DoE energy-loan program (notorious for Solyndra) now turning a profit

Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TennesseeThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan program that became a lightning rod during the 2012 presidential election is now turning a profit. The program became infamous for backing solar company Solyndra, which later went bankrupt. Three years after Soyndra's failure, though, the program is now in the black. DON'T MISS: Carbon emissions from U.S...

How much is a prototype Tesla Roadster really worth?

Tesla Roadster Prototype for sale on eBayHow much would you pay to own one of the earliest Tesla Roadster electric sports cars? Early production models and prototypes of notable cars can often become valuable collectors' items. That's something the seller of this prototype Tesla Roadster seems to be counting on. DON'T MISS: Tesla Roadster 3.0 340-mile battery upgrade now shipping The...

Atieva Atvus, Audi R8 e-tron dead, 2017 Toyota Corolla: Today’s Car News

Audi R8 e-tronToday, we have the first photo of the Atieva Atvus electric car, the Audi R8 e-tron electric car ceases production, and we drive the updated 2017 Toyota Corolla compact sedan. All this and more on Green Car Reports. What will be the most unexpected thing about the Tesla Model 3? Our Twitter followers weighed in for our latest poll. A new hydrogen...

2017 Toyota Corolla: first drive of updated compact sedan

2017 Toyota Corolla, test drive, Ojai, California, Sep 2016The Toyota Corolla has been almost the default compact sedan among North American buyers for what seems like decades now. In good years, more than 350,000 are sold to retail and fleet buyers in the U.S., and they're part of the automotive landscape in even the reddest states of the union. The latest Corolla is thus cautiously evolutionary, with...

Atieva Atvus electric car image emerges; is it Tesla competition?

Atvus electric car to be built by Atieva  [image: Recode, via California public-records request]There's no shortage of putative rivals to electric-car maker Tesla Motors, from German luxury makers to other California startups. Thus far, of course, none have actually put a car on sale—unlike Tesla, which has sold somewhere north of 125,000 cars since 2008. One of the least-known is Chinese-backed Atieva, located in Silicon Valley since...

Atieva Atvus electric car image emerges; is it Tesla competition?

Atvus electric car to be built by Atieva  [image: Recode, via California public-records request]There's no shortage of putative rivals to electric-car maker Tesla Motors, from German luxury makers to other California startups. Thus far, of course, none have actually put a car on sale—unlike Tesla, which has sold somewhere north of 125,000 cars since 2008. One of the least-known is Chinese-backed Atieva, located in Silicon Valley since...

Did you know Exxon researched hybrid cars (then ignored them)?

1976 Chrysler Cordoba Sport CoupeHybrid cars are often thought of as a fairly recent development, but few things under the sun are truly new. In response to the 1970s oil crises, engineers began contemplating ways to move the auto industry beyond fossil fuels, using much less sophisticated technology than what became available in the ensuing decades. One of the leaders of this...

Carbon emissions from U.S. power generation fall to 25-year low

Wind farm, by Flickr user Patrick Finnegan (Used under CC License)While automakers work to meet stricter carbon-emissions standards, another sector of the U.S. economy has already made notable progress in reducing ts emissions. Carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation during the first six months of 2016 were the lowest since 1991, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)...

Off-again, on-again Audi R8 e-tron ended after 100 built

2017 Audi R8 e-tronThe Audi R8 e-tron—an all-electric version of the German automaker's R8 supercar—is no more. Less than two years after the production R8 e-tron was unveiled at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Audi plans to stop building the car. So ends one of the longest and most convoluted development stories of any new car in recent memory. CHECK OUT...