Back in 2007, the Energy Independent and Security Act included a Renewable Fuel Standard intended to boost adoption of lower-emission alternative fuels. It mandated increasingly-large amounts of ethanol to be blended with the U.S. fuel supply. Just under a decade later, the legislation has attracted criticism from both opponents of ethanol and the...
Move over, BMW: there's a new efficiency champion in town this year—and you'll have to give back that laurel wreath you've worn since 2014. Last week, final EPA fuel-efficiency results were released for the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. When running in all-electric mode, that car is now the most energy-efficient vehicle you can buy...
After much discussion, the United Nations' aviation agency plans to set limits on emissions from international airline flights. The agreement ratified by members of the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) sets airlines' carbon emissions in the year 2020 as the ceiling of the total amount that will be legally allowed. Airlines that...
The redesigned 2018 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive debuted just before the recent the 2016 Paris Motor Show. It switches over to the current-generation ForTwo platform, introduced as a gasoline-powered coupe version for the 2016 model year. As with the outgoing-generation model, the 2018 ForTwo Electric Drive will be available as either a coupe or...
Cars and trucks aren't the only source of transportation-related carbon emissions. The massive ships that ply the world's oceans are major sources of pollution as well, but generally receive less attention from regulators. But one cruise line is now taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet. DON'T MISS: Cruise ships start to...
Which cars are the final nominees for our 2017 Best Car To Buy award—and which ones didn't make the cut? What was the new Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid like on our first chance to drive it? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, October 7, 2016. Friday, our...
Today, we have a report from an electric motorcycle road trip to the four corners of the U.S., opinions on the Toyota Prius hybrid's styling, and the possibility of the Volkswagen Beetle going electric in an upcoming redesign. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Read about lessons learned from a trip across the U.S. on an electric motorcycle...
As any experienced journalist knows, you hear lots of good stuff in the corridors and private conversations of any large industry event where media are present. That applies to auto shows too. Which is how we came to hear an intriguing rumor about the possible production direction of the next-generation Volkswagen Beetle. DON'T MISS: VW ID: more...
The energy sources used to generate grid electricity can be a major source of greenhouse-gas emissions, and thus they affect the environmental impact of electric cars. The cleaner the electricity used to charge an electric car, the cleaner that car becomes in operation. And among potential energy sources, hydroelectric power from dams would seem...
The 2017 BMW i3 represents the first significant update of BMW's electric car since it went on sale in the U.S. back in May 2014. This mid-cycle refresh includes several updates, most notably a much larger battery pack and a corresponding increase in its EPA-rated range. Battery capacity rises 50 percent, from 22 to 33 kilowatt hours, and BMW says...
Electric-car advocates have National Drive Electric Week, an annual event dedicated to the promotion of cars with plugs that has actually gone international. Now, advocates of hydrogen fuel-cell cars have their own awareness event too. It's called National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, and it's being held tomorrow—a Saturday—for a very...
We have a slim field of only three new green cars this year competing for the Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy award. They are the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, the 2016 Tesla Model X, and the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. There's a much longer list of new vehicles that didn't make the cut this year; this is where we explain what they are, and why...
We have a slim field of only three new green cars this year competing for the Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy award. They are the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, the 2016 Tesla Model X, and the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. There's a much longer list of new vehicles that didn't make the cut this year; this is where we explain what they are, and why...
With the fourth-generation Prius hybrid, Toyota focused not only on improving efficiency, but on making its halo car more appealing to a wider range of consumers. Part of that strategy involved adopting a highly-stylized exterior that differed radically from that of previous models. But could the new styling of the fourth-generation Prius actually...
With the fourth-generation Prius hybrid, Toyota focused not only on improving efficiency, but on making its halo car more appealing to a wider range of consumers. Part of that strategy involved adopting a highly-stylized exterior that differed radically from that of previous models. But could the new styling of the fourth-generation Prius actually...
![Blue Ridge Parkways, Four Corners of US road trip [photo: Ben Rich]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/tk-four-corners-of-us-road-trip-photo-ben-rich_100571358_t.gif)
Riding long distances on an electric motorcycle has gotten significantly easier over the past three years. Each summer over that time, I've traveled 4,500 miles or more on a Zero electric motorcycle. And in that short time, the available charging systems have gotten faster to such a degree that we are getting close to parity with our...
Riding long distances on an electric motorcycle has gotten significantly easier over the past three years. Each summer over that time, I've traveled 4,500 miles or more on a Zero electric motorcycle. And in that short time, the available charging systems have gotten faster to such a degree that we are getting close to parity with our...
At the Paris Motor Show, G.M. unveiled the production-ready Opel Ampera-e, a midprice subcompact with a range of more than 300 miles, on sale in Europe next spring.
Today, California considers restricting use of the term "auto-pilot," the 2017 Ford F-150 full-size pickup truck gets a slight bump in fuel economy with its new 10-speed automatic transmission, and Henrik Fisker says his proposed electric car will use graphene batteries. All this and more on Green Car Reports. A Tesla owner weighs in on...
The 2017 Ford F-150 full-size pickup truck get sa slight fuel-economy bump this year, via the addition of a new 10-speed automatic transmission and an updated 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 engine. Equipped with this powertrain, the 2017 F-150 is rated at 21 mpg combined (18 city, 25 highway) with rear-wheel drive, and 20 mpg combined...
