Turbocharging has mostly not lived up to its billing of being the savior of internal-combustion engine technology. Earlier this decade, facing increasing fuel economy requirements, automakers rushed to boost fuel economy by adding turbochargers to lots of small engines. The problem is, many of them turned out not to be very efficient. As critics... Elaborate engine: Variable-compression Infiniti yields small efficiency gains
Turbocharging has mostly not lived up to its billing of being the savior of internal-combustion engine technology. Earlier this decade, facing increasing fuel economy requirements, automakers rushed to boost fuel economy by adding turbochargers to lots of small engines. The problem is, many of them turned out not to be very efficient. As critics...
Tesla's new Navigate on Autopilot gets its first test. A new study links summer's wacky weather to climate change. We consider which electric car is the Best Car To Buy for 2019. And we ask you to weigh in. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Consumer Reports gives Tesla's latest self-driving feature, called Navigate on Autopilot, its first...
We've announced our final three contenders for Green Car Reports' Best Car to Buy 2019. They include the Hyundai Kona Electric, the Jaguar I-Pace, and the Tesla Model 3. The qualifications for our annual award require that a vehicle be all-new or substantially updated; and that it be widely available as of October 2018, or arrive by the end of the...
Despite a long list of green-car debuts anticipated over the next couple of years, this year hasn't exactly brought a bevy of new electric models. As we wait for the market to blossom with new entries in coming years, we have three strong contenders for this year's top position—our Best Car To Buy 2019. To qualify for Green Car...
For some, the evidence of global warming is hard to accept, especially when it has been difficult to draw the link between individual storms and an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses. Now a new study by a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University has done just that. By studying the pattern of the jet stream, Professor Michael Mann...
GPS navigation and Autopilot—two great driving aids that go great together. Tesla has offered both features for a long time, and is now rolling out software that combines them, so drivers can set a destination in their cars' navigation system and it will automatically take action to merge and exit highways, and change lanes to expedite the...
General Motors is already shaping up to be second only to Tesla in blasting past the 200,000-vehicle ceiling for the federal EV tax credit; and it has plans to produce 20 new fully electric vehicles by 2023. Part of that EV-savvy strategy, apparently—or a parallel one, perhaps—involves e-bikes intended for “consumers around the...
Which automakers are now openly opposing the EPA’s proposed fuel-economy rollback? And which automaker teased an 800-volt electric car good for the drag races? This is Green Car Reports’ look back at the Week in Reverse, for the week ending Nov. 2, 2018. Friday we updated a piece about the woes at Faraday Future, which continue to pile...
Tesla acknowledged in a quarterly regulatory filing on Thursday that it has received a subpoena from the SEC asking about the company's forecasts the company made in 2017 for Model 3 production. Some investors have said they were misled by statements that the company would begin full production of the Model 3 by the second quarter of 2018, when...
California begins fighting back against the EPA's fuel economy freeze. Austria proposes letting electric cars drive faster. Hyundai recalls Ioniqs. And BMW builds a new battery assembly line for its upcoming electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports. California issued a pointed 400-page rebuttal to the EPA's plan to freeze fuel economy...
BMW announced last month it will significantly expand and overhaul a facility to produce batteries for electric cars at its factory in Dingolfing, Germany. The factory currently builds several BMW sedans and coupes, including plug-in versions of the 5- and 7-Series. The new battery assembly line in the factory will cover 65,000 square feet in the...
Austria is offering would-be electric-car owners (and current ones) a tempting incentive to go tailpipe-emissions-free: permission to drive faster than those with gasoline, diesel, or hybrid vehicles. Under a recently approved amendment to the country’s speed limits, aimed at rewarding those who choose electric vehicles, they will be given a...
Last Friday, California released a 400-page repudiation of the Trump administration's plan to freeze fuel economy standards and revoke California's statutory right to set its own limits on vehicle emissions. The report comes in response to the EPA and NHTSA's proposed Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient Vehicles Rule, which would undo fuel-economy...
Hyundai is recalling 10,575 Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid models from 2017 and 2018 to replace a wiring relay in the drive system. The recall mirrors a similar problem announced last month with the Ioniq's platform-mate, the Kia Niro, which was also recalled. Bad connections in a drive-system relay can cause the relay to overheat and lead to a...
Hyundai and Kia plan to put solar panels on cars. VW won't rule out sharing electric cars with Ford. A prominent electric-car advocate takes issue with GM's plan for a national mandate. And a new report from the journal Nature shows global warming may already be much worse than expected. All this and more on Green Car Reports. As solar panels get...
Volkswagen is investing $40 billion in new electric cars and plans to have 27 new models on the market by 2022. Ford announced last March that it will invest $11 billion in developing hybrid systems for all but one of its new pickup and SUV models due out by 2020. The company also said at an event in March that it will produce six new battery...
Just as General Motors prepared to release record profits on Wednesday, the respected Union of Concerned Scientists took issue with the company's plan last week to develop a plan to require electric car sales nationwide. GM is a leader in electric cars and is expected to be the second automaker to reach the 200,000-vehicle limit on tax credits for...
As solar cells get more efficient, powerful panels can fit on smaller areas. For those looking to use renewable energy for transportation, that means solar panels can now move from home rooftops used to power car chargers to cars themselves. In Korea on Wednesday, Hyundai and Kia revealed some production-bound examples of that...
A new study published Wednesday in the journal "Nature" shows global warming has already accelerated far beyond what scientists anticipated. The study uses new methods to measure global ocean temperatures, which showed the oceans have retained 60 percent more heat than earlier estimates showed. Scientists measured the volume of oxygen and carbon...
A second Tesla owner is suing the company over an Autopilot crash. Recycled bottles could make good roads. Hot Wheels launches its own Tesla 'Starman' Roadster. Our Twitter followers weigh in on how soon all new cars could be electric. All this and more on Green Car Reports. After the latest collision of a Tesla that was driving on Autopilot and...