In a tweet on Friday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company had started rolling out an over-the-air software update for its Model 3 electric cars to address a problem with their braking performance, a problem revealed by Consumer Reports last week. In the tweet, Musk said the update should improve braking "by ~20 ft for repeated heavy braking...
Solar cells have gotten cheap enough to make solar cars practical. At least that's the business model of one electric-car startup in Europe. Sono Motors plans to build a $25,000 electric car covered in solar cells that can provide up to 18 miles of range a day. The company plans to introduce it at the end of 2019. In a video interview with...
Often the growth of green cars comes in fits and starts, and new ideas are rushed to market regularly before they're ready. Visionaries with dreams of changing the world may have little real-world experience and find themselves in over their heads after they jump in too quickly. Even pure charlatans sometimes emerge from the woodwork to hawk new...
Electric cars are not only the cleanest cars in the world, they're some of the fastest, as quite a few Tesla Model S owners have demonstrated racing against various gas cars on drag strips. Even manufacturers of internal-combustion cars apparently know this. In a recent Twitter ad for the Challenger Demon, Dodge called it "The world's fastest...
![2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars outside dealership [photo: Patrick Reid]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-electric-car-photo-patrick-reid_100605961_t.gif)
Which new car won't Consumer Reports recommend? What new company is getting ready to build electric SUVs in Illinois? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending May 25, 2018. Friday, we shared a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance that predicts that more than half of all new...
Tesla airlifted six plane loads of factory machinery from Europe to California to speed up battery production for its Model 3 electric car, according to a Reuters report. Reuters cited two people familiar with the arrangement, who were not authorized to speak on the record. Transporting factory machinery by air is rare in the auto industry due to...
Porsche has plans for not one, but two 911 hybrid variants for the next-generation sports car. A new report predicts that electric cars will exceed half the worldwide market by 2040. A reader checks in after living with two Chevrolet Bolt EVs for a year. Nissan shows off a one-off Leaf convertible. All of this and more on Green Car Reports. Plans...
Nissan is famous for zigging when everyone else zags—especially when it comes to making convertibles. Years after its soft-top Murano CrossCabriolet crossover was laughed out of showrooms (and then went on to find a niche following on the used-car market), Nissan is at it again with a convertible version of the electric Leaf. As a hatchback...
Taking a page from its successful Cayenne and Panamera E-Hybrids, which have seen the biggest sales jumps of any plug-in cars in recent monthly sales reports, Porsche is planning to build two new hybrid versions of its defining 911 sports car. The 911 is being redesigned for 2019, code named 992, and experts expected that it would offer a...
Many Green Car Reports readers have electric cars. Fewer own two, and have removed gasoline cars from their family fleet altogether. Reader Patrick Reid bought two Chevy Bolt EVs last year (one in January and another in April.) Last year, he wrote us about his experiences, why he likes the Bolts and what he doesn't, and how the cars have worked...
Electric car sales are poised to increase tenfold by 2025 and reach 55 percent of car sales worldwide by 2040, according to the latest report on electric cars from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. While electric cars' share of the market is still small—less than 2 percent in most places—that is set to change dramatically in the next few...
After going practically dark for years, the first Apple self-driving car has finally broken out into the light, and it's not what Apple fans may have expected. Dealers turning buyers away from electric cars isn't an American problem, it turns out. It's a worldwide problem, according to several studies. Electric cars are the cleanest way to drive...
When Tesla opened up orders this week for the all-wheel drive Dual Motor and Performance versions of its Model 3, some reports suggested it was early and might complicate the company's ability to ramp up to 5,000 units a week. Tesla emphatically says the move only represents the company sticking to its original rollout schedule, when it promised...
When Tesla opened up orders this week for the all-wheel drive Dual Motor and Performance versions of its Model 3, some reports suggested it was early and might complicate the company's ability to ramp up to 5,000 units a week. Tesla emphatically says the move only represents the company sticking to its original rollout schedule, when it promised...
![Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland [photo: Forth]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/chevrolet-bolt-ev-being-charged-outside-go-forth-electric-car-showroom-portland-photo-forth_100606247_t.gif)
Car dealers may be the same all over the world, at least when it comes to electric cars. In 2014, Consumer Reports did a study that showed 50 out of 85 dealerships visited nationwide either outright discouraged its secret shoppers from buying electric cars or tried to talk them into buying a gas or diesel model instead. Few answered questions...
After years of trials aimed at remaking driving in the mold of the iPhone, Apple is finally building some self-driving electric cars to test on roads in the San Francisco Bay Area—and they're Volkswagen buses. The New York Times reported on Thursday that, after years of looking for a partner among automakers, Apple has teamed up with the...
When is a hybrid not a hybrid? Potentially when it’s a conventional gas-powered car using an electrified powertrain. Many automakers have announced that they will build some percentage of their car fleet as pure electrics. The gas-powered vehicles that remain will still need a significant boost in fuel economy. READ THIS: 48-volt mild...
BMW and Mercedes-Benz rebuffed Apple’s overtures for a self-driving car partnership, according to people familiar with the talks. Now Apple is said to have a deal with Volkswagen for the project.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz rebuffed Apple’s overtures for a self-driving car partnership, according to people familiar with the talks.
Even the New York Times climate team is getting in on the royal wedding coverage.
