Green Car News

California is a largely temperate state with a longstanding history of working to curb vehicle emissions. That makes it a perfect place for plug-in electric cars. The Northeastern states, on the other hand, are in the Snow Belt, meaning electric cars can lose as much as one third of their battery...

When a weather system dumps an uncommon amount of snow in your part of the world, thoughts often turn to how you might get about in it. Provided you've not got a seven-foot drift blocking you indoors, those plans might involve an all-wheel drive car. 4WD is no substitute for careful driving and a...

2011's earthquake and tsunami in Japan brought energy use into sharp focus. Such events frequently cause grids to fail, but it was the inundation and subsequent meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear facility that garnered the most attention, and the disaster has turned the public strongly against...

Last week's Chicago Auto Show had relatively few debuts; the Chevrolet Cruze diesel and a redesigned Toyota Tundra pickup truck were the most noteworthy. But the featured speaker at a luncheon thrown by the Economic Club of Chicago drew a full room: Henrik Fisker, cofounder of struggling startup...

The Nissan Leaf Nismo RC race car may have only turned a wheel in anger once outside of demo runs, but that doesn't make it any less exciting. At a glance, you might think it shares very little with the electric car that shares its name. You may even expect there to be a gasoline engine screaming...

It's one of the most valued perks for plug-in electric car buyers in California: the coveted green or white sticker that lets them travel in the carpool lane with just a single person in the car. But under current law, those stickers expire on January 1, 2015--just as the yellow stickers for...

Three years after the Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan was launched as a 2011 model, it gains a new model with a diesel engine for 2014--although there appears to be some confusion over just what that variant is called. The turbodiesel sedan was launched at the Chicago Auto Show last Thursday. Absent...

Plug-in cars are catching on in the Netherlands, and it isn't hard to see why. It's a relatively small country, with high gas prices, heavy taxes on gas-guzzlers, and particularly flat land--no range-sapping hills for short-range electric vehicles. It's also largely pro-environmental, while cycling...

Traditionally, car windows have been made from laminated glass. It's strong, shatter-resistant, and... err... transparent. Obviously. But it's also rather heavy, and as increasingly weight-conscious car manufacturers are looking for ways to shed weight, glass could now be on the diet list. Its...

Solar power and electric cars go hand-in-hand, and many owners equip their homes with solar panels to ensure the electricity they're charging with is as green as possible. That isn't always the case when charging away from home, but it would be if your local parking spot had a 'V-Tent' system. The...

The Detroit Auto Show last month marked the debut of the a car with the lowest coefficient of drag of any production car--just 0.23. That car was the Mercedes-Benz CLA, a small sport sedan powered by a gasoline engine. Efficiency figures haven't yet been released, but we can imagine it being quite...

The right car can inspire people. Whether it's the poetic beauty of an Italian sports car or the noise of the race track, that inspiration takes many forms. For some, the all-electric Tesla Model S is their inspiration. The sleek electric sedan has certainly attracted attention far beyond that of...

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson isn't known for being a fan of electric or hybrid vehicles. Usually when we write about him on Green Car Reports it's to comment on the latest daft stunt or anti-electric piece on the program, but naturally, we're prepared to give credit where credit is due...

As one of two new U.S.-built diesels going on sale in 2013, the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is a hugely important car. Chevy launched the Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel (to use its full, rather awkward title) earlier this morning at the Chicago Auto Show, and now we can bring you photos of the car from...

Launched today at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show, the Kia Cross GT does nothing to make us doubt Kia's future design direction. The dramatic luxury crossover concept really stands out, reaching far beyond the company's budget roots. It's the tech under the skin that interests us though, as the Cross GT...

Kia Motors America has today unveiled a new 5-door version of the Forte at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. The sleek five-door hatchback has what Kia describes as 'European styling', and goes head-to-head with cars like the Ford Focus with its hatchback practicality. Topping the engine range is a...

MyFord Mobile, Ford's smartphone app for the Ford Focus Electric, will soon be available on the brand's plug-in hybrid models too. The app allows customers to manage vehicle functions from their smartphone, such as viewing the state of charge, timing charging sessions, setting cabin temperature and...

Electric cars are often described as "zero emission vehicles". That's true, to an extent - you won't find a drop of any substance eminating from their non-existent tailpipes. But naturally, they get their energy from somewhere, and that somewhere is a country's electricity grid. Those can be less...

It's been a long time coming, but the wraps are now off Chevy's first diesel-powered passenger car since 1986. The 2014 Chevrolet Clean Turbo Diesel model is being unveiled today at the Chicago Auto Show, and will go on sale the summer in the U.S. and Canada. The 2.0-liter direct-injected and...

BMW's ActiveE coupe is a great little electric car. Even more so when it's working. It looks pretty good, there's decent performance on offer, and drivers enjoy BMW handling and BMW quality without having to feed a drop of gas into it. An electrified 1-Series coupe will never be quite as cool as...