Gas guzzling now A-OK, Trump administration says

Oil well (photo by John Hill)Following news that the EPA dropped plans to keep boosting fuel-economy standards, it quietly dropped another bombshell: It's now fine to guzzle gas. Burn as much as you want. According to an AP report carried by the Detroit News, the Energy Department quietly released the news online in a memo in July in support of freezing fuel economy...

Lots of Teslas spill all over Northern California

Tesla factory, Fremont, CaliforniaWatching Tesla—and Teslas—has become practically a spectator sport, especially for those who live near the factory. As production of the company's most popular car, the Model 3, has ramped up that sport has become easier—at least for people in the San Francisco Bay Area. It seems all that production has outstripped the company's...

Van builder Workhorse unveils hybrid helicopter

Workhorse Surefly helicopterSometimes building electric cars may be about more than building electric cars. At an event in New York City last weekend, Workhorse, which is known for converting delivery vans to plug-in hybrid power, aimed a little higher. It revealed a hybrid helicopter, according to an Ars Technica report. The company says it has reinvented the helicopter...

EPA plans to roll back emissions standards on power plants

Smokestacks pollution air qualityAfter wiping out plans to continue boosting fuel economy standards earlier this month, the EPA on Tuesday proposed rolling back emissions standards on electric power plants. The new proposed rule, which the EPA calls the "Affordable Clean Energy" rule, would eliminate Obama-era standards that would have required power plants to reduce carbon...

XL trucks’ Ford F-250 Hybrid gets California approval

XL Hybrids Ford F-250 XL3 HybridThere's no way to save more fuel than to do it in something that already uses a lot of it. That's what XL Hybrids aims to do by adding hybrid and even plug-in hybrid systems to Ford pickups. On Tuesday, the Massachusetts-based "upfitter" announced that it received certification to sell its F-250 Hybrid in California, which has stricter emissions...

How much would you spend on an electric car? Take our Twitter poll

Electrify America 350 kw chargers at Home Depot in Chicopee, Mass.Prices on electric cars are going up. Several factors account for this. For starters, tax credits on electric cars from the two most popular electric-car makers, Tesla and Chevrolet, which is raising effective prices. An even bigger factor raising average prices for electric cars may be the fact that a host of new models are coming from luxury...