John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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One week from today, Scion will take the wraps off a concept car that's a thinly disguised version of its first new production car in several years.
The Scion iM Concept, to be formally introduced at...
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Better Batteries Coming Soon, Experts Agree: A Video Panel Worth WatchingThe formula is simple: Put three battery and auto-industry experts in front of a camera, ask them a few leading questions, and let them debate. That's exactly what the Autoline Network did three weeks ago; the resulting 27-minute video is a must-watch for any electric-car enthusiast. The three...
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Michigan Anti-Tesla Law 'Unnecessary Protectionism': AutoNation CEONever let it be said that AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson doesn't speak his mind. His latest stunner came last week, when he deemed auto-dealer efforts to ban all direct sales by Tesla Motors state by state "unnecessary protectionism." In doing so, Jackson broke ranks with the vast array of auto-dealer...
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2015 Volkswagen Golf: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2015Our Best Car To Buy award can go one of several ways here on Green Car Reports. Sometimes it goes to a moonshot car, like the first Nissan Leaf (in 2011) or the Tesla Model S (in 2013). Those are cars that radically redefined what green transportation could be, changing the auto industry forever...
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Time Running Out, Global Carbon Emission Must Fall To Zero: UN PanelWhile mankind has been pumping carbon into the atmosphere since the discovery of fire, the modern era of carbon emissions began roughly 250 years ago. Now a new report by global scientists goes further than any before: Carbon emissions must ultimately be cut to levels so low that they approach...
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Which Car Did Readers Say Should Win The Best Car To Buy 2015 Award?Tomorrow morning, we'll be revealing the winner of our Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2015 award. But as we wrote about each nominee over the last week, we also polled our readers to find out which of the five contenders they felt was most deserving of the award. DON'T MISS: Green Car Reports'...
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What did Tesla announce in this week's third-quarter financial results?
And, which of five new cars should win our Best Car To Buy award for 2015?
This is our video look back at the Week In...
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Could Gasoline Below $3 A Gallon Doom Rising Gas-Mileage Rules?By most accounts, the world is pretty much awash in oil these days. Increases in North American shale-oil production have boosted supply to the point where there's now discussion of the U.S. becoming a net oil exporter sometime in the next decade. Meanwhile, the vehicle fleet is slowly getting more...
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Which Electric-Car Makers Are Serious? U.S. Sales Show Top ThreeTwo years ago, we pointed out that several electric cars now on sale were purely "compliance cars," built in minimal numbers purely to comply with California rules that require sales of zero-emission vehicles. But almost four years after the first Nissan Leaf went on sale in December 2010, it's...
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Tesla Model X Delayed Again, Model S Sales Highest Ever: Third Quarter ReportThe Tesla Model X electric SUV will be further delayed for additional quality and validation testing, according to the latest earnings report from Tesla Motors. Deliveries of the luxury electric crossover utility vehicle are now scheduled to start in the third quarter of next year. DON'T MISS...
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Range Rover All-Electric Utility Vehicle To Challenge Tesla Model X?Well, add one more name to the queue of luxury carmakers planning to compete head-to-head with Tesla Motors and its electric cars. According to Britain's Autocar, Range Rover is now in the planning stages for a crossover vehicle that could target the upcoming Tesla Model X electric SUV. DON'T MISS...
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Mercedes CEO: No One Will Make Money On Electric Cars In 'Reasonable Time'With the first Mercedes-Benz electric car now on sale, its parent company Daimler joins the expanding ranks of global automakers offering plug-in electric vehicles in the U.S. But CEO Dieter Zetsche doesn't seem any too happy about it. DON'T MISS: 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive: First...
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Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Oct: Leaf Record, Soul EV & e-Golf On Sale: FINAL UPDATE John VoelckerWith two months of sales still remaining in the year, the Nissan Leaf broke its own record for most electric cars sold in the U.S. in a single year.
October saw deliveries of 2,589 Leafs, bringing...
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Ford F-150 Vs Chevy Volt Vs Tesla Model S: Which Is Most Important Vehicle Of The Decade?Now that the 2015 model year is fully upon us, the decade is half-over. And those kinds of milestones always lead writers to look back and assess how far we've come. In the case of automobiles, we see three different vehicles launched over the last five model years that have radically changed the...
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2015 Volkswagen Golf Range: Best Car To Buy 2015 NomineeThe fifth and final of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Volkswagen Golf range. It's a completely new, top-to-bottom makeover of the classic compact five-door hathback, now in its seventh generation since launching in 1974. DON'T MISS: Green Car...
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Europe Storms Ahead On CCS Fast Charging, U.S. Lags BehindThe ability to recharge 80 percent of an electric car's battery in 20 to 30 minutes--known as DC fast-charging--is a critical element in expanding public acceptance of cars powered by batteries. But unlike the universal standard for conventional 240-Volt charging, the U.S. has three different and...
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First 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf Delivery On Friday; Auction Proceeds To CharityThe electric-car sales figures for October showed that one single 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf was delivered to a buyer last month,--even though the car hasn't yet arrived at the VW dealers that will initially offer it. But that single electric Golf hatchback turns out to be a special case. DON'T MISS...
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2015 Kia Soul EV: Best Car To Buy 2015 NomineeThe fourth of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Kia Soul EV. It's the Korean maker's first-ever electric car sold in the U.S., and an adaptation of the popular compact "tall wagon" that was entirely redesigned for the 2014 model year. DON'T MISS...
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What battle did electric-car maker Tesla Motors bring on itself?
And, which of five new cars should win our Best Car To Buy 2015 award?
This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse--right here...
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Toyota: 'No One Wants Us To Build Electric Cars'Well, here's one that may give electric-car owners and advocates a Friday morning chuckle. Toyota is well-known not only as one of the world's three largest carmakers, but also the global leader in hybrids. DON'T MISS: Toyota Fuel-Cell Ad Asks: Are You 'The Bold Few' Or A 'Handbrake'? And it's a...
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2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco: Best Car To Buy 2015 NomineeThe third of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco, the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid version of the Korean maker's mid-size sedan. This new-for-2015 version of the Sonata is the sole model to use a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine, in...
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Were Small Cars Exactly The Wrong Way To Launch Electric Cars?Historically, most technology innovations in automobiles start at the high end and gradually work their way down the lineup until they've become standard features of even the humblest of cars. From automatic transmissions to disc brakes, turbochargers to fuel injection, high-end audio systems to...
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2015 Honda Fit: Best Car To Buy 2015 NomineeThe second of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Honda Fit, the well-regarded subcompact five-door hatchback. It's the third generation of the car sold in North America, and it's got a new powertrain, dubbed with Honda's EarthDreams label, that...
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Elon Musk Vs Ward's: A Sales Battle Tesla Brought On ItselfIt all started when stock analysts circulating an estimate from auto-industry trade journal Ward's Auto that Tesla's U.S. sales were down 26 percent for the first nine months of 2014, compared to the same period in 2013.. It was covered in a Wall Street Journal story on the company's new lower-cost...
John Voelcker