Smart ForTwo minicar: 15 years later, has it made a difference?

2016 Smart ForTwoMinimal cars are often an appealing idea: why should one person drive a two-ton vehicle with five or more seats on local journeys of 10 miles or fewer? Then there's the crushingly difficult parking in major European, Asian, and North American cities. Add to that, perhaps, a desire for minimal use of energy and material resources. So why not design...

Trump names Elaine Chao as U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Elaine ChaoPresident-elect Donald Trump nominated former labor secretary Elaine Chao to be his secretary of transportation yesterday. She will follow current DoT secretary Antony Foxx, who himself succeeded Ray LaHood in 2013. Foxx has focused on safety recalls following the GM ignition scandal, as well as tactics to reduce distracted driving and rules for...

Emissions collusion between VW and German agency runs deep: magazine

Volkswagen TDI 'clean diesel' television ad screencapAs the Volkswagen diesel scandal lumbers onwards, German media outlets have often broken the latest news and revelations from deep inside VW Group. While the German auto giant had hoped at first to have the issue largely wrapped up by now, the scandal first publicly revealed in September 2015 shows no signs of abating. The updates to...

2017 Ford Focus Electric preview

2017 Ford Focus ElectricThe 2017 Ford Focus Electric has been one of last electric cars remaining in the current model year for which we haven't had information. Now Ford has released a few specifications, and a photo of a 2017 Focus Electric window sticker sent by a reader fills in more of the gaps. The good news: after several years with a bottom-of-the-list range of...

Which electric car will history view as most important? Poll results

2012 Tesla Model S SignatureIt wasn't even close. When we asked our Twitter followers which electric car they thought would be judged by history as most important thus far, it was a slam-dunk. Fully four out of five survey participants voted for the same vehicle out of the four choices we offered. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model S: Green Car Reports' 2013 Best Car To Buy That car...

2017 Toyota Prius Prime vs 2017 Chevrolet Volt: plug-in hybrid video test

2017 Toyota Prius Prime and 2017 Chevrolet Volt with Green Car Reports editor John VoelckerThey're two high-volume plug-in hybrids, but they take different approaches to energy efficiency. The Toyota Prius Prime, new for 2017, is the plug-in version of the world's best-known, and best-selling, hybrid car. The 2017 Chevy Volt was new last year, a greatly improved version of the pioneering range-extended electric car. They're now going...