2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport concept shows plug-in hybrid possible in future

Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport conceptIn Europe these days, it's all but de rigeur to fit auto-show concept vehicles with plug-in hybrid powertrains. Most of the Volkswagen SUV concepts that previewed what is now the Volkswagen Atlas seven-seat crossover, on sale today, sported plugs—though no such version emerged into production. Tuesday evening, before the New York auto show...

Nissan, Sumitomo open electric-car battery recycling plant in Japan

Nissan electric-car batteryThe town of Namie, in eastern Japan, was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and has struggled to recover from the devastation of that day. Almost seven years later, the first new plant in town is set to open, one contributing to clean energy and zero-emission vehicles to boot. Carmaker Nissan and an arm of the giant trading company...

“Electric cars are disasters; they are evil,” says Hyundai union head

2019 Hyundai Kona Electric“Electric cars are disasters. They are evil." Not something you'd hear every day, certainly not from a powerful executive in the auto industry. Yet those are the words of Ha Bu-young, head of the Hyundai motor union, both the largest and the most powerful union in South Korea. DON'T MISS: UAW wakes up to job threat posed by electric cars, as...

EPA to ease emission limits, reports say, setting up clash with California

Chrome exhaust pipeThe omens have been accumulating for months, as bits of information dribble out of the regulatory rumor mill in Washington, D.C. Now we have the most concrete reports yet that the U.S. EPA plans to modify exhaust emission limits for vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. The EPA delivered its draft Final Determination document to the Office of...

2019 Honda Insight: good-looking 50-mpg competitor for Prius hybrid

2019 Honda InsightTeased in January as a "concept" without an interior, the production version of the 2019 Honda Insight hybrid sedan has been revealed just before week's New York auto show. EPA ratings aren't yet final, but Honda says the new Insight is projected to achieve "up to 55 mpg" on the city cycle, and a combined fuel-economy number of "50 mpg or better."...