Today, we ended up with two separate stories on the Volkswagen diesel scandal, Nissan sold its electric-car battery unit, transparent solar moonroofs may be coming, and we explain why you should think about hot dogs. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, we summarized last week's top green-car stories. We also reported on the... Diesel drama, Nissan battery sale, VW jail time, electric-car charging: Today’s Car News
Today, we ended up with two separate stories on the Volkswagen diesel scandal, Nissan sold its electric-car battery unit, transparent solar moonroofs may be coming, and we explain why you should think about hot dogs. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Over the weekend, we summarized last week's top green-car stories. We also reported on the...
Solar energy has long generated electricity both on building roofs and in huge "solar farms" for utility companies, but only a few cars have had solar panels on their bodies. Solar roofs aren't a new concept, but Audi and Alta Devices' solution would be the most transparent photovoltaic solar roof implementation yet—literally. The German...
It's an old cliche used to indicate an unsolvable problem: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Sometimes it's applied to the challenge of electric-car charging stations: which comes first, sales of the cars or installation of public charging to support them? Well, Jeff Allen isn't having any of it. He wants to talk about hot dogs, and buns...
It has been nearly two years since Volkswagen came clean and admitted its "clean diesel" engines were actually quite dirty. In 2015, a VW engineer admitted the TDI diesel cars sold in the U.S. since 2009 were outfitted with "defeat device" software that let them pass emission tests, only to emit far more nitrogen oxides in real-world use. Two...
It's well-known that electrical outlets in the United States and elsewhere vary, but it also makes for somewhat different charging experiences with the Tesla Model S. In Europe, the standard voltage is higher than the United States, which means more power can be drawn from a standard wall outlet. However, higher-rated charging connectors, such as...
On August 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would reopen the Comment Period for the vehicle-emission standards for model years 2022 through 2025 it had finalized in January. The auto industry and its lobbyists had complained that the agency had moved too quickly, despite its issuance last summer of a voluminous Technical...
Former Volkswagen employee James Liang was sentenced in Detroit yesterday to serve 40 months in prison and pay a $200,000 fine for his role in the global Volkswagen diesel-emission cheating scandal. It was a stiffer sentence than expected for an engineer who helped to create software that controlled exhaust emissions only when Volkswagen and...
How many miles of electric-car range turns out to attract many more buyers than a number slightly lower? Which German sport sedan did we test-drive, using a fuel that's all but irrelevant in North America? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, August 25, 2017...
Today, we've got news on the future Tesla semi tractor, we drove a natural-gas-powered Audi, a few Bolt EV batteries will be replaced, and the Royal Mail launched its all-electric delivery vans. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The Tesla semi tractor will reportedly have 200 to 300 miles of range; it is expected to be unveiled next month...
The United Kingdom's Royal Postal Service has entered a new era as its first electric mail vans enter service. In total, nine electric postal vans from local company Arrival will enter the Royal Post's fleet, along with another 100 electric vans to be added in December from French brand Peugeot. The Arrival electric vans are capable of traveling...
General Motors has informed "a few hundred" owners of 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars that their cars could suffer from a problem with the lithium-ion battery pack that could cause it to fail without warning. The cars were among the very earliest Bolt EVs produced for public sale, so are likely concentrated in California and perhaps Oregon...
Audi’s vision of future mobility primarily centers around an array of long-range electric cars scheduled to debut in the coming years under the "e-tron" badge. These are intended to be Tesla killers, as they’re often called in Germany. But there’s another kind of tron with a “made in Germany” label as well, and...
Tesla's first foray into the commercial vehicle sector—an all-electric semi truck—is expected to debut next month, but specifics surrounding the electric-car maker's latest project have been few and far between. An exclusive report may have revealed Tesla's range figure as it prepares to tackle a segment dominated by diesel-powered...
Today, we've got a report from our very, very brief drive in the Chevy Equinox Diesel compact crossover, some interesting survey data on how much electric-car range is "enough," another Tesla-trashes-supercar dragstrip video, and musings on a new Detroit factory and why it's where it is. All this and more on Green Car Reports. How much...
The question of where consumer goods are made has become more prominent in our political discourse of late, cars among them. Every automobile sold in the U.S. carries a listing of content sources, specifying what percentage by value of its overall content comes from which countries or regions. Electric cars, it turns out, have some anomalies...
We spent a few days with a gasoline-powered 2018 Chevy Equinox back in May, but now we've driven a much rarer version. The 2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel will start to arrive at U.S. Chevy dealers within two weeks, the company says. On Wednesday, as part of a comprehensive presentation on the five diesel engines GM uses globally, we got some "seat...
Tesla has not only put some of the world's longest-range electric cars into production, but its cars also happen to house some serious performance specifications. Everyone knows the P100D versions of the Tesla Model S sedan and Model X SUV are capable of accelerating at lightning speed, thanks to the instantaneous torque available at zero RPM from...
The Trump administration has reneged on one aspect of a promise widely discussed throughout the 2016 presidential campaign: reviving the coal industry. President Donald Trump declared the United States coal industry would thrive under his watch, but the Trump administration and the Energy Department have just delivered a blow to the...
Electric-car drivers know that range anxiety abates quickly once you start using an electric car and get confident with its abilities. Although a range of 60 to 90 miles covers the majority of daily car use in the U.S., it isn't enough for many drivers with longer commutes—especially at high speeds or in very hot or cold weather, which can...
Today, Elio delayed, California survived, Nissan used adjectives, and we looked at a couple of electric-car videos comparing Teslas to the Bolt EV. All this and more on Green Car Reports. There's a new 2018 Nissan Leaf teaser video, plus a photo of the taillight—but not a lot of new information with it. California's solar generation waned...