The combination of Tesla and SolarCity is already promoting its potential synergies, albeit in a location far away from the mainland United States. The island of Ta'u in American Samoa is located more than 4,000 miles from the U.S. West Coast, and typically relies on imported diesel fuel to generate electricity. With no local sources of fossil... Tesla, SolarCity, and Ta’u: sun, storage batteries, clean energy (video)
The combination of Tesla and SolarCity is already promoting its potential synergies, albeit in a location far away from the mainland United States. The island of Ta'u in American Samoa is located more than 4,000 miles from the U.S. West Coast, and typically relies on imported diesel fuel to generate electricity. With no local sources of fossil...
Today, we compare the 2017 Chevrolet Volt and 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrids, Mercedes-Benz contemplates the future of diesel cars in the U.S., and nuTonomy plans to test its autonomous Renault Zoe electric car on the streets of Boston. All this and more on Green Car Reports. See how the 2017 Chevrolet Volt and 2017 Toyota Prius Prime...
The 2017 Ford Focus Electric has been one of last electric cars remaining in the current model year for which we haven't had information. Now Ford has released a few specifications, and a photo of a 2017 Focus Electric window sticker sent by a reader fills in more of the gaps. The good news: after several years with a bottom-of-the-list range of...
It wasn't even close. When we asked our Twitter followers which electric car they thought would be judged by history as most important thus far, it was a slam-dunk. Fully four out of five survey participants voted for the same vehicle out of the four choices we offered. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model S: Green Car Reports' 2013 Best Car To Buy That car...
The ongoing Volkswagen diesel scandal continues to affect the U.S. market for diesel cars in a negative way. Diesels have never been as popular in the U.S. as they are in Europe, and models on offer have typically been limited to VW Group brands and a smattering of other German makers. No VW Group brand is currently selling diesels in the U.S...
The Renault Zoe electric car isn't sold in the U.S., but it will make an appearance on the streets of one U.S. city very soon. The battery-electric subcompact hatchback will serve as an autonomous-driving test bed for nuTonomy, a startup founded by researchers from MIT. The company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of...
Efforts by the U.S. Congress to cap the amount of ethanol blended with the U.S. fuel supply appear to be gaining momentum. The current Renewable Fuel Standard, passed as part of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, has proven increasingly unpopular among certain legislators. But ardent support from the renewable-fuels industry and the...
They're two high-volume plug-in hybrids, but they take different approaches to energy efficiency. The Toyota Prius Prime, new for 2017, is the plug-in version of the world's best-known, and best-selling, hybrid car. The 2017 Chevy Volt was new last year, a greatly improved version of the pioneering range-extended electric car. They're now going...
Today, we've got Volkswagen stories with and without diesels, some innovative Ioniq Electric marketing in California, and an electric vehicle that truly stinks. All this and more on Green Car Reports. It's rare for carmakers to remove features from new models, but that's exactly what Tesla did last month for the Model S and Model X. We look at...
When it launched its Phaeton luxury sedan back in 2002, Volkswagen decided that its most opulent car ever should have an equally opulent assembly plant. So it built the "Transparent Factory," a glass-walled plant in Dresden, Germany, that was intended solely to handle Phaeton production. The Phaeton was a vanity project of VW Group's...
Here's an electric vehicle that really, truly stinks. While automakers are moving in the direction of more electric cars, several companies are also making efforts to electrify commercial vehicles. The humble garbage truck will be the next to be electrified—which, if nothing else, will eliminate the unpleasant noise from huge diesel trucks...
The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric will soon go on sale as part of a trio of Ioniq variants that also includes hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. When it arrives in dealerships, Hyundai will face the same challenge other automakers have come to know well: marketing electric cars to an uneducated and sometimes skeptical public. Instead of relying...
The ongoing diesel scandal means all Volkswagen and Audi TDI models are still absent from U.S. showrooms—and likely will be for some years to come. Even a new TDI diesel model that will be built only in the U.S. won't be sold here. That would be the Volkswagen Atlas TDI, a diesel version of the Atlas 7-seat crossover utility vehicle unveiled...
Automakers rarely "de-content" their cars, much less take away some of the very features that provide sizzle and PR value. But Tesla's new and more advanced "Hardware 2" electronic driver-assist features on latest cars appear to be a temporary step backwards. Announced last month, Hardware 2 is a new package of sensors for the Autopilot...
Today, the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric is officially the most energy-efficient car sold in the U.S., a new video shows how a Tesla self-driving car "sees" the world around it, and we have details on the 2018 Toyota C-HR subcompact crossover. All this and more on Green Car Reports. The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell will lease for $369 a month when...
Like a human driver, a self-driving car needs to "see" its environment in order to navigate through it. But instead of eyes, autonomous vehicles use an array of sensors—including cameras and radar—to detect objects and obstacles. So what does a self-driving car's view of the road look like? DON'T MISS: Tesla's own numbers show...
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid's tenure as the most energy-efficient car on sale in the U.S. turned out to be short. The Toyota recently took the title of most energy-efficiency vehicle available in the U.S. away from the BMW i3, which had held it since 2014. But now there's a new kid on the block. DON'T MISS: Hyundai Ioniq electric...
Tesla Motors is facing a huge increase its production output in order to meet the ambitious goals set by CEO Elon Musk. He says he expects the company produce 500,000 electric cars per year by 2018. Much of that volume will come from the Model 3, the 215-mile, $35,000 sedan Tesla unveiled earlier this year, and plans to put into production by the...
The 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show was awash in crossover utility vehicles, including a new model from Toyota that stretches the definition of that category. The 2018 Toyota C-HR features the high driving position of a crossover, but in a vehicle with decidedly car-like styling, and without an all-wheel drive option. Adding to the confusion, the...
The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq will be the first model sold with options for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric powertrains. In addition to this unique combination of powertrain options, Hyundai plans to offer a novel alternative to the traditional purchase or lease models on the battery-electric Ioniq. Announced last week at the 2016 Los...