John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
-
Writers at the respected Consumer Reports were enthusiastic fans of the Tesla Model S electric car they bought and drove for more than a year, using enthusiastic language rarely seen in its sober...
-
Audi, Porsche, VW 3.0-liter V-6 diesel fix rejected by California regulatorsOwners of several of the pricier Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen models fitted with VW's 3.0-liter V-6 turbodiesel engine will have to wait a little longer to find out what VW Group will have to do to make them comply with emission regulations. A final proposal for buybacks and possible modifications...
John Voelcker -
Honda spy shots, Tesla stores, lousy headlights, electric-car sales: Today's Car NewsWe look at which maker sells more electric cars as a percentage than any other, how Tesla Stores baffle conventional car dealers, and why you should pay attention to proposed changes in California's arcane zero-emission vehicle credits system. All this and more, today on Green Car Reports. Tesla...
John Voelcker -
2016 Nissan Murano Hybrid slips quietly into lineup, minimal volume expectedWhat if a car is launched, ever so quietly, and no one notices at first? Does it exist? Such existential questions are posed by the recent discovery that Nissan is now selling a hybrid version of its Murano crossover utility vehicle, as of the current 2016 model year. DON'T MISS: Nissan Pathfinder...
John Voelcker -
BMW still leads U.S. plug-in sales percentages; X5 plug-in hybrid SUV helpsTwenty months ago, in November 2014, the BMW i3 electric car had only been on sale in the U.S. for six months. But the numbers sold just in the first half-year had, surprisingly, catapulted BMW to the highest percentage of plug-in vehicles sold—2.3 percent—for any carmaker in the U.S...
John Voelcker -
2017 Honda Clarity spy shots from testing show debut is closeIf you're a nascent spy photographer for cars, Detroit is the place to be for the domestic companies. Southern California is the site for many Asian brands, even though Toyota and Nissan have largely decamped for other regions. Which is how one alert reader came to snap these photos of a 2017 Honda...
John Voelcker -
The 2016 Chevrolet Spark is a slightly larger, better equipped, and more stylish version of the smallest Chevy in brand's lineup.
It succeeds a model whose unexpected sales numbers showed Chevrolet...
-
VW diesel buybacks, Tesla Autopilot crash, 'sobering' fuel-cell future, Oklahoma natural gas: The Week in ReverseWhy did one man involved in developing hydrogen fuel-cell powertrains call their prospects 'sobering'? And, how much do you get from Volkswagen if you bought a TDI diesel car after the emission scandal broke last September? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car...
John Voelcker -
2017 Hyundai Elantra Eco gas mileage road-trip reportRoad trips are an integral part of the American myth, with writers from de Toqueville to Jack Kerouac setting out to experience the variety and beauty of the huge country. Vehicle launch events, on the other hand, are heavily scripted—with pre-set drive routes often designed to highlight a...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Autopilot crash: what one Model S owner has to sayThe NHTSA has now said it will investigate two separate crashes reportedly involving a Tesla electric car operating with the Autopilot feature engaged. Media coverage on the May 7 death of a Model S driver in Florida continues to debate the merits of electronic driver-assistance technologies, often...
John Voelcker -
Early Mercedes fuel-cell driver's 'sobering assessment' to industryAs the old saying goes, you can identify the pioneers by the arrows in their backs. Being an early adopter of new technologies can be exciting, but it can also require adaptations to fit into its limitations. Just ask David Wenger, one German proponent and driver of a Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell...
John Voelcker -
Six Tesla Model 3 challenges Elon Musk has to overcomeTesla Motors says it will start building its Model 3 sedan sometime between July and December next year, and it's targeting production of 100,000 in that period. That's beyond a tall order, and many advocates, analysts, and owners are skeptical that the company can do it. But if you accept the...
John Voelcker -
Self-made millionaires often possess an innate belief that they can create products and companies where none existed before.
But with companies come factories, and with factories come tax breaks, and...
-
Plug-In Electric Car Sales Report for June: more of the sameSales of plug-in electric cars last month continued at pretty much the same level as in May, with few notable gainers or losers among the high-volume entries. While the Nissan Leaf electric car and the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid had run neck-and-neck in total sales last year, the Leaf has now fallen...
John Voelcker -
Tesla delivers 14,370 electric cars in Q2, fewer than plannedElectric-car maker Tesla Motors said it delivered 14,370 vehicles from April through June, made up of 9,745 Model S sedans and 4,625 Model X utility vehicles. That number means the company missed its second-quarter production target of 17,000 cars. During the first six months of this year, Tesla...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Autopilot crash, VW diesel buybacks, electric-car sharing update: The Week in ReverseHow will your grandchildren get around in wheeled vehicles? (The answer may surprise you.) And, what will happen to the 400,000 VW diesel cars it has committed to buy back from their owners? (Guess ....) This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for...
John Voelcker -
NHTSA to investigate Tesla Model S Autopilot crash that killed driver: UPDATEDThe NHTSA said it would open an investigation into a fatal May 7 crash in which a Tesla Model S running under Autopilot control hit a semi and passed under its trailer. The driver, later identified as 40-year-old Joshua Brown of Ohio, died at the scene of the Florida crash, which occurred after a...
John Voelcker -
Golly, Elio Motors has built ... a car! One test car, in factIncreasingly sophisticated computer modeling software has cut the number of prototypes and test cars that carmakers build. But they must still make dozens of vehicles that will never be sold, to test assembly, evaluate features, conduct durability tests, and wreck them to assess crash-safety...
John Voelcker -
The Nissan Sentra compact sedan has been with us since the 2013 model year, but it received a number of updates and new features this year.
Nissan's goal was to keep the high-volume compact sedan in...
-
BlueIndy electric car-sharing: after 9 months, how's it doing?Car-sharing is growing, in urban areas, among the young and old, and as a way to avoid the expense of a second vehicle. Sharing electric cars, however, is still in its early days. But one of the most ambitious experiments is BlueIndy, an electric car-sharing service modeled after the AutoLib system...
John Voelcker -
What will VW do with 400,000 dirty diesel cars it buys back?What will VW do with 400,000 dirty diesel cars it buys back? Destroy them, probably
John Voelcker -
The Goodwood Festival of Speed even had a few green-ish carsIt's a unique event on the motoring calendar, a bucket-list item for many attendees, and a wonderful mix of fast cars spanning 110 years, priceless classics, and often quite a lot of mud. The Goodwood Festival of Speed, which took place last weekend, brings a truly staggering variety of historic...
John Voelcker -
VW diesel settlement details: buybacks, payments, modifications, fines, moreMore than nine months after the Volkswagen diesel cheating scandal came to light, the full details of the proposed final settlement between VW and the EPA were released this morning by Judge Charles Breyer. Owners of the TDI diesel vehicles from Audi and Volkswagen fitted with "defeat device"...
John Voelcker -
Are 100-mile BMW, Nissan, VW electric cars already a lost cause?The continuing tepid sales of the Nissan Leaf electric car, despite a range upgrade to 107 miles, remains one of the puzzles in the plug-in car market. Sure, it's an aging model now in its sixth year with a polarizing design; it lost a huge swath of buyers in Georgia when that state canceled its...
John Voelcker