Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, Contributing Writer
Articles
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There was a time, not so long ago, when car owners were expected to carry out basic maintenance and regular servicing on their car using a handful of wrenches and common automotive tools.
Nowadays,...
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2012 Volt Electric Car Brings Chevy Whole New Type Of Customer
Who buys a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car? It’s a question that we’ve tried to answer in the past, examining initial sales data from General Motors to try and create the automotive equivalent of an indentikit Volt buyer. Unsurprisingly, many early-adopting Volt buyers were green car...
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2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: Newest Competitor For Camry, Fusion Hybrids
With Toyota celebrating the sale of its four-millionth hybrid, and Ford poised to launch another hybrid car in the U.S., it’s easy to forget that other automakers also make hybrid cars. Take the 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid for example. Although Hyundai has only offered a hybrid version of its...
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Mystery Mercedes That Will Get Electric Powertrain Is A-Class: Report
Ever since Daimler invested $50 million for 9 percent of Tesla back in May 2009, the two companies have had a close working relationship on electric car technology. Since that investment, Tesla has provided Smart and Mercedes-Benz with drivetrains for various electric cars, including...
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2012 Zero DS Electric Motorcycle: Catching Criminals Silently?
All over the U.S., police forces rely on hundreds of highly-trained motorcycle riders enforcing law and order on specially-built motorcycles like the 2012 Harley Davidson 2012 Electra Guide or 2012 BMW Boxer. Now Californian electric motorcycle manufacturer Zero motorcycles is offering police...
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2012 Toyota Prius V, Prius C, Help Toyota Top 4 Million Hybrid Sales
Believe it or not, Toyota has now sold more than 4 million hybrid cars worldwide since it launched the original Toyota Prius hybrid in Japan in 1997. According to Toyota, the milestone was passed in late April, when the 2012 Toyota Prius C had only been on sale five or six weeks. But while it --...
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It’s official: in one month, Tesla will deliver its first 2012 Model S electric sedan to customers in the U.S., webcasting the whole ceremony live on the Internet.
A few weeks ahead of...
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2012 Toyota RAV4 EV: Some Dealers Already Accepting Orders
When Toyota first announced that it was going to resurrect its iconic RAV4 EV after an absence of nearly ten years, electric car fans rejoiced. After all, the original 1997-2003 RAV4 EVs are so reliable and so beloved that they still command a high price at auction. When the production version of...
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2012 Chevrolet Volt: Saving You From Zombies In Electric Safety
Here are two subjects we never thought would go together: zombies, and plug-in cars. But the winning entry in the 2012 MOFILM Barcelona Chevrolet Volt Video Contest by director Josh Soskin does just that, and now it's being aired by Chevrolet Europe to help drum up interest for its plug-in hybrid...
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2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid: Overshadowed By Prius, Competent Nonetheless
With the 2012 Toyota Prius V wagon, 2012 Toyota Prius C, and 2012 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid all launching within the past 12 months, it’s been easy to forget that there are other Toyota hybrids outside of the Prius brand. In fact, the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid and 2012 Toyota Highlander...
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2012 Nissan Leaf Australian Ad Turns Gas Pumps Into Art
They’re large, hardly pretty, and serve just one function, but Nissan Australia has managed to turn the humble gas pump into art in order to promote its all-electric 2012 Leaf. Unlike its U.S. ad from last year, which asked us to imagine a world where everything was powered by gasoline...
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NHTSA Opens “Field Inquiry” Into Texas 2012 Fisker Karma Fire
Last week, we told you about a house fire in Texas on May 3 involving a 2012 Fisker Karma luxury Sedan, which fire investigators believed to be the cause of the blaze. Shortly after the story broke, Fisker Automotive released an official statement stating that it had “not ruled out possible...
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For the past five years or more, the iconic Tesla Roadster has been the poster child for electric cars.
Produced between 2008 and 2011, the two-seat Tesla Roadster combines the desirability of a...
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2012 Chevrolet Volt Saves Supertanker Worth Of Gas Since Launch
We all know electric and plug-in hybrid cars can help cut down consumption of gasoline, but just how do you measure how much gasoline savings can be made? Normally, we measure gasoline savings in gallons, or barrels of oil, but General Motors has decided to measure the gasoline saved by its...
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2013 Nissan Altima: Coming To Your Dealer In A Few Weeks
Yesterday, Nissan officially started U.S. production of the 2013 Altima at its vehicle assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. The fifth generation of the car since it was launched in 1992, the 2013 Altima is expected to arrive at Nissan dealers across the U.S. at the start of June, with the...
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Five Ideal Companion Cars To The 2012 Nissan Leaf
You’ve taken the plunge and shelled out anything from $33,000 upwards for an all-electric 2012 Nissan Leaf. Quiet, efficient and full of gadgets, you’ve discovered that it has quickly relegated your gas car to the garage, carrying out the weekend chores, work commutes and maybe even...
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Chevy Engineers, 2012 Cruze LT, Demonstrate Fuel-Smart Driving
These days, we’re pretty sure that most car drivers know that the EPA-approved gas mileage ratings you see displayed on every new car at the dealer are for guidance only. In short, your mileage may (and probably will) vary from the EPA ratings, but by how much? And what effect does poor...
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2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid: Available To Order Now From $25,995
Toyota, take note: as Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell from HBO's popular Game Of Thrones might say, “Ford Is Coming.” Pop culture references aside, Ford announced yesterday that it has begun to accept orders for its 2013 C-Max Hybrid hatchback, a car it hopes will steal Toyota’s...
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Los Angeles is well known for being at the forefront of electric car adoption, spurred on in part by large numbers of Hollywood A-list electric car drivers, enthusiastic advocacy groups and chronic...
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Meet LA’s Hybrid Trolley Truck: Part Trolley Bus, Part Big-Rig
It’s no secret that Los Angeles has some of the worst air pollution of any city in the U.S., especially around its ports, where long lines of trucks wait idling to fill up with cargo from docking ships. But a new project from German electronics company Siemens could see that change forever...
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2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid: More Popular Without The Blue Badge?
Prejudice is a strange thing. Not only does it shape our opinion of the world around us, but it influences everything from the food we eat to the car we buy, either consciously or subconsciously. In the automotive world however, it seems that brand prejudice can be overcome with a little marketing...
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2011 Nissan Leafs Start Losing Capacity Bars: Should You Worry?
It had to happen some time, just not perhaps as quickly as this. Since Nissan’s all-electric Leaf hatchback launched in late 2010, many have been watching with interest to see how long it would be before the car’s 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack showed the gradual reduction in range and...
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Better Place Battery Swapping: The Technology Behind The Idea
Last week, we shared with you our first-hand experience of driving an electric car through a Better Place battery swap station in Israel. Publicly, especially outside of Israel, Better Place’s concept of switching out depleted electric car battery packs for fully charged ones at its...
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2012 Toyota Prius C, Malibu Eco Get IIHS Top Safety Pick Award
Following in the tire-tracks of its older, larger and wagon-variant siblings,the 2012 Toyota Prius C has been awarded the coveted Top Safety Pick Award by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). A separate set of crash tests from those carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield