The next generation Mini Countryman crossover utility vehicle will be the brand's first model to offer a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Its parent company BMW has released teaser images confirming an upcoming production plug-in hybrid. While it did not specifically say the model was a Countryman, the camouflaged prototype being driven by Mini... Plug-in hybrid next-generation Mini Countryman teased before launch
The next generation Mini Countryman crossover utility vehicle will be the brand's first model to offer a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Its parent company BMW has released teaser images confirming an upcoming production plug-in hybrid. While it did not specifically say the model was a Countryman, the camouflaged prototype being driven by Mini...
Last December, representatives form 195 countries met in Paris to negotiate an agreement to address climate change on a global scale. Almost a year later, enough countries have now formally ratified that agreement in order that it can officially take effect. The tipping point was reached when India and the 28 members of the European Union ratified...
The Renault Zoe once again maintained its position as the best-selling electric car in Europe, at least through August. As has been the case all year, the subcompact hatchback's main competition for that title was the Nissan Leaf—built by Renault's Japanese alliance partner—which once again earned the second-place spot. The Leaf...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan program that became a lightning rod during the 2012 presidential election is now turning a profit. The program became infamous for backing solar company Solyndra, which later went bankrupt. Three years after Soyndra's failure, though, the program is now in the black. DON'T MISS: Carbon emissions from U.S...
How much would you pay to own one of the earliest Tesla Roadster electric sports cars? Early production models and prototypes of notable cars can often become valuable collectors' items. That's something the seller of this prototype Tesla Roadster seems to be counting on. DON'T MISS: Tesla Roadster 3.0 340-mile battery upgrade now shipping The...
Which U.S. carmaker is moving to capitalize on Volkswagen's diesel woes in the U.S. market? What did Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk challenge us to do? (And when we did it, what did we conclude?) This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, October 14, 2016. At the end of the...
Today, we have the first photo of the Atieva Atvus electric car, the Audi R8 e-tron electric car ceases production, and we drive the updated 2017 Toyota Corolla compact sedan. All this and more on Green Car Reports. What will be the most unexpected thing about the Tesla Model 3? Our Twitter followers weighed in for our latest poll. A new hydrogen...
The Toyota Corolla has been almost the default compact sedan among North American buyers for what seems like decades now. In good years, more than 350,000 are sold to retail and fleet buyers in the U.S., and they're part of the automotive landscape in even the reddest states of the union. The latest Corolla is thus cautiously evolutionary, with...
There's no shortage of putative rivals to electric-car maker Tesla Motors, from German luxury makers to other California startups. Thus far, of course, none have actually put a car on sale—unlike Tesla, which has sold somewhere north of 125,000 cars since 2008. One of the least-known is Chinese-backed Atieva, located in Silicon Valley since...
Hybrid cars are often thought of as a fairly recent development, but few things under the sun are truly new. In response to the 1970s oil crises, engineers began contemplating ways to move the auto industry beyond fossil fuels, using much less sophisticated technology than what became available in the ensuing decades. One of the leaders of this...
While automakers work to meet stricter carbon-emissions standards, another sector of the U.S. economy has already made notable progress in reducing ts emissions. Carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation during the first six months of 2016 were the lowest since 1991, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)...
The Audi R8 e-tron—an all-electric version of the German automaker's R8 supercar—is no more. Less than two years after the production R8 e-tron was unveiled at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Audi plans to stop building the car. So ends one of the longest and most convoluted development stories of any new car in recent memory. CHECK OUT...
Advocates of hydrogen fuel-cell cars are working to make their presence felt in much the same way that electric-car advocates have for years. Last Saturday was National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day. The specific date (10/08) was chosen in honor of hydrogen's atomic weight (1.008). Fuel provider Air Liquide used the celebration to launch a new...
Three long-range electric cars at affordable prices will move the industry forward over the next year or two. The Chevy Bolt EV is within several weeks of arriving at the first dealers that will carry it, and a second-generation Nissan Leaf should go into production by the end of next year. That leaves the Tesla Model 3, unveiled this past spring...
Today, we take a closer look at the statistics used by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to defend the carmaker's Autopilot system, survey the upgraded 2017 Honda CR-V crossover, and look at how Formula E electric-car racing could make road cars better. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Certain 2016 and 2017 Toyota Prius hybrids are being recalled to...
The 2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid remains the only three-row hybrid crossover utility vehicle sold in the U.S. today. And for the 2017 model year, it's gotten some mild updates. a power increase, and a critical feature for family vehicles: a total of five USB ports. We had a chance to spend half an hour in a new 2017 Highlander Hybrid during last...
Within the next 15 years, the world's wealthy cities could be teeming with electric cars. That's the prediction of a new report, which claims electric cars could account for two thirds of the cars on the roads of 50 major world cities by 2030. Researchers predict that a combination of growing consumer interest and stricter emissions standards will...
The 2017 Honda CR-V compact crossover utility vehicle was unveiled today, featuring more fuel-efficient powertrains, evolutionary styling ... and a volume knob for the radio. That latter detail may seem minor, but widespread complaining about the lack of such a knob was one of the few criticisms of the otherwise well-received new Honda Civic last...