John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Porsche execs on future electric cars, utilities lobby for EV tax credit, new Twitter poll: Today's Car News John VoelckerToday, we've got a long and detailed summary of what we learned about Porsche's Mission E and future electric cars, some new lobbying partners to extend the plug-in purchase tax credit, and our...
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Automakers, electric utilities want electric-car tax credit extendedWith Tesla likely to hit 200,000 electric cars sold in the U.S. later this year, it will begin a phasedown process during which the income-tax credits available to its buyers start to dwindle on a set schedule. General Motors is likely to hit the same cap a couple of quarters after Tesla. Now those...
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Porsche execs on 2020 Mission E, more electric cars to followAuto journalists often relish interviews and roundtable sessions with German executives and engineers. They usually haven't been beaten into submission and forced to stick to scripted talking points, as have too many of their U.S. counterparts. Most German auto executives also speak excellent...
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When do you expect to buy your first battery-electric car? Take our Twitter pollPlug-in vehicles, both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, now represent slightly more than 1 percent of U.S. new-vehicle sales. That number is expected to rise steadily in future years, but cars with plugs will remain a rarity in many areas of the country for some time to come. Readers and...
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2018 Leaf vs Bolt EV packs, electric motorcycle guide, CA defiant, Model 3 first drive: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got our long-awaited drive report on the 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range, a battery comparison for the Bolt EV and new Nissan Leaf, some California defiance, and our annual electric-motorcycle buyers guide. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we do every seven...
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2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range: first drive review of 310-mile electric car“The Tesla Model S was a moment. The Model 3 is a product.” That pair of sentences perfectly summarized the several hours we spent last month with the 2018 Tesla Model 3 kindly loaned to us by reader Jeff Southern of Atlanta. We’d covered more than 100 miles on a variety of...
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Last Tuesday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency does not intend to let California set the agenda for national emission limits on vehicles.
He suggested to Bloomberg the EPA plans to cut...
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Battery life of 2018 Nissan Leaf vs 2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric cars: what manuals suggestIt's one of the major questions for any electric-car buyer: How long will the battery pack last? And what would it cost to replace it if I do need a new one sometime down the road? Now a new video looks at that question, comparing the different thermal-management technologies in the batteries of...
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2018 Honda Accord Hybrid sedan to go on sale Friday, March 23While mid-size sedans are losing the U.S. sales battle to crossover utility vehicles, they still sell hundreds of thousands of units each year. An entirely redesigned Honda Accord launched for 2018 just a few months after a redesigned version of its U.S. arch-rival the Toyota Camry, but the Accord...
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Ford's electric future, Model 3 parts, VW battery buy, Accord Hybrid MPG: The Week in ReverseWhich CEO actually admitted that underestimating electric cars was probably unwise? What did Ford reveal about its plans, finally, for new hybrid and plug-in electric cars? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, March...
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Ford's future hybrids, 300-mile electric SUV, Audi Sport e-tron GT, favorite EV poll: Today's Car NewsToday, it's largely about a big Ford event yesterday that discussed future products, including hybrids and electric cars. We've also got poll results ranking electric cars and a new luxury electric Audi for the early 2020s. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We covered Ford's planned new...
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Ford's future hybrid, electric-car lineup: 5 things to knowThe "Ford Uncovered Future Product Forum" held Thursday for journalists was a break in recent tradition for Detroit's second-largest automaker. The abrupt firing of CEO Mark Fields last May was an indication that Ford's board of directors wasn't happy with progress in preparing the company for a...
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First came the Tesla Model S, followed by the Model X.
Then Audi, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz rolled out their plans for single long-range electric luxury models to compete with Tesla.
Now, the Germans...
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Which electric car is your favorite? Twitter poll resultsMany times our polls deal with weighty issues—climate change, renewable energy, the effects of denying science—or survey expectations for the future. But sometimes we just do a "Pick one!" kind of poll. That's what we did last week, when we asked Twitter followers to name their favorite...
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Ford hybrid plans, Tesla Model 3 quality, VW profit hit, Chinese electric cars fight smog: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got the first of a few articles from a Ford press event on its future lineup. Also, more info on Tesla Model 3 quality problems, why electric cars are key to China's battle against smog, and another Twitter poll. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Now that utility vehicles and...
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Tesla employees say Model 3 parts need substantial rework after productionElectric-car maker Tesla is known for troubled launches, at least for the four products it's offered since the first Roadster in 2008. But the launch of the Tesla Model 3, its lower-priced electric sedan, may be the most challenging yet—and it may be the Tesla with the highest expectations...
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Cutting carbon, meeting real-life emission tests, new electric cars to hurt profits, VW saysWell, that's awkward. At its annual media briefing on Wednesday, Volkswagen Group executives said the costs of meeting new emission tests in the EU, lowering carbon emissions globally, and launching multiple new electric models would eat into the company's profits. With the company's diesels in...
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Why the future of electric cars depends on China's war on pollutionRoughly half of everyone alive in the U.S. today has never experienced really bad smog. Those over, say, age 45—big-city residents and Angelenos especially—may recall hazy days in which the sun was barely visible, and air that actually tasted metallic. It's a memorable experience, and...
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Over the last several years, U.S. sales of utility vehicles, from small crossovers to hulking truck-based SUVs, have surged.
Meanwhile, passenger cars—sedans, hatchbacks, the occasional...
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German electric cars, VW battery buys, Pruitt's EPA vs California, future Escape Hybrid? Today's Car NewsToday, we've got electric-car news from VW Group, war brewing between the EPA and California, the reason Germany electric-car sales are rising rapidly, and some thoughts on why Ford might bring back the Escape Hybrid in future. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Volkswagen said yesterday it...
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Will 2021 Ford Escape bring back hybrid model (or plug-in hybrid)?Tomorrow, Ford is hosting journalists at an unusual event called "Ford Uncovered," at which it may discuss some of its future products for 2020 and beyond. Key among the questions that attendees will undoubtedly ask will be those about the company's strategy for electrified vehicles. While Ford was...
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Electric car sales in Germany finally start to soar: Tesla leadsIt's starting to look like China will lead the world in adoption of plug-in electric cars, but which carmaking nations will follow it? While electric cars were launched simultaneously in Japan and the United States, Europe lagged somewhat behind. Now, however, Germany—home to the largest...
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Pruitt won't let California set emission standards; EPA not looking at post-2025 rulesNow, it's war, in the words of California's lead emission regulator. In what Bloomberg News called a "wide-ranging interview" with EPA chief Scott Pruitt, he indicated the agency does not intend to let California set the agenda for national emission limits on vehicles. Bringing California into line...
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VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of batteries for electric cars, it said todayFor a company that has only two battery-electric models in production, both several years old, VW Group spends a great deal of time talking about electric cars. The company has plans to launch 30 new electric vehicles by 2025, and has released four Volkswagen ID concepts, the first of which will...
John Voelcker