John Voelcker, Contributing Editor
Articles
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The first of our five nominees for Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy award is the new 2015 Audi A3 TDI, the diesel version of Audi's new compact luxury sedan.
All-new this year, as are most of...
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How Audi, BMW & Mercedes Plan To Compete With Tesla--And WhyWe already know that in the next few years, we'll see a slew of mid-size SUVs offered with plug-in hybrid powertrains--most from luxury brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and Range Rover. But the German luxury marques are making plans to compete more directly with Tesla Motors and its Model...
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Tesla Model S Gets Huge Incentive In Shanghai: No $12K Fee For RegistrationThe Tesla Model S electric luxury sedan has now been on sale in China for six months, but it recently received a major sales incentive from local officials in Shanghai. That city's municipal government has ruled that Tesla buyers will be exempted from paying the $12,000 registration fee required to...
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2016 Chevy Volt: Bigger Battery, More Motor Power, New Range Extender Engine Details: EXPANDEDGeneral Motors took the wraps off its second-generation Voltec electric-drive system this morning that will power its 2016 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car. Company executives declined to give specifications for power of the two electric motors, the range-extending engine, or range of the...
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Which Car Should Be Named Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2015? (Poll)New-car ratings, driving impressions, and a lot of lengthy discussions go into picking our Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy award winner each year. We explained our process yesterday, along with all of our nominees for the 2015 award, but this year we thought we'd add a new element. DON'T MISS...
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2016 Chevrolet Volt To Use New 1.5-Liter Four As Range Extender Engine
Later today, details about the powertrain of the new 2016 Chevrolet Volt will be released when GM CEO Mary Barra speaks to the Detroit Economic Club. But a GM press release this morning announcing further investments in Michigan manufacturing by the company included one nugget: The 2016 Volt will...
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Ford Can Design Tesla-Like Electric Car, CEO Says; Does Higher-Power Charging Push Mean It May? John VoelckerFord's CEO, Mark Fields, told Wall Street financial analysts Friday that the company had the product development staff and engineering ability to build an electric car like a Tesla.
While he didn't...
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Minnesota Tesla Owners Show Banned Model S To Iowa Electric-Car ShoppersSuppose auto dealers in a neighboring state pressured their DoT to make Tesla Motors stop giving test drives of its Model S electric car--the same kind it now offers in more than a dozen other states. What would you do? If you were you a group of Tesla owners in Minnesota, you might just take...
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Green Car Reports' 2015 Best Car To Buy: The Nominees (Video)
It's time once more for our annual Best Car To Buy award. It's the fifth time we've chosen the one car or lineup, newly introduced for this model year, that represents the best new green car to enter the market. To qualify, a car must be all-new or substantially updated from the previous model...
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Greener Hyundai Sonatas, Hydrogen Competors, Tougher EPA: The Week In Reverse (Video)What's the EPA doing to ensure the accuracy of its gas-mileage ratings? And, which kinds of cars will really compete with the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles coming onto the market soon? This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday...
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The Videos Car Dealers Hate: Is It 'Haggling' Or 'Negotiating'?Car dealers often come in for criticism, especially among electric-car advocates and Tesla Motors supporters who have watched state dealership lobbying groups make Tesla's direct-sales model illegal in a number of states. Since 2010, those lobbyists have been altering state laws originally designed...
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Cross-Country Electric-Car Trips: Reality For A Few, Getting Closer For ManyThe idea of traveling long distances in electric cars that have to be recharged after only 70 or 80 miles--or even 250 miles--may seem absurd to some. But while even the fastest of DC fast-charging isn't quite as quick as refilling with gasoline, yet, longer road trips in electric cars are possible...
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Well, that makes two: Toyota confirmed yesterday that it had sold a portion of its shares in electric-car maker Tesla Motors.
The Japanese company's sales appear to have taken place at roughly the...
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2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco: Quick Drive Of Higher-Gas Mileage Small Turbo FourThe 2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco is the most fuel-efficient version of the Korean maker's mid-size sedan, aside from its Sonata Hybrid model. And this year, the Sonata Hybrid uses the carryover body from the last-generation model--meaning that if you want the highest-mileage Sonata with the new and more...
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Daimler Cashes In On Tesla Stock, Sells Share In Electric-Car MakerIn early 2009, German luxury car maker Daimler effectively saved Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla Motors by purchasing 9.1 percent of the company for a reported $50 million. Now, more than five years later--following a remarkable rise in Tesla's stock price--Daimler has largely cashed out...
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Michigan Gov Snyder Signs Anti-Tesla Bill Called 'Corrupt Politics At Its Worst'As expected, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder yesterday signed a bill that bans Tesla Motors from selling its electric cars directly to buyers online in the state. The bill removes one word--"its"--from existing state franchise law, which had originally been enacted to prevent franchised dealers from...
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Plug-In Hybrids Are The Best Competitors To Fuel-Cell Vehicles: Here's WhyWith the imminent unveiling of the Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicle, and the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell already on sale, you can expect to hear a lot more about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in the coming months. Initially they will be offered only in very low numbers, and restricted to Southern California...
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Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid Coming Next Year, Kia Optima TooWhile the 2015 Hyundai Sonata is a completely redesigned vehicle for the new model year, the Sonata Hybrid for 2015 continues to use the previous-generation body. This has led to a certain amount of speculation about what direction Hyundai plans to take with its hybrid program. Now, it appears that...
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Even Snoopy and the Peanuts gang are getting into electric cars these days.
The long-time mascot of insurance company MetLife adorns dozens of plug-in electric vehicle charging stations the company...
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EPA To Tighten Gas-Mileage Test Rules, Audit More Ratings From CarmakersThe EPA plans to audit more of the gas-mileage test data submitted by carmakers, and tighten its rules for that testing, after fuel-economy ratings on almost 20 recent models proved to be too high and had to be reduced. The move follows the highly publicized rollbacks of gas-mileage ratings over...
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Will Tesla Model X Be Delayed Again? Analyst Says 'Reasonable Risk'Each of its two previous models came to market later than projected, and now the third vehicle from Tesla Motors--the Model X electric crossover utility vehicle--may slip a bit more too. At least that's the expectation of Adam Jonas, the financial analyst from Morgan Stanley who's an avid follower...
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2015 Ford Focus Electric Price Cut To $29,995, A $6K Drop: ReportIt appears that the 2015 Ford Focus Electric will get a major price cut of $6,000, bringing the suggested retail price to $29,995--more in line with the best-selling Nissan Leaf. The battery-electric Focus is now in its fourth model year, and only about 4,000 have been sold since it first went on...
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How Tesla Did It, Fuel-Cell Questions, Next Electric Chevy: The Week In Reverse (Video)Is a century-old and very fuel-efficient two-stroke engine poised for a comeback? And, what questions should you ask about upcoming hydrogen fuel-cell cars? This is our video look back at the Week In Reverse--right here at Green Car Reports--for the week ending on Friday, October 17, 2014...
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Do Dealer Efforts To Ban Tesla Sales Backfire When Public Notices?
Are car dealers winning battles against Tesla Motors, and its direct-sales model, that will set them up to lose the bigger war? For almost five years, state dealer associations have lobbied legislators to change laws to make Tesla's direct-sales model illegal, requiring that all new cars be sold...
John Voelcker