Green

The 2010 Toyota Prius had an exceptionally long model year, introduced in early spring 2009 and delivered to dealers by May or June that year. But now the 2011 Prius hybrids are arriving at dealerships, and Toyota has levied a modest price increase of $250 across each of the four trim packages it...

As a writer for a group of car sites with 3 million readers each month, I don't think I need to explain how much gasoline has changed my life. I've seen the world from street level because of it. It's fueled me. Oil has caused me agita this year, too. It's played havoc with a place I see myself...

Electric cars may be coming out in force come December, but the spotlight is now on how their batteries will be resold and recycled several years down the road. There’s been a recent spate of announcements from Nissan, General Motors and Tesla on this topic. All three companies are looking...

The biggest challenge for battery electric vehicles is clearly the cost and the weight of today's lithium-ion battery packs. Now Volvo is experimenting with a new composite material that can store and release energy more quickly than a convention lithium-ion cell and, it says, might one day replace...

As BMW bring to an end the first round of BMW Mini E lease schemes in the U.K, drivers in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Boston and Connecticut can look forward to signing up to help BMW test its ActiveE, two years before its MegaCity EV hits the market. Based on a...

Subaru is sticking to its almost trademark horizontally opposed or ‘boxer’ engine for its future lineup of cars, improving on the design, making it more refined and fuel efficient with each generation. The third and latest generation of the engine--the first major redesign in 21...

In a week where US Coda Automotive has launched its 2011 Sedan, an all-electric vehicle based upon the chinese-made Hafei Saibao, China’s own electric car industry is undergoing some interesting changes. BYD, backed by U.S. businessman Warren Buffet, has been making loud noises in the...

Yesterday was was World Car-Free Day. Did you notice? Nope, us either. Because while it may be amusing--for a few seconds--to imagine a world without vehicles, it's also sorta silly. It's like imagining a world without vapid blond stars who get way, way, WAY too much press. Might be nice, never...

Renault may not have much of an impact to U.S. motorists, but thanks to their partnership with Nissan, they have a large part to play in the future of electric vehicles. The French company has been a market leader in the European light commercial vehicle (LCV) market since 1998, so it's only...

It's always important for writers to check their cultural biases when analyzing the auto market. Or at least admit them up front. So we appreciate our colleague Scott Burgess being honest about his point of view: He doesn't like subcompacts. Nope. Doesn't have any time for 'em. Animus up front In...

During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama famously said that he wanted one million plug-in cars on U.S. roads by 2015. That's a goal that many experts continue to think will be extremely hard to attain. Now California has adopted the same goal for the state alone, but with a different...

What happens when the humble charging station gets a makeover courtesy of a top San Francisco design firm, a choice of colors and an TV advert full of young, happy, carefree friends making an EV road trip? The GE WattStation. Developed by General Electric as its answer to the demand for electric...

Coda Automotive, the electric car company that many have overlooked until recently has just launched its new site detailing vehicle price, vehicle information and range information. We’ve been guessing at the Sedan’s base price now for some time, but Coda have confirmed that the retail...

Ford announced today that it will partner with Texas utility giant Oncor to prepare the northern region of the state for electric vehicles (EVs). The collaboration will range from consumer education to working behind-the-scenes to gather data and prepare the grid for EVs. The automaker announced a...

Pretty much everyone loves renewable energy. The problem is that wind usually blows at night--often sporadically, at that--and solar power is unpredictable. Suppose the secret to harnessing their potential was ... used electric-car batteries? GM said today that it would work with ABB Group to...

What happens when a publicity photo-shoot goes on the hunt for the perfect image but doesn't notice the devil in the details? Over the weekend, our sister site GreenCarReports was privileged to publish the first-ever official photographs of the production version of the 2011 Coda Sedan. As well as...

Over the weekend we noticed that Nissan is now detailing a cold-weather package as an option on the 2011 Leaf. Although it’s not available yet at any of the current dealers, but Nissan has confirmed with fan-site Nissan-leaf.net that it will be available to order soon. So what is in the cold...

The term "hatchback" has long been considered poison in Detroit, an indicator of a slow, cheap, tinny, undesirable econobox. (And when's the last time you heard "econobox," for that matter?) No one wants 'em, says the conventional wisdom. But conventional wisdom may be getting knocked upside the...

It's been a year of press announcements but no cars from Fisker Automotive. Now the company says that the first factory-built 2011 Fisker Karma will debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, to be held at the end of the month. That may allow Fisker to keep its promise to deliver a handful of production...

Add Lotus to the list of luxury and sports car makers offering hybrid models to raise fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. It won't be on the market until the "spring of 2014," says Lotus, but 10 days from now at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, it will introduce a concept for its...