Green Car News

Whatever the merits of ethanol as a fuel or a gasoline additive--and it's taken some hits lately--it's still in the running. The same cannot be said, however, for cellulosic biofuels, those derived from advanced crops or waste products. On Friday, a Federal appeals court ruled that an EPA mandate...

The clock continues to tick for Fisker Automotive, which hasn't built any cars for roughly six months now. The company's new CEO, Tony Posawatz, has said Fisker is seeking a partner--some might say savior--that it can work with to help launch the Fisker Atlantic mid-size sedan it unveiled at last...

There aren't many automakers left that don't offer some form of hybrid in their lineup, but Japanese firm Subaru can count themselves among the "have nots". Subaru is best-known for its all-wheel drive systems rather than fuel efficiency, but since 2011's hybrid Advanced Tourer Concept, we've known...

The speculation is over, as Daimler has signed a three-way agreement with Ford and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to jointly develop future hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The technology, expensive to develop and not without its drawbacks, has been explored by each company in the past, and the...

To put it mildly, the Tesla Model S has been a resounding success. The New York Times has called the all-electric luxury sport sedan a game-changer, comparable to the Model T Ford. It's won virtually every 2012 "Car of the Year" honor, including the only unanimous Motor Trend award in the...

If you've ever visited a European city, you'll be familiar with the speedy footwork required to dodge the army of angry-sounding two-stroke scooters every time you cross the street. Replacing all those with silent-running electric scooters is terrifying in many ways, though the cut in noise and...

Let's hope that the Tesla Model S fares better than the Fisker Karma did. That's the first thought that sprang to mind when we heard the news that Consumer Reports had bought its very own Model S all-electric sport sedan to test. The respected consumer testing magazine notoriously savaged the...

Viewed from hundreds of feet, individual elements of Solar Field One, part of the Ivanpah power plant in the Mojave Desert take on a hypnotizing, scale-like appearance. The Californian solar plant and its thousands of heliostats are captured here by photographer Jamey Stillings as part of his...

How much electric range is the "right" amount in a plug-in hybrid or range-extended electric car? If you're a fan of battery electric vehicles, the answer is "all of it." But if you want to drive most of your miles on electricity, and still have the security of a combustion engine as a backup for...

While gasoline engines will be with us for many years, and plug-in electric cars are coming slowly, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles remain in the background. Four makers have said they will launch production cars powered by hydrogen between 2015 and 2018. Now, one of those companies has slammed on the...

You may never have heard of Europe's most important electric car. It's the Renault Zoe, an all-electric subcompact that won't be sold in the United States. It comes from French Renault, a company that shares technology with Japan's Nissan--which introduced the Leaf compact electric hatchback here...

BMW and Toyota have finalized a deal for the future of each automaker's hydrogen fuel cell technology. The agreement will mean BMW licenses future fuel cell technology from Toyota, and marks the latest point in the two automakers' recent cooperations. BMW will begin developing a prototype fuel cell...

The Chevrolet Volt is by far the best-selling plug-in car in the United States. Last year, it represented almost 45 percent of all plug-in electric cars sold during 2012. But how's it doing outside the U.S., compared to the Nissan Leaf--which is sold globally in North America, Asia, and Europe?...

Picture the scene: There's a power cut. It goes dark. Your TV, refrigerator and computer all shut down. How long will it last? Who knows? Power outages are normally brief affairs, but in disasters like 2012's Superstorm Sandy, people could be left without power for days. A potential solution...

For the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen is remarkably hard to come by on good ol' planet earth. While the techniques for extracting it are easy enough to understand, the energy required to do so is often significant--meaning hydrogen fuel cell vehicles aren't as squeaky-clean and...

Volkswagen flipped a large ceremonial switch yesterday that signaled the official launch of a huge array of photovoltaic solar cells at its Chattanooga assembly plant, which builds the Volkswagen Passat mid-size sedan. The new solar field can supply up to 12.5 percent of the plant’s total...

Hot on the heels of Honda's Urban SUV concept shown at Detroit, Korean automaker Kia is also getting in on the urban crossover act. The Kia Provoke Concept is set to appear at the Geneva Motor Show in early March. It's described as a "provocative and racy new urban concept car, and while the...

There's no doubt about it: Electric car sales are going up. 2012 saw sales triple compared to 2011, and while the overall number of electric cars will increase in modest amounts, improved education and more choice should ensure a general upward trend. According to Pike Research, there could be as...

Air-powered cars are a familiar source of amusement within the green car fraternity, an ideal example of a concept that would be wonderful if it worked, but simply isn't viable in the real-world. Up until now, the compressed air car has been... well, a load of hot air. Undeterred, French automaker...

For fans of the Tesla Model S all-electric sport sedan, the past few weeks have been full of good news. Deliveries of top-of-the-line 85-kilowatt-hour models now number in the thousands, the 60-kWh model will go into production this month--and has been rated at 208 miles of range--and no major...