Ford Model T: what was its fuel economy, really?

Frame from Sierra Club video, 'Tell Ford to Put Clean Cars in the Fast Lane,' Jan 2018In a recent video posted to YouTube, environmental advocacy group The Sierra Club dialed up production values to call out Ford's lobbying efforts to roll back fuel-economy standards. The video showed a man getting into a modern-day Ford, starting the engine, then noting the shift lever had an array of reverse gears but no forward drive. When the...

Colorado moves to put more electric cars onto state roads faster

2015 Nissan Leaf, Denver, Colorado, Mar 2016  [photo: owner Andrew Ganz]A state at the forefront of U.S. electric-vehicle adoption has set an ambitious goal of nearly 1 million plug-in electric cars on its roads by 2030. Colorado, which counted 13,000 electric vehicles on the road at the end of 2017, rolled out an aggressive plan this week to achieve that goal. Its largest efforts go toward enhancing the current...

Volkwagen ID electric cars need names, but do these two work?

Volkswagen ID Buzz concept, 2017 Los Angeles auto showVolkswagen continues to invest heavily in a future of plug-in electric vehicles as it attempts to clean the diesel soot from its face following its emissions-cheating scandal. Part of that initiative is coming up with new names for upcoming all-electric models to be sold under its ID electric sub-brand. If Volkswagen's latest trademark filings in...

Partnerships, incentives to get India to 2030 fossil-fuel vehicle ban

Mahindra e2o electric carAfter announcing it would ban the sale of fossil-fuel vehicles by 2030, the world's second-most populous country plans to support that goal through private and corporate partnerships and government incentives. India's decision to end fossil-fuel sales in the country comes with unique challenges. One is a per-capita annual income of just $1,670...

What you need to know about electric-car namesake Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla on Serbian dinar banknoteThis month marks the 75th year since the death of famed inventor and and electrical innovator Nikola Tesla, a man whose life is as interesting as his technical achievements. Tesla, a Serbian who was born in what's now Croatia, brought the world numerous innovations in electricity that, to this day, define how we live. On January 7th, Tesla was...

Kia Sorento Diesel crossover utility vehicle confirmed by company

2019 Kia SorentoWith Volkswagen having left a gaping void in the North American market for diesel vehicles, other automakers are taking a chance at exploiting the fuel for their own market-share gains. The latest entrant is Kia, which—for the first time in its 24-year U.S. history—will have a compression-ignition engine on dealership floors. Kia's...

Mazda tops EPA fuel-efficiency rankings for fifth year in a row

2016 Mazda 3Pick-ups and SUVs are rapidly taking over the American automotive landscape, but there's at least one measure in which it benefits an automaker to sell fewer of those vehicles. In the Environmental Protection Agency's latest "Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends" report, Mazda was named as the...