Antony Ingram, Contributing Writer
Articles
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China might be one of the biggest car markets on the planet, but for makers of electric and hybrid vehicles, it's a tough one to crack.
The same cannot be said for electric bicycles, though.
The...
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Toyota ME.WE Electric Car Concept: Green From The Wheels UpThe Toyota ME.WE isn't your typical Toyota concept car. In fact, were it not for the word Toyota appearing at the top of this page, you might have assumed the quirky little electric car was from another maker entirely. Toyota's concepts are often a lot more edgy and futuristic looking, like its...
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2014 Nissan Versa Sedan: Pricing And Specification RevealedIt may not be fast, it may not be pretty, but the Nissan Versa Sedan has one overriding virtue--it's cheap. That continues for the 2014 model year, as pricing remains unchanged from the 2013 Versa Sedan. A standard Versa S starts at $11,990--plus a $750 destination and handling fee--making it the...
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Natural Gas As Vehicle Fuel: Why Trucks Make More Sense Than CarsNatural gas passenger cars have never really taken off in the U.S. like some thought they might. While the fuel is hugely popular in countries like Brazil, gasoline has always reigned supreme in North America. Or diesel, if you're a long-haul trucker--though that could be about to change. Natural...
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Fast Food & Fast Charging For Electric Cars: The Perfect Combination Meal?McDonald's corporate colors may be red and yellow, but the fast food chain is much greener than you might imagine. For a start, it runs delivery trucks worldwide on biodiesel made from its own waste oil. It has also installed over thirty electric car charging points at restaurants around the...
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Where Do Green Cars Really Live? California, Yeah, But Then...One or two locations appear time and time again when it comes to electric or hybrid vehicle sales. If you didn't think California was up there, then you've not been paying much attention. Oregon too--in Portland, the Nissan Leaf actually outsold other Nissan models last month. And of course Lima...
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Several Japanese automakers are off to a great start meeting future emissions and gas mileage targets, according to the latest EPA data.
As rules become ever more stringent requiring automakers to...
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Best-Selling Nissan In Portland: Leaf Electric Car--Due To Electric Highway?We've already asked whether the Tesla Model S sells more units than the equivalent BMW, Audi or Mercedes--and now Nissan is outselling regular vehicles with its Leaf. Not Corollas or Ford Focus countrywide, of course--but apparently every other Nissan vehicle in March, in Portland, Oregon. With...
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Toyota Unveils Green Car Concepts At Auto Shanghai ShowAs China becomes a larger player on the world car market, shows like that in Shanghai this week will become bigger and more important each year. Toyota has already spotted the importance of the Shanghai Auto Show, launching two new green concepts. The first of these is the uniquely-named Yundong...
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Chrysler CEO: Going Green is Good, But Natural Gas Better Than ElectricFiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne isn't known for his love of electric vehicles. We really rate the company's first offering, the 2014 Fiat 500e electric car, but Sergio himself doesn't--speaking at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2013 World Congress, he reiterated that the company is losing...
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From Gas Station To Electric-Car Charging: Is Encinitas Leading The Nation?From the ashes of an old gas station flies the phoenix of electric charging for all. If you excuse the confused metaphor, that's essentially the idea behind an electric car charging plaza proposal in Encinitas, California. San Diego-based Evoasis wants to build the new plaza on the corner of Vulcan...
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Hybrid Vehicle Sales Grew 40 Percent Last Year, Study FindsJust how popular are hybrid cars? 40 percent more in 2012 than in 2011, according to the latest study from Experian Automotive. In fact, a little more than that--40.9 percent to be precise, with overall market share increasing from 2.2 percent to 3.1 percent in a single year. It's a stark...
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It's Earth Day today, and if you're intending to roll it out a little, Earth Week all this week.
To coincide with a week where we're all encouraged to do just a little more to consider the...
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Electric Cars Are Fast: First-Ever U.S. Speeding TicketSpeeding is big business. There's no money to be made from it as an individual of course, unless you subscribe to the theory "time is money". But the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 100,000 Americans are ticketed for speeding every day, at an average cost of $150 per ticket--$5.5 billion a year in...
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BYD To Build Only Electric Cars, End Production Of Gasoline Cars?Chinese automaker BYD, or 'Build Your Dreams', could be on the verge of abandoning convenionally-fueled car production in favor of electric vehicles. Already known for electric vehicles like the e6 crossover, BYD is aiming for a "re-birth" plan to counter a recent slump in sales. Reuters reports...
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Acura NSX Hybrid Supercar Pre-Order Books Open... In UKFor Honda and Acura fans it's been far too long since the companies made something truly exciting for driving enthusiasts. That should change when the new Acura NSX supercar arrives, following its debut fanfare at the Detroit Auto Show last year. Acura hasn't yet revealed a release date for the...
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Volkswagen CrossBlue Coupe Concept: Plug-In Hybrid At Shanghai Auto ShowVolkswagen has hinted at the direction of its future SUVs--and their powertrains--by unveiling the CrossBlue Coupe Concept at the Shanghai Auto Show. As is increasingly common these days, the CrossBlue is Coupe in spirit more than it is in construction, the five-door liftback body distinctly more...
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Can An 'Ultralight Adventure Vehicle' Be An Electric Bicycle?Got some money to burn and in need of a hobby? Perhaps some sort of adventure sport, but nothing too crazy--off-road bikes, perhaps? Not just any off-road bike though. It has to be electric, for a start. What about one of Outrider's electric recumbent bikes? Yes indeed--there is now such a thing as...
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The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage is due to arrive in U.S. dealers this fall, but until now we've only known the EPA gas mileage of the CVT automatic variant.
At 37 mpg city, 44 highway and 40 mpg combined...
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Will New High-Power Microbatteries Matter For Electric Cars?We've heard it all before--new battery technologies appear, set to revolutionize the way we use electric products. The story is the same for new microbatteries developed at the University of Illinois, but the researchers there are making even bigger claims than most. Imagine a battery so small it...
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California To Have Up To 70 Hydrogen Fueling Stations By 2016?Our planet may have only gained 27 hydrogen filling stations in 2012, but California is hoping to have nearly 70 of its own in total by 2016. So says the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which provides a list of government-funded hydrogen stations in California on its website. Around third of...
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2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel Rated At 46 MPG HighwayThe 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel will be something of a highway star when it goes on sale, with an EPA-estimated rating of 46 mpg highway. That's better than previous estimates of around 42 mpg, and if other diesels on the market today are anything to go by, some owners may find themselves beating...
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Electric Car Sales In Europe: Most Going To Rental Fleets?Europe has been the source of some excitement over electric cars in recent months, as several new models have all hit the market in quick succession. The third-generation Smart Electric Drive arrived at the end of last year, and the last few months have seen the new Renault Zoe and 2013 Nissan Leaf...
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Protean Launches Production In-Wheel Electric MotorThe benefits for dedicating an electric motor to each wheel of a vehicle were clear to see in Drive's recent video of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive. Make those motors in-wheel units, and in theory you get even more benefits. It's a design that in-wheel motor company Protean has been...
Antony Ingram