For much of last year, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry pursued a plan that, in essence, would prop up the financially challenged U.S. coal and nuclear industries. His proposal, submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last fall, provided financial subsidies to electric-generation plants that kept 90 days of fuel onsite. Natural-gas...
Though generally mum on details, Porsche has been trickling out tidbits on its forthcoming MIssion E electric sedan since it first unveiled the concept at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. Porsche let slip another detail in late December. It had already revealed a claimed 200-mile recharge within 15 minutes, a starting price that'll place it below...
Is one of your New Year's resolutions to go green? We're here to help with this month's deals on electric, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, and other efficient vehicles. Against last month, the cars offering the best incentives haven't changed—but the incentives themselves have. Click ahead to find out where you can save the most as you kick off...
![Tesla Supercharger site in Vacaville, California, before expansion [photo: George Parrott]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/tesla-supercharger-site-in-vacaville-california-before-expansion-photo-george-parrott_100614960_t.gif)
Electric-car leadership isn't only about getting the vehicles on the roads. Charging infrastructure, tax incentives, and a passionate fan base for cars that plug in are all important to build a community of electric-vehicle drivers who will spread the word. With two decades of experience, California has a lot of knowledge—and some best...
It remains entirely unclear if the world as a whole will be able to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide fast enough to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees C over the next few decades. That's the level at which scientists say the most dire effects of climate change may be lessened or averted. Recent news has been both positive and...
Nissan, the first automaker in the world to launch a mass-priced electric car, has a reason to celebrate this week. The automaker said on Monday it delivered the 300,000th example of its electric hatchback, the Nissan Leaf—though it did not detail whether it was one of the new second-generation cars or a remaining first-generation model. The...
The country, which missed out on some earlier technological shifts, is now scrambling to catch up as the world warms up to battery-powered vehicles.
Mazda's famed rotary engine may spin once again. The automaker confirmed the development of a range-extending rotary engine with Toyota for use in a shared future project. Toyota revealed the e-Palette concept on Monday at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The vehicle, a battery-electric and self-driving prototype, previews one...
Today, we've got news from the huge Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, including a surprise electric-car concept from Kia, a hydrogen fuel-cell SUV from Hyundai, and the debut of the Fisker EMotion luxury electric car. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Yesterday afternoon at the massive CES show in Las Vegas, the production version of the...
Updates to conventional cars come in a predictable pattern. Once a new model is launched, it gets only minor tweaks to features, prices, and paint colors for two or three years. Then in the third or fourth year, it gets what the industry calls a "mid-cycle refresh": some updated sheetmetal, perhaps a redesigned dashboard, and other more visible...
No doubt the hoi polloi are prepared for emissions-free vehicle zones, what with their bicycles and their little electric cars. But what is the aristocracy to do when its high-end luxury SUVs are banned from city streets in central London? Enter the 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid SUV, the brand’s first proper plug-in hybrid...
![Virginia State Capitol, Skip Plitt/C'ville Photography [CC BY-SA 3.0]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/virginia-state-capitol-skip-plitt-cville-photography-cc-by-sa-3-0_100638890_t.gif)
Virginia is for lovers—and it may soon be for lovers of electric cars and plug-in hybrids, too. Virginia House Delegate David A. Reid [D-32nd] has proposed a bill, expected to hit the House floor Wednesday, that would see buyers of electric vehicles receive a state-tax rebate of up to $3,500. Currently, Virginia's green-car incentives are...
![First all-electric articulated bus in the world, Palmdale, CA, by Nate Pitkin [CC BY-SA 4.0]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/first-all-electric-articulated-bus-in-the-world-palmdale-ca-by-nate-pitkin-cc-by-sa-4-0_100638880_t.gif)
California is using the growing sums of money it receives from its emission cap-and-trade auction for good, including to tackle up some of the state's most egregious transportation polluters. In mid-December, California announced it would invest $663 million in a plan to clean up particularly dirty fleets, especially those operating in low-income...
It's 41 degrees F outside. Your electric car, rated for 100 miles, has been charging all night in the cold. Ahead of you lies a 80-mile drive. How confident are you that you'll make it to your destination? What if you want to set your climate control to a comfortable 70 degrees F? Germany's AutoBild wondered the same thing, so it gathered some of...
Seven years after the first mass-priced modern electric car was sold in the U.S., more car buyers than ever are at least dimly aware that such vehicles exist. Sales of cars that plug in have risen every year, with one slight dip in 2015, but they were still just 1 percent of the U.S. market of 17.5 million light vehicles last year. One reason for...
It's well known that a battery-electric version of the Kia Niro will join the lineup soon, completing a range that now comprises the Niro Hybrid and the recently launched plug-in hybrid. Most observers had assumed the Niro EV would use the same underpinnings as its corporate sibling the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, just as the pair of hybrids does. But...
It's well known that a battery-electric version of the Kia Niro will join the lineup soon, completing a range that now comprises the Niro Hybrid and the recently launched plug-in hybrid. Most observers had assumed the Niro EV would use the same underpinnings as its corporate sibling the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, just as the pair of hybrids does. But...
The world of cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells is still small and low-volume, but Korean maker Hyundai unveiled its production entry into that group on Monday. The sprawling Consumer Electronics Show is increasingly a showcase for advanced-technology and zero-emission vehicles, and the Korean maker used it to show its production-ready hydrogen...
Today, news from Norway about electric cars (and streetlights), gas mileage stuck in a rut, a new wrinkle on ethanol, and a new diesel for the Ford F-150 pickup truck promises higher fuel efficiency. 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 stories. How...
Ford's best-selling full-size pickup truck will be powered by a diesel engine for the first time in its 70-year history. Monday morning, Ford revealed details of the new diesel-powered 2018 Ford F-150 Power Stroke, which it claims will achieve an EPA-estimated fuel-economy rating of 30 mpg highway when it goes on sale this spring. Under its hood...
