Green Car News
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Despite a cautious rollout of its plug-in car program and low sales of its 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Ford has reiterated details of its investment in plug-in cars. According to Ford’s official release, it has now earmarked $135 million to double its battery testing facilities, triple plug-in vehicle production capacity, and speed up the introduction of its plug-in vehicles to market. By 2013, Ford says it will have a total of 160 individual battery test channels, including ones that not only test the performance capabilities of new battery packs, but their ability to withstand extremes...
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U.S. Government Delays Final Ruling On 2025 Gas Mileage Standards
Yesterday, the U.S. EPA had planned to release final rules on new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations requiring automakers to achieve average fuel economies of 54.5 mpg by 2025. But continued opposition and bitter disagreements has lead the current administration to delay the ruling...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Nissan Leaf: More Range, Cheaper Model, Report Says
The 2013 Nissan Leaf that will go on sale in January will be a slightly different car from the 2011 and 2012 models sold in the U.S. so far. We already know the electric car will offer leather seats and a 6.6-kilowatt charger as options, along with a more efficient heating system. Now a report from...
John Voelcker -
Electric-Car Distance Record: 1,172 Miles In 24 Hours (With Battery Switching)
What can be done to dispel the assertion that the relatively short range of electric cars isn't suitable for most drivers? Well, you can either drive around in one yourself, displaying a lack of problems as you drive between work and back each day like millions of other drivers, and encourage...
Antony Ingram -
How Cars Can Get Better Gas Mileage, Invisibly: Lower Weight
There's a lot of focus--perhaps too much--on carmakers using smaller engines, hybrids, and plug-in cars to meet increasingly higher gas-mileage standards from now through 2025. But another, equally important method is reducing the amount of car that has to be moved around in the first place. That...
John Voelcker -
How Many Karmas Has Fisker Built So Far? We Say 2,000-Plus
For roughly six months, Fisker Automotive has said it's sold "about 1,000" of its Karma range-extended electric luxury sedan, globally. Then, on July 31, we spotted a brand-new 2012 Karma at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach, California--so new it still had dealer plates. Its...
John Voelcker -
The 2012 Tesla Model S is the most anticipated all-electric car of 2012, but it is also the most enigmatic. That’s because even though it launched back in late June, access to -- and time behind the wheel of -- the Model S has been strictly controlled by Tesla. Our own 1-hour test-drive proved to us that the Tesla Model S was a viable, impressive car, but because of our location -- the busy streets of Manhattan -- we were unable to push the luxury sports sedan to its limits. Edmund’s Inside Line was a little luckier, persuading Tesla to ship a Model S to the Auto Club Speedway in...
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Are Air Cars Really An Option, Or The Next Alt-Fuel Joke?
Remember when electric cars were considered a bit of a joke? With talented options like the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S and others currently on sale, it's easy to forget that a few decades ago, their image was very different. No style, no performance, no range--electric cars conjured images of...
Antony Ingram -
Is Ford Fusion Energi (20-Mile Electric Car) A Volt Competitor?
As far as we know, not a single auto journalist has yet driven the upcoming plug-in hybrid Energi models of the 2013 Ford C-Max and 2013 Ford Fusion. But an interesting and illuminating post on HybridCars.com offers more details about those cars' electric capabilities than we'd seen to date. It led...
John Voelcker -
BMW Buyers Not All That Thrilled With Stop-Start System
Stop-start systems have been around for many years now, cutting the engine when stopped in order to save a little gas. The technology is more refined in some cars than it is in others, and many drivers of BMWs with stop-start have decided it's a little too much hassle. In a BMW press release, the...
Antony Ingram -
GE 'Skypump' Charges Electric Cars With Wind Power
Last year, GE and vertical axis wind turbine company Urban Green Energy announced the launch of the Sanya Skypump, a wind-powered charging station capable of recharging an electric car on wind energy alone. Almost a year later, the two firms have just announced the official unveiling of the first...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Wheego LiFe Electric Car Granted Safety Exemptions During (or For) 2012
In order to be sold in the U.S., all passenger cars must pass a long list of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Regulations, including advanced airbags and electric stability control. Sometimes, usually in the case of low-volume, low-emission cars, the FMVSSR may grant a temporary exemption to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The German automakers are becoming particularly adept at filling niches, and the increasing number of models offered with gasoline, diesel and hybrid alternatives is testament to this. Only last week we asked you which of the Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid or TDI you'd prefer, and this week we're asking the same question of the Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec diesel, and Mercedes-Benz E400 Hybrid. The Stuttgart-based carmaker has revealed pricing for its new hybrid, and the luxury sedan should come in at $56,705. As our sister site MotorAuthority reports, that's $3,600 more than the diesel variant, which...
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Fisker Fire Cause: Not Exhaust, Battery, Or Electric Drive, Company Says
While Fisker's new CEO may be getting headlines today, the company continues to grapple with fallout from Friday's fire in a 2012 Fisker Karma. Over the weekend, Fisker had issued a statement saying it was investigating the incident. Yesterday, the company issued a further statement. In the...
John Voelcker -
Midwestern Drought, Election Year Politics Add To Pressure On Ethanol
Corn ethanol, the oft-touted answer to the problem of foreign oil, is still suffering problems. This time, a drop in production--thanks to drought conditions in the midwestern states that produce it--is harming corn ethanol exports and putting further pressure on the fuel vs. food debate. That...
Antony Ingram -
Volt Executive Tony Posawatz Is New CEO Of Fisker Automotive
In an unexpected announcement, struggling startup electric-car maker Fisker Automotive this morning named Tony Posawatz its new CEO and President. He replaces Tom LaSorda, himself appointed CEO only in late February. LaSorda will leave the company but remain available as an advisor. Posawatz spent...
John Voelcker -
Why Prius Buyers Choose C Over Liftback: Price, Ride, Normality
Toyota’s new 2012 Prius C subcompact launched earlier this year, but it is already winning itself fans among old and new hybrid car drivers alike. Around $5,000 cheaper than the 2012 Prius Liftback, it offers the same 50 mpg combined as its larger sibling, but why are some car buyers choosing...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tesla Model S 'Get Amped' Tour: 5,000 Test Drives In Sight
Fourteen of the planned sixteen cities have been completed on the “Getting Amped Tour,”
George Parrott -
As we’ve seen in the past, demand for hybrid cars like the 2012 Toyota Prius rises as gas prices increase, but until now, we didn’t know how closely gas prices influenced the gas mileage of new cars. Now we do, courtesy of a study by automotive valuation firm TrueCar. Gas price influences gas mileage Thanks to some careful data collection, TrueCar has proven that since January 2010, the average gas mileage of new cars being sold has shadowed the rise and fall of the cost of gasoline. “There is a very strong correlation, nearly 71 percent, between TrueMPG and average gas...
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Electric DeLorean DMC-12: Better Than The Original? (Video)
There's a line of thinking that recommends that you never meet your heroes, as they'll only disappoint you. GET YOUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER. SIGN UP! You could argue that the same applies to cars, and the DeLorean DMC-12, stainless star of the silver screen, is often described as one of those...
Antony Ingram -
Energy Secretary Chu Changes His Mind On Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars
Much of the jury is still out on the viability of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but they now have the blessing of the United States government. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu had previously opined that light-duty fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) were in need of a few miracles to make them viable in the...
Antony Ingram -
Electric Audi R8 e-Tron To Pioneer Digital Rear-View Mirror
Think of motorsport-inspired technology and your thoughts may turn to disc brakes, active suspension and carbon fiber chassis. It's not always that glamorous though, as demonstrated by a piece of technology emerging from Audi in the near future. Developed for the R18 e-Tron quattros that won the...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Range Rover Spy Shots, Will Have Hybrid, Plug-in Version
Jaguar Land Rover like every other automaker in the world, is working hard to make its range of luxury cars greener and more economical to drive. We've already seen some evidence of that, thanks to the Range Rover Range_e prototype plug-in diesel hybrid we spotted in the wild last year and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Canadians: Love A Tree, Win a Nissan Leaf (Or a Phone Or Tissues)
As Canadians will proudly tell you, Canada is really big and really beautiful. Home to 10 percent of the world’s forests, covering more than 53.8 percent of its total surface area, Canada even uses a tree leaf -- the famous maple leaf -- on its flag. Now for one lucky Canadian, publicly...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield