Automakers seek deal to delay EPA’s 2022-2025 emission rules

Chrome exhaust pipeDespite some alarmist reporting, President Donald Trump hasn't abolished the EPA's vehicle emission limits. Nor has he wiped out corporate average fuel-economy rules, set by the NHTSA. So far, he's done two things: signed an executive order reopening the comment period for 2022-2025 EPA emission limits, and proposed a budget that would slash EPA...

Electric-car charging networks spin out, merge, and go global

Fast-charging 2015 Nissan Leaf at evGo station in Auburn, MA   [photo: John Briggs]Much like the cell-phone network industry in the mid-1990s, the electric-car charging industry is on a fast pace of network expansions and mergers. EV charging companies are on the verge of rapid global growth as utility companies and large multinational corporations put up big money, according to a report from Navigant Research Blog. For...

Toyota Prius One: stripped-down hybrid added at lower price

2017 Toyota PriusIt hasn't been the greatest of years for the Toyota Prius hybrid, the Japanese carmaker's flagship product. The fourth generation hybrid hatchback debuted as a 2016 model into the teeth of continued low gasoline prices, and its radical design language apparently turned off at least some potential buyers. Now Toyota is taking steps to make the...

Tesla trucks: semi to be shown in Sept, pickup in 18-24 months

2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011Relative few companies regularly make major announcements via their CEO's Twitter account, but electric-car maker Tesla is different. From software updates to dates for new product lines, tweets from Tesla's CEO Elon Musk routinely make news. And so it was this week, when Musk announced the months in which the company plans to reveal designs for...

Clean Power Plan carbon cuts may survive, even if Trump EPA kills rule

Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TennesseeThe Clean Power Plan’s future looks uncertain at best under President Donald Trump. The commander-in-chief appears to be urging American utility companies to pivot back towards burning coal to produce electricity. Ending the so-called “war on coal” is intended to create jobs in the mining sector, at the expense of the...

Volkswagen teases electric crossover for Shanghai auto show

Teaser for Volkswagen ID SUV Concept debuting at 2017 Shanghai auto showVolkswagen appears to be quite clearly committed to an ambitious program of electric cars following its diesel emission scandal. But aside from two adapted models launched a few years ago—the VW e-Golf and e-Up hatchbacks—and a few low-range plug-in hybrids, it doesn't yet have much to put in showrooms. Instead, it's launching a series...

Genesis GV80 fuel-cell concept SUV at NY auto show

Genesis GV80 concept, 2017 New York auto showThese days, it's all but de rigeur that concept cars from major global automakers be shown with some form of alternative propulsion. They may preview future production vehicles powered by plain old conventional gasoline engines, but a plug-in hybrid or other greener powertrain shows the automaker is forward-looking. Is that the case for the...

Q: Why is Tesla worth more than GM? A: The sins of Detroit

Tesla Motors, Palo Alto, CaliforniaIt remains unclear whether Tesla will survive as an independent company, given that it's had exactly two profitable quarters in its 12-plus years of existence. And yet, last week, Tesla briefly passed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. automaker by market capitalization. It had passed Ford last week, and long ago surpassed the value...

Honda Clarity Electric, Plug-In Hybrid sedans revealed at NY auto show

2017 Honda Clarity ElectricAt the New York auto show this morning, Honda revealed the second and third powertrains for its Clarity mid-size sedan, now offered only in California with a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain. The 2017 Honda Clarity Electric and 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid are powered by a battery pack and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, respectively. The plug-in...

After Tesla, which automaker is best in electric cars? Poll results

2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011Regardless of the number of cars they've sold—fewer than the Renault-Nissan alliance—Tesla is undoubtedly the best-known electric-car maker in the world. It delivered 76,000 cars last year, against roughly 10 million each for Volkswagen Group, Toyota, and General Motors. But its sleek, fast, electric Model S and the associated...

First impressions of Chevy Bolt EV by Nissan Leaf driver

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EVIf you're serious about driving a green car, but not happy with your local choices, you need to move to California. The Golden State has roughly two dozen battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale, not to mention three hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Electric-car advocate Kelly Olsen previous described the choice he faced: wait for the...

Tesla Model S at 36,000 miles: Car and Driver’s long-term Midwest test

2015 Tesla Model S 70D in new Ocean Blue colorWe're long past the days when car enthusiast publications sneered at electric cars as underpowered golf carts. Much of the credit for that goes to Tesla, the first all-electric carmaker, whose Model S won the hearts of 'buff-book' writers everywhere for its speed and shape. Now electric cars, including Teslas, have become enough of a part of the...

What does it take to turn a Ford Fusion Hybrid into a Police Responder?

2018 Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan pursuit-rated police carThe hybrid mid-size sedans sold today by Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota are all tuned to provide maximum fuel economy. So what did it take to fashion a standard Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan into the 2018 Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan that Ford introduced yesterday? The company's press release was coy with actual technical...

Trump can’t affect global climate-change progress, says Mayor Bloomberg

Cooling tower at power plant, by Flickr user Paul J Everett (Used under CC License)Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has gone on record saying publicly what most analysts have discussed privately: the notion that Washington can direct the energy market back towards coal is wrong. In fact, Bloomberg is willing to go further: he believes that the U.S. can still meet the reductions set forth in the Paris climate treaty...