Green Car News

There is, at the moment, only one production diesel plug-in hybrid car on sale, and it's currently only sold in Europe. That car is the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid, combining the long-distance touring ability and economy of a diesel powertrain with the short-distance cleanliness and inexpense of...

Few automakers have built a buzz around their products like Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. Like many other electric cars, Roadster and Model S owners and fans are a tight-knit community too, and a two-day users conference in July will bring even more owners together. Called Teslive, Silicon Beat...

The Ford Escape is one of the most popular compact crossovers on the market today, and its all-new 2013 model goes head-to-head with the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4. Both of those vehicles were redesigned in 2012 or 2013, so crossover competition is now fierce. We spent six days with a pale green...

We always love seeing how electric cars are made. There's something fascinating about watching a car go right from the metal presses to rolling out of the factory. In recent years we've brought you videos of such a process for several electric cars, and now it's the turn of the 2013 Nissan Leaf at...

The 54.5 mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards set for 2025 have caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth from some quarters, but automakers haven't been among them. The automakers have been quite supportive in fact--perhaps knowing all along what a new analysis has discovered: That...

Electric cars might have plenty of environmental benefits over their combustion cousins, carmakers are finding that angle a hard one to benefit from. In fact, it's much more likely modern electric cars will be sold on the back of plain, simple cost savings, says Bloomberg. It presents an unusual...

When automakers test prototypes and new technologies, it's often done under the skin of an existing vehicle--partly to save costs, partly to avoid the gaze of prying spy photographers. That's why the Ford Fiesta you see here looks nothing special, save for some basic wheels and its not-for-U.S...

Volkswagen chairman Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn covered virtually every area of green technology in his talk at the recent Vienna Motor Symposium. Plug-in cars, natural gas vehicles, diesels and a new ten-speed dual-clutch transmission were all discussed, pointing to a bright future for...

On Friday, Tesla held a media call to reveal another in the series of announcements touted in tweets by CEO Elon Musk. This time, the news covered enhancements to the warranty and service experience on its Tesla Model S electric luxury sport sedan. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] is now delivering several...

Chevrolet's diminutive Spark EV will be the first car in the U.S. to offer the new SAE Combo charger for DC fast charging. Other electric cars have touted such a system, including the Fiat 500e and upcoming BMW i3 electric car, but the Spark will be the first production car available with the...

Most of us, sadly, can't afford a brand new Tesla Model S electric sedan. Even less so, a Tesla Model S with the latest metal-air battery technology, hinted for use in the company's future products. But fret not, dear reader: There is another way to get your hands on metal-air battery technology...

Elected officials in yet another state have proposed levying taxes on electric cars. And just to make things interesting, this time the debate is happening in Michigan. Similar initiatives have been discussed in states both red and blue, including Arizona, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington...

President Barack Obama may not achieve his goal of 1 million plug-in electric cars on U.S. roads by the end of 2015. But his administration continues to try to green the U.S. vehicle fleet. The latest salvo: The government's General Services Agency plans to add an additional 10,000 hybrid vehicles...

The Volvo C30 Electric car might not be on general sale to the public, but that doesn't mean the Swedish automaker isn't serious about its compact electric car. Its test fleet in Sweden allows the company to fully evaluate electric vehicles before it brings one to market in full production guise...

It should be fairly obvious, but apparently it isn't: Plug-in electric cars are not going to sweep the marketplace overnight. Their sales will grow slowly and steadily from a low base. U.S. plug-in sales in 2012 tripled over the previous year, and most projections are that they'll double again this...

There are many reasons for wanting to wean ourselves off oil, but environmental issues and measuring out dwindling resources are two fairly significant ones. The trouble is, oil is incredibly convenient. It's energy dense and in cars, we can replenish it in minutes. So how do you take those...

For several years, England's capital city has charged a fee for vehicles entering a center zone, under the guise of "congestion charging". In reality, it's a tax based on CO2 emissions, all vehicles emitting under 100 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide allowed free passage into the center. Until...

China might be one of the biggest car markets on the planet, but for makers of electric and hybrid vehicles, it's a tough one to crack. The same cannot be said for electric bicycles, though. The country's love of bicycles is well-publicized, but the market penetration of electric bikes still...

The Toyota ME.WE isn't your typical Toyota concept car. In fact, were it not for the word Toyota appearing at the top of this page, you might have assumed the quirky little electric car was from another maker entirely. Toyota's concepts are often a lot more edgy and futuristic looking, like its...

It may not be fast, it may not be pretty, but the Nissan Versa Sedan has one overriding virtue--it's cheap. That continues for the 2014 model year, as pricing remains unchanged from the 2013 Versa Sedan. A standard Versa S starts at $11,990--plus a $750 destination and handling fee--making it the...