This has been something of a plug-in hybrid month. Last week we got our first drive in the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, which we felt was the first affordable car with a range similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt. This week we're driving the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid. DON'T MISS: 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive That car and... Which plug-in hybrid would you buy today if you had to? Twitter poll
This has been something of a plug-in hybrid month. Last week we got our first drive in the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, which we felt was the first affordable car with a range similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt. This week we're driving the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid. DON'T MISS: 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive That car and...
In grade school, students commonly ran through the halls when teachers or other school staff weren't looking. Signs forbidding the act of sprinting past lockers did little to deter the practice, since there was no incentive not to run unless someone present was enforcing the rule. The same can be said for industrial polluters and environmental-law...
The availability of charging stations for electric cars, or lack of it, is often cited as one of the primary reasons holding back widespread adoption. After all, if you're going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a brand-new automobile, you want to be sure it'll get you where you want to go. Now, an influential figure in the electric-vehicle...
Today, we've got not only a first-drive report on the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, but some thoughts on an ad for the car, along with a new small EV with a twist, and some surprising news about diesels from VW. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We finally have all the details from our first drive of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In...
With the launch of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid sedan, the Chevrolet Volt now has its first serious competition among long-range plug-in hybrids. About 25,000 second-generation Volts were sold last year, and this year's number will be about 20,000. Honda says it may sell about the same number of plug-in Claritys. On a media drive last...
One of the most powerful automotive CEOs in the industry at a company that once found monumental success in diesel-powered cars has delivered a commandment to European governments from atop his throne in Wolfsburg. Thou shalt not subsidize diesel. That commandment, from VW CEO Mattias Müller, is about as predictable as one might expect from...
If you're looking for an electric car that comes with free charging but a Tesla is either undesirable or financially out of reach, freshly launched upstart Uniti is offering five years of free go-go electrons with the purchase of its new, compact "smartphone car." But there's just one catch. You need to live in Sweden. DON'T MISS: NEVS reveals...
There's a new plug-in hybrid in town, and it could expand the audience for cars that provide useful electric range for daily driving while retaining an efficient gasoline engine for longer trips. The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is the third and most important model in the Clarity lineup, which already includes the hydrogen Fuel Cell model as...
Today, we've got a drive report on the updated BMW i3 REx—we had mull over our thoughts—along with best December deals on green cars, some good news on falling battery costs, and a bit of Tesla news too. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, as we do every seven days, we ran down last week's most important green-car...
If you're looking to give the gift of efficient motoring this holiday season, numerous manufacturer incentives are available this month that'll save you from breaking the bank. For December, CarsDirect has uncovered leases as cheap as $159/month and discounts as much as $18,100 on fuel-efficient vehicles for the month of December. Read on to see...
When the history of modern electric cars is written, the BMW i3 will likely go down as something of an anomaly. Its carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic body shell, aluminum underpinnings, and battery-electric powertrain with an optional range extender are a combination not offered by any other maker, now or perhaps ever. We spent four days and 316...
By now, many people would likely produce the correct answer when asked, Where in the U.S. are electric cars most popular? That would be California, which last year had almost seven battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars registered per 1,000 people. But five other states have more than two plug-in vehicles per 1,000 residents—and we're...
Battery-pack prices are the lowest they've ever been, and like a yoga-obsessed limbo contestant, they're primed to go even lower. A report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, based on a survey of "more than 50 companies," states the average cost of a electric-car battery pack is now $209 per kilowatt-hour. But the real shocker is the report's claim...
An Instagram post by an "outdoor living design and construction firm serving the Chicago Southland" seems to confirm a total of 1,230 reservations for Tesla's new all-electric truck. Elemental Landscapes of Illinois posted a screenshot of its reservation for three Tesla Semi trucks, showing a reservation number EO000001230. If the reservation...
As it gears up for volume production of battery-electric cars starting in 2019, Volkswagen Group spends a lot of time talking to the press about its future plans for the vehicles. We already know its first electric car that year will be the compact hatchback Volkswagen ID, and the first to be sold in the U.S. will be the VW ID Crozz utility...
Which upcoming electric car has more than 200 prototypes on the road that have now covered 1.5 million miles of testing? What claims by Tesla caused some head-scratching among battery engineers? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, December 8, 2017. Friday, we...
Today, European electric-car sales, another proposed ban on sales of cars with engines, a new battery-pack cooling approach, and a relocated future Ford electric model. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We've resumed our monthly European plug-in electric car sales report, and there's a new runner-up after the usual winner. A bill to ban...
Regardless of how your vehicle is powered—whether it be an internal-combustion engine or a battery pack powering an electric motor—most powertrains have a common enemy: heat. For Taipei-based XING Mobility, heat is a major concern for its high-performance Miss R model as its battery cells need to rapidly discharge to generate its...
If you want to make electric vehicles the new normal, why not turn boring delivery vehicles into zero-emission boxes? That's the plan of The Climate Group's new EV100 organization, launched in October, which is focused on electrifying fleets and "making electric transport the new normal by 2030." The companies that join EV100 make a public...