Five years ago, an electric-utility think tank issued a dire warning to its members: Your century-old business model is ending. The continually falling costs of renewable energy generation, especially solar panels, would begin to erode utilities' business from its most profitable customers, the study said. Now, in Germany—hardly known for...
Tesla now offers roughly the same percentage of its model lineup with standard all-wheel-drive configuration as famed AWD proponent Subaru. The Silicon Valley electric-car maker has completely ditched rear-wheel drive in its Model S hatchback sedans and Model X crossover utility vehicles. Only its Model 3 smaller sedan remains available (at some...
A professor adds to the list.
A couple of weeks ago, we charged a 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid 15 times within two days. It was part of a contest during a two-day press drive for the car—though we were beaten by the team that charged their Niro a stunning 31 times in little more than 30 hours. But our experience reinforced what many electric car drivers either knew going...
I try very hard to go into each review with an open mind, but in the case of the 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet, I was prepared to dislike it. I expected an anemic driving experience in a vehicle that was somehow both small and cumbersome. I thought the Smart would be an automotive nerd, a vehicle too compromised to work on American...
A publicity stunt by Renault in the United Kingdom had Santa Claus delivering chocolate all over the country earlier this month in a highly energy-efficient way. The social media campaign featured Santa testing a Renault Zoe EV, as a possible replacement for his reindeer-drawn sleigh. In all, Santa delivered 1,000 boxes of Montezuma’s...
Which two new green cars have readers driven and reported on for us? Why weren't 15 separate charging stops enough during our first drive of the plug-in hybrid version of the 2018 Kia Niro? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, December 22, 2017. Friday, we wrote...
Today, we've got pricing for the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid and some thoughts on next year's Jaguar I-Pace prices too; an aggressive climate-change plan; an update on the Lexus UX concept; and a comprehensive look at the electric commercial-truck world. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The results from our Twitter poll on which plug-in...
This time, Elon Musk is not alone. In mid-December, Daimler delivered its first 14 Fuso eCanter electric delivery trucks to customers in Germany, a reminder that while Tesla caught car companies flat-footed in 2012, incumbent truck makers are already preparing their countermeasures. In Daimler’s case, these weren’t even the...
The Lexus UX concept that debuted at the Paris Motor Show in September 2016 represented the Toyota luxury brand's probe of the subcompact crossover segment. It previewed a possible new model that would slot below the current NX in Lexus' lineup. While Lexus didn't say so explicitly, such a model could be based on the Toyota C-HR, which went on...
While prices for the Jaguar I-Pace electric car that launches next year haven't been announced for the U.S., figures appearing across the pond provide a good starting point for some guesstimation. According to Dutch website Autoblog.nl, the I-Pace electric SUV will get a starting price of 82,000 EUR when it goes on sale this summer, with "First...
As the Trump administration abandons numerous U.S. efforts to rein in emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide over time, another large polluter is pushing ahead with an aggressive plan to slash pollution from energy producers. China, currently the top carbon emitter and largest consumer of coal in the world, is moving to implement a...
The Chevrolet Volt, now in its second generation, has long been the king of mass-market plug-in hybrids. With 53 miles of battery range, its electric performance is exceeded only by the BMW i3 REx range-extended electric hatchback. But the BMW's starting price is close to $50,000, taking it well above the Volt's $35,000 range, and its styling is...
Today, we've got first impressions of two plug-in electric cars (one is the Tesla Model 3); advice for condo residents on charging stations; used electric-car confusion; and a poll on 2017's most important green-car news story. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Our BMW i3 driver and contributor Tom Moloughney got the chance to get behind the...
![2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid [photo: owner 'Viking79']](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2018-honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-photo-owner-viking79_100637732_t.gif)
We only published our first-drive report on the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid last week, and the car is just now showing up at Honda dealers across the country. But that means the first examples are already been bought and driven. A couple of readers indicated that they were among the buyers, so we asked for their first impressions. DON'T...
Some of us are perpetually on the hunt for a bargain, yet sometimes our preconceived notions get in the way of saving money on big purchases. Take car buying for instance. Many buyers will opt for a used car because we believe a new car is too expensive, but the truth is many new cars can be had for less than 1 or 2 year-old used cars when you...
![Renault Fluence ZE charging at Better Place pubic charge spots in Israel [photo: Brian of London]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/renault-fluence-ze-charging-at-better-place-pubic-charge-spots-in-israel-photo-brian-of-london_100396833_t.gif)
It's no surprise the majority of electric-car owners today own their own homes. When you own your property, it's much easier to install a changing station in your garage, car port, or even on the wall of your home by the driveway. You only need to get permission from yourself, and possibly your significant other, on the cost of the job. READ MORE...
Lists, news roundups, and general reflections are the usual order of business as a calendar year comes to a close. We've published more than 1,600 green-car news stories so far during 2017, and it's proven to be quite a year. In the car market at large, the most notable trend was a continued move toward utility vehicles of all sizes as passenger...
![Tesla Model 3 with BMW i3 driver Tom Moloughney, Dec 2017 [photo: Tom Moloughney]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/tesla-model-3-with-bmw-i3-driver-tom-moloughney-dec-2017-photo-tom-moloughney_100637360_t.gif)
Getting an opportunity to road test and review a Tesla Model 3 electric car has thus far proved a very difficult task. Since the Model 3 launched in July, Tesla has only been delivering them to employees, friends of the company, and a handful of prior Tesla owners—and most have been eerily silent about their cars. Though it’s been...
Today, BMW plug-in sales cross the six-figure mark, bad news on climate modeling, Tesla adapts electric cars for China, and some thoughts on how plug-in purchase incentives should change. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A longtime electric-car advocate has some thoughts on how to improve the electric-car purchase tax credit. BMW not only...
