Toyota Prius was a hybrid trendsetter 15 years ago. Now what?

2007 Toyota PriusThe Toyota Prius has already secured a spot as an icon of automotive history and one of the most influential products of this century. It’s also far surpassed Toyota’s initial expectations. Sales of the Prius peaked in 2007, however, and Toyota seems to be conflicted about its strategy for the Prius and its technology ever since. The...

MA updates signs to allow electric-vehicle parking: reader success story

Massachusetts updates green-car parking signs at Logan Airport [CREDIT: JOHN BRIGGS]Bureaucracies have some funny ways of saying they were wrong and you were right. Even if they can't tell you they made a mistake, it's nice to see them fix a problem they created. The latest bureaucracy to demonstrate this is Massport, which operates the parking garages at Boston's Logan International Airport. Their mistake was issuing me a...

Zero emissions vs. “Hybrid”: When is a Nissan Leaf not “green?”

2015 Nissan Leaf Zero Emissions badgeDedicated reader John Briggs wrote in to Green Car Reports share his unfortunate experience with the airport police in Boston. We found his story so compelling, instructive—and dare we say entertaining?—that we felt it worthy of sharing. The following are his words, lightly edited for style. Sometimes a seemingly simple plan can fall...

Battery-electric vehicle versus plug-in hybrid: why having both makes sense

2017 Toyota Prius Prime and 2015 Nissan Leaf belonging to reader John. C. BriggsNot long ago, green car fans had only one choice: a hybrid vehicle like the Prius that gets all its energy from gasoline. Now there is a choice of several pure battery-electric vehicles that get all their energy from grid electricity, several plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that get their energy from a mix of grid electricity and gasoline, and...

Follow-up: In the end, I bought a Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid

In the end, we chose a Prius PrimeIn an article last fall, I reached out the GCR readers for a suggestion for what plug-in vehicle I should buy to complement my 84-mile range 2015 Nissan LEAF. The new vehicle, my wife’s car, had to handle a 16 mile daily commute, occasional 300 mile trips to Vermont (a place of few DC fast chargers), and be less than $40,000. Readers...

Should we buy a Toyota Prius Prime, Chevy Bolt EV, or Volt?

2006 Toyota Prius and 2015 Nissan Leaf  [photo: John C. Briggs]It's now time to shop for a new car for my wife, as her wonderful 2006 Toyota Prius has 144,000 miles and we're ready for something new. So I thought I might throw the question out to Green Car Reports readers. What car should replace our 2006 Prius hybrid? DON'T MISS: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime: gas mileage, electric range review Our needs and...

Ruling that EPA must regulate carbon emissions: now 10 years old

Chrome exhaust pipeAnniversaries often provide an opportunity to reflect on important past events, review what has happened since, and reflect upon the future. April 2 of this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts vs EPA in which the EPA was forced to regulate carbon emissions. The passing of this anniversary was marked by an...