Green Car News

BMW’s 1,000-strong fleet of ActiveE electric cars are stationed around the world, with the largest number of test cars concentrated in the U.S. Earlier this year, we got the chance to step behind the wheel of the very first BMW ActiveE to be delivered in the U.S., but earlier this week, we...

With gas prices high, you'd expect people to buckle down and hang onto their existing cars rather than spending the money to buy new ones, right? Errrrrrr, actually not. According to Mike Jackson, the outspoken and always quotable CEO of AutoNation, buyers who've put off their new-car purchases are...

When we drove the Renault Twizy on the island of Ibiza last month, we asked whether Renault would actually sell any. A vehicle that's virtually ideal for a sun-drenched island may not work so well in a rainy country like the U.K, or the colder climates of Eastern Europe. We did find it very much...

Ever since the early 1950s, Americans have loved the easy-to-drive charms of the automatic gearbox so much, that most Americans today don’t know how -- or want -- to drive a manual stick-shift car. Historically, those who want to drive manuals have been sports car fans eager for the extra...

Several years ago, the world's auto industry heard a constant refrain: "The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming!" With low labor costs and a government imperative to create globally competitive car companies, Chinese makers were expected to follow in the footsteps of the Japanese and Koreans...

It's not just cars that are getting bigger and heavier--a quick look around the local mall is enough to see that the average person on the street is more portly than their counterpart from a generation ago. Every year, obesity costs the country huge amounts of money, from $190 billion in extra...

Remember the monstrosity we showed you that'll be your next electric car charging plug? Well, it hasn't disappeared in the intervening months, and eight global automakers are set to demonstrate the new standardized fast-charging technology this month. Developed by the International Society of...

Ethanol has been problematic for several years now. Promoted as a way for the U.S. to grow its own vehicle fuel, the alcohol was so popular several years ago that Congress passed a Federal Renewable Fuels Standard as part of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. Now Hart Energy has issued...

Like many premium automakers, Porsche has been working on hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology for some time now. But at the recent Vienna Motor Symposium, Porsche Executive Wolfgang Hatz reiterated that the German automaker views plug-in hybrids as a real part of its future, not just a...

For years, spark plugs have been used to ignite the compressed fuel-air mix inside the cylinders of a gasoline engine to produce power. Now a new prototype engine is promising a future in which a gasoline engine behaves like a diesel engine, self-igniting the fuel as it is injected into the...

Yesterday, we told you electric-car sales were down slightly in April--even as overall car sales continued to recover. But while the plug-in sales will likely stay low for awhile, both ebbing and flowing, one green model benefited greatly in April: the ur-hybrid Toyota Prius. Now that all four...

Until the last few years, there have only been two real ways of getting into motor racing. One is to have lots of money, and buy your way into a drive. The other is to work your way up from the bottom rungs, and hope you're talented enough to reach the next level. Oh, and also have lots of money...

The Ford Escape Hybrid occupies a special place in green-car history. It was the first hybrid built in the U.S., the first one from a U.S. carmaker, and the first hybrid crossover utility. That makes it one of our five best used green cars. A pet project of then-CEO Bill Ford, the Escape Hybrid was...

If you’ve followed electric cars for a while, you’ll probably be familiar with the concept of swapping out a depleted battery pack with a freshly-charged one in the same amount of time it takes to fill a car with gasoline. Better Place, the first company to try and commercialize that...

Buying a hybrid used to be so simple. You'd go to your local Toyota or Honda dealer, and buy a Prius or a Civic Hybrid/Insight (delete as appropriate). Now, everything is going hybrid--and that includes luxury cars and supercars. You won't find us complaining: if manufacturers are making some of...

Incentives are nothing new in the world of car buying. Discounts here, extended warranties there--we've all made use of them at some stage. When you're targeting a car exclusively at younger buyers, as Scion does, sometimes the incentives need to be a little more inventive. That's why it's giving...

We’ve passed spring break, the weather is getting warmer and you’ve turned your weekend attentions to camping trips, DIY projects and outdoor sports. For many Americans, that means digging roof racks out of their winter storage and securing them on top of the family car for the season...

You may remember that last August, we broke the story that what is now called the 2014 Cadillac ELR electric coupe got the green light for production by GM's overlords. An abashed GM confirmed the story a few days later and released the name of the new model, known until then as the Converj concept...

How do you solve a problem like diesel? On the one hand, diesel cars are highly fuel-efficient on longer runs, and produce good power and torque figures in their modern-day guise. It's also vital for the transportation and logistics industry. On the other, diesel cars are more capital and...

Pittsburgh-based aluminum giant Alcoa has developed a new coating for its aluminum building panels that passively sucks in airborne pollutants and transforms them into harmless substances. Appropriately enough, the new panels are getting one of their first commercial tryouts at a new regional...