Green Car News

It’s been about 18 months since plug-in electric cars went on sale in the U.S., and you might say the industry is in something of a sophomore slump. Sales of plug-ins, while higher than those of hybrids at the same stage of their launch, haven’t met the optimistic projections tossed...

According to a recent, very peppy General Motors ad campaign, many Chevrolet Volt owners are brimming with enthusiasm about their plug-in hybrid. Then again, having Chevy Volt owners evangelize about their cars in an ad designed to sell the plug-in hybrid is hardly a fair yardstick to gauge how...

What aspects of modern motoring would you be prepared to give up to achieve 125 mpg fuel efficiency? Carmakers have made huge strides in recent years to improve fuel efficiency, but they've had to balance these economy needs with the demand for ever increasing equipment and safety levels, and...

For some, cars are much more than merely a method of transport. Much of the stereotypical gearhead backlash against electric and hybrid vehicles is to do with the perception that the vehicles are transportation for tree huggers, hippies and people who believe that people shouldn't have fun. It's...

Will your next car be smaller than your current one? If you answered yes, then you're in good company, as a recent JD Power survey shows that 27 percent of new car buyers have downsized in the last year. The 2012 U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study, showed that only 13...

Honda has been building hybrid cars since 1999, but it's taken until now for the company to offer a hybrid model in the company's upmarket Acura brand. We spent three days with, and covered 300 miles in, a new 2013 Acura ILX Hybrid four-door sedan. And we have to say, while we like the ILX as a...

Government incentives are a popular (if controversial) way of getting more buyers behind the wheel of electric cars. Bring down the price, and buyers will follow. Whatever you think of the politics behind the incentives, others are simply concerned that they aren't getting the same treatment. One...

Look back a few years, and the Federal government under President George Bush offered buyers of hybrid cars up to $3,400 in tax credits for buying an electric car. As of December 31, 2010, those tax credits expired, to make way for similar tax credits for those who buy fully electric or plug-in...

After nothing to sell for nearly six months, an age of anticipation, media hype and short, chaperoned rides, Tesla began official deliveries of its all-electric 2012 Model S sedan just over a month ago. So its hardly surprising that the fledgling car company has just posted net losses of $105.6...

What’s the price of luxury green driving? If you’re BMW, and that luxury is the all-new 2013 ActiveHybrid 7 full hybrid, the answer is $84,895. With pricing just announced, the luxury hybrid is powered by 3.0-liter, twin-scroll turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine and a 40-kilowatt...

Driving pre-production prototypes of new electric cars is part of life here at GreenCarReports, as it enables us to give you the best possible evaluation of an up-coming new car before it hits the dealer lots. Recently however, we got a chance to sit behind the wheel again of the Volkswagen Golf...

There's something fascinating about "how it's made"-style programs. Even the most mundane items can seem interesting as they whirr down a production line gaining attributes as they go. When the object is already interesting, like an electric car, that's even more reason to watch. To that end, keep...

Earlier this month, we told you that the diminutive 2013 Chevrolet Spark with manual 5-speed transmission had received official EPA ratings of 32 mpg city, 38 mpg highway and 34 mpg combined. Now Chevrolet has received the ratings for the 2013 Spark with automatic 4-speed gearbox: 28 mpg city, 37...

BMW has announced a strategic investment in Coulomb Technologies, the company behind the ChargePoint charging network. ChargePoint is the largest online global charging network, operating in 14 countries. The online network allows users to coordinate their charging via the cloud, with online...

Regardless of the reason behind them, official safety recalls can be frustrating for both automakers and car owners. But according to Gregory Skwira, copy editor for Automotive News (subscription required), his own personal experience of Ford’s urgent recall of the 2013 Escape crossover SUV...

Deliveries for the 2012 Tesla Model S have started, and in case you missed editor John Voelcker's first drive of the Model S this past week, one point of note was how calm and quiet the cabin remains even when accelerating. That said, while we've spent more time sitting in the Model S than driving...

Sometimes, automakers mark the switch between one model year and the next with some pomp and ceremony, especially if the new model year is significantly better than the outgoing one. Despite the 2013 Chevrolet Volt getting an improved all-electric range, better EPA rating and the addition of a...

When auto writers drive test cars, they're usually loaned out from carmakers' regional fleets. So when we asked for an 2012 Nissan Versa sedan to test over a four-day weekend, following our brief test drive of the all-new Versa in May, the car we got seemed rather familiar. It was, in fact, the...

Yesterday, Honda delivered its first Fit EV electric car to private buyers--or, more accurately, private lease customers, since the car isn't available for outright sale. Only 1,100 lucky lessors in a small handful of states will ever get behind the wheel of a 2013 Honda Fit EV, because for Honda...

Lincoln has announed pricing levels and more details for its sleek 2013 MKZ sedan, and for the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. Continuing a trend started by Lincoln with the last MKZ, the hybrid sedan will cost no more than the regular gasoline version, with both starting at $35,925, excluding the $875...