VW to spend $3 billion more on rising cost of diesel buyback

Consumer Reports tests 2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel in 'cheat mode,' October 2015 [video frame]The Volkswagen diesel scandal no longer gets much U.S. media coverage. Engineer James Liang has been sentenced to 40 months in jail for his role, while executive Oliver Schmidt will be sentenced December 6. Buybacks and modifications are underway for more than half a million TDI diesel vehicles sold by Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche. Now, other...

Will Tesla steamroller German luxury makers? Perhaps not

2014 BMW i3 and 2014 Tesla Model S   [photo: Tom Moloughney]It has become an article of faith among some Tesla fans and owners that the company will inevitably rise to compete with and ultimately defeat the titans of the global auto industry. This belief is especially prevalent for the luxury sector, where three German carmakers dominate the global market for pricey and admired vehicles of all sorts. About...

For 2018, only 12 diesel vehicles offered in U.S. (guess who has most)

2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel, first drive, Teaneck, NJ, Aug 2017With the permanent end of diesel sales in the U.S. by three VW Group brands—Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche—the number of diesel passenger cars and light trucks has plummeted. In fact, for the 2018 model year thus far, there are only 11. One of the two companies offering the largest number of them may come as a surprise, too. That number...

BMW i3 electric car quirk: no AM radio offered, but why? (update)

2015 BMW i3 REx  -  Driven, Portland OR, April 2015The BMW i3 electric car is a tour de force of advanced engineering--and it was the most energy-efficient car sold in the U.S. in 2014 and 2015. Its body shell is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, riding on an aluminum platform containing the lithium-ion battery, the electric motor, and the crash structures. But you can't get AM radio in the...

For 2018, only 12 diesel vehicles offered in U.S. (guess who has most)

2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel, first drive, Teaneck, NJ, Aug 2017With the permanent end of diesel sales in the U.S. by three VW Group brands—Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche—the number of diesel passenger cars and light trucks has plummeted. In fact, for the 2018 model year thus far, there are only 11. One of the two companies offering the largest number of them may come as a surprise, too. That number...

Toyota electric-car tech to come from venture with Mazda, Denso

2012 Toyota RAV4 EV PrototypeVery little is known for sure about the long-range electric car Toyota will launch around 2020. Over the last two years, the company—by far the industry's strongest proponent of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles—has concluded it must field a battery-electric vehicle to stay competitive. Toyota is likely unhappy about it, but regulations in...

How Tesla Model S alters car ownership: a buyer’s one-year notes

2016 Tesla Model S   [photo by owner Shiva]In late July, we published an article describing one electric-car driver's experience in adding solar panels to his home to help with charging his family's five electric cars. That reader, who'd like to be known just as Shiva, has now owned a 2016 Tesla Model S for a year. He recently outlined for us how that experience has gone, and how it's...

Which electric car will sell best in 2018, globally? Poll results

2017 Tesla Model 3Next year is shaping up to be a banner year for electric cars globally. The new, longer-range second-generation Nissan Leaf will be in production at three factories around the world, the Tesla Model 3 should hit volume production, and the Chevy Bolt EV will be fully available in North America, Europe, and South Korea. And then there's China, where...

Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV has already accumulated 25,000 orders: CEO

Jaguar I-Pace Concept, 2016 Los Angeles Auto ShowIn the rarified but still high-volume world of global luxury auto brands, Jaguar is still a tiny player. The British brand sold fewer than 150,000 cars globally last year, one-third of the number of Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs from its alsister brands within Jaguar Land Rover. Audi sold 1.9 million, BMW sold 2 million, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.1...

Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV has already accumulated 25,000 orders: CEO

Jaguar I-Pace Concept, 2016 Los Angeles Auto ShowIn the rarified but still high-volume world of global luxury auto brands, Jaguar is still a tiny player. The British brand sold fewer than 150,000 cars globally last year, one-third of the number of Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs from its sister brands within Jaguar Land Rover. Audi sold 1.9 million, BMW sold 2 million, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.1...