John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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The storied British brand Lagonda has been owned for half a century by the tiny maker Aston Martin, best known globally for its connection to James Bond, Agent 007.
It's had a number of iterations,...
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Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo concept: second electric model previewedA design study for the second version of the Porsche Mission E electric sport sedan broke cover Tuesday at the Geneva auto show. The closely guarded concept car is effectively a shooting brake version of the low-slung Mission E sedan that debuted at the 2015 Frankfurt show and will go on sale by...
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Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept for all-electric sedan by 2022 debuts in GenevaWhat's known as Volkswagen Group Night is always a major event at European auto shows. One of the marquee attractions at Monday night's event, held before Geneva auto show media days start Tuesday, was the Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept for a large, all-electric sedan. It will be the largest car in...
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Jaguar vs Tesla, Toyota hybrid tech, Harley electric motorcycles, BMW i3 $10K off: Today's Car NewsToday, we've got the Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover at the drag strip, another utility offering EV discounts, Harley-Davidson electric motorcycle news, and some electric-car advocacy history. 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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Electric-car pioneer Paul Scott looks back on 15 years of plugging inMost of the U.S. was unaware that modern electric cars got their start in California between 1996 and 2002. Many of the earliest owners and EV advocates from those days remain involved 20 years later, though their names may be familiar only to a small group of activists. One of those people is Paul...
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Toyota details next-generation hybrids, more efficient gasoline enginesCars with plugs may be the cleaner and greener future, but at the moment, they make up only about 1 percent of global sales approaching 100 million vehicles a year. That means that automakers continue to work ceaselessly on more efficient gasoline engines and lighter vehicles to put them in. Last...
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The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace SUV that debuted Thursday beat all the German luxury makes to the punch in launching a viable competitor to the looks and capabilities of electric cars offered by Tesla.
The...
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Plugs on Priuses, Jaguar I-Pace debut, Bolt EV battery opened, electric Hyundai Kona: The Week in ReverseWhich 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 emitted no more pollutants than newer ones with sophisticated exhaust emssion-treatment systems? This...
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Prius plug-ins surge, 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, electric-car sales, is climate doomed? Today's Car NewsToday, 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 perspectiveThe 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 hybridA 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 rangeTotal 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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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...
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Feb electric-car sales, future Dyson EVs, EVgo cheaper fast charging, CR-V Hybrid MIA: Today's Car NewsToday, 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 for the U.S. All this and more on Green Car Reports. You may know Dyson for its high-tech vacuum...
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Honda CR-V Hybrid to launch in Europe; still no word on US or CanadaThe 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 nationwideOver 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: reportWhile 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 NewsToday, 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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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...
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Lexus UX smaller crossover peeks out before Geneva auto showThe 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 more than a year ago, will launch at the Geneva auto show—and Lexus has released one photo and a...
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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 resultsIt 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 modelThe 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 NewsToday, 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...
John Voelcker