Minimal 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... Smart ForTwo minicar: 15 years later, has it made a difference?
Minimal 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... 
With a slew of 200-mile electric cars planned for 2018 and later, the question of how their drivers will be able to make long-distance trips is coming to the fore in a big way. Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla Motors laid out the template with its Supercharger network, which now numbers 327 sites in the U.S. and more than 400 sites outside... 
President-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... 
As 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... 
The signals are now unmistakable: Toyota will offer a battery-electric car for sale in 2020. After a decade of condemning electric cars as suitable only for the smallest vehicles in around-town use, the world's largest car company is changing its tune. Yet another news story out of Japan has company executives suggesting that it has finally decide... 
While Fiat Chrysler Automobiles refuses to say how many electric Fiat 500e cars it's sold over the past several years, there are likely more than many people think. We know the number is at least 7,000 from recall notices, for instance. And FCA is continuing with aggressive efforts to sell the little electric three-door hatchback. DON'T MISS... 
Which 2017 car set a new record for energy efficiency among passenger vehicles on sale this year? What is Tesla doing on a tiny island way out in the Pacific Ocean? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, November 25, 2016. First, our apologies for not reviewing our... 
The 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... 
It 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... 
They'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... 
Ah, Tesla Motors, source of hope, dreams, visions, contempt, dismissal, hilarity, frustration, and so much more. The Silicon Valley startup automaker, now in its ninth year of making electric cars, has built close to 150,000 expensive battery-powered luxury vehicles and defied critics numerous times. So what do our readers think the future holds... ![Cumulative battery-electric and plug-in hybrid sales in California to hit 250,000 in Nov 2016 [PEVC]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/cumulative-battery-electric-and-plug-in-hybrid-sales-in-california-to-hit-250000-in-nov-2016-pevc_100581772_t.gif)
It's long been obvious that California is the epicenter of emission reduction and electric-car adoption in the United States. And its outsize influence on U.S. environmental policy has global ramifications as well. Of the 1.25 million plug-in vehicles estimated to be on global roads by the end of this year, fully one-fifth are in the Golden State... 
Later this morning, the 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf will be unveiled at the second of two Los Angeles Auto Show media preview days. Along with the many updates made to other models in the 2017 Golf lineup, VW's electric car gets a 50-percent boost in battery capacity and a more powerful electric motor. The battery rises from 24.2 kilowatt-hours to 35.8... 
The 2017 Mazda CX-5 compact crossover is an entirely new design, Mazda says, although you might not see it at first glance. The small Japanese maker unveiled the new generation just four years after it launched the vehicle that now represents fully one-quarter of its global sales volume. But the company also confirmed a rumor first reported three... 
One week ago this morning, the U.S. and the world woke up to learn that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States. The shockwaves of that election are still reverberating, and will do so for quite some time to come. Among the groups concerned are environmentalists, clean-energy advocates, and electric-car proponents. DON'T... 
The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid wraps a number of firsts into one innovative package. The Pacifica minivan, launched this year, has received positive reviews for its combination of stylish design, comfortable interior, easy-to-use infotainment, and capacious carrying capacity for up to eight adults and their goods. Despite its name, the Pacifica... 
Luxury electric cars: seems like everyone's doing them, doesn't it? The latest to join the growing pool of pricey battery-electric sedans and crossover utilities is the Jaguar i-Pace, revealed tonight as a concept at a splashy event before the Los Angeles Auto Show. A quick look at the specs reveals 220 miles of electric range courtesy of a a... 
Each year, Green Car Reports chooses a new car, or a family of cars, as the best green car introduced in that model year. In 2011, our very first award, we picked the first-ever modern electric car to be sold in high volumes. Six years later, we've picked the spiritual successor to that car, one that provides radically higher range at an... 
On Monday, Green Car Reports will name its 2017 Best Car To Buy. It will be the seventh time we've given the award, and it's worth looking back to see how far green cars have progressed in those seven years. We were lucky to start the award in 2011, the year two remarkable cars arrived on global markets: the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. DON'T... 
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is a new plug-in version of the fourth-generation Prius hybrid launched last year. It succeeds the previous Prius Plug-In Hybrid, but it's a much better—and considerably more electric—vehicle than that discontinued model. We've driven the new Prius Prime in southern California, but is it the right car for...