John Voelcker, Contributor
Articles
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Plugs on Priuses, Jaguar I-Pace debut, Bolt EV battery opened, electric Hyundai Kona: The Week in Reverse John Voelcker
Which new electric luxury crossover utility beat Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz to the punch in targeting Tesla?
What institution disavowed its own study, cited by the EPA, that claimed older diesels...
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Prius plug-ins surge, 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, electric-car sales, is climate doomed? Today's Car News
Today, we've got Priuses with plugs, more electric-car sales, some grim thoughts on renewable energy and climate change, and the production debut of the stunning 2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV. All this and more on Green Car Reports. First, our apologies for being late with this update and light...
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Clean energy won't happen, climate change will be bad: a contrarian perspective
The most recent detailed studies on the likely warming of Planet Earth are grim indeed, suggesting that we are collectively at "very high risk" for the most extreme effects of climate change. To stem that, mankind collectively will have to reduce its ongoing emissions of carbon dioxide radically...
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For six months, one in five Prius sales has been a plug-in hybrid
A funny thing happened to Toyota Prius hybrid sales last month. Almost one in three Prius hybrids sold in the U.S. were the Prius Prime model—the one with a plug. Toyota may be the large automaker least friendly to cars that plug in, so what's that all about? DON'T MISS: Toyota Prius hybrid...
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2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover debuts in production trim; estimated 240-mile range
Total sales by Jaguar Land Rover are a fraction of those by its rivals Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Arguably, that has required the British luxury maker to be more agile and more creative to compete. While Audi has discussed its plans for an all-electric crossover utility version for more than two...
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NHTSA finalizes quiet-car rule for hybrids, electrics, to take full effect in 2020
The idea of adding noise-makers to vehicles that are "too quiet" didn't exist until the first hybrid-electric cars hit the market in 2000. Within a few years, however, organizations representing the blind began to raise alarms that cars operating at low speeds solely on electric power couldn't be...
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Feb electric-car sales, future Dyson EVs, EVgo cheaper fast charging, CR-V Hybrid MIA: Today's Car News John Voelcker
Today, we've got cheaper fast-charging for longer, last month's plug-in vehicle sales numbers, a few hints of Dyson's future electric cars, and no news at all on a hybrid crossover utility vehicle...
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Honda CR-V Hybrid to launch in Europe; still no word on US or Canada
The Honda CR-V Hybrid, a more fuel-efficient version of the company's best-selling compact crossover, has been around for almost a year now. It's on sale in China, announced for Japan, and now, as of Tuesday, it's slated to arrive in European markets early in 2019. As for North America? The company...
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EVgo simplifies, cuts electric-car fast charging prices nationwide
Over the next three years, numerous long-range electric cars will come to market at prices below $40,000. That will expand the pool of potential buyers to those interested in plug-in vehicles but unwilling to consider one rated at less than 200 miles. Those new owners will learn the DC fast...
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Three Dyson electric cars on the drawing board: report
While Dyson may be best known worldwide for high-tech vacuum cleaners, the company has a strong affinity for what the British call "boffins," which roughly translates to "eccentric genius inventors." With a slight resemblance to Doc Brown of "Back to the Future" (as played by Christopher Lloyd)...
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Bolt EV battery teardown, 290-mile Kona Electric, Lexus UX photo, Bolt EV police video: Today's Car News
Today, we've got full details on the long-range electric version of the Hyundai Kona, a few more details on the Lexus UX small crossover, a Bolt EV battery-pack teardown on video, and a poll on Trump's climate-science denial. All this and more on Green Car Reports. After teasing it a week ago, full...
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Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car: what's inside the battery? Teardown video shows all
The battery packs of most modern electric cars are far different than those in your mobile phone or other portable devices. In most cases, they include hundreds or thousands of cells, arranged into modules, and usually surrounded by channels containing liquid coolant to keep the battery in its...
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The global new-vehicle market is moving toward crossover utility vehicles and SUVs, along with vehicles that look like them.
Now the production version of another crossover, shown in concept form...
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Is this the country's first Chevrolet Bolt EV police car? (updated with video)
Using electric cars as police vehicles has some distinct advantages. Among them are near-silent operation, maximum acceleration from 0 rpm, and a novelty factor that can lead to friendly, beneficial interactions between officers and citizens. Now, the small Maryland city of Hyattsville, a suburb of...
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How much does it matter that Trump officials deny climate science? Twitter poll results
It is now abundantly clear that the Trump administration in the U.S. is staffed with climate-science denialists and committed promoters for the greater extraction, sale, and combustion of fossil fuels. That includes coal, the dirtiest major fossil fuel of them all, with the highest emissions of...
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Hyundai Kona Electric debuts before Geneva show; 292-mile range from top model
The lack of plug-in electric crossover utility vehicles with all-wheel drive is a growing and obvious gap in the market. And where there's a gap, aggressive South Korean carmaker Hyundai may try to fill it. The company has now released many of the details of the Hyundai Kona Electric small SUV that...
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Ford F-Series hybrid pickups, fake science, electric-car charging, German diesel ban: Today's Car News
Today, we ended up with a slew of diesel stories, from fake science at a university to a court decision letting German cities ban the oldest and dirtiest diesel vehicles. Also, hybrid and plug-in hybrid Ford F-Series pickup trucks and a Twitter poll on electric-car charging. All this and more on...
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German court rules cities may ban older diesel vehicles to cut air pollution
That huge intake of breath you may have heard from across the Atlantic Ocean was the sound of German carmakers gasping at a court decision handed down on Tuesday. After a week's delay in issuing its ruling, a German court decided that individual cities in the country may ban vehicles with diesel...
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Fake science: University disavows study EPA cited to approve old dirty diesels in "glider" trucks John Voelcker
Last November, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would rescind a rule that banned companies from fitting outdated, older, and dirtier diesel engines into brand-new "glider" chassis-cab...
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XL Hybrids adds Ford F-250 hybrid to F-150 plug-in hybrid pickups; production to start in March
The idea of a Ford F-Series hybrid pickup truck has now been around since August 2011, but its maker now expects to launch such a truck sometime during 2020. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Boston-based XL Hybrids unveiled both a Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup fitted with its XLH hybrid system and an F-150...
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If you own an electric car, what's your at-home charging source? Take our Twitter poll
Drivers who buy an electric car that plugs into the power grid to recharge the battery often start to consider the source of their energy. A 2012 analysis from California, in the earliest days of modern electric cars, indicated as many as four in 10 electric-car drivers were already using or...
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Cheaper Lexus hybrids, 2018 Leaf review, Prius lawsuit, FCA diesels, 200K Teslas: Today's Car News
Today, we've got a road-trip drive report on the new 2018 Nissan Leaf, Tesla's statement on the impending end of tax credits for its buyers, a Toyota Prius lawsuit, and cheaper Lexus hybrids. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we do every seven days, we ran down last...
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2018 Nissan Leaf electric car: four-day winter road-trip review
The first generation of mass-priced electric cars with ranges of 60 to 90 miles simply didn't have enough range to be used outside predictable daily commute duties and local errands around town. Sure, four-fifths of vehicles in the U.S. cover less than 40 miles a day—but that other fifth...
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Fiat Chrysler to end diesel engines in cars by 2022 (but not trucks): report
Fiat Chrysler will abandon the use of diesel engines in all its passenger vehicles by 2022, according to a report Sunday. Demand for diesel versions of passenger cars in Europe is waning and car makers face extraordinarily high costs to get diesel engines to comply with emission limits in...
John Voelcker