John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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The White House today announced a range of actions intended to stimulate and speed up the deployment of zero-emission electric vehicles in the U.S.
It took these actions, it said, as part of its...
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Chevy Bolt EV compared to Tesla Model S 60: Motor Trend lays it outSometimes reporters and editors will see an article or a section in another outlet and think, "Darn, why didn't we think of that?" This is one of those times. Enthusiast publication Motor Trend had the very clever idea of comparing two electric cars with 60-kilowatt-hour battery packs and more than...
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What will VW do with TDI diesel buyback cars? It's not what you thinkWithin weeks, Volkswagen and Audi will starting buying back thousands of 2.0-liter diesel cars sold between 2009 and 2015. So what will the company do once it's legally taken possession of those vehicles, the first of close to half a million caught up in the VW diesel emission scandal? It turns out...
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NJ electric-car advocacy group launches as gas tax soarsNew Jersey was always the place for residents of neighboring states—Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania—to buy cheap gasoline. That era ended two days ago, when a political deal struck between its legislature and the governor raised the state gas tax by a whopping 23 cents a gallon...
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Electric car sales remain ahead of hybrids after five yearsSometimes, it's all about a chart. A recent survey of car buyers suggests that consumer interest in electric cars is rising, and is highest among young adults. They're the car buyers of the future, so that would seem to be good news for the long-term prospects of plug-in cars. DON'T MISS: Electric...
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Nissan e-Power series hybrid builds on electric-car expertiseThis morning, in Japan, Nissan unveiled what its lineup has long been missing: strong hybrid technology. The company's new e-Power hybrid system, demonstrated in a Nissan Note hatchback, contains a gasoline engine and an electric traction motor. But unlike the power-split hybrids used by Toyota and...
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Toyota is one of the world's three largest carmakers, along with General Motors and Volkswagen Group.
Having placed its bets for the future of zero-emission transport on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles,...
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Tesla debuts bigger PowerWall 2.0 battery, glass solar-roof tiles from SolarCityLate last week, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk held a press conference whose underlying message was support for the proposed combination of Tesla with solar installer SolarCity. Musk's cousin Lyndon Rive runs SolarCity and Musk sits on its board, but the proposed acquisition has been criticized by...
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VW diesel buybacks OKed, Bolt EV video, Prius Prime nominated, Clarity Fuel Cell range: The Week in ReverseWhich model is missing from the new 2018 VW Atlas seven-seat SUV lineup—and what are we waiting for to replace it? What poses a huge threat to the global oil industry, in one financial firm's opinion? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for...
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Germans are coming for Tesla, German paper says, so now it's 'interesting'At times, those of us who cover the auto industry fall prey to stereotypes of the German auto industry. It can seem to observers that the collective belief of BMW, Daimler, and VW Group is that nothing happens in the industry until it's been done by one of their three companies—preferably all...
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Porsche's 800-Volt fast charging for electric cars: why it mattersThe future of electric cars for practical transportation relies to some degree on the future of DC fast charging, and how it develops over the next decade. As in other spheres of electrifying transport, Tesla Motors has pointed the way to one vision of the future with its expanding network of...
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Diesel cars dwindle as Mercedes-Benz C300d is pulled from U.S. before launchThe Volkswagen diesel scandal has had wide-ranging impacts globally, and specific local effects in the U.S. vehicle market. No VW Group brand will sell diesel vehicles in North America again any time soon, and most likely ever—meaning Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche. But the questions around...
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From the outside, this car looks like a tall hatchback, not all that remarkable, maybe a bit bigger than some of the smallest cars around.
But from the moment you open the door and get behind the...
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Battle over VW's $2 billion fund for electric-car charging: sorting out the questionsYesterday, federal judge Charles Breyer signed the final agreement committing Volkswagen to buy back or modify the 465,000 TDI 2.0-liter diesel vehicles that are the main focus of the VW diesel scandal. As part of that settlement, Volkswagen has also committed to providing $2 billion in funds to...
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Final VW diesel settlement signed; buyback offers to start soonAs expected, yesterday U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer signed the final agreement among Volkswagen, the EPA, and the state of California covering the bulk of VW's diesel emission cheating scandal. The agreement means that buyback offers can now be issued to owners of almost half a million...
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New Fisker electric car: 'butterfly doors' ... but strange hype too?We're slowly learning more about Henrik Fisker's planned 300-mile electric car, as the designer has now released a pair of teaser photos of the vehicle. It appears to have scissor doors that pivot toward the sky, for instance. And its aggressive front end looks an awful lot like the VLF Force 1...
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Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy nominee: Toyota Prius PrimeThe 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is a far, far better plug-in hybrid than its predecessor. It defaults to electric-only operation, it has 25 miles of EPA-rated electric range, and in electric operation, it is by far the most energy-efficient vehicle you can buy this year in the U.S. And when it reverts...
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Why VW diesel owners should get full price in buyback: opinionIf Judge Charles Breyer signs the final settlement among Volkswagen, the EPA, and a California agency tomorrow, buyback offers will start to go out sometime next month to owners of almost half a million VW and Audi diesel cars. However, not every owner plans to participate in the settlement. The...
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The Toyota Mirai has taken the lead in U.S. sales of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, though it was beaten to market early last year by the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell.
Through September, Toyota has sold...
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2019 BMW i5 crossover utility vehicle rendered from patent drawingsWith BMW having decided to offer not only plug-in hybrids across its range but also fully electric versions of its core models, its 'i' sub-brand is in a curious position. Is there a future for the high-tech vehicles designed for maximum efficiency when battery-electric powertrains are rolling into...
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Bolt EV sales, new Tesla sensors, unusual ethanol, BMW plug-in hybrids: The Week in Reverse
Which electric cars are finalists for our 2017 Best Car To Buy award? What unusual source for making ethanol did researchers at a Federal lab discover? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, October 21, 2016. Friday...
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LG Chem: GM to sell 'more than 30,000' Chevy Bolt EVs next year
A very brief article on a single sentence uttered on Tuesday by an executive at Korean battery maker LG Chem has reverberated around electric-car circles for most of this week. The executive was vice president Kang Chang-beom, and he spoke on a conference call for financial analysts on the topic of...
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Green Car Reports' 2017 Best Car To Buy nominee: Tesla Model XPretty much any Tesla electric car is bound to start a conversation. The low, tiny 2008 Roadster, the sleek and Jaguar-esque 2012 Model S sedan, or the company's latest car, the 2016 Model X crossover utility vehicle. But as we experienced first-hand, the Model X has the most attention-getting...
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Disqus now allows user blocking for individual commentersComments are a major part of Green Car Reports, and we think they're one of the reasons we've attained a surprisingly large and diverse audience of readers. But to stay useful, all comments have to be moderated—which is something our tiny staff spends a great deal of time on. We respond to...
John Voelcker