John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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Well, this might upset a few martini glasses at National Automobile Dealers Association social events.
A bill passed by the California State Senate two days ago allows out-of-state car buyers to take...
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All Those Plug-In Hybrid Models? They're For China, More Than The U.S.Between now and 2020, the three German luxury brands--Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz-- will collectively add more than a dozen plug-in hybrid models to their lineups. The goal is to offer a plug-in hybrid version for almost all of their most popular vehicles, most with U.S. range ratings of 15 to 25...
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2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In Hybrid To Be Imported From China To U.S.Of the three vehicles using GM's newest hybrid system, we know rather less about the 2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In Hybrid than we do about either the Chevrolet Volt or the Chevy Malibu Hybrid. But with first media drives of the conventional CT6 now published, we know a bit more than we did before. For...
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ACEEE Names 'Greenest' And 'Meanest' 2016 CarsMeasuring the energy efficiency and environmental friendliness of different vehicles is easy if they're powered by gasoline, less so when the energy comes from grid electricity. This leads to perpetual debates over the assumptions used on the source of electricity and its carbon footprint, among...
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VW CEO Müller: Automotive Future Must Not Be Left To Silicon ValleyLike many automakers, Volkswagen Group has had a research facility in Silicon Valley for many years. In 2011, Its Electronics Research Laboratory--first launched in 1998--tripled its size and moved northward from Palo Alto to Belmont. It now has almost 100 people. But new VW Group CEO Matthias...
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Is Chevy Bolt EV's Main Mission To Marginalize Tesla Electric Cars?The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV may be the most eagerly awaited electric car since the original Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt (plus everything Tesla). Its claimed 200-mile range and pre-incentive price of $37,500 will make it unique if it launches this December as expected. And there's been much press...
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In almost every state, you can't buy a car online from its maker, owing to language in franchise laws that forbids direct sales, written at the behest of auto-dealer lobbyists.
Whether or not that's...
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Ford Energi Plug-In Hybrids: Electric Miles Are Half Of TotalMedia days at the Detroit Auto Show two weeks ago contained relatively little new from Ford Motor Company. A lightly updated 2017 Ford Fusion mid-size sedan emerged, as did an F-150 Raptor SuperCrew performance pickup truck. And that was it for product news. Media reports that Ford and Google would...
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How Can VW, Audi Dealers Still Sell Used TDI Diesel Vehicles?Hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen and Audi owners are now in their fifth month of waiting to find out when and how regulators will approve modifications to their diesel cars. But there's another group that's been affected by VW's diesel-emission cheating scandal: Volkswagen and Audi dealerships...
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VW Diesel Cheating An 'Open Secret' In Engine Group: ReportA German newspaper has reported that the use of "defeat device" software to cheat on U.S. emissions laws was widespread knowledge within the diesel-engine group at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. And, it said, one whistleblower involved in the deception had alerted a senior manager...
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Obama's Bolt EV Visit, Elio Finances, Tesla Lawsuit, Fuel-Cell Roundup: The Week In ReverseWho grinned--and who grimaced--while looking over the Chevy Bolt EV 200-mile electric car? And, why did Tesla Motors sue a German supplier that worked on the development of its Model X? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday...
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Why Isn't The 2016 Chevy Volt A Flex-Fuel Plug-In Hybrid That Can Use E85 Ethanol?The 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid has received numerous accolades, including this site's Best Car To Buy 2016 Award. It's better-looking, quicker, quieter, and has a significantly longer all-electric range of 53 miles. It is not, however, certified to use E85, the fuel blend containing 85...
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Nissan said yesterday it will invest £26.5 million ($37.9 million) in its battery plant in Sunderland, England, to produce "advanced" battery cells for the next-generation Leaf electric car.
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Electric-Car Buyers Expect Battery Upgrades To Be AvailableWith battery-electric cars now on the market for five years, and perhaps 200,000 on U.S. roads, we now know more about how the cars and their drivers behave in the real world than we did when they first arrived. One learning is that an undercurrent among some electric-car buyers that suggests they...
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Obama Visits Detroit Auto Show, Checks Out Chevy Bolt EV Electric CarOnly three U.S. presidents in history have visited the Detroit Auto Show in its century-plus of existence: Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960, Bill Clinton in 1999, and now Barack Obama, yesterday. At various points during the day, the president lauded the ongoing recoveries of the city of Detroit itself...
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Tesla Model X 'Falcon Door': Lawsuit Against German Supplier Over Failed DevelopmentEven Tesla CEO Elon Musk has conceded that the company's electric Model X crossover utility vehicle ended up a more complicated vehicle than may have been necessary. Now, a lawsuit by Tesla Motors against German supplier Hoerbiger Automotive Comfort Systems describes the difficulties of developing...
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Mercedes To Boost Electric Range Of Plug-In Hybrids As It Adds ModelsLast year and this year see a veritable onslaught of low-volume German plug-in hybrids, both sedans and SUVs. BMW and Mercedes-Benz have each said they'll offer plug-in hybrid versions of all their high-volume vehicles by 2020. Those include the Mercedes-Benz S-Class large sedan, GLE-Class SUV (nee...
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Plug-In Electric Car Sales For 2015 Fall Slightly From 2014The U.S. new-vehicle market set a new record last year, with deliveries of new passenger cars and light trucks totaling 17.39 million. The previous record of 17.35 million was set in 2000. But battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles saw their totals fall slightly, from about 120,000 in 2014 to...
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Carlos Ghosn has never really been known as a man with frequent warm and ready smiles for all comers.
Under most circumstances, the man who runs not only global automaker Nissan but the...
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Honda, GM To Build Factory For Fuel-Cell Production By 2025The cost of developing advanced zero-emission powertrains for future vehicles is substantial, even for the world's largest carmakers. Especially in hydrogen fuel-cell research, the biggest auto companies are doubling and tripling up to share the costs. Honda and GM said in July 2013 that they would...
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Renault Zoe Leads 2015 European Sales Of All-Electric CarsWhile sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids fell slightly last year in the U.S., the sales data for Europe was more encouraging. Almost 100,000 battery-electric cars were sold in the European Union last year: 97,687 units, to be precise. (Data for plug-in hybrids isn't immediately available.)...
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Bolt EV Details, Chrysler Plug-In Minivan, VW Blunders, Detroit Show: The Week In ReverseWhich new and startling function has Tesla added to its electric cars? And, what did GM CEO Mary Barra say flat-out the company won't do? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday, January 15, 2016. As we wrote last week, our...
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2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid, Energi: Software Tweaks For Drivability ImprovementsThe 2017 Ford Fusion, unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, enters its fifth model year with what the industry calls a mid-cycle refresh: a few styling updates, some new standard equipment, and changes to trim levels. The mid-size sedan's hybrid and plug-in hybrid models too benefit from those...
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Who Sold The Most Plug-In Electric Cars In 2015? (It's Not Tesla Or Nissan)Five years after the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt first went on sale, plug-in vehicles represent slightly less than 1 percent of U.S. new-car deliveries. With about 200,000 sold, the Leaf is the world's most popular electric car. But which carmaker sold the most cars with plugs last year, worldwide?...
John Voelcker