Green
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Every time we make a joke involving the US Marine Corps, first we check it with our friend Cap'n Connors, a former Marine. With multiple deployments under his belt, and much multicolored art under his skin, the cap'n is our source for all things having to do with the most profane of the armed forces. Even he was impressed at the steps his service has taken to green its Camp Pendleton base along the southern California coast. And a substantial portion of their efforts go toward alternative-fueled vehicles. Most prominent are two Chevrolet Equinox Fuel-Cell Vehicles, the popular midsize...
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2009 Toyota Prius: Preparing to Say 'Goodbye'
Let us pay tribute to the car that defined not only defined 'hybrid' but paved Toyota's path toward world domination
John Voelcker -
Chrysler PT Cruiser Survives Through 2011
We're all irrationally fond of some cars, and one of ours is the 2009 Chrysler PT Cruiser. Technically, it's a small minivan, but the retro-styled gangster look has always disguised that fact completely. And, it's a remarkably practical car. Now comes the news that Chrysler reversed its previous...
John Voelcker -
June's Most Popular Posts: 2010 Toyota Prius Reference Guide Rocks
June is about to exit, so once again it's time for the five most popular posts for the month on AllAboutPrius.com. # 1: 30 Days of the 2010 Toyota Prius: Your Reference Guide. Hanging onto its perennial top ranking, this one remains by far our most popular content page. We meant it to offer an easy...
John Voelcker -
June's Most Popular Green Car Posts: All About Electric Cars
By now it's a tradition: We celebrate the last day of the month by running down the most popular posts on GreenCarReports.com. For June, only a single Top Five post from May survived--and last month's # 1 Ferrari hybrid piece didn't show up at all. This month, it's all about electric cars: # 1...
John Voelcker -
The Greenest Aston Martin Will Be...A Toyota ?!?!?
Clearly carbon constraints, higher gas-mileage mandates, and concern over oil supplies are putting pressure on carmakers to change their lineups. And the loss of one-third of global car sales has slammed the industry like never before. But still, we really thought we were hallucinating when we...
John Voelcker -
Three weeks ago, when Jay Shoemaker from The Truth About Cars reviewed the 2010 Toyota Prius, he didn't hold back. He hated it. Loathed it. Despised it. He didn't like the car, its looks, the driving experience, the interior, or the instruments. We poked some fun at him, and at the cranky, dyspeptic tone of the website grandly known as "The Truth About Cars". But then, last Friday, the site published another review of the 2010 Toyota Prius, entitled "Take Two". And in this one, reviewer Paul Niedermeyer gives the 2010 Prius a full 94 points out of 100, against Shoemaker's stingy 55 points...
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Get a 2009 Smart ForTwo, Just $99/Month (Clunker Required)
No sooner did the 'Cash for Clunkers' legislation pass the Senate and get signed by President Obama than carmakers started marketing around it. The program won't officially launch until next month, but Smart is already pointing out that its 2009 Smart ForTwo is eligible for the highest voucher...
John Voelcker -
Five Questions To Ask About Those DoE Advanced-Tech Loans
On Tuesday, we covered the news that Ford, Nissan, and Tesla had been granted a total of $8 billion in low-interest loans by the US Department of Energy to retool for advanced automotive technologies. With a few days under our belt, we've considered the story and have a few questions for you to...
John Voelcker -
First Drive Impressions: 2010 Lexus HS250h
We've devoted more space on AllAboutPrius.com to the 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrid than to most other cars. That's because it can be considered a half-brother to the 2010 Toyota Prius: A fancier, pricier, more powerful sedan sibling to the practical, plain-Jane Prius. Lexus still hasn't released pricing...
John Voelcker -
Drive Report: 2010 Lexus HS250h
Setting aside our questions about whether the 2010 Lexus HS250h can create a new "luxury hybrid" niche, we spent much of Wednesday driving two of them through the rolling suburban hills of Westchester County, New York. Overall, we think the HS is a bit of a puzzlement, neither fish nor fowl. We're...
John Voelcker -
2012 Nissan EV Electric Car To Be Revealed August 2
Just two days ago, we noted that Nissan was granted $1.6 billion of Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loans by the US Department of Energy. It plans to use the money to retool its Smyrna, Tennessee, assembly plant to build electric cars. Now we learn that the 2012 Nissan EV may be unveiled...
John Voelcker -
Here at GreenCarReports.com, we spend a lot of time reading and writing about green cars of all stripes: fuel-efficient hatchbacks, hybrids, diesels, small cars, you name it. But we also spend time immersed in the fast-changing world of digital media. And lately, we've spent a lot of time looking at Twitter. What's that, you may ask? Well, a "Tweet" (yep, that's what it's called) is a single, short message of 140 characters or less that you can broadcast to a list of people who choose to "follow" what you publish. You can think of it as a series of Facebook status messages (if you're on...
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Our Latest Feature: Live Tweets About Toyota Prius
As if life couldn't get any more digital and fragmentary, you may have heard about Twitter: short messages you can broadcast to a list of friends, each one no more than 140 characters long. The service has been in the news lately as one tool used by Iranians protesting election irregularities, but...
John Voelcker -
2010 Lexus HS250h: Right For Our Times Or Not?
We've just returned from driving the 2010 Lexus HS250h through the manicured suburbs of New York's Westchester County. We'll post our full impressions tomorrow, following up the first drive of the Lexus HS by our colleague Bengt Halvorson. But at the end of the day, we're left just slightly...
John Voelcker -
A Toyota Prius To Die For: The High-Mileage Hybrid Hearse
Sometimes all we can say is that it's a privilege to write for AllAboutPrius.com. It's just never, ever dull around here. Today, for your delight, we bring you the world's highest-mileage hearse, which also happens to have the lowest carbon footprint of any casket-transport device short of the...
John Voelcker -
Advanced Auto-Tech Loans Go To Tesla, Ford, and Nissan
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the first three loans to be granted under the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. The lucky winners, totaling $8 billion worth of low-interest loans from the US Department of Energy: Ford, Nissan, and Tesla. FORD Amount...
John Voelcker -
Drive Report: 2010 Mitsubishi i-MiEV Electric Car
Last week, we wrote that the smash success of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is leading the company to plan five additional electric cars. We've now driven electric-car prototypes from a number of automakers: a 2011 Chevrolet Volt mule, the 2012 Nissan EV prototype, the 2012 Ford Focus EV prototype, and the...
John Voelcker -
It's not every day that the CEO of a car company takes you for a ride. Especially if it's through the move-it-or-lose-it traffic of midtown Manhattan. In the rain. But Kevin Czinger seemed to enjoy it. We covered the 2011 Coda Sedan all-electric car when it launched three weeks ago. Now we've had a ride in a development prototype driven by CEO Czinger, with product engineer Dave TenHouten riding along in the rear. First impressions: STYLING: The Coda has better street presence than photos show, but it's hardly cutting edge. We're still undecided on the blank, grille-free front end. Style...
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EV Rentals Available In Bergamo, Italy
Say you're an eco-conscious tourist on vacation in Italy and you'd like to explore the outskirts of Milan, but you left your driver's license in the hotel safe. No problem. Catch a cab 25 miles northeast to Bergamo and rent an Italian-made Startlab Open Street EV. The Startlab is an electric...
Robert Scardino -
2010 Pontiac Vibe: Get The Greenest Pontiac Before It's Gone
Things change fast these days in the wacky world of automaking. Just last week, we pointed you toward the 2010 Pontiac Vibe, saying the last Pontiac was the best green car it had offered. Well, if you want one, you'd better act fast. General Motors announced yesterday that the last Vibe would be...
John Voelcker -
Subaru R1e and G4e EVs: This Company Is Not Just Rich In Racing Heritage
Electric Vehicles Might Be the Answer for Urban Travelers
Jonathan McGrew -
BREAKING: Cash for Clunkers Passed By Senate
All that's left now is for President Barack Obama to sign the bill. Late last night, the US Senate voted 91 to 5 to pass a $106 billion supplemental spending bill for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan that includes $1 billion in "Cash for Clunkers" funding. Earlier, the Senate had barely defeated...
John Voelcker -
California HOV-Lane Stickers For Hybrids: Worth $1,200 To $1,500
Imagine a special sticker that let you use those high-occupancy vehicle lanes, zipping past stop-and-go rush hour traffic, blissfully alone in your car. If you live in California and were one of 85,000 lucky hybrid owners, you know exactly what I'm talking about. In 2005, California decided to open...
John Voelcker