Honda hybrid minivan, SUV, or pickup coming; dedicated hybrid in 2018 too

2017 Honda Accord Hybrid Sedan GrilleIn recent years, Honda has announced that it planned to release advanced-technology green cars in the future—without mentioning even their names, let alone any details or specifications. That's what happened two years ago with a pair of unnamed battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that later proved to be two new variants of the Honda...

VW ID Buzz concept: all-electric Microbus could arrive in 2022

Volkswagen I.D. Buzz ConceptIf you pronounce the word "buzz" with a German accent, it sounds like "bus"—which is almost surely why VW's second all-electric concept vehicle is called the Volkswagen ID Buzz. It's the latest in a series of concept studies for a modern-day Microbus, with stylistic nods to the classic Type 2 bus launched 65 years ago. It's one of the few...

Toyota changes course, offers to share hybrid technology with rivals

2016 Toyota Prius, Catskill Mountains, NY, Dec 2015Over the past six months, Toyota has made some remarkable decisions about its present and future car technologies. After years of staunch opposition to battery-electric vehicles, it committed to launching one by 2020. Now, the company has decided to offer its proprietary hybrid technology in volume to other automakers. DON'T MISS: Toyota battery...

Mitsubishi electric cars to use Nissan-Renault platforms: report

2017 Mitsubishi i-MiEVNow that it has officially taken control of Mitsubishi Motors, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is integrating the smaller automaker's green-car projects with its own. Renault-Nissan announced plans to acquire a 34-percent stake in Mitsubishi in May, shortly after the company admitted to cheating on fuel-economy tests for many years in its home country...

Nissan and Renault to share common electric-car platform in future

2017 Nissan Leaf  The Renault-Nissan Alliance currently leads all other makers in total global sales of electric cars. The Nissan Leaf remains the best-selling electric car in history, while the Renault Zoe is the best-selling electric car in Europe at the moment. These two cars account for the vast majority of the alliance's electric-car sales, with the Leaf...

Chrysler to reveal new electric car at CES, possibly a minivan: report

2017 Chrysler PacificaThe Fiat 500e electric minicar is aging, and with the introduction of the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV this month, the three-door hatchback's 84 miles of range becomes woefully uncompetitive. So Fiat Chrysler Automobiles needs a new all-electric vehicle to comply with California zero-emission vehicle rules, despite its CEO's frequent complaints that...

Which type of Green Car Reports articles are least valuable? Poll results

2017 Toyota Prius Prime test drive, Ojai, California, Sep 2016Last week, we wrote about the results of a Twitter poll we put up to get a feel for what our readers like best about the site. The flipside of "most valuable" is "least valuable," so we put up the same list of choices again, this time asking survey respondents to rank their least favorite types of articles. Surprisingly, however, the results...

Which Green Car Reports articles are most valuable? Poll results

Chevrolet's Steve Majoros (R) accepts Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy award for Chevy Bolt EVWe've now been running a series of Twitter polls for several weeks, and last week we decided to use one poll for a different purpose. We wanted to survey our audience, which we haven't done in any large-scale or systematic way. A Twitter poll isn't particularly scientific, but like reading the comments on articles, we thought it might give us a...

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to run electric-car division

Akio ToyodaIt's now abundantly clear that Toyota is changing course when it comes to zero-emission vehicles. After years of promoting hydrogen fuel cells while shunning and disparaging battery-electric cars, the company now plans to introduce a mass-market electric car by 2020. The fact that Toyota is reportedly only now assembling the team to develop that...