Green Car News

  • The 2012 Ford Focus Electric and 2013 Fusion Energi on Jay Leno's Garage

    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...

  • 54.5 MPG CAFE standard for 2025
    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...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf 4-door HB SL Headlight
    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...

  • Holden Commodore (VE Series II)
    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...

  • 2013 Land Rover Range Rover
    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...

  • Henrik Fisker
    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...

  • Tesla Model S Inside Line

    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...

  • Airpod compressed-air cars, 2009
    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...

  • 2013 Ford Fusion Energi
    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...

  • 2013 BMW 3-Series Sports Wagon
    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...

  • Sanya Skypump Electric Car Charging Station
    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...

  • 2011 Wheego Whip LiFe at 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
    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...

  • Mercedes-Benz E400 Hybrid and E300 Bluetec Hybrid live photos

    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...

  • Fisker Karma on fire in Woodside, California
    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...

  • Ethanol infographic from coalition of livestock and poultry producers (crop)
    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...

  • Volt Line Director Tony Posawatz
    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...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius C
    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...

  • Six 2012 Tesla Model S cars at "Get Amped" introductory drive event [photo: George Parrott]
    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,”

  • Gas prices, San Francisco, CA

    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...

  • DeLorean DMC-12
    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...

  • Honda FCX Clarity
    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...

  • Audi's digital rear-view mirror
    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...

  • 2013 Land Rover Range Rover spy shots
    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...

  • Treemotional
    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...

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