If ever a green family vehicle had a rocky launch, it would be the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. Only two months after deliveries of the eagerly awaited plug-in hybrid seven-seat minivan began in April, sales were halted for several when a potentially faulty diode was identified. In June, 1,368 Pacifica Hybrid minivans in the U.S. and a further 309 in...
How would you know that the standard model for individuals buying new cars is dying? Sure, you could point to car sharing services like Car2go or Zipcar. Or you might point to ride hailing companies like Lyft or Uber. Maybe you think the subscription model for the Hyundai Ioniq Electric subscription service is the hot new thing. DON'T MISS: GM's...
Toyota's popular RAV4 crossover utility vehicle will gain a new entry-level hybrid trim for the 2018 model year, offering a remarkably good price against a gasoline-only RAV4 crossover. The 2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid LE trim lets buyers choose the greater fuel efficiency of a hybrid powertrain for only $1,325 more than an equivalent gas-powered RAV4...
The United States Department of Energy has announced a new funding initiative to accelerate the development of what it calls "Extreme Fast Charging" (XFC) systems. In total, the DoE will award $15 million for the development of electric-car charging systems as well as batteries capable of very fast charging. Each area of interest has specific...
Earlier this month, the 30th World Solar Challenge kicked off in Darwin, Australia, with 42 competitors vying for victory. At the end of the 3,022-kilometer (1,880-mile) race from Darwin to Adelaide, one team emerged victorious in the highly contested Cruiser class. Solar Team Eindhoven, from the Netherlands, placed first with its Stella Vie...
Which carmaker sold 10,000 cars with plugs in September? (No, not Tesla, or Nissan, or GM ....) How many stories this week did we have that explained crossover utility vehicles are the big thing these days? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, October 20, 2017...
The carmaker reported an increase in revenue, but said it still had work to do to overcome the damage caused by its diesel emissions cheating.
Today, another electric SUV concept, some bad news for the Tesla Model 3, collector cars catch a break, and a video shows how little average people know about electricity. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Companies that feel threatened sometimes attack, and VW Group executives have gone after Tesla of late. Some more worrisome news on...
![Frame from man-on-the-street interviews on electricity, utilities by E-Source LLC, 2011 [YouTube]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/person-on-the-street-interviews-by-e-source-llc-about-electricity-and-utilities-2011-youtube-clip_100630638_t.gif)
Everyone knows what a gallon of gasoline is, or what they paid the last time they put fuel in their car. But trying asking your friends, relatives, and neighbors how much they paid per kilowatt-hour in their last electric bill. Or even what a kilowatt-hour is. We guarantee you that 19 out of 20 of them won't have a clue. DON'T MISS: Chargeway: the...
The Tokyo Motor Show is a chance for Japanese automakers to show off what they've been working on in secret labs and design studios. At the Mitsubishi booth this year sits an aggressive-looking all-electric SUV that shows one version of what your next large electric car could look like, if you enjoy hulking rear ends on your high-clearance 'ute...
Numerous European countries have rolled out target years in which they plan to ban the sale of new cars powered by internal-combustion engines. At the same time, many European cities have introduced car-free zones in highly congested or polluted areas—which has led to worries that collector-car owners would be left on the sidelines as more...
Relatively few auto-company CEOs would publicly mention sleeping on the roof of one of their factory buildings. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not like most other chief executives of auto companies. Most also don't break news via tweet, for instance. A tweet by Musk Thursday evening referred to the eighth circle of Hell and suggested he'd slept on the...
The list of people and companies who want to be or want to make the "Tesla Fighter" is long and storied. Volkswagen has had some good things to say about the California-based electric-car maker, but it's also been working to take on the world's most lauded EV company. During a panel discussion in Germany last week, VW CEO Matthias Müller made...
Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler have revamped their businesses to enhance profitability and lay the foundation to develop high-tech models.
Today, we've got good news from Oklahoma and bad news by a former Oklahoman, VW attacking Tesla, the incipient plug-in model of the Kia Niro, and an update on used electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. We updated an earlier article on fast-moving used electric cars to add a nuance we'd missed. Win one for hybrid and electric car...
Last month, the Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid went on sale in the United Kingdom, offering British buyers a mass-priced compact wagon with 25 to 30 miles of electric range. While it shares its underpinnings with the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In model, the Niro has more of a wagon shape than Hyundai's five-door hatchback—good for European markets where...
Following Honda's hit electric-car concept at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Urban EV, the company brought a second all-electric concept to the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show with more sporting intentions. The Honda Sports EV coupe concept debuted the Urban EV concept, a design wrapped in a sleek and retro-looking sports car body. If Honda bet on retro...
The EPA recently announced it will roll back the Clean Power Plan, one of former President Obama's milestone efforts to fight climate change, and now the agency plans to axe another rule limiting emissions. Next on the chopping block is a regulation that limits emissions from large trucks and their components. Remarkably, the regulation that EPA...
When the Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill earlier this year that imposed new fees on owners of hybrid and electric cars only, it was swiftly sued by the Sierra Club. Now the Oklahoma Supreme Court has rendered its verdict in that suit, filed in August. In a 6-3 decision, the state's highest court struck down the bill as an unconstitutional tax...
Not every car buyer can afford a brand-new vehicle, which often makes gently used vehicles an appealing alternative. But while cars that plug in take only a small share of new-vehicle purchases today—about 1 percent—they apparently move quite fast off dealer lots once they're used. In fact, electric and plug-in cars dominate the top 10...
