Green

  • Shell Hydrogen Station in Reykjavik Iceland

    It's been a rough couple of years for cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. As the drums beat louder for electric cars--the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, Nissan's upcoming EV, and more--the hydrogen chorus is waning. But perhaps there's hope. And perhaps it's as close as your nearest urinal. Or, more politely, your local sewage treatment facility. Let us explain. One of the problems with hydrogen is that while it's prolific in nature, hydrogen molecules aren't floating around loose. It takes a lot of energy to split hydrogen out from the other atoms to which it binds, either in natural gas or water...

  • Buick Envision SUV Concept, teaser sketch, Auto Shanghai 2011
    Buick Envision Plug-In Hybrid SUV Concept: Auto Shanghai Preview

    It's unfortunate that the media days for the Auto Shanghai 2011 Show and the New York Auto Show overlap a couple of weeks hence, because it looks like Shanghai might get the lion's share of the cool introductions. Take, for instance, the single teaser sketch released today of the new Buick Envision...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf, Nashville, October 2010
    Electric Car Tax for Washington Gets One Step Closer to Law

    If you’re a regular reader of AllCarsElectric then you’ll know that electric cars are much cheaper to run than gasoline cars once you’ve actually purchased them, but electric cars in Washington state are just about to get a little more expensive to run thanks to a proposed law...

  • 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid
    2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Sells Better Than Expected, Ford Says

    When Lincoln launched its 2011 MKZ Hybrid model at the New York Auto Show last spring, the car was less remarkable than its price of $35,180. The number was a surprise because it was the same price as the only other engine option for the MKZ, a 3.5-liter V-6. So what do we know about the two...

  • 2011 Audi A5 e-tron quattro hybrid prototype
    New A5 e-tron quattro Plug-In Packs Audi’s Latest Hybrid Tech

    Audi has taken the wraps off a sophisticated plug-in hybrid prototype that combines a number of leading green car technologies all in a single platform. Utilizing the shell of the luxurious A5 Coupe, Audi’s new A5 e-tron quattro prototype not only features a conventional power-split hybrid...

  • Tesla versus Top Gear
    Tesla Sues Top Gear For Libel Against All-Electric Roadster

    About two years ago BBC’s Top Gear aired a test drive of the then relatively new Tesla Roadster. While this was seen as a major boon for Tesla, the light shone on its all-electric sports car by the popular show was somewhat less than flattering. In fact, it was rather downbeat. What makes the...

  • 2011 Smart electric drive

    The 2011 Nissan Leaf has a waiting list. So does the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and as for the Tesla Roadster, well, it's probably too expensive. So what do you do if you want to drive around in a plug-in vehicle right now? You could always build one, but that seems like too much hard work. Instead, you could head along to one of the smart centers across the country that have limited numbers of the 2011 smart fortwo electric drive available. We regard the tiny EV as the best variant of the smart there is, and it's not just because we love electric cars. The electric drivetrain is the reason it's...

  • Assembly of Think City electric cars, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
    Can Think Really Sell Enough $41,000 City Electric Cars In U.S.?

    Electric cars are much on the minds of green buyers these days, despite limited supplies of the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt. But there's also a second tier of suppliers, beyond the major carmakers, that also offers or plans to offer buyers their own plug-in electric vehicles. One such...

  • 2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost burnout
    One-Third Of 2011 Ford F-150 Pickups Sold With V-6

    MPGs matter, it turns out, even to pickup buyers. Or, perhaps especially to pickup truck buyers. Just four months after Ford added an EcoBoost engine option to its top-selling F-150 pickup truck, the company reports that fully 35 percent of the 2011 model's sales are fitted with either that...

  • 2009 Mercedes-Benz C Class 6.3L AMG RWD
    Report: 2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Range To Be Almost Completely Hybrid

    Mercedes-Benz just took the wraps off its facelifted C-Class range, which enters the market as a 2012 model and comes with a host of modifications to make it more fuel efficient. Namely, the introduction of a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the first four the C-Class has been available...

  • 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport. Photo by Joe Nuxoll.
    Tesla Triumphs with Ten Million Miles Travelled Since Launch

    Ten million miles. That’s the achievement being celebrated by Tesla Motors after its customers have clocked up 10 million miles of low emissions, all-electric driving since the Tesla launched its two seat sportscar in 2008. Since delivering its first Roadster in 2008, Tesla has sold over 1500...

  • What's a Few Hundred Condoms Between Friends? by Flickr user xmasons
    Can Condoms Curb Climate Change Cheaper Than Low-Carbon Cars?

    The Frankfurt Auto Show just wound up today, and most of the concept cars focus on lowering carbon dioxide emissions. Volkswagen, for instance, launched a two-seat "1-Liter" concept car that gets a remarkable 170 miles per gallon. But suppose all the money we're investing in better gas mileage and...

  • 2011 Mazda Mazda2 at the 2010 New York Auto Show

    What are the tricks that car designers and engineers use to squeeze out those last few miles per gallon in your next new car--regardless of what size it is? In our continuing series of videos on ways to drive a little greener and stretch your gas budget that much further, editorial director Marty Padgett gives a quick (and we mean 45 seconds) tutorial on some of the ways that new cars get better fuel economy. Standing in front of a bright green 2011 Mazda Mazda2 subcompact hatchback, he quickly walks around the car and ennumerates three separate methods Mazda used to improve gas mileage on...

  • 2011 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor
    High Gas Mileage: Now It's Even Crucial For Cop Cars

    Not too long ago, acceleration and top speed may have been the most crucial criteria when picking a new police car but with gas prices continuing to creep higher requirements have changed, even in this field. In the past, the standard issue for a police car was a big and brawny rear-wheel drive...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf for Sale on eBay
    2011 Nissan Leaf: How Much Would YOU Pay to Jump the Queue?

    The U.S. rollout of the 2011 Nissan Leaf has been a bit of a disaster with some would-be Leaf owners still waiting to find out when their local dealer will stock the all-electric car nearly a year after pre-reservations started. So how much would you pay to jump the queue completely and get an...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    2011 Chevrolet Volt: Quick Drive Impressions

    The 2011 Geneva Motor Show has come and gone and was a real treat for electric car fans. Not only could you get close to cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf and smart fortwo electric drive, but some were even available to test. One of the cars attracting a lot of attention was the 2011 Chevrolet Volt...

  • Eiffel Tower and green cars
    Electric Cars To Help 2050 Europe Goal Of Zero-Emissions Cities

    When looked at in pure dollars and cents, there are many cases in which electric cars don't yet provide a payback. But other forces will boost their chances of adoption beyond pure payback. And government regulations are one of those forces. On Monday, the European Commission will issue a road map...

  • Better Place battery-swap demonstration
    Better Place: First Battery Swap Station, Profit In 2 Years?

    Better Place, the ambitious program that's launching its electric-car service in Israel, opened its first battery-swap station there on Wednesday. At an event marking the opening, CEO Shai Agassi said the company would be profitable within two years of starting to provide mobility services to its...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco, New York City, March 2011

    With gas prices top of mind for many drivers, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco model seems perfectly timed. The model with a six-speed manual gearbox is EPA-rated at 28 mpg city, 42 mpg highway, for a combined 33 mpg. On our recent road test over a long weekend, we beat that slightly, getting 34.2 mpg over a mix of highway and local routes, though our miles were skewed more toward highway travel. OTHER VIDEO: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Two-Minute Drive Review So how does the Cruze Eco get mileage higher than the regular Chevy Cruze, which is rated at 26 mpg city, 36 mpg highway, for a combined 30...

  • 2010 Kia Soul
    Kia Doubles Down On Smaller Engines, Plans Soul Convertible

    Kia has some major plans in the pipeline, with the introduction of new hybrid models, a brand new Rio hatchback and range of downsized engines combining turbocharging and direct fuel injection technologies. And, with every new model introduction, Kia has been downsizing its engines--without any...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Drive  -  March 2011
    2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: Driven

    When the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid goes on sale about this time next year, it will be the first mass-production vehicle from Toyota that plugs in. Yet, despite that, the Plug-In feels more like a value-added version of the Prius than a model that will be itself iconic or radically new. It's...

  • parking ticket  -  flickr user alicegop
    FAIL: U.K. Meter Maid Tickets Electric Car While it Charged

    Police traffic and parking control officers have an important job: they help keep traffic flowing in major cities and also ensure that cars are parked legally and safely. But local authorities in the U.K. city of Coventry are under fire after one of its parking enforcement officers ticketed an...

  • Volvo C30 Electric
    Volvo C30 Electric: For Lease, At More Than $2,000 Per Month?

    Would you pay more than two grand a month to drive an electric Volvo? Apparently, the automaker thinks that there are at least a few people or businesses that will. Volvo Cars Special Vehicles president Lennart Stegland said that Volvo plans to offer the C30 Electric for lease—at a price of...

  • 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist Live Shots
    FIRST DRIVE: 2012 Buick Lacrosse 37-MPG eAssist Prototype

    To date, Buick and "fuel economy" haven't often been used in the same sentence. But the 2012 Buick LaCrosse, the brand's largest surviving car, will offer one engine option that's projected to deliver 25 mpg city, 37 mpg highway. That's not bad for a midsize near-luxury sedan (though 1 mpg lower on...

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