Green Car News

  • Former Fisker of Bellevue, Washington, dealership, closed as of July 2013 [photo: Brian Henderson]

    Remember Fisker Automotive, the startup carmaker that sold the $106,000 luxury range-extended electric sport sedan called the Karma? Hang onto your memories, because the physical traces of Fisker's existence are vanishing quickly. These photos show what's happening to the dealership that was formerly Fisker of Bellevue, outside Seattle, Washington. Photos on the locational website Foursquare show what the dealer looked like last year, when it was in business. The Foursquare page for Fisker of Bellevue now carries a discrete "Now Closed" notice. Parking spots out front that used to say "Fisker...

  • Terry Hershner's 2012 Zero electric motorcycle (Image: Off The Grid on Facebook)
    Across The Country In 5 Days--On An Electric Motorcycle

    Little fuels a passion for travel like a cross-country trip. Perhaps "fuels" is the wrong word though, as it's not unusual to see people attempt U.S. crossings using electrons these days. Terry Hershner has done just that, though not in the air-conditioned luxury of a Tesla Model S. Instead, his...

  • Natural-gas vehicle prototypes, Los Angeles, May 2013 - group shot at Playa del Rey storage field
    Senate Bill Boosts CAFE Ratings For Natural-Gas Vehicles With Gasoline Backup

    A new bill in the U.S. Senate would amend Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules to encourage production of a new class of natural-gas vehicles with "reserve" gasoline tanks. As demonstrated in a drive of prototype vehicles earlier this year, the range-extended natural gas cars would run for perhaps...

  • 2014 BMW i3
    2014 BMW i3 Range Extender: Heavier, Less Electric Range, Less Performance

    Electric or range-extended electric? It's a choice that normally means selecting between entirely different cars, but when the 2014 BMW i3 debuts in the U.S. next Spring customers will be able to choose both options in the same car. The range-extended option marks out the i3 as a competitor for...

  • 2013 Peugeot RCZ R
    Nickel-Zinc Replaces 12-Volt Lead-Acid Battery In Peugeot Start-Stop System

    Some of the most exciting hybrid technology isn't coming from Japan or the U.S. these days, but France. The PSA group, comprising Peugeot and Citroen, has already attracted plenty of attention for its hybrid-air technology. Now, it's looking for ways of improving the batteries in "micro hybrid"...

  • Ray Lane takes delivery of the first Fisker Karma
    Why Silicon Valley Venture Firm Kleiner Perkins Bet On Fisker, Not Tesla

    Venture capitalists fund a lot of startup companies, and most of them don't pan out. So famed venture firm Kleiner Perkins' stake in Fisker Automotive--which is still trying to sell itself, but hasn't built a car for 12 months--could be viewed as just another failed investment. On the other hand...

  • 2014 Ford F-150 fitted with natural-gas readiness package

    Ford is the latest automaker to offer a natural gas fuel option for its best-selling pickup truck range. The 2014 Ford F-150 will be offered with a natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) preparation option aiding installation of a suitable fuel system at qualified third-party installers. Available for the 3.7-liter V-6 engine, the 2014 F-150 will be the first half-ton pickup to gain such an option--although natural gas versions of larger heavy-duty pickups are sold by Chevrolet, GMC and Ram. While the package costs only $315 and consists of hardened valves, valve seats, pistons...

  • 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car tested as taxi in New York City, April 2013
    One New York Cabbie Loves His Nissan Leaf Electric Taxi

    There can be few tougher tests for a car than as a taxi in New York City. Tough roads and even tougher traffic makes the city a workout for any vehicle, but one cabby is enjoying the Nissan Leaf he's driving as part of the city's electric vehicle trials. In fact, driver Uppkar Singh Thind described...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt and 2011 Nissan LEAF
    How We Became An All-Plug-In Electric Car Household

    Since November 2006, our family has always owned at least one plug-in car and one powered by gasoline. For almost two years, our fleet has been a Nissan Leaf electric hatchback, and a used 2008 Toyota Prius. After two years and nearly 42,000 miles of driving the Leaf, however, our once high-tech...

  • Zachary Nelson and Ford's haptic gear shifter technology (Image: Video screen grab)
    Want To Improve Manual Gas Mileage? Haptic Shift Knob Tech Could Help

    The humble automatic transmission has come along in leaps and bounds over the year, and modern systems are often more efficient than their manual equivalents. For the manual gearbox itself, economy is still very much down to "the nut behind the wheel", so anything that optimizes a driver's shift...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla In China: Promised Land, Huge Risks...Or Both?

    Despite its pollution problems, China has never shown much interest in the electric car and sales have been a mere fraction of a fraction of the country's huge new car market. Not that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] CEO Elon Musk is put off by unfavorable odds, as he pushes towards Tesla sales in China...

  • China
    China Takes Air Pollution More Seriously: $280 Billion Worth, Supposedly

    We cover China's air pollution problems with depressing frequency on Green Car Reports, but the country's pollution problems have until now been far more than token schemes are able to deal with. That could change over the next few years, as the Chinese government pledges to invest $283 billion to...

  • 2013 Nissan Leaf (Japanese trim)

    Several Japanese automakers have announced a joint project to install charging stations across their home country. Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi will work with each other and existing charging companies to drastically increase the number of regular and quick chargers across Japan, paving the way for higher electric vehicle adoption. The existing network of 1,700 fast chargers and just over 3,000 regular charging points will grow significantly, with plans for more than 4,000 fast chargers and over 8,000 regular stations. These are likely to be spread among commercial facilities such as...

  • 2008 Toyota Prius
    Prices For Used Hybrids, Small Cars Drop As New Car Sales Boom

    As you've probably discovered when hunting in the classified adverts for a used fuel-efficient vehicle, the latest batch of hybrids and small cars holds its value quite well. With high gas prices and limited supply, that's not much of a surprise. But the situation is getting better, and it's thanks...

  • 2013 Toyota Prius
    Toyota Prius Vs. Ford C-Max Hybrid: Pros And Cons

    For several years, Toyota had the hybrid market pretty much sewn up with its Prius. Okay, so it never reached the heady economy highs of the original Honda Insight, but it was far more practical and electric running made it the hybrid of choice in city driving. That's until the Ford C-Max Hybrid...

  • 2014 BMW i3
    2014 BMW i3 Electric Car: Full Details And Images Released

    We won't see them in the States until early next year, but today the 2014 BMW i3 electric car was revealed in production form to the world at large. Some images had already leaked, and BMW had previously released some specifications and also information on the i3's connectivity and navigation...

  • 2014 Hindustan Ambassador BS4 diesel
    New Clean-Ish Diesel For World's Oldest Production Car (In India)

    You've likely never heard of a Hindustan Ambassador--and unless you're an old British-car geek, you've certainly never seen a Morris Oxford Series III. But the Ambassador--fondly known as the "Amby"--is both India's de facto taxi cab and the oldest production car in the world. Now it's been fitted...

  • Solar Panels by Flickr user Chandra Marsono
    Electric Utilities Now Fighting Home Solar As Threat To Their Business

    For owners of electric vehicles, powering their homes and cars using solar panels mounted on the roof are a win-win scenario. Not only do they get to drive past every gas station, but home electricity bills are reduced or even eliminated. That's great news for the end user, but not so much for the...

  • Toyota Winglet electric mobility assistance robot

    Japanese automakers may have cultivated a reputation for occasionally churning out dull, forgettable vehicles, but they certainly make up for it in other ways. Take Nissan, for example. Its bread and butter may be the Versa, but it's also given us the Juke, and the supercar-slaying GT-R. Honda might crank out Civics by the hundred thousand, but they've also given us the NSX, the first-generation Insight and the S2000. And then there's Toyota. Pick one color to describe the Camry, and you'd probably select beige. But in Japan, the automaker is developing something positively neon--the Winglet...

  • First official photo of the new Acura NSX prototype
    Acura NSX Hybrid Supercar To Make On-Track Debut At Mid-Ohio

    Hybrid supercars are officially in fashion. We've been positively inundated by the things over the last year or so, from BMW's upcoming i8 plug-in hybrid, to the exotic Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and McLaren P1 trio, to this: The Acura NSX. Like its historical namesake, it's the Acura destined...

  • MINI Vision concept car
    MINI Vision Concept: Is This The 2014 MINI Cooper?

    The classic Mini wasn't the original gas-saving minicar, but it was certainly one of the most iconic, and modern owners BMW have turned the brand into a successful venture these days with a wide and not always endearing portfolio. It's still the basic hatchback which mirrors the original car...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Trips Limousine Service Approved In Portland, Will Use Model S Sedans

    Want to move around the city with minimal stress? If you live in Portland, you'll now be able to do so in the back of a Tesla Model S, thanks to Tesla Trips. The company, which normally organizes road trips around Oregon in the cars, applied back in April for a license to serve Portland as an...

  • Prokhorov CityCar natural-gas hybrid vehicle, design prototype
    Yo-Auto Natural-Gas Hybrid Update: Production Now In 2015?

    With Teslas and BMW i3s dominating the green car headlines, it's easy to forget that plenty of other automakers are creating their own low-emission vehicles. In Russia, that company is Yo-Avto. The automaker has promised a natural gas hybrid vehicle for some time--and that time could now be 2015...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf plugged into an EVgo quick-charging station, Texas
    Plug-In Electric Car Buyers Very Satisfied With Cars: Report

    A new report issued today on the current status of plug-in electric cars suggests that buyers are very happy with their cars, and plug-in sales are rising faster than hybrids sales did after they were launched. "Customer experiences have typically been extremely positive," says the report, citing...

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