EPA’s internal watchdog to check vulnerability to emission cheating

BMW M3 M Performance exhaustEven with a new leader apparently at odds with its mission, the Environmental Protection Agency continues to function on some level. On Thursday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said carbon dioxide released by human activity is not a major cause of climate change, directly contradicting the scientific consensus. The day before that, however, the...

Another day, another positive electric-car adoption rate forecast

2017 Tesla Model SIf only success could be guaranteed by positive predictions. While the fossil-fuel industry is notably skeptical of the long-term prospects of electric cars, a growing number of studies and forecasts predict the adoption rate will grow rapidly in the coming decades. Electric cars still face numerous challenges, but analyses from a variety of...

BMW 740e, X5 xDrive 40e: where do low-range plug-in hybrids fit in?

2017 BMW 740e xDriveMore than a year ago, we spent a weekend with a 2016 BMW X5 xDrive 40e luxury plug-in hybrid SUV. Rated at 14 miles of range, it never achieved anything near that number in winter weather. Now our colleague Kirk Bell has driven a 2017 BMW 740e plug-in hybrid luxury sedan that uses the same powertrain. DON'T MISS: 2017 BMW 740e xDrive iPerformance...

2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric: first drive review of 124-mile electric car

2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric - frame from video road testFor the first six years of electric cars, from 2011 to 2016, we've had a variety of mass-priced cars with ranges of 62 to 107 miles. This year, in 2017, we got the Chevy Bolt EV, at 238 miles. But there's a new competitor as well. This is the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid video drive review It's one of three...

Lucid Air luxury electric car: Bloomberg gets brief ride

Lucid AirWhen it comes to luxury electric-car startups, hype is the name of the game. Lucid Motors unveiled its Air luxury sedan in December, promising a range of up to 400 miles, power of 1,000 horsepower, and cutting-edge technology. But very few people outside the company have gotten more than a glimpse at what, on paper, looks like a Tesla-rivaling...

Audi A5 is third model to run on natural gas, for Europe only

Audi A5 Sportback g-tron (European spec)New natural-gas passenger cars from major carmakers have disappeared from the U.S. Natural-gas options are available for large pickup trucks and vans but only exist for cars through aftermarket conversions offered by specialty firms. In Europe, though, the German luxury maker Audi remains committed to natural-gas powertrains. DON'T MISS: Renault...

Nissan Juke concept to get e-Power series hybrid system as well

2017 Nissan JukeNissan is a leader in electric cars, but the Japanese automaker has been slow to adopt competitive hybrid technology. In a move that could potentially rectify that situation, Nissan unveiled its new e-Power series-hybrid system in Japan late last year. The system was first demonstrated in a Nissan Note, the subcompact hatchback sold as the Versa...