Over the past few years, China has made a major push to reduce carbon emissions by encouraging use of green technologies. Thanks to generous government incentives and fleet purchases, it is now the world's largest market for plug-in electric cars. Construction of new solar and wind farms has also proceeded at a rapid pace. DON'T MISS: Chevy Volt... China ratchets down green-energy growth for first time ever
Over the past few years, China has made a major push to reduce carbon emissions by encouraging use of green technologies. Thanks to generous government incentives and fleet purchases, it is now the world's largest market for plug-in electric cars. Construction of new solar and wind farms has also proceeded at a rapid pace. DON'T MISS: Chevy Volt...
As electric-car adoption expands past early adopters into more general buyers, it may be difficult for public charging infrastructure to grow as fast as the number of electric vehicles on the road. Here in the U.S., every month roughly 10,000 new plug-in vehicles are sold or leased—and that number could rise dramatically once the highly...
Right now, the debate over the future of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards is in full swing. Today, they call for a fleet average of 54.5 mpg (or about 38 mpg on window stickers) by 2025 for vehicles sold in the U.S. But many within the auto industry—and those sympathetic to it—would like to see those standards rolled...
Last month, Tesla Motors announced new 100D versions of the Model S and Model X. A battery-pack capacity increase of 10 kilowatt hours over the previous 90D versions brings a bump in range, of course. But what about performance? DON'T MISS: The Tesla Model S P100D really, seriously goes over 300 miles this time Tesla claims the top Model S P100D...
Today, we have details on the Tesla version 8.0 software update and 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, as well as a look back at what we've learned in the year since news of Volkswagen's diesel-emissions cheating broke. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Read about the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Volkswagen diesel emissions, and more in our Week in...
Public charging infrastructure for electric cars is still fairly limited compared to gas stations. That leaves many electric car drivers in certain areas vying for relatively few stations—which can create friction. But network operator ChargePoint is rolling out a feature it believes will help streamline the process and increase station...
The current-generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid may acquire a new identity for the Chinese market. General Motors sold the first-generation Volt under different brands in various international markets. So far it hasn't continued that practice with the second-generation version, which went on sale in the U.S. earlier this year. DON'T MISS...
The 2011 Nissan Leaf was the first mass-priced modern electric car when it launched in December 2010. Nissan has since sold close to a quarter of a million Leafs, and together with its alliance partner Renault it has now sold more than 350,000 all-electric vehicles. But the Leaf is still with us, albeit with a slightly longer range, whereas the...
It's now a year and eight days since the EPA broke the news that Volkswagen had admitted to including "defeat device" software in almost half a million so-called "clean diesel" vehicles sold in the U.S. from 2009 through 2015. That software detected when the cars were undergoing laboratory tests, and kept their emissions within legal limits during...
The gasoline Smart ForTwo hardtop was redesigned for the 2016 model year, and now Smart is transitioning other variants to its new platform. First came the 2017 ForTwo Cabrio soft-top version, which will arrive in U.S. showrooms shortly, and now Smart is unveiling a redesigned Electric Drive model. The 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive will debut...
Sometimes journalists miss the forest for the trees, and we'll plead guilty on this one. When we wrote last week that the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell sedan was little-changed for the 2017 model year, with only one new color added, we missed one important element. That was, as several readers informed us, that while the retail price remained...
On Wednesday, Tesla released its version 8.0 software to Model S and Model X owners through an over-the-air update. Announced by the carmaker earlier this month, the software update includes hundreds of changes to vehicle functionality—with most relating to the Autopilot driver-assist system—according to the company. Tesla has been...
Most drivers likely associate New York City with grueling traffic, scarce parking, and other aggravating situations. But could the Big Apple soon become known for... electric race cars? The Formula E electric-car race series is coming to New York City next summer, organizers announced earlier this week. DON'T MISS: Electric motorcycles return to...
Which additional language now proves to cause confusion between the Chevy Volt and the Chevy Bolt EV? And why does VW come out looking like a (relative) hero on diesel engines in Europe? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, September 23, 2016. Friday, we noted that...
Today, Tesla fights back, a manual gearbox reappears, a new electric land-speed record emerges from the desert, and an unexpected diesel engine arrives in a key compact crossover. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Electric cars today are just 1 percent of the vehicle market, but perhaps one day they'll sell in equal numbers to gasoline cars...
Earlier this month, an application for a dealer license submitted by Tesla Motors was denied by the state of Michigan. It was the final decision in a process that kicked off in October 2014. That was when a last-minute wording change in state franchise law foreclosed the electric-car maker's ability to sell cars directly to buyers, its business...
The 2018 Chevrolet Equinox crossover utility vehicle, unveiled last night in Chicago, will have three engine options, all turbocharged. And bucking recent "death of diesel" predictions, one of those three will be a 1.6-liter diesel that gets a 40-mpg highway rating. The 2018 Equinox will be the first compact utility vehicle in the U.S. with a...