Featured (was)
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The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car will carry a price of $37,495 for the base LT trim level, including the mandatory destination charge, before incentives. The Bolt EV Premier model starts at $41,780 before incentives. The Premier trim includes front and rear heated and leather-appointed seats, a surround camera, and rear camera mirror as standard. Both models offer DC fast charging as an option—for an additional $750. DON'T MISS: 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV first drive: 240 miles in an electric car Following on last week's announcement of a 238-mile EPA range rating and combined...
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2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV first drive: 240 miles in an electric car
We drove a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car 240 miles on a single charge last week. And that was the lowest range achieved among four journalists driving four Bolt EVs along the California coast. One driver covered essentially the same trip with fully 32 miles remaining, according to the...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: 238-mile EPA range rating, 119 MPGe combined
There will be a lot riding on the tall, square shoulders of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV when it reaches the first Chevy dealers late this year. It will be the first mass-priced electric car with a range of 200 miles or more, and it will go on sale a year before the much-vaunted Tesla Model 3. Now...
John Voelcker -
Why new Tesla 100D battery may be crucial for the Tesla Model 3
Last month, when Tesla Motors announced new, even larger battery packs for its Model S sedan and Model X crossover utility vehicle, reaction was less than ecstatic. While even faster, even longer-range electric cars are nice and all, commentators said, shouldn't Tesla be sticking to its knitting?...
John Voelcker -
2017 Karma Revero (nee Fisker) launch: updates, new infotainment
The 2017 Karma Revero (nee Fisker Karma) was formally unveiled to the public and to Fisker owners tonight at an event in the canyons of Laguna Beach, south of Los Angeles. Executives of the company formed from the bankrupt wreckage of Fisker Automotive pledged that they've fixed the car's 2012...
John Voelcker -
Opel Ampera-e ad highlights 'fun to drive' aspect of electric cars
A new Opel Ampera-e ad pits the electric car against gasoline models in a drag race.
Stephen Edelstein -
Sometime during the last three months of this year, the first 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will be delivered to its buyer in a blaze of flash photography and publicity. The 200-mile electric car, base-priced at $37,500 before incentives, will be the first car in the world with those specifications. And it will bring battery-electric vehicles with ranges of 200 miles or more into the mass market well ahead of the promised Tesla Model 3. DON'T MISS: Plug-in hybrid problem: buyers don't understand them at all Electric-car advocates have waited eagerly for the Bolt EV, which was unveiled by General...
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What it took to buy an electric car in Texas: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to locate and purchase or lease a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid somewhere in the heart of Texas oil country. Hoping to make Tom Cruise proud, I accepted the mission. But first, a bit of perspective: in 2005 I had set out to purchase a Mercury Mariner...
John Voelcker -
Why I leased a 2017 Chevy Volt (in Texas) to replace a Volvo
Texas is the land of pickups and SUVs, of oil wells and full-day drives from your Texas home to Grandma’s Texas home. Your everyday driver had better be your highway car, because every drive involves a highway. I’ve owned every size of SUV, from Chevy Suburban to Toyota Land Cruiser to...
John Voelcker -
The '1,000-MPG' BMW i3: 56,000 miles on 50 gallons of gas
A BMW i3 REx owner recounts 27 months with the range-extended electric car.
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Opel Ampera-e (nee Bolt EV) to debut at Paris Motor Show
The 2017 Opel Ampera-e debuts at the 2016 Paris Motor Show this fall.
Stephen Edelstein -
The Tesla Model S P100D really, seriously goes over 300 miles this time
The first time may have been a Pyrrhic victory. In April, an updated 90D emerged with a kinda, sorta 300-mile range and a new face. Tuesday, Tesla announced that a new 100-kilowatt-hour battery would deliver 315 miles on the EPA cycle and accelerate up to 60 mph faster than falling off the roof...
Aaron Cole -
As the famed Monterey Car Week moves into high gear today, Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a new concept car: the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6. It's not too surprising that a large, elegant, uber-luxe streamlined coupe with gullwing doors might be shown to depict a future design direction for its high-luxury Mercedes-Maybach sub-brand. What is surprising, though, is that it's all-electric. DON'T MISS: Mercedes electric SUV concept for Paris in September: what we know so far The "6" in its name, incidentally, refers not to it being a sixth Maybach concept but to the two-door car's length in meters...
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Oversight of $2 billion VW electric-car funds required, charging companies say
A group of charging-network operators criticizes provisions of the preliminary Volkswagen diesel settlement.
Stephen Edelstein -
Why carmakers don't offer electric-car battery updates: costs don't pencil out
It's a litany you hear often from the most ardent electric-car owners and advocates. "Old car companies don't get it; they won't offer electric-car battery upgrades with higher capacity, so I'll never buy from them." The response is simple: today, those upgrades would cost so much that almost no...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car shopping far too hard; dealers, carmakers can improve, says report
Dealers may be an obstacle to increased electric-car adoption, according to a Sierra Club report.
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevy Bolt EV electric car for 'urban' sales: what does that mean?
Almost no U.S. car buyers sit down at their kitchen table and kick off a chat by saying, "Honey, we need to buy a city car." The only exceptions are those in a handful of crowded cities like New York and San Francisco, for whom a very short car that is easy to park may take priority. But as sales...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model X drives semi-conscious owner to hospital on Autopilot (updated)
Three months later, the May 7 death of a Model S driver in Florida continues to generate headlines and spark debate on the merits of electronic driver-assistance technologies. But a recent story points out at least one of the potential future advantages to self-driving cars: their ability to...
John Voelcker -
The Tesla Model 3 electric car, which its maker says will launch late next year with 200 miles of range and a $35,000 price, has caused a few shock waves across the car industry. All the German luxury makers now have plans for their own 200-mile battery-electric vehicles coming in 2018 or later, at various prices. Now at least one maker, BMW, is starting to counter the Model 3 in its marketing—though the Tesla remains more than a year from production. DON'T MISS: BMW still leads U.S. plug-in sales percentages; plug-in hybrid SUV helps The 2016 BMW 330e is the plug-in hybrid version of...
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Electric car emissions, 100,000 Chevy Volts, Tesla throwdown, VW diesel tests: The Week in Reverse
Who said existing automakers really aren't trying to sell electric cars? And what news cheered owners of Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles affected by the VW emission scandal? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday...
John Voelcker -
How much do electric cars really pollute, even without tailpipes?
Personal automobiles have given hundreds of millions of people the great luxury of a convenient and comfortable mode of transportation. But there's no escaping that manufacturing these vehicles, driving them for 10 years or more, and then disposing of them creates pollution that has a wide range of...
John Briggs -
2017 Honda Accord Hybrid preview (updated)
The 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid mid-size sedan was unveiled in April 2016—ending a one-year hiatus for a model that now offers the highest EPA gas-mileage ratings in the Honda lineup. The new model uses an updated version of the two-motor hybrid powertrain fitted to earlier hybrid Accords, which...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Gigafactory tour photo gallery: one engineer's report
Last Friday, Tesla Motors opened the doors of its battery "gigafactory" outside Reno, Nevada, to an invited group of Tesla owners. They toured the plant and heard presentations from CEO Elon Musk, among others. It was a celebratory occasion, marked by many photos and lots of deep Tesla gossip and...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV to ship to dealers before end of year
General Motors has always had an aggressive schedule for launching its 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, the industry's first mass-priced electric car with 200 miles or more of range. It was revealed as a concept just 18 months ago at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show, with a production version unveiled at this...
John Voelcker