Green Car News
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The Better Place battery swapping saga continues, as partner Renault has delayed the roll-out off its electric Fluence sedan. Renault Australia announced the indefinite postponement, as it waits for Better Place to establish a broader and more practically viable network of swapping stations. Car Advice reports that Australia's battery-swapping service was set to roll out during 2012, but hold-ups in the company's home markets of Israel and Denmark have backed up the Australian introduction. That could mean delays of another six to 12 months down under. Spokeswoman Felicity Glennie-Holmes...
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U.S. Taxis Get Greener; Hybrid & Electric Cabs Increasing
For decades, the stalwart of the taxi ranks has been the full-size sedan. Sturdy, simple and cheap to buy, cars like Ford's Crown Victoria have become part of the landscape in cities like New York. But with rising gas prices and concerns over emissions, things are really changing. While not yet a...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Opens Distribution & Assembly Center In The Netherlands
As the first cars are set to arrive in European dealers next year, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has announced its new European distribution center in Tilburg, Netherlands. The facility will serve as a final assembly point for European vehicles, as well as acting as Tesla's distribution hub and regional...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Cadillac ELR Electric Car: Teaser Image Of Voltec Coupe Released
We know the official release of the 2014 Cadillac ELR electric car will be on Monday, January 15, at the Detroit Auto Show. Now Cadillac has released a teaser image of the range-extended electric coupe, which is based on a modified version of the Voltec powertrain used in the Chevrolet Volt...
John Voelcker -
Official: GM Quietly Drops Hybrid Pickups; Are SUVs Next?
GM's full-size hybrid pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid, for much of the time they've been on sale, have offered the highest gas mileage of any full-size truck on the U.S. market. Yet these hybrid pickups, which were introduced for the 2009 model year, have been...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nissan Leaf Electric-Car Buyers Really ARE Different, Says Dealer
So who buys a Nissan Leaf? Not, as you may be unsurprised to learn, the sort of person who doesn't really care what they buy, says one Nissan dealer. As Nashville Business Journal reports, Leaf customers are already pretty sure they want a Leaf when they walk onto the lot. "It's typically a very...
Antony Ingram -
Race cars aren't known for their gas-sipping qualities. The Nissan Leaf Nismo RC is a little different. Not only is it one of a handful of race cars in the world that emits no more pollution than its road car equivalent, but it's rather more silent than the production Leaf too. And quicker, of course. That's what Leaf owners found out during passenger laps at Nissan's Oppama test track. The laps were in honor of the Leaf's second birthday celebrations, which took place recently. Leaf owners were happy to mingle at the event, but we suspect most were excited for the opportunity to ride in the...
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Hyundai And Kia Detail MPG Reimbursement Plans
Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia have revealed details on reimbursement for the owners of 1.1 million vehicles affected by overstated EPA mileage. The EPA found the quoted gas mileage of 13 Hyundai and Kia vehicles to be greater than official testing could achieve. Hyundai models affected included...
Antony Ingram -
First Renault Zoe Electric Car Delivered In France
Just over two years since the first Nissan Leaf was delivered to its Californian owner, one driver has the keys to the French equivalent. The Renault Zoe electric car is a class size smaller than the Leaf, but like the Nissan it represents the first major push from Renault to sell a dedicated...
Antony Ingram -
Electric Cars Lose Value Quicker Than Others, But Not By Much
If you bought a new electric car today, how much would you expect it to be worth after five years? Concerns about demand further down the line, and further concerns about battery life, initially led some commentators to suggest that electric vehicles would be nearly worthless a few years after...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Toyota Matrix Compact Hatchback To Be Last Of The Line?
The 2013 Toyota Matrix five-door compact hatchback has always been the Toyota that gets ignored. Now comes word that it may, in fact, leave the market altogether when the current Corolla on which it's based is redesigned for 2014. From assumptions that it had gone out of production in 2009--it...
John Voelcker -
Battery Tech Limitation Discovered, Improvements On The Way?
There are three main paths to improving batteries for future electric vehicles. One is the development of entirely new technology replacing today's batteries entirely with something lighter, more powerful and more energy dense. The next is the greening of batteries--reducing their environmental...
Antony Ingram -
Ford is now clearly worried about the mileage ratings of its new 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid and 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Company officials said on Friday that while they complied with all EPA test requirements, a driver's individual style is critical to achieving published fuel-efficiency numbers. Both the C-Max and Fusion hybrids give drivers a choice, the company says, between a thrifty, efficient driving style--assisted by fuel economy tips in the instrument cluster--and a more fun, performance-oriented approach (which likely delivers mileage that's far short of published ratings). On Friday...
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Nissan Celebrates Leaf Electric Car's Second Birthday
Happy birthday, Nissan Leaf! Believe it or not, Nissan's electric car is now celebrating its second anniversary. With only relatively small numbers on the road--smaller than Nissan was hoping, anyway--the Leaf still seems like a recently-launched vehicle. But at Nissan's Oppama test track in Japan...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Model S 60-kWh Is More Efficient Than 85-kWh Car: Why?
Sharp-eyed Tesla Model S buffs may be wondering why the mid-range 60-kWh car, which costs $10,000 less, is rated more efficient than the top-of-the-line 85-kWh model. The EPA said last week that the 60-kWh Model S has a range of 208 miles, and its efficiency rating is 95 MPGe (miles per gallon...
David Noland -
Two Years In A Chevy Volt: 12,000 Miles, 26 Gallons Of Gas
Two years ago tomorrow, Jeff Kaffee took possession of his keys and became the very first person in the U.S. to buy a Chevrolet Volt. Since then, the retired pilot from Parsippany, New Jersey, has put almost 12,000 miles on his range-extended electric car--using just 26.1 gallons of gasoline while...
John Voelcker -
BMW i3 Concept Coupe: New Video Of Electric Car
Which car are you most excited about for 2013? If the BMW i3 electric car isn't near the top of the list, we'd be surprised. Its bare figures may not be headline-grabbing, but on design alone it makes even BMW's current production cars look a bit half-hearted. You can see this better than ever...
Antony Ingram -
VW: Plug-In Hybrids 'A Long-Term Trend', Steps Up For 2013
If 2012 was the year that several companies realised the importance of hybrid and electric vehicles, 2013 will be the year that we see the fruits of their labor. Volkswagen, initially reluctant to dabble in the plug-in market, is set to launch at least two new high-volume plug-in hybrids over the...
Antony Ingram -
Last year, Michael Thwaite wrote about the experience of teaching his daughter to drive in a MINI E. As he pointed out, the all-electric car made for a smooth ride, which helped cool his nerves and those of his daughter. Also, the low speeds they maintained on the training course meant that hours of test-drives had little effect on the MINI E's battery charge. And father and daughter completed their training without producing any noise pollution or tailpipe emissions. It sounds like electric cars could be tailor-made for drivers-in-training. Well, maybe. As a new video from Kelly Olsen shows...
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Ford Dribbles Out Gas Mileage Details For 2014 Transit Van Range
There was exactly one gas-mileage number contained in a pair of press releases Ford issued this morning. It was the prediction that one version of its 2014 Ford Transit Connect small commercial van will achieve "up to" 30 mpg on the highway cycle. It's called counterprogramming: In the midst of...
John Voelcker -
World's First All-Electric Monster Truck: Wimpy No Longer! (Video)
Public preconceptions of electric cars as wimpy fiberglass golf carts are starting to wane, ever so slowly. Now, another plug-in electric vehicle is literally looking to crush those outdated images. Shown above is the world's first all-electric monster truck, formally known as the Odyssey Battery...
John Voelcker -
Indianapolis Works Toward Totally Electrified City Fleet
There's a lot of discussion about hybrids and plug-in electric cars being sold to private buyers. But some of the biggest gains in reducing emissions and running costs are likely to come from vehicle fleets. While individual car owners may suddenly have to take a car 100 miles instead of their...
John Voelcker -
Herbs For Your Battery: Don't Make It Tasty, Do Make It Greener
However you choose to enjoy herbal products, the last place you'd expect to find them is in your electric car battery. Thanks to a new discovery though, the Madder plant, also known as Rubia, could prove useful as a natural cathode in batteries. Madder has long been used as a source of purpurin, an...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Says It Plans To Offer 15 New Hybrid Models By 2016
Nissan will add 15 new hybrid models to its global lineup by 2016, as well as several more plug-in electric cars, it said yesterday. Toshiyuki Shiga, the company's chief operating officer, made the commitment at a briefing in its headquarters town of Yokohama in which it analyzed progress toward...
John Voelcker