Green Car News
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For the second month in a row, the best-selling car in Norway is powered by electricity.
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Is A $500 Garage Fueling Appliance The Missing Link For Natural-Gas Cars?
Home refueling could help natural-gas cars gain mainstream appeal, but first the price will have to come down.
Stephen Edelstein -
Mercedes-Benz To Do More Projects With Tesla, Countering BMW i3?
Look closely enough at the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, and there's probably a little 'Tesla Motors' sticker hiding within its drivetrain. Likewise, eagle-eyed car-buyers may spot the occasional Mercedes-Benz interior component in the Tesla Model S. This curious cross-pollination is a result of...
Antony Ingram -
October Sales Report, Hyperloop, Superchargers: This Week In Social Media
Have you been keeping up with us on social media this week? If you have, then you already know we've been driving a new 2014 Audi Q5 TDI. Watch this space for our impressions. In the news this week, we learned that orders for the 261-mpg Volkswagen XL1 have exceeded the 200 scheduled units, and VW...
Joel Feder -
October Plug-In Car Sales, Ford Focus Electric Recalled, Woz Buys Model S: Today's Car News
The Chevrolet Volt, Ford Focus Electric, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model s make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014: Technology Trends
Yesterday we listed the nominees for Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014 award: two battery-electric vehicles, one hybrid, one diesel, and one very fuel-efficient gasoline car. But what do our nominees say about the state of green-car design this year? Overall, they highlight four trends to...
John Voelcker -
Ford has announced that it's to recall 2,600 Focus Electric models to rectify a fault that could lead to a loss of power while driving. According to The Detroit News, the fault is caused by a software flaw in the powertrain control module. This fault can result in a loss of power to the wheels, accompanied by a 'Stop Safely Now' warning in the instrument cluster. The recall was initiated following reports that some Focus Electrics were shutting down completely while driving. None of the incidents resulted in crashes or injuries. Ford has confirmed that steering and braking systems will...
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From Apple To Tesla: Woz Follows The Trend, Buys Model S
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has had his eye on a Model S electric car for some time.
Stephen Edelstein -
Elon Musk's Hyperloop Concept Becomes A Company
Ground may already have been broken for California's high speed rail network, but Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk's competing Hyperloop transport system has moved a step closer to reality. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is the new company aimed at turning Musk's pneumatic pod system into...
Antony Ingram -
Best Car To Buy 2014 Nominees, Audi Q1 Crossover, Coal Conundrum: Today's Car News
BMW i, Canadian electric-car fast-charging stations, and coal make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
How One Electric Utility Encouraged Employees To Use Plug-In Cars
While workplace charging is still a work in progress at most companies, a few progressive corporations and nonprofits now offer incentives to employees to commute in plug-in electric cars. One example is PSEG, the publicly-owned New Jersey electric and gas utility, which has seen employee usage of...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014: The Nominees
We're heading into the last two months of the year, which means it's time for our annual Best Car To Buy award. This is our award that picks one vehicle--or a line of vehicles--that we consider to be the greenest new vehicle(s) launched for the new model year. (That means they have to be all-new or...
John Voelcker -
In case you hadn't noticed, it's Halloween. So how could we not comment on an article whose byline reads Gore and Blood? Their topic may be slightly esoteric, but it has big implications for our energy future. It's all about stranded assets--those that lose economic value well ahead of their anticipated useful life. In this case, reserves of fossil fuels--particularly coal--lying unused whose values may decrease as legislation and technology improvements force them into obsolescence. Coal: future stranded asset? Whether by regulation or education, the automotive industry and several others...
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BMW's 'i' Electric Car Brand Shrugs Off SUV Option
BMW surprised its traditionalist owners when releasing the X5 SUV back in 1999, but there's no risk of the same happening in its new electric brand. The automaker has confirmed that the cleaner, greener side of the its range, BMW i, won't get an SUV option, even though a range of other vehicles is...
Antony Ingram -
BC To Get Canada's First Electric-Car Fast-Charging Network
The West Coast "green highway" will expand from Oregon and Washington states into British Columbia, under a plan announced today that will site DC quick-charging stations for electric cars along heavy-traveled roads and at popular destinations. BC Hydro, the province's electric utility, said it...
John Voelcker -
Audi Joins The Juke Set: Q1 Crossover Due In 2016?
The world loves its SUVs, but SUVs aren't best known for loving the world back. These big hulking behemoths are often accused of being a catalyst for climate change, and it's true that efficiency isn't the SUV's strong point. But people like them regardless. So what to do? If you're Audi, you join...
Antony Ingram -
Biodiesel Vs EPA, The Last Gasoline Car, Fisker Faith: Today's Car News
Biodiesel, electric-car batteries, and the death of the gasoline car make today's headlines.
Stephen Edelstein -
Who's Still Buying Brand-New Fisker Karmas, And Why?
The 2012 Fisker Karma remains a stunning car, regardless of its range-extended electric powertrain. While the struggling-though-not-yet-bankrupt company remains in limbo, with a purchase reported but not yet confirmed, it hasn't built cars since July 2012. MORE: 2012 Fisker Karma - full review The...
John Voelcker -
The disappearance of internal-combustion engines is far from inevitable today, but several groups and governments are now predicting when the last gasoline vehicles will be sold. The latest prediction comes from a particularly unlikely source: Shell Oil Company, one of the largest petroleum producers in the world. The company predicts in its latest report that petroleum-powered cars could be nearly gone by 2070. The concept is part of Shell's 'New Lens Scenarios', reports Autoblog Green. They are forward-looking predictions that help the company decide how to operate over the coming years...
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Panasonic Will Expand Battery Cell Supply For Tesla's Rising Production
Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and technology company Panasonic have been working together for several years now, and that relationship is set to expand as Tesla seeks to meet its future battery needs. The two companies have reached an agreement for future automotive-grade lithium-ion battery supply...
Antony Ingram -
Biodiesel Makers Beg EPA To Notice: We're Not Ethanol!
One way to make vehicle fuels greener is to grow them--and it appears that biodiesel may have plenty of potential. Like the feedstocks for ethanol, the plant oils refined into biodiesel are grown, rather than extracted from the ground. But being lumped into the same bucket as ethanol is worrying...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost Priced, BYD Fined, RIP Scion iQ?: Today's Car News
The Ford Fiesta, Toyota Prius V, and Scion iQ make headlines today.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Prius V Loses 'Recommended' Rating From Consumer Reports
Receiving a 'Recommended' rating from the journalists at Consumer Reports isn't the only automotive accolade to aim for, but it's certainly one of the biggest. Losing that Recommended rating is therefore something to be avoided. It's also something the Toyota Prius V wagon has failed to avoid...
Antony Ingram -
A Million Electrified Cars In Germany By 2020? Achievable, Says VW
Like many countries, Germany has set itself some pretty tough targets for encouraging electric vehicles. The government aims to have a million plug-in electric vehicles on the country's roads by 2020. While electric-vehicle sales in Europe are increasing, that's quite some work to do by the end of...
Antony Ingram