Chevrolet FNR-X concept, to be unveiled at the Shanghai auto show less than two weeks hence, may be the first clue to some new GM plug-in hybrid offerings in the...
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Tesla Model 3 caught on video during daylight testingThe emergence of spy photos, and more recently video, has always been one of the standard indicators of a car nearing production. With production still said to start this July, pre-production versions of the Tesla Model 3 electric car should have been popping up in spy photos by now. Two weeks ago...
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Self-driving Leaf, Cruze Diesel drive, fast-charging Bolt EV, Tesla loses court case: The Week in ReverseWhat's it like to ride in a fully autonomous Nissan Leaf electric car for several miles through varied city traffic? What more did we learn about the fast-charging behavior of the 238-mile 2017 Chevy Bolt EV? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car...
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Plug-in minivan, used VW TDI diesel prices, Kia Optima Hybrid drive, EPA testing: Today's Car NewsToday, we have good news on electric-car buyers, a grim EPA budget, an apparently failed new battery, and production of the first plug-in hybrid minivan to hit the market. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Four out of 10 drivers globally would consider buying an electric car today, but the...
John Voelcker